Agencies appeal for funds

United Nations agencies have appealed for immediate donations to support the vulnerable, especially those displaced by conflict, finance recovery activities and manage uncertainty in the Mano River countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The appeal was made by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) at a joint donor briefing in Geneva on 4 July.

Only a third of the UN Consolidated Interagency Appeal (CAP) 2002 funding request had been received for the Mano River countries, they said.

The CAP for Guinea of US $58.4 million had received 30 percent funding, that of $17.2 million for Liberia had received 21.9 percent and the $88.6 million for Sierra Leone had received 30.7 percent.

Because of inadequate funding and continuing conflict in the region which had led to displacements of people and destruction of infrastructure, the capacity and ability of the agencies to respond to immediate needs had been stretched to the limit, the donors were told.

In Guinea, WHO immediately needs US $1.1 million for training, stocking essential drugs, and data collection; UNICEF $3.5 million for health protection, water and sanitation and assistance to Liberian refugees; FAO $2.7 million for environmental and agricultural support and OCHA $935,000 for coordination.

In Liberia continuing conflict has created an immediate need for a million dollars for WHO for ambulances, training and provision of essential drugs, $1.6 million for FAO to support vulnerable farmers with basic inputs, and $400,000 for OCHA for coordination activities, the agencies said.

The immediate needs in Sierra Leone, mainly to cope with an increased influx of Liberian refugees and returnees, were estimated at US $1.8 million for WHO for anti-malaria drugs, training, immunization and essential drugs, $8.6 million for UNICEF for child rights protection and health education, $1.1 million for FAO for agricultural support, and $900,000 for OCHA for coordination.

On Monday UNHCR spokesperson Kris Janowski told a news conference in Geneva that Sierra Leonean refugees in Liberia had continued to arrive at their office in Monrovia asking for help in returning to Sierra Leone. The agency had begun making logistical arrangements to transport them by sea and hoped that the first boat trips could start next week.

"At the same time, the influx of Liberian refugees into Sierra Leone continues, with more than 1,600 arriving via the Gendema crossing point in the past week. This brings the total number of Liberians arriving in Sierra Leone since this year to more than 40,000," UNHCR said, adding that there were indications that large numbers of Liberian refugees continued to enter Sierra Leone at several unofficial crossing points.

UNHCR reported that the High Commissioner, Ruud Lubbers, was attending the OAU/AU summit in Durban, South Africa on Monday, to raise concerns about deteriorating conditions for refugees and displaced people in Liberia.

"Lubbers is expected to seek more support from ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] to resolve the latest round of fighting in Liberia, which has sent more than 77,000 Liberians fleeing to neighbouring countries since this year. This includes more than 40,000 to Liberia and over 37,000 to Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea and Ghana," UNHCR said.