Humanitarian agencies appeal for $15.9 million

UN humanitarian agencies in Cote d'Ivoire on Thursday launched an emergency flash appeal for US $15.9 million to help some 3.9 million people affected by a two-month-old insurgency. The appeal covers the period November 2002 to January 2003, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. "The aim of this appeal is to mobilise resources for humanitarian action and contribute to the implementation and coordination of a real plan of action that strategically integrates all the humanitarian activities of the UN agencies and their partners," UN Resident Coordinator Mostafa Benlamlih said at the launch in Abidjan. He added that the three-month flash appeal would need to be followed by a medium-term one should the crisis persist. A total of $7 million will be required to assist about 3.5 million displaced and destitute people. These include Ivorian IDPs as well as people displaced from Cote d'Ivoire to Ghana, Mali and Burkina Faso. Humanitarian agencies plan to use the money requested to facilitate the safe and dignified return of migrants to their countries of origin and help IDPs, host communities and other vulnerable populations. US $1.1 million is needed to assist some 143,600 people in Burkina Faso, about US $819,500 will be needed for 187,000 in Ghana and $818,800 for 100,000 people in Mali. In these countries humanitarian agencies plan a variety of initiatives, including the provision of assistance to destitute returning residents, persons in transit to their home countries, asylum seekers and repatriating refugees. Another US $6 million is needed for relevant regional response capacities, OCHA said. "The ability of the humanitarian community, including national and international actors to address current emergency needs, to target relief aid and avert a massive humanitarian crisis depends on the swift and adequate response to this appeal," OCHA said. It said a timely and adequate response should also complement efforts being undertaken independently of the appeal by civil society and Ivorian authorities. "It is time for a concerted and integrated response from national, regional and international entities to a humanitarian emergency that has the potential for becoming a regional humanitarian tragedy of unmanageable proportions," OCHA added. Cote d'Ivoire's Prime Minister Affi Nguessan, who attended the launch, noted that the international community had not stopped supporting his country as it faced a crisis that "is very complex and has major consequences for the country and the region". Ministers with responsibility for humanitarian action, heads of UN agencies and non-governmental organisations and representatives of donor governments also attended the launch.