Gearing up for population influx

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Guinea reported on Wednesday that some 17,857 Guinean nationals, fleeing the insecurity in neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire, had been registered by the Lola Prefecture near the border with Cote d'Ivoire. The figure, compiled by the Guinean government, does not however include figures from the nine other administrative centers have reported influx of civilians. The unfolding situation has prompted OCHA-Guinea to draft an Emergency Response Plan that would be presented to donors and authorities next week. In the document, OCHA would present assistance projects based on estimations that as much as 90,000 people, including approximately 50,000 Guinean returnees and some 20,000 Ivorian refugees, could flee Cote d'Ivoire, sources in Conakry told IRIN on Wednesday. The plan, among other things, would also propose scenarios and planning figures, identify existing resources and capacities and outline roles and responsibilities in case of a massive emergency. The Ivorian crisis has prompted close collaboration between the humanitarian community and the national authorities who through a series of meetings, have highlighted four areas to allow Guinea to cope with the influx. According to OCHA, these areas are resources mobilization to assist the Guinean government in relocating those stranded at the borders; deployment of logistics capacities to avoid concentration of people at the borders; preservation of a positive environment by mobilizing resources for equitable distribution to the needy, and the reinforcement of coordination mechanisms.