MSF sees signs of severe hunger in eastern town

A team from Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) that travelled at the weekend to Daru, near Sierra Leone’s border with Liberia, saw signs of severe malnutrition in the eastern town, MSF said here. The team went to Daru on 26 June to assess the humanitarian situation in the town, which is controlled by ECOMOG. Visual observation of a small group of children, which was not necessarily representative of the entire population, showed that about 20 suffered from severe malnutrition, an MSF official said on Monday. “This is not an emergency but it is very close. We are at the borderline,” the MSF representative told a coordination meeting chaired by the National Commission for Reconstruction, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (NCRRR). The NCRRR is the state body responsible for coordinating aid agency activities in Sierra Leone. MSF reported that, according to information it received in Daru, approximately 32,000 people were living in the town and the majority were displaced persons. Most long-term residents of Daru had moved to Kenema, the regional capital, MSF said. Shelter, a potential area of concern in view of the rainy season, was deemed adequate as most of the residents were living in houses. Discussions were underway with the relevant relief agencies to determine the most appropriate humanitarian interventions there in the future. A UN-led mission that went to Daru by helicopter on 29 May recommended that food agencies should meet the needs of malnourished children and lactating women by providing food for specialised feeding programmes, once a medical NGO is identified to operate in Daru, or a government health post reopened. The mission recommended that no large-scale food distribution should be carried out at this time due to logistical and access-related difficulties.