Humanitarian situation in Kailahun “bad but not desperate”

The overall humanitarian situation in RUF-held towns between Kenema and Kailahun in eastern Sierra Leone is “bad but not desperate”, the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (HACU) said in a recent report.

However, interventions in the areas of health, water and sanitation, education and shelter are urgently needed. These were the preliminary findings and recommendations of an interagency mission which assessed the area from 29 September to 1 October.

Led by WFP the 10-member team - which included representatives from UNHCR, UNICEF, World Vision and HACU - flew to Kenema before travelling by road to Buedu and Kailahun, stopping en route in the towns of Segbwema, Daru, Kuiva, Mobai and Pendembu.

While missions had been undertaken by air to Buedu and Kailahun earlier this year, HACU said, the latest mission by road to Kailahun was the first in nearly a decade.

Accompanied by four UNOMSIL military observers and two members of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority the mission proceeded smoothly with the maximum cooperation of security forces in the area.

The mission reconfirmed that relief agencies could now move freely into Kailahun District provided prior information on their itineraries was given to the RUF’s humanitarian wing, the Organisation for the Survival of Mankind (OSM).

The mission observed no signs of malnutrition among the population, although some essential food items, such as rice, were either not available or in short supply.

Considerable damage inflicted on buildings in some RUF-held towns in Kailahun District during the war caused residents to flee their homes for the bushes but, the mission reported, some 3,000 refugees had returned.