UNITED NATIONS TO ASSESS HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN SIERRA LEONE
Press Release
AFR/36
IHA/643
UNITED NATIONS TO ASSESS HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN SIERRA LEONE
19980205 NEW YORK, 5 February (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) -- A United Nations mission from Headquarters will leave for Sierra Leone in the next few days to assess the humanitarian situation in that country, including the humanitarian impact of United Nations sanctions and the embargo of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).Following a request of the Security Council and growing concerns of United Nations agencies regarding the humanitarian situation in Sierra Leone, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Sergio Vieira de Mello, has decided, after consultation with the agencies concerned, to send an expert mission to Sierra Leone. The primary objective of the mission is to assess the humanitarian situation in Sierra Leone and the effect of United Nations sanctions and ECOWAS embargo on the civilian population's access to basic food and health-care services, population displacement, basic economic conditions, and activities of humanitarian organizations.
This mission is headed by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and is composed of experts from humanitarian agencies, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Health Organization (WHO), World Food Programme (WFP), the and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The mission will report on its observations and recommendations to the Emergency Relief Coordinator upon its return to Headquarters on the practical steps to monitor the humanitarian impact of the sanctions and to facilitate the provision of humanitarian goods and supplies in Sierra Leone.
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