UNITED NATIONS SEEKS $65 MILLION IN AID TO WEST AFRICA

UNITED NATIONS SEEKS $65 MILLION IN AID TO WEST AFRICA

GENEVA, 23 March (UNIS) -- United Nations aid agencies today said they needed $65 million this year to tackle humanitarian crises in West Africa that affect some 3 million people in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. They include refugees and internally displaced people, as well as impoverished communities that host the uprooted.

"West Africa today is plagued by one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, which it simply cannot handle without international help", said High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, who on behalf of several United Nations agencies introduced the funding appeal Friday to donor country representatives.

"I was in the region last month and saw the immense human suffering caused by years of instability and strife", Mr. Lubbers said.  "As humanitarian organizations, alleviating that suffering is our immediate concern.  But a lot more is required than just the provision of aid.  The international community must also support the restoration of regional stability and good governance." 

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kenzo Oshima, whose organization coordinated the funding appeal, said the aid agencies are working to prevent a worsening of the humanitarian situation.

"We have a crisis on our hands in the West Africa subregion", Mr. Oshima said.  "Our aim is to forestall a major humanitarian catastrophe.  To do so, we have to address the problems within the subregion as a whole.  The appeal has been designed to integrate the response across borders, addressing immediate relief needs of the most vulnerable while enabling people to reclaim their livelihoods."

The appeal covers a range of country-specific activities, from protection of refugees and other vulnerable populations to health, food, shelter and longer-term economic recovery.  It also seeks funds for region-wide programmes aimed at epidemiological surveillance and prevention and control of HIV/AIDS.

The protracted civil strife in Sierra Leone and Liberia and the increasingly unstable situation in Guinea, which hosts Africa's second largest refugee population, has turned West Africa into the continent's number one humanitarian crisis.  It is marked by internal displacement, refugee movements and huge security risks for both beneficiaries and humanitarians who try to help them.

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