UN COORDINATOR EXPRESSES DEEP CONCERN ABOUT DESPERATE

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN LIBERIA

(Received from UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.)

FREETOWN, 22 July –-Marc Destanne de Bernis, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Liberia expresses his deep concern regarding the desperate humanitarian situation in Liberia as fighting intensifies, displacing, injuring and killing the civilian population.  The intense shelling and gunfire is causing widespread displacement within and out of the capital of Monrovia, in areas where there isn’t adequate shelter or means of survival.  The Government of Liberia has already reported over 600 deaths; if fighting does not cease, the death toll will continue to rise.

More than 1 million people, including several hundreds of thousands of displaced persons who have fled the fighting in other parts of the country, try to survive in Monrovia under extremely difficult conditions.  Relief agencies have not been able to access food supplies at the port and at warehouses behind rebel lines to provide much needed assistance to the population.  Food and water supplies have become scarce; there is widespread malnutrition and tens of thousands of people do not have access to potable water.  If the fighting does not stop immediately, we will witness one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in the region.

The extremely poor health and sanitation situation in Monrovia has led to recent outbreaks of cholera, measles and malaria, which could be further intensified if not addressed and contained immediately.  The capacity of operational hospitals in Monrovia is overwhelmed with the arrival of hundreds of war-wounded and severe medical cases.  The safe blood supply is extremely inadequate and needs to be replenished as soon as possible.  Qualified doctors and medical staff are urgently needed to strengthen the response capacity.

Immediate humanitarian priorities in Monrovia are the provision of health services, medical supplies, food, water and sanitation, as well as shelter to the most vulnerable.  There is also an urgent need to secure safe access by humanitarian workers to hundreds of thousands of people who live outside the capital city.  Most regions of the country have not been accessible to humanitarian workers for several months.

The Humanitarian Coordinator calls on all parties to the conflict to stop the fighting and observe the ceasefire, to respect international humanitarian law, and to ensure the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers.  He also calls on the international community to provide additional funding, in order to strengthen the response to the humanitarian crisis.  The Humanitarian Coordinator welcomes the call made by the United Nations Secretary-General for an urgent deployment of an international force in Liberia to restore calm and security, so that badly needed emergency relief assistance can be provided to the population.

* *** *