ASSESSMENT MISSION RETURNS FROM ZWEDRU, LIBERIA

ASSESSMENT MISSION RETURNS FROM ZWEDRU, LIBERIA

NEW YORK, 30 September (OCHA) -- An inter-agency mission returned to Monrovia from Zwedru via Guiglo, Côte d’Ivoire, over the weekend after assessing the humanitarian situation of the town and its surroundings.  The mission found Ivorian refugees as well as internally displaced persons, some from as far away as Lofa County.  In a separate mission, a Médecins Sans Frontières team successfully reached Zwedru via Buchanan in eight hours.  According to the Red Cross, the population of Zwedru is now estimated at about 13,000, as compared to a pre-war population of 27,000.  There are 3-4,000 returnees and some 200 Ivorians in the town.  Many refugees along with local residents are still in villages in border areas.  Food is available in Zwedru, but for extremely high prices, and people are reportedly looking for food in bushes.  There is little purchasing power because civil servants have not been paid for 20 months and no other source of income for the civil population exists.

With foraging in the bush, households manage to have one meal a day.  The rice-planting season has been interrupted and affected by the events in March and therefore local production is reduced to limited gardening of cassava and small vegetable plots around dwellings.  With the absence of other sources of income, the present coping mechanisms of the population are stretched to the limit and with the expected ongoing return of internally displaced persons/returnees, the situation could become even worse.  The rebel group Movement for Democracy in Liberia encouraged the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to return to Zwedru and expressed support.  The overall impression so far is positive; however, the biggest challenge in re-establishing presence will be road access.

Meanwhile, the WFP and its implementing partner, Catholic Relief Services, have completed food distribution in Buchanan over this past weekend, reaching about 31,607 beneficiaries.  The WFP has also completed the registration of internally displaced persons in the greater Monrovia area and through their implementing partner, ADRA, has started food distribution in Jartondo camp.  Other places food is being distributed are Kakata by ADRA, and Bensonville and Ricks by World Vision International.

The latest report released by the World Health Organization shows a drastic drop in the incidence of cholera, the result of intensive chlorination of wells carried out these last weeks and the movement of internally displaced persons out of central Monrovia to Montserrado areas. 

Internally displaced persons continue to return to the regular camps in Montserrado.  The taskforce on relocation of internally displaced persons is currently working with agencies and camp managers to assist the displaced to construct additional shelters for those still in irregular shelters.  Relocation of internally displaced persons from schools and clinics resumed yesterday with the assistance of the UNHCR, after a brief suspension to review the whole process and address immediate needs.  An assessment of security in refugee camps (Samukai, Banjor, and VOA) was conducted.  The general situation is satisfactory.  The assessment in the refugee camps also confirmed the presence of some Ivorian refugees and third-country nationals among Sierra Leonean refugees.

For further information, please contact:  Rosemary Musumba, OCHA Monrovia, tel.:  377 47 53 00 48; Stephanie Bunker, OCHA NY, tel.:  917 367 5126, cell:  917 892 1679; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel.:  41 22 917 26 53, cell:  41 (O) 79 473 45 70

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