UN HUMANITARIAN OFFICE DONOR SUPPORT GROUP VISITS GUINEA

UN HUMANITARIAN OFFICE DONOR SUPPORT GROUP VISITS GUINEA

CONAKRY, 18 April (OCHA) -– A 15-member delegation of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Donor Support Group, represented by Belgium, Canada, the European Community Humanitarian Office, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States will arrive in Conakry, from Abidjan tomorrow for a three-day visit to Guinea.

The OCHA Donor Support Group is currently on a mission to Ivory Coast, Guinea and Senegal to assess the humanitarian situation and focus on the role of OCHA in these countries, as well as the dynamics of the subregion.  The donor group will endeavour to advocate with the international community to refocus the provision of humanitarian assistance and relate it more positively to current efforts by the Government to re-engage donors and promote good governance.  It will also make recommendations on OCHA’s role in the last stages of refugee assistance and during the transition from relief to early recovery initiatives.

In Conakry, the OCHA Donor Support Group will meet with senior government officials, donors resident in Conakry, United Nations agencies, the Red Cross Movement and non-governmental organizations.

As part of its mission, the donor group will visit N’Zérékoré region, on 20 and 21 April 2005, where it will meet with local authorities and vulnerable populations.  Owing to its geographic location, historical, ethnic and cultural commonalities with the subregion, N’Zérékoré has been a safe haven for populations fleeing conflict in the subregion for over a decade, and the most affected by rebel attacks of 2000-2001.  It became, as a result, one of the most vulnerable regions in Guinea.  It hosts refugee camps, the majority of the internally displaced persons, Guinean returnees and ex-volunteers, and the biggest humanitarian community in Guinea.

The lack of resources necessary to cushion the pressure which refugees have exerted on local structures has further weakened social infrastructures and basic services to the population and other victims of instability in the neighbouring countries.  Consequently, the Guinean population has become increasingly vulnerable.  This has resulted in high mortality, morbidity and malnutrition rates, little or no access for internally displaced persons and distressed returnees to health services, primary education, adequate shelter and arable land; increasing loss of coping mechanisms for host populations; deterioration of social relations, and frequent recourse to violence in some areas; and ex-volunteers without access to a disarmament, return and/or reintegration programme.

After concluding its visit to Guinea with a press conference, the OCHA Donor Support Group will depart on Thursday evening for Dakar, Senegal. 

For further information, please contact:  UN-OCHA Conakry, Guinea, Tel:  224-41-15-58.