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WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Update 592 (Thursday 11 November 1999)
CONTENTS:
SIERRA LEONE: Donor mission visits projects in Kenema
SIERRA LEONE: 268 abducted children released last month
SIERRA LEONE: Increase in HIV/AIDS in children SIERRA
LEONE: New human rights NGO launched SIERRA LEONE:
Human rights training for the police LIBERIA: Health
Ministry suspends issuance of birth certificates GHANA:
Food, drugs and shelter urgently needed for flood-hit
areas SENEGAL: First round of polio vaccination campaign
completed
SIERRA LEONE: Donor mission visits projects in Kenema
A high-level team of aid donors visited on Wednesday a hospital, feeding centre and camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kenema in Sierra Leone's Eastern Province, a source from the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (HACU) told IRIN on Thursday.
The team, led by the Deputy UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Carolyn McAskie, said they were impressed by the level of coordination on the ground between UN agencies, NGOs and the government, according to HACU.
At the Lebanese IDP Camp they visited a children's project run by the International Rescue Committee and UNICEF, which offers life-sustaining activities and protection for former child soldiers and child abductees.
They also visited a school project at the Therapeutic Feeding Centre and Kenema Hospital.
The team said that the visit would help them to make more informed decisions over funding. "It's one thing for donors to make decisions and quite another to be confronted with the reality of the situation," HACU reported one official as saying.
The four-day mission ended on Thursday.
SIERRA LEONE: 268 abducted children released last month
A total of 268 abducted children were released during October, the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (HACU) said in a situation report for the period 24 October-6 November. Some 54 of these children have been reunited with their families and 24 remain in interim care in the Western Area of Freetown.
UNICEF has registered 4,341 missing children in the Western Area since January while 2,661 remain unaccounted for, the report said.
The Makeni branch of the Catholic relief organisation CARITAS, which runs a centre for former "child soldiers" and abducted girls and aims to reintegrate them into society, has assisted 490 children between 20 July and 9 November, MISNA said on Wednesday.
HACU reported that another NGO, the Child Protection Network, has re-started a foster family programme in Port Loko and Lungi, north of Freetown and in Daru in the east, under which family homes serve as emergency reception centres for demobilised child soldiers.
SIERRA LEONE: Increase in HIV/AIDS in children
Many children associated with the fighting forces are believed to have been infected with the HIV virus, according to Sierra Leone's NGO Working Group on Child Rights. The UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) has been asked to investigate the alarming increase of HIV/AIDS among children, HACU said.
The working group has also discussed the issue of reform for the national juvenile justice system as cases have been recorded of arbitrary detention pending trial, denial of legal representation and poor conditions in remand homes, HACU reported.
SIERRA LEONE: New human rights NGO launched
"Manifesto '99," a new local human rights NGO launched in Freetown on 26 October, aims to monitor the implementation of the Human Rights Manifesto for Sierra Leone which was signed in June, HACU reported.
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Francis Okelo, who attended the launch along with government officials and civil society leaders, welcomed the creation of the NGO and urged its signatories to work to improve the situation of human rights in the country.
Meanwhile one of the consultants of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) completed a 14-day mission to Sierra Leone on 30 October. The consultant carried out extensive consultations with individuals and organisations in Freetown and the provinces.
SIERRA LEONE: Human rights training for the police
UNAMSIL human rights officers conducted human rights training for 120 officers of the Sierra Leonean Police Force during the month of October, HACU reported. The police authorities have asked UNAMSIL to continue providing the training each week at barracks in Freetown.
Discussions are underway to give specialised training to a core group of senior police officers who will in turn do follow-up training for other members of the police force, particularly those based in the provinces.
UNAMSIL also conducted human rights briefings for all new military observers, HACU said.
LIBERIA: Health Ministry suspends the issuing of birth certificates
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare on Thursday announced the suspension of the issuing of birth and death certificates to the public.
"This action is a clear manifestation of the Ministry's belief in the judiciary and the rule of law in this country," Arthur Saye, Deputy Minister of Health said.
A court injunction had previously been issued at the request of the Centre for the Protection of Human Rights, a local human rights group, when it emerged that the Ministry of Health had substantially increased the price of birth certificates.
Meanwhile, an arrest order against Health Minister, Peter Coleman, was revoked after a judge accepted that government business prevented him from responding to a summons, a media source in Monrovia told IRIN.
Coleman was represented in court by the Justice Minister on Wednesday, the source told IRIN.
GHANA: Food, drugs, shelter urgently needed for flood-hit areas
Food, drugs and shelter are urgently needed for people affected by recent flooding in northern Ghana, according to a situation report issued on Wednesday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Food is the most pressing need, OCHA said, as even in areas where it is available it is not affordable, due to sharp price rises. Many fishing villages and farms have been damaged and food aid will be needed until the next harvesting period.
All 13 districts in Northern Region, the largest of all the regions hit by the floods, have been "severely affected" and the Districts of East Gonja, West Gonja, Nanumba, West Mamprusi and Bole are "of particular concern," OCHA reported.
Tents, straw mats, blankets, mattresses, kitchen utensils and clothing are also needed. For classes to resume, displaced people will have to leave schools now serving as temporary accommodation and so provision of alternative shelter is critical. Drugs, medical equipment, purification of contaminated water are also in demand, OCHA said.
Many areas are still covered with water and there are collapsed houses, schools, roads, bridges, dams and canals in the affected areas. Dams and canals need to be rebuilt for the dry season (December-March) farming, while roads and bridges need to be repaired so that relief items can be transported, the report said.
The report is based on preliminary findings of a joint
assessment mission conducted from 3 to 5 November by
the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO),
Ministry of Health, Ghana Armed Forces, UN agencies,
USAID, Ghana Red Cross and NGOs.
SENEGAL: First round of polio vaccination campaign completed
The first round of a national polio immunisation, held in Senegal on 5 and 6 November, was a "success" WHO Expanded Programme for Immunisation officer Dr. Salla, told IRIN.
The vaccination campaign was carried out by the Ministry of Health, with the assistance of WHO, UNICEF, USAID, CIDA, Rotary International and the Center for Disease Control, he added.
A high average rate of coverage was achieved nationwide according to Salla. However, in Ziguinchor, where the separatist Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) is based, coverage was "lower than the national average," he said. The official daily, 'Le Soleil', attributes this to security constraints.
The second round of the polio immunisation campaign is scheduled for 3-4 December.
Abidjan, 11 November 1999; 18:15 GMT
[ENDS]
[IRIN-WA: Tel: +225 217366 Fax: +225 216335 e-mail: irin-wa@ocha.unon.org ]
Item: irin-english-1958
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Subscriber: afriweb@sas.upenn.edu Keyword: IRIN
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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