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News notes
UNICEF airlifts more emergency relief supplies for displaced
persons in war-torn Liberia
Monrovia, May 30, 2002 - A UNICEF chartered flight arrives
in Monrovia on 31 May, 2002, with over 40 metric tonnes of emergency
relief supplies intended for use by internally displaced persons in
Liberia.
The supplies, which are valued at over US $110, 000.00,
include high energy biscuits, BP-5 compact food, therapeutic milk, hospital
equipment, essential medicines, tarpaulins and water containers.
These materials are being rushed into the country to meet
the needs of the rapidly swelling population of internally displaced
persons fleeing the intensified fighting in the western, north-western
and central provinces of Liberia.
The displaced people, who are mostly children and women,
are reported to be in urgent need of food, shelter and medication after
trekking long distances to reach safety.
Earlier this week, UNICEF distributed 1.6 metric tonnes
of high protein biscuits to displaced children in Ganta, Nimba County,
where over 20,000 persons displaced by the recent fighting in central
Liberia, are now sheltering.
The new consignment is the second batch of emergency relief
supplies to be airlifted to Liberia by UNICEF since the fighting intensified
in February this year and quickly spread to three additional counties
of Liberia.
The airlift of supplies by UNICEF is part of a concerted effort by the
specialised agencies of the United Nations to address the needs of the
rapidly increasing population of IDPs who are now reported to be numbering
more than 100,000 in camps set up in various parts of the country.
In addition to providing the emergency relief materials,
UNICEF in collaboration with the Liberian government and their NGO partners,
have set up Child Friendly Spaces at four IDP camps in the Monrovia
area, to enable children play, learn and acquire life skills. The Child
Friendly Spaces, which are the first such facilities to be set up in
the country, also provide mothers with a suitable environment to care
for their infants, while enabling children to experience a degree of
normalcy amid the chaos unfolding around them.
The airlifting of the relief items was made possible through
a donation made by the government of the United Kingdom in response
to the 2002 Consolidated Appeal for assistance to Liberia.
For further information, please contact
MacArthur S. Hill,
Communication Officer, UNICEF Liberia,
Tel. 231 226 138 or e-mail: mhill@unicef.org
Margherita Amodeo,
Head of Communication, UNICEF WCARO, tel. 2020 8101 and cellular 05
68 09 73 or e-mail: mamodeo@unicef.org
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