WEST AFRICA: WFP responds to increasing demands

ABIDJAN, 17 Mar 2003 (IRIN) - Some 250 km of feeder roads in Sierra Leone's Kailahun and Kambia districts are to be repaired under a memorandum of understanding between three UN agencies, an NGO and a Sierra Leonean state agency, WFP reported on Friday.

The project involves WFP, UNDP, UNOPS, Catholic Relief Services and the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA).

The roads suffered severe damage during Sierra Leone's civil war (1991-2002). Many people from the area were also displaced. "The project will link villages to larger roads, giving them access to much needed markets and services," WFP said in its 2003 emergency report No.11. It said WFP would provide 650 mt of food over a six-month period, through a Food-for-Work programme it runs in Sierra Leone. CRS would contribute 350 mt of food, while UNDP's contribution would be US $250,000 to meet construction and rehabilitation costs, while SLRA would provide technical assistance, training and supervision.

WFP also reported an outbreak of lassa fever in three refugee camps in Sierra Leone, including one, Jimmi Gbagbo, which is outside the endemic area and had never before had any known cases of the fever. "WFP and implementing partners are collaborating to address health and nutrition issues linked to the outbreak and both old and newly arriving refugees, as well as humanitarian personnel, were sensitized on precautionary measures," WFP said.

In Côte d'Ivoire, WFP said it had received reports from Action Contre la Faim (ACF) on the food security situation in the northern towns of Odienné and Korhogo, and the western town of Man. "The three towns are held by insurgents and are characterized by a general lack of access to cash, public services and markets," WFP said. "The populations are using alternative surviving and coping mechanisms, including reducing food rations. The reports recommend that a Food for Work (FFW) programme is launched, targeting vulnerable people."

WFP said it planned to open an office in Man within two weeks. "First priority is to start a programme similar to that running in Bouaké, providing ready-made meals to children under six. In Man, more than 10 percent of children are at risk of malnourishment and immediate food needs for 6,000 children were identified by ACF," the agency said.

In Bouaké, a rebel-held town in central Cote d'Ivoire, WFP distributed food to 7,485 beneficiaries.

In Liberia, where WFP said people displaced from the western counties of Grand Cape Mount and Bomi were arriving daily in IDP camps, preparations were underway to assist some 270,210 people, of whom 71 percent would be IDPs along with 190,855 others already living in camps in various parts of the country.

[ENDS]