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Efforts of Interaction Member Agencies in
West Africa

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Produced by Kourtnii Brown With the Disaster Response Unit of InterAction ®
American Council for Voluntary International Action
1717 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. #701,
Washington D.C. 20036 phone (202)667-8227 fax (202) 667-8236
http://www.interaction.org

September 2001 Maps of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone Map of West Africa Background Summary Report Summary Organizations by Sector Activity Glossary of Acronyms

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InterAction Member Activity Reports

Action Against Hunger (USA)
American Refugee Committee               
Air Serv International
Catholic Relief Services                               
Childreach/Plan International                        
Christian Children’s Fund
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee 
Concern Worldwide 
Direct Relief International                       
Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
Episcopal Relief and Development                                       
Freedom From Hunger                                                  
International Medical Corps
International Rescue Committee                                                                                            
OIC International
Save the Children Federation, Inc.
Trickle Up Program
United Methodist Committee on Relief  
US Fund for UNICEF                                                                          
Volunteers in Technical Assistance   
World Relief
World Vision

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Guinea                             Sierra Leone

  Liberia                               West Africa

Background Summary

West Africa, including Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, is entangled in a massive complex emergency that continues to devastate the livelihoods of many civilians.  The political, economic, and humanitarian underpinnings of the crises among the three nations covered in this report are inextricably interlinked.  The legacy of chronic corruption, the quest for mineral wealth and continuing cross-border violence have left the region with only fragile hope for peace and reconciliation. 

The ongoing crisis in West Africa began in December 1989 when civil war broke out in Liberia.  Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) overthrew Samuel Doe’s military regime by September 1990.  However, rival military factions soon sprang up in opposition to Taylor.  The complex conflict that followed led to mass destruction and a large-scale humanitarian disaster throughout Liberia.  The seven-year war caused over 200,000 deaths and displaced up to 2.5 million people (80% of the Liberian population) internally and into the neighboring countries of Ivory Coast, Guinea and Sierra Leone.  In the aftermath of the war, in July 1997, a democratic election was held and observed by international donors.  Former warlord Charles Taylor was elected president and his regime announced that it was committed to peace and reconciliation.  However, by 1999, internal ethnic and security problems prompted Taylor to deploy NPFL fighters against regional peacekeeping troops known as the Economic Community of West Africa’s Observer Group (ECOMOG) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).  Liberia’s leaders have been under UN sanctions since then, and imports of diamonds from Liberia have been prohibited.  The situation was further strained by Charles Taylor’s backing of the Sierra Leone Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in its efforts to gain total control in Sierra Leone. 

The RUF began invading Sierra Leone in March 1991 from neighboring Liberia.  It has since conducted a 10-year military offensive to seize control of the government.  In May 1997, the Government of Sierra Leone (GOSL), under then-president Ahmed Tijan Kabbah, was overthrown by Major Johhny Paul Koromah, who seized power in the name of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).  His soldiers then joined with the RUF rebel faction, forming a new government.  However, the new regime was dislodged in February 1998 by the Nigerian-led ECOMOG.  Kabbah was reinstated as president and began to build a new military force to fight RUF rebels.  The backbone of Kabbah’s armed forces came from independent tribal self-defense units, which he called the Civil Defense Forces (CDF).  The CDF was later taken under the auspices of ECOMOG.  ECOMOG succeeded in preventing a takeover of Freetown in January 1999 by the RUF, but soon realized that an effective end to the threat posed by rebel factions would require a negotiated solution.  The signing of the Lomé Peace Accord on 7 July 1999 between the GOSL and the RUF was a cease-fire agreement resulting from regional negotiations.  

As a result of the accord, the RUF’s leader, Foday Sankoh, became Vice President of Sierra Leone and was placed in charge of the country’s diamond mines and trade.  Sankoh has been blamed for continuing to trade diamonds for illegal arms with Liberian President Charles Taylor, also receiving money from Taylor to support a military campaign.  Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Sierra Leone’s 10-year civil war and tens of thousands have been victimized by widespread, indiscriminate torture and rape conducted by the RUF.  About 400,000 of the refugees are now in neighboring Guinea and 100,000 migrated to Liberia.  However, conflict and violence have caught up with them in these places as well, and the host countries have had a difficult time protecting refugees from rebel insurgencies.  Preparations for Sierra Leonean Presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2001 are currently ongoing.

The Government of Guinea (GOG) has been extremely hospitable to refugees fleeing both Liberia and Sierra Leone.  The country has sheltered over 500,000 refugees since UNHCR established a post there in 1990.  However, the GOG remains preoccupied by recent RUF incursions and Liberian attacks into its territories from both Liberia and Sierra Leone.  An estimated 178,000 internally displaced persons have moved from border area homes and IDP camps.  Guinea has closed its border with Liberia as tensions continue to increase between the two countries.  Liberia has blamed Guinea for playing a role in the Liberian rebel insurgencies in Lofa County, which began in May 2001 and continue.  However, Guinea denied involvement and consequently moved refugee camps in border areas further inland.  Since February 2001, UNHCR has successfully relocated 54,000 refugees from Guinea’s Parrot’s Beak region.  Guinean residents are becoming more hostile towards refugees (mostly Sierra Leoneans), accusing them of harboring rebel groups that are blamed for the continuing cross-border attacks.   

The UN Security Council authorized the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) in October 1999.  It has since been expanded to a 20,500-strong peacekeeping force.  UNAMSIL is committed to the provisions of the Lomé Peace Accord, and is currently assisting with implementation of the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) process for RUF combatants.  The DDR process in West Africa is an attempt to create an environment in which former combatants may take part in a productive society.  The first step involves combatants turning over a weapon to be dismantled and destroyed.  Then the combatants enter a demobilization camp where combatants participate in an orientation that explains the rights and responsibilities of citizenship as a civilian.  Once combatants have completed their time at a demobilization camp they are provided means for returning to their original communities. Once back in community, reintegration continues by means of vocational training or education.  Other aspects of DDR in West Africa have included the resettlement of refugees and displaced persons, provision of psychosocial support, micro-loans for the opening of small businesses, physical rehabilitation as well as addressing the HIV/AIDS situation with education and testing.  One of the principal goals of DDR is the removal of checkpoints and blockades to regions in need of humanitarian assistance. 

DDR finds varied support in the international community. Primarily funded by the World Bank Multi-Donor Trust Fund, the program relies on the UN Peacekeeping Force and various local and international NGOs for implementation.  Recent difficulties have raised questions about the effectiveness of the DDR program.  The weapons that combatants have turned in for destruction have been described as antiques and newer guns are often hidden instead of being brought to disarmament centers.  Another concern is the lack of a stable economic base to provide employment for newly integrated members of society.  With unemployment around eighty percent, the newly trained ex-combatants have a ten percent chance of finding a job.

In June 2001, UNAMSIL was able to evacuate the first Liberian and Guinean refugees from the RUF-controlled Kailahun District of Sierra Leone.  UNAMSIL has also officially opened the highway linking Freetown and Conakry and has reported minimal conflict between the CDF and the RUF.  As of June 2001, the RUF has released 932 children to UNAMSIL, and has promised to release an additional 147 child combatants from the RUF base in Tongo Fields.  An additional 16,000 fighters have taken part in disarmament since mid-August, according to UN officials.  Safety of international aid workers is currently the most important security concern for the U.N. agencies and non-governmental organizations in West Africa.

Report Summary

This guide offers international agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the media, and the public an overview of the humanitarian assistance being provided to the people of West Africa by InterAction member agencies.  As InterAction members, the organizations in this report have agreed to abide by a set of standards to ensure accountability to donors, professional competence, and quality of service.  More information about these standards is available on the InterAction website at www.interaction.org/pvostandards.

There are 22 member organizations currently conducting relief and development operations in West Africa, of which 11 are involved in Guinea, ten in Liberia, and 18 in Sierra Leone.  13 sector areas are addressed in programming, including agriculture and food security, business development, cooperatives and credit, disaster and emergency relief, education and training, food security, gender issues/women in development, health care, peace and conflict resolution, malnutrition, psychosocial services, refugee and migration services, rural development, and water and sanitation.  InterAction members conduct activities within Guinea in the districts of Languette de Guekedou, Albadaria, and Dabola, and in the capital Conakry, as well as in the towns of N’zerekore, Kissidougou, Wendekenema, Katkama, Haute, Koundou Lengo Bengo, Kolomba, and Nongoa.  In Liberia, members are active in the counties and towns of Grand Gedeh, River Gee, Kanweaken, Zwedru, Southwest Liberia, Cape Mount, Tallah, Robertsport, Tombey, Tewor, Garwula, Montserrado, Grand-Bassa, and Bong, as well as Jenne Mana, Mamou, Cari, Gbalatua, Nimba, Ganta, Blefana, Melekie, Sinje, and the capital Monrovia.  In Sierra Leone, member programs operate in the districts of Bombali/Tonkolili, Magburaka, Blama, Kenema, Pujehun, Kambia, Kailahun, Kono, and the Northern Province, including the villages of Makeni, Daru, Barmoi, Kagbanthama, Lungi, Mattru-Jong, Wellington, Moyambo, Bo, Yele, Port Loko, and the capital Freetown.  Members also have smaller scale programs scattered throughout additional remote villages in all three countries.

The NGOs in this report have presented various objectives for their projects in West Africa.  Among them is the need to provide rehabilitation for the psychosocial trauma from which many displaced persons or ex-combatants suffer.  Furthermore, the lack of sustainable conditions for refugees upon their return requires NGOs to maintain assistance throughout the period of reconstruction.  Another important objective of many organizations is to work for greater self-sufficiency among West African war-affected populations.  Programs in education and health care have been strengthened and expanded to meet sustainable development demands.  Finally, much of the physical infrastructure in the region has been destroyed, making it necessary for NGOs to provide shelter reconstruction and water and sanitation as well.

Many NGOs have developed good working relationships not only with each other, but also with both local and international partners.  Some of the agencies involved are UNHCR, UNICEF, OCHA, USAID/OFDA, WHO, WFP, Oxfam, NCDDR, ICRC, the European Union/ECHO, in-country Ministries of Health/Education, Food for Peace, Action by Churches Together, and the US Department of State-BPRM.

Organizations by Sector Activity

Guinea 
Action Against Hunger                
Air Serv International                      
American Refugee Committee     
Childreach/Plan International         
Doctors Without Borders (MSF)        
Freedom From Hunger                 
Save the Children Federation, Inc
International Rescue Committee            
United Methodist Committee on Relief
US Fund for UNICEF  
VITA                                                                                       

Liberia
Action Against Hunger                                                                        
American Refugee Committee                   
Air Serv International
Christian Relief Services  
Concern Worldwide                     
Doctors Without Borders (MSF)   
International Rescue committee        
United Methodist Committee on Relief               
US Fund for UNICEF                            
World Vision

Sierra Leone
Action Against Hunger           
Air Serv International                                                                         
American Refugee Committee  
Christian Relief Services           
Christian Children’s Fund         
Concern Worldwide                    
Childreach/Plan International          
Direct Relief International   
Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
International Medical Corps     
International Rescue Committee
OIC International                   
The Trickle Up Program               
United Methodist Committee on Relief  
Christian Reformed World Relief Com.   
US Fund for UNICEF                    
World Relief            
World Vision  

Introduction to Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger (AAH) intervenes in crisis situations to bring immediate assistance to those affected by war and famine.  The first to suffer are generally women, children and minority groups.  AAH directs programs in nutrition, education, food security, health, and water/sanitation.  In addition, AAH promotes the long-term objective of helping people restore their food self-sufficiency and to eventually regain their autonomy.

Action Against Hunger in West Africa

AAH provides assistance in Guinea through its Spanish counterpart organization, Accion Contra el Hambre (ACH), and in Liberia and Sierra Leone through its French counterpart organization, Action Contre la Faim (ACF).  ACH and ACF’s objectives in West Africa focus on emergency relief to war affected populations, including refugees, internally displaced people, returnees and residents.  Both agencies strive to reduce the mortality and morbidity caused by malnutrition and to meet urgent water and sanitation needs.  The agencies also provide in-depth analyses on the current status of food security and need.  ACH and ACF aim at reinforcing local capacities for sustainable development in stabilized areas as well, especially in food production and self-sufficiency.

Guinea

ACH has been in Guinea since 1995.  ACH is currently operating along Languette de Guekedou, which includes the refugee camps and villages around Wendekenema, Koundou Lengo Bengo, Kolomba, and Nongoa.  The agency is also active in refugee camps of the Albadaria area, including Kountaya, Mandoukoro, and Telekoro, and in the refugee camps of the Dabola area.  ACH is working in supplemental transit camps in the Guekedou area near Katkama as well.  New areas for disaster relief are also being explored in N’zerekore and Macenta.  Approximately 180,000 beneficiaries are currently aided by ACH in Guinea, and the agency receives funding of approximately $2.75 million USD per year from the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM), the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and Fondation de France.

ACH activities currently in progress focus on emergency assistance in war affected areas and rehabilitation activities in safe areas for local and refugee populations.  Food security and need are in the forefront of most of the agency’s in-country operations.  ACH observes the status of these by following population movements, conducting food security surveillance, monitoring food distribution, detecting existing potential capacities and developing coping strategies.  ACH also practices information sharing with the Food Pipeline Agency, works to reinforce food production by the local population, and promotes refugee synergies in order to prevent possible future food conflicts between different nationals in the same camp.  ACH is also involved in public health and nutrition in Guinea.  The agency monitors the nutritional situation of refugees, IDPs and the local population located in Languette de Guekedou, as well as in the refugee camps of Albadaria and Dabola areas.  Nutritional supplementary treatment is given to the most malnourished population through eight supplementary feeding centers placed in refugee camps and in villages along Languette de Guekedou.  Severely malnourished cases are referred to the Hospital of Kissidougou where ACH is reinforcing the local health structure with new integrated malnutrition treatments.  Water and Sanitation are also concerns of ACH in Guinea.  The agency is involved in construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of water and sanitation facilities in the refugee camps, and in giving support to local and refugee communities for water management.

Liberia

ACF has been in Liberia since 1990.  ACF food security programs are located in Grand Gedeh, River Gee, Kanweaken, Zwedru, and in the southeast of Liberia.  Emergency nutritional assistance is implemented in all IDP camps and in Cape Mount and Bong counties, which include the villages of Jenne Mana, Cari, Gbalatua, Belefana, and Melekie.  The agency’s nutritional programs take place in Montserrado, Nimba, Bong and Grand-Bassa counties, as well as in the capital, Monrovia, and in Sinje.  Water network rehabilitation for local health structures has been focused in Montserrado County.  ACF in Liberia assists approximately 25,000 IDPs with emergency nutritional programs, as well as about 150,000 people indirectly.  Forty-four community-based organizations also participate in food security assessments. Nutritional activities that focus on severe cases of malnutrition aid 1,250 persons, while water network rehabilitation for health structures has been implemented and maintained in eight health centers.  ACF in Liberia receives approximately $1 million USD per year from BPRM, ECHO and DG.

At the end of the war, the emergency relief activities were re-orientated towards more support for the returnees and displaced people through rehabilitation programs.  Program activities involve food security by supporting rural community based organizations with technical advice and fish ponds.  ACF also conducts food security analyses to define appropriate strategies for decision makers.  Nutritional surveillance is implemented similarly in Liberia as in Guinea, and ACF is integrating medical and nutritional care for children younger than five into the local health system.  Water and sanitation programs involve rehabilitation of water supply equipment in health structures, and water and sanitation training for health workers in ACF clinics.  Since September 2001, ACF has been monitoring the evolution of the deteriorating situation at the Guinean border.  A large number of IDPs are fleeing from Lofa County to Bong and Cape Mount counties.  ACF is providing emergency assistance to displaced people in the camps for nutritional surveillance and food security assessments, treatment of severe malnutrition, dry ration distributions, as well as water trucking and water and sanitation in IDP camps.

Sierra Leone

ACF has been active in Sierra Leone since 1991.  ACF conducts food security surveillance throughout accessible vulnerable areas and rebel held territories.  Treatment for moderate and severe malnutrition is mainly done in Makeni, Freetown, Mile 91 and at Bo hospital.  The agency also conducts agricultural relief in the Northern province, including the districts of Bombali/Tonkolili, Magburaka, and Makeni, and agricultural rehabilitation in Bo district.  Construction and maintenance of water facilities is taking place in Freetown, Yele, the Tonkolili district, and the southern area, including in the districts of Bo and Blama.

Currently about 3,000 ACF beneficiaries are receiving seeds and tools.  An average of 750,000 additional people, including IDPs, returnees, refugees, residents and resettled persons, are under food security surveillance.  ACF also aids 19 communities through an agricultural rehabilitation program.  Water and Sanitation facilities reach 70,000 people in the aforementioned refugee camps and water pumps have been installed for the inhabitants of 10 villages.  ACF’s approximate funding level per year is $3 million Euros received from ECHO, The USAID/OFDA, and the Director General (DG).

ACF programs in Sierra Leone focuses its efforts on direct access to vulnerable populations in both rebel-held territories and pro-government areas.  Food security is again monitored through surveillance of population movements, which is gathered through assessments, interviews, market surveys, and nutritional trends.  ACF also conducts agricultural relief distributions of seeds and tools and agricultural rehabilitation through technical support for farming networks, access to agricultural inputs, and reduction of post-harvest losses.