 |
|
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
SIERRA LEONE: NRC profile of internal displacement
ABIDJAN, 7 April 2003 (IRIN) - //Attention subscribers. The following report corrects and updates the story titled 'Sierra Leone: Peace still fragile, Norwegian Refugee Council warns', published on 3 April.//
Between April 2001 and the end of 2002, some 220,000 people who had been internally displaced by Sierra Leone's war (1991-2001) had returned to their home areas, according to UN figures. However, many went back to communities that lacked basic infrastructure and social services. This created acute humanitarian needs and caused some resettlers to drift back to urban areas, according to information contained in a new document produced by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
The 'Profile of Internal Displacement: Sierra Leone', issued on 4 April 2003 in Geneva, is a compilation of information from a wide variety of sources available in the NRC's Global IDP Database.
The resettlement in their areas of origin of the 220,000 IDPs marked the official ending of the situation of internal displacement in Sierra Leone. However, resettlement assistance was only provided for registered IDPs, not for those who either were unregistered or did not wish to be resettled, according to the document. It also stated that "NGO sources privately reported that about 10,000 to 20,000 'unofficial' IDPs remain, mostly in urban areas".
Based on the information contained in the profile, humanitarian needs generally remained most acute in areas with large-scale resettlement, particularly in the east and north of the country. Shelter was a priority need while other sectors in which humanitarian interventions were needed were food security, health, water and sanitation and education, according to a UN source cited in the document.
Humanitarian agencies requested funding to the sum of US$ 98.5 million in their 2002 consolidated appeal for Sierra Leone. As at November 2002, 54 percent had been provided, but there was a serious imbalance between sectors. Donor response reflected a lack of support for resettlement of IDPs, while the health, water and sanitation, economic recovery and infrastructure sectors were poorly funded or not at all, according to information provided in the profile. The UN has requested almost US $83 million for humanitarian programmes in the 2003 consolidated interagency appeal.
The profile also reflects the perspectives of human rights and other groups on Sierra Leone's peace process.
It reports Amnesty International as highlighting the need, in May 2002, to address the culture of impunity surrounding the issue of sexual violence against women and girls. Other organisations quoted in the profile with regard to abuses against women and children include Physicians for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Human rights groups also pinpointed the need for focussing attention and resources on rebuilding and strengthening the judicial system and restoring confidence in the rule of law.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted in a report issued on 11 July 2002 that, on one hand, peaceful elections were held throughout the country, which indicated that Sierra Leone had "entered a new, optimistic phase after the years of conflict, destruction and abuse".
"Yet, the peace remains fragile" HRW warned. "Deep-rooted issues that gave rise to the war - a culture of impunity, endemic corruption, weak rule of law, crushing poverty, and the inequitable distribution of the country’s vast natural resources - remain largely unaddressed. The new government, with the support of the international community, must take urgent steps to tackle these problems if Sierra Leoneans are not again to be plunged into the misery and destruction that blighted so many lives in the 1990s.
"In particular, those responsible for the gross abuses of the past must be brought to justice before the new Special Court for Sierra Leone; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission should expose the causes of the war and recommend safeguards against their recurrence; a fair justice system must be rebuilt to underpin the rule of law; and the process of reforming the police and army to inculcate respect for human rights must be completed. And in the wider region, the international community must take steps to prevent the resurgent conflict in Liberia from again engulfing Sierra Leone."
However, "progress was also seen in the commencement of work by both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Special Court," the Mail & Guardian newspaper was quoted as reporting.
Profile of Internal Displacement: Sierra Leone can be accessed at www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/idpSurvey.nsf/wCountries/Sierra+Leone
Themes: (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs
[ENDS]
The material contained on this Web site comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post any item on this site, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All graphics and Images on this site may not be re-produced without the express permission of the original owner. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
