04 July 2003
U.S. Contributes Additional $10 Million For West African Refugees
(Funds for persons displaced by fighting in Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire)
(530)
The United States has contributed an additional $10 million to
international humanitarian agencies for assistance to displaced
persons and families displaced by fighting in Liberia and Cote
d'Ivoire, the State Department announced on July 3.
The U.S. is allocating $8.25 million to the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, $1.3 million to the International Committee
of the Red Cross, and $450,000 to the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies "in response to recent appeals on
behalf of refugees, conflict victims, and uprooted migrants in West
Africa as a result of the conflicts in Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire,"
according to the State Department.
The $10 million contribution is in addition to over $14 million
already identified for U.S. humanitarian assistance for Liberia and
Côte d'Ivoire. The U.S. has also contributed $81 million for
Africa-wide programs to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and
International Committee of the Red Cross.
Following is the text of a July 3 Media Note from the Department of
State:
(begin text)
Department of State
Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
July 3, 2003
U.S. Contributes Additional $10 Million to Humanitarian Agencies to
Aid Refugees in West Africa
The United States is contributing an additional $10 million in refugee
and migration assistance funding to help humanitarian agencies provide
aid to those who have been uprooted by the often inter-twined
conflicts in the West African nations of Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire.
The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and
Migration is contributing $8.25 million to the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, $1.3 million to the International Committee
of the Red Cross, and $450,000 to the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies in response to recent appeals on
behalf of refugees, conflict victims, and uprooted migrants in West
Africa as a result of the conflicts in Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire.
The conflicts in Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire have displaced tens of
thousands of civilians and created new refugees. The conflicts have
forced West African migrants from such countries as Burkina Faso and
Mali who had been living and working in Côte d Ivoire -- sometimes for
more than a generation -- to flee to their ancestral countries. Caught
between two wars, Liberians and Ivoirians in their common border
regions have fled back and forth as the fighting has shifted.
Combatants on all sides have forcibly recruited refugees and other
civilians, including young children. Refugee-weary Sierra Leone and
Guinea have taken in new refugees, and the combat in Liberia s capital
of Monrovia has put an estimated one million people at risk.
The $10 million contribution is in addition to over $14 million in
earmarked U.S. humanitarian assistance for Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire
to date this fiscal year. Additionally, the United States has
contributed $81 million Africa-wide to UN High Commissioner for
Refugees and International Committee of the Red Cross, some of which
also benefits these victims.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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