Military

DATE=8/6/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= U-N/LIBERIA AID

NUMBER=2-306222

BYLINE= LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:///NOT TO BE AIRED BEFORE 14:00 U-T-C; 10 A.M. EDT///

INTRO: The United Nations is urgently appealing for 69-million dollars to assist one million people in war-torn Liberia until the end of the year. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.

TEXT: In launching the appeal, the United Nations says Liberia's long civil war has degenerated into a human catastrophe of horrific proportions.

It describes a society in which there has been a total breakdown of law and order and where people are subject to the grossest violations of human rights and lack the most basic necessities.

A spokeswoman for the World Food Program, Christiane Berthiaume, describes the appalling conditions in Liberia:

///BERTHIAUME ACT///

The word catastrophe is not even strong enough to describe the situation in Liberia...There is no food in the market. There is nothing. And, this country has been at war for 14 years and people have no stock. They are living day by day. And, we at W-F-P, because of insecurity, we have not been able to deliver food for the last two weeks.

///END ACT///

The United Nations says people in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, which has been under siege for weeks, suffer from famine and shortage of everything from water and shelter to sanitation and security. It notes the situation for people outside the capital is probably even worse.

The U-N notes communicable diseases, such as cholera, are on the increase and urgent action is needed to prevent an epidemic. It warned a delay in providing emergency aid would cost countless lives. (SIGNED)

NEB/LS/MAR/MEM