GUINEA May 2002 This Annual Report Is Intended for Reporting on the Federation's Annual Appeals Only
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GUINEA May 2002 This Annual Report is intended for reporting on the Federation's Annual Appeals only. Appeal No. 01.03/2001 Appeal Target: CHF 6,158,432 (USD 3,793,937 or EUR 4,212,313) Operational Developments Since 1990, Guinea has played host to hundreds of thousands of Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees fleeing civil war in their countries. At one point 500,000 refugees were estimated to be in the country, and as recently as the year 2000, some 350,000 were still in Guinea, many scattered along the border areas, others in villages or in refugee camps. In 2001 a significant change occurred in the refugee situation. Owing to the prevailing insecurity on the border areas and repeated attacks by rebel groups on Guinean villages, particularly in the Parrot’s Beak and Guéckédou areas, the Guinean government insisted that all refugees be moved to refugee camps in the interior. For the Sierra Leoneans, these transfers took place from March to August. Refugees were located in four new camps, three of which were established in Albadaria and one in the Dabola area. However, of an estimated 200,000 refugees slated for transfer, only 62,000 did in fact leave. Sembakounia camp in Dabola received 8,000 while Albadaria in Kountaya housed 27,000, Boréah 13,500 and Telikoro 13,500. The camps located in the Forécariah area were closed and refugees who refused to be transferred to the new camps no longer received assistance. Estimates indicated that refugees numbered approximately 10,000 in Forécariah while figures for those who remained in Parrot’s Beak ranged from 20,000 to 60,000. In the N’Zérékoré area, where the majority of Liberians were accommodated, a second camp, Kola, opened in August with a capacity of 6,000 while the already existing camp at Kouankan saw its refugee population swell from 10,000 to 13,500. The peace process in Sierra Leone resulted in mass repatriations and by the end of the year an estimated 250 refugees were returning to Sierra Leone weekly. Some refugees however, preferred to wait for elections to be held in their country. The situation in Liberia was quite different. Over the past year and particularly in the last quarter, tensions rose and most of the Liberian population was on the move. Thousands massed on the frontiers with Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast. Although the Guinean authorities closed the border, some particularly vulnerable refugees were allowed in. Whereas plans for the repatriation of the Sierra Leoneans accelerated, in contrast, plans for an influx of thousands of Liberians were in full swing. 2 In 2001, the Federation together with the Guinean Red Cross provided social assistance support to 81,500 refugees in Sembakounia, Kountaya, Telikoro, Boréah, Kouankan and Kola camps, organized health care for 19,500 Liberian refugees in the N’Zérékoré camps of Kouankan and Kola and managed the Kountaya and Boréah camps for 40,500 refugees in Albadaria. Objectives, Achievements and Constraints Disaster Response Objective 1 To prevent and decrease the incidence of infectious and epidemic disease among the local and refugee population through a programme to promote community health, schooling and human rights. Activities Constraints a) Weekly sensitization sessions on hygiene and community health were carried out in the two camps (Kola and Kouankan in the N’Zérékoré districts) where the Red Cross provided health care. Sessions in Kouankan began in April when the Federation/Guinean Red Cross took over health care in the camp. Sessions in Kola started in September following the opening of the camp in August and the training of the Red Cross Guinean and refugee volunteers. b) Follow-up visits to patients discharged from the health post or the hospital were carried out by trained refugee volunteers and health post staff. c) A one-month sensitization and sanitation programme on cholera prevention was carried out in the N’Zérékoré prefecture in September following an outbreak of the disease in four villages. d) Red Cross volunteers carried out a two-week sensitization programme against water borne diseases in the Kankan prefecture following severe flooding in the area in September and October. The evaluation of the disaster, the distribution of non-food items to the victims, the training of Red Cross volunteers and the programme itself was a cooperative effort between the ICRC, the Federation and the national society. e) A six-week sensitization and sanitation programme was organized in Conakry in November and December by Red Cross volunteers following an outbreak of yellow fever in the city. f) Guinean Red Cross volunteers were trained to provide assistance to the most vulnerable refugees in the six camps and to the most vulnerable among the refugee and local population in the villages. A total of 42 counsellors were trained and an equal number of refugee volunteers were recruited and trained to assist the counsellors. g) Hand driven wheelchairs were provided to 43 refugees in the six camps enabling them to be more independent. h) Red Cross volunteers constructed 399 individual houses for the most vulnerable (handicapped and elderly) in Kouankan, Kountaya f) Income generation and Boréah camps. The houses enabled these individuals to live projects were not independently while still having the support of family close by. implemented due to the i) 9,700 hygiene kits for women were distributed in the camps as movement and resettlement well as 600 baby kits. of refugees from camp to 3 j) Under Red Cross camp management, cleanup campaigns were camp that went on until the organized monthly in Boréah and Kountaya. Garbage containers end of the year. were installed and emptied three times a week. h) 187 houses in Kouankan were not completed owing to the onset of the rainy season. j) Latrine construction and maintenance were the responsibility of other partners (with the exception of the health posts operated by the Red Cross Objective 2: To provide special assistance to extremely vulnerable individuals, estimated to number 25,000 and comprising elderly, sick and disabled persons, amputees and urban refugees. Activities Constraints a) Red Cross volunteers were trained to carry out home visits in the camps and in the rural areas where refugees were located. In the N’Zérékoré area 381 extremely vulnerable refugees were identified and provided with medical assistance and non-food items. In the camps, a total of approximately 8,500 extremely vulnerable refugees were also identified. Assistance was provided in the form of counselling, housing, wheelchairs and crutches and special medical assistance. b) The following activities were carried out in the six camps: Refugee cooperatives were For women - a total of 16 committees were established with at not formed owing to the least two committees in each camp. Sensitization sessions on length of time it took to personal and environmental hygiene, cooperation and project establish refugees on a more management were carried out on the social project while the or less permanent basis in health workers conducted sensitization sessions on HIV/AIDS, the camps. the importance of family planning, the use of condoms and education for children, especially girls. For the elderly - the following activities were carried out in each camp: an association of senior citizens was created; various activities for income generation to be implemented in 2002 were identified; sensitization sessions to encourage people to help each other; home visits; and the identification of elderly persons still able to function independently. For the handicapped - an association for handicapped people was created in each camp; sensitization to encourage mutual aid and the importance of self-help; identification of special projects to be carried out in 2002; home visits for those needing special assistance. For youth - a youth association was created, some revenue generating projects such as hair dressing for men and women and painting were established; sport and craft activities were implemented in each camp with monthly football tournaments. 4 c) 35,000 refugees and the extremely vulnerable among the local population received blankets, mats, soap and used clothing during the year. All non-food items were distributed before December with the exception of a few used clothes. d) 104,200 meals were served to refugees convalescing in the three transit houses managed by the Red Cross and to refugees in hospitals in N’Zérékoré, Dabola and Kissidougou. Objective 3 To provide social and medical services to refugees entitled to free care among the population of 27,000 in six health posts, five prefectoral hospitals and one specialist hospital. Activities Constraints a) The Red Cross operated a health post in Massakoundou camp, The number of health posts seven kilometers from Kissidougou, until the closure of the camp in was reduced from six to two May 2001. Health posts were operational in two camps for Liberian for the following reasons: refugees in the N’Zérékoré district. By the end of the year Massakoudou camp, which Kouankan camp had 13,500 refugees while Kola, opened in August, had two health posts, was had reached its capacity of 6,000. closed in May; Nyadou camp A total of 23,663 consultations were carried out in three health was also closed in April. posts with 3,417 in Massakoundou and 20,246 in Kouankan and Kola. In Kouankan and Kola the dominant pathologies were malaria (36 per cent), acute respiratory infections (19.5 per cent), helminthises or verminoses (worms)(11 per cent), skin infections (7 per cent), non-bloody diarrhea (6.5 per cent), and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) (6 per cent). 1,640 infants under age one and 516 children over a year old received the full vaccination programme. Measles vaccinatations were administered to 2,897 children between 6 months and 15 years in Kouankan camp and to 2,845 children in Kola, who also received vitamin A.