SECRETARIAT - 150 route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland - TEL: +41 22 791 6033 - FAX: +41 22 791 6506 www.actalliance.org Appeal Liberia Emergency Assistance to Ivorian Refugees in Liberia, Revision 1 - LBR111 Appeal Target: US$ 2,429,558 Balance Requested: US$1,210,472 Geneva, 17 May 2011 Dear Colleagues, For more than five months now, the political crisis in Ivory Coast has led to more than 173,000 Ivorians to cross the border to Liberia as refugees. After increased violence, the situation started to escalate in the end of February, and since then, there has been a continuous flow of refugees which at the writing of this revised appeal has not stopped despite the capture of Mr Gbagbo and the calm in Abidjan, the Ivorian financial capital. According to the latest estimations there are about 173,000 Ivorian refugees in Liberia – up from the 70,000 Ivorians when the original Appeal was issued. This is causing a humanitarian crisis affecting both the refugees and the receiving host communities. Ivory Coast was mired in a political stalemate since the results of the national elections of 28th November 2010 were declared. The incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, declined to concede defeat to the apparent winner, Alassane Ouattara, citing rigging in the Northern region of the country where Ouattara has a wide following. Fighting in various parts of Ivory Coast (including Abidjan, and the Western areas close to Liberian border) followed, leaving more than 1,500 people dead and an estimated 800,000 internally displaced. With the assistance of French troops, Gbagbo was finally captured in Abidjan on 11 April. In February, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that, in the worst case scenario, there would be as many as 100,000 refugees in Liberia alone by the end of Full revised appeal LBR111: Assistance to Ivorian Ref. in Liberia April. In mid-April, the reality was already 157,000 refugees, and now in early May 173,000 refugees. Thus, despite Gbagbo’s capture, the crisis is far from being over. After Mr Gbagbo’s capture, the messages from the field carried mixed feelings. According to various humanitarian organisations, some refugees were rejoicing, some mourning, but due to lack of communications (very few refugees have radios, and the telecommunication networks don’t exist in most of the affected area), many of the refugees were not even aware of the latest events. Thus, there is no evidence of quick return of the refugees. Quite the contrary – according to UNHCR, thousands are still coming daily especially to Grand Gedeh County. FCA’s partner, EQUIP, reports the same from Nimba County (the target area of this appeal) as well. The fleeing population, mainly from the western part of Ivory Coast, has been walking for several days to safety in Liberia. The first influx of refugees took place to Nimba County, but as the fighting progressed towards South, across the ceasefire line of the previous Ivorian civil war. Refugees started coming in to counties South of Nimba: Grand Gedeh and Maryland. The majority of the refugees, however, arrived and still are in Nimba. Five months into the crisis, those who seek refuge in Liberia still face severe shortages of basic facilities such as non-food items, water, sanitation, health services, shelter and food in a country where even the host community lacks these basic necessities. Furthermore, they all have severe needs for protection and education (due to prolonged stay). ACT Alliance has no members based in Ivory Coast, but ACT members EED (Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst) and Ecumenical Church Loan Fund (ECLOF) work through national partners in the country. Current ACT members in Liberia are Finn Church Aid (FCA), Church of Sweden (CoS), ICCO, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH), Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (Presbyterian Church USA) and Lutheran Development Service (LDS). Two national members are in the process of renewing their membership with ACT Alliance. ACT members in Liberia and their implementing partners are sharing information with UNHCR and the Liberian Government, and participate in inter-agency coordination. ACT members have conducted a multi-sectoral Rapid Emergency Needs Assessment in the beginning of January. Implementing partner, EQUIP, has been participating in Interagency Rapid Assessments focusing on Child Protection and Education needs of Ivorian refugee women and children in Nimba County led by UNICEF. The Church of Sweden (CoS), LDS and LCL conducted a psycho-social needs assessment in January 2011. FCA partner, EQUIP, has continued to produce statistics from the clinics working in the affected areas. ACT members in Liberia agreed to issue a 12-month appeal, which was prepared by the requesting members and implementing partners and replaced the preliminary appeal issued on 14th January 2011. This Revision 1 will replace the original Appeal issued on 3 March 2011. Revision As was brought to your attention in periodic updates, there has been an increase in number of Ivorian refugees from an estimated number of about 30,000 at the writing of the initial appeal to about 173,000 at the writing of this revised appeal. This increase has called for up-scaling of many of the activities including: distribution of NFIs and livelihoods support. The situation has also called for implementing partners to re-define some of the activities and introduce new ones. These activities include: provision of emergency education, provision of environmentally friendly stoves and improvement of the referral system. This revision has also increasd the budget on transportation. Transport has become more expensive following the rapid rise in the cost of fuel. 2 Full revised appeal LBR111: Assistance to Ivorian Ref. in Liberia The revised appeal will keep the same time frame as originally planned. All the changes in the narrative, budget and log frame are highlighted in blue colour. The original Appeal was for a total of USD 2,031,157 and the coverage so far is 59%. This Revision 1 is for a total of USD 2,429,558. The requesting ACT members in this Appeal are Finn Church Aid (FCA) and Lutheran Development Service (LDS) based in Liberia. The goal of this Appeal is to save, preserve and sustain lives of Ivorian refugees as well as the host communities in Nimba County, Liberia. Activities in this revised appeal include: 1. Basic repair of the road connection to communities receiving refugees (Gblarlay to Teaplay; Diala to Zodru) to enable delivery of emergency aid. 2. Expanding the capacity of existing health services in the area so as to serve the growing number of refugees, eg. By providing essential drugs, basic health services and vaccinations. 3. Strengthening the referral system by purchase of ambulances and radio communication systems as well as hiring and training the necessary staff. 4. Improving access to clean drinking water and better sanitation. 5. Increased protection activities in communities. 6. Psycho-social support to individuals and groups affected by the crisis. 7. NFI distributions increased to 1245 households. 8. Livelihood support to refugees and host communities. 9. Provision of emergency educational activities and psychosocial support to refugee children and adolescents and training of teachers in participatory teaching methods. 10. Provision of energy-efficient stoves for schools, clinics, and individual households in the affected areas. Project Start/Completion Date: 7th January 2011-31st December 2011 Reporting schedule: Reports due ACT Secretariat FCA LDS Interim narrative & financial 28th July 2011 28th July 2011 Final narrative & financial 28th February 2012 28th February 2012 Audit March 2012 March 2012 Summary of Appeal Targets, Pledges/Contributions Received and Balance Requested: Revised Appeal target 1,982,598 446,960 2,429,558 Less: Pledges/Contr Recd 868915 350171 1219086 Balance Requested from ACT Alliance 1,113,683 96,789 1,210,472 3 Full revised appeal LBR111: Assistance to Ivorian Ref. in Liberia Kindly send your contributions to either of the following ACT bank accounts: US dollar Account Number - 240-432629.60A IBAN No: CH46 0024 0240 4326 2960A Euro Euro Bank Account Number - 240-432629.50Z IBAN No: CH84 0024 0240 4326 2950Z Account Name: ACT - Action by Churches Together UBS AG 8, rue du Rhône P.O. Box 2600 1211 Geneva 4, SWITZERLAND Swift address: UBSWCHZH80A Please also inform the Chief Finance Officer Jean-Daniel Birmele ([email protected]) and the Regional Programme Officer, Katherine Ireri ([email protected]) of all pledges/contributions and transfers, including funds sent directly to the implementers. We would appreciate being informed of any intent to submit applications for EU, USAID and/or other back donor funding and the subsequent results. We thank you in advance for your kind cooperation. For further information please contact: ACT General Secretary, John Nduna (phone +41 22 791 6032) or ACT Regional Program Officer, Katherine Ireri (phone +41 22 791 6040) John Nduna General Secretary ACT Alliance Secretariat 4 Full revised appeal LBR111: Assistance to Ivorian Ref. in Liberia CONTENTS: Acronyms 6 I.Requesting ACT Member Information Finn Church Aid 7 Lutheran Development Service 7 II.Implementing ACT Partner Information EQUIP Liberia 8 Lutheran Church in Liberia/Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Program (LCL/THRP) 9 Project New Outlook (PNO) 9 III.Description of the Emergency Situation 10 IV.Description of the Situation in the Area of Proposed Response 13 Current situation