Access to civilian populations severely hampered by conflict in Liberia, UN says

As conflicts continue to sweep Liberia, United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners - already struggling to assist countless people forced almost daily from their homes - now report that access to desperate civilian populations is severely diminished throughout the country.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today that the majority of people in need are out of reach, as UN agencies and their non-governmental (NGO) partners have access to only an estimated 30 per cent of Liberia. In addition, the whereabouts of many of the humanitarian workers with whom contact was lost on 27 March remain unknown.

In the areas to which aid workers do have access - in the vicinity of the capital, Monrovia, and its immediate southwest - UN humanitarian agencies and their NGO partners are running out of relief supplies. OCHA said aid groups do not have enough shelter materials for internally displaced persons and have had to reduce the food rations they give to people need.