With food and fresh water scarce, UN agencies rush staff, supplies to Liberia

With roughly half a million people in Monrovia still facing severe shortages of food and drinking water and with medical supplies dwindling, United Nations humanitarian agencies continue to scale up their operations in the crowded, war-ravaged Liberian capital.

The inter-agency team led by the UN's Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Carolyn McAskie, on the ground since yesterday, reported dire conditions for the city's 450,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and for outlying host communities.

The agencies have conducted assessments of overall humanitarian needs, as another flight carrying relief workers and supplies arrived at Roberts Airport today. The heads of all UN humanitarian agencies for Liberia are now in the country. The team expects that a World Food Programme (WFP) ship laden with emergency food supplies will be able to dock in Monrovia by Friday.

On Monday, Liberian President Charles Taylor moved into exile in an effort to end 14 years of civil strife that in recent months escalated into a bloody power struggle between government and rebel forces for control of the city. The fighting has killed hundreds of people and has left an estimated one million more on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Today, all UN offices in Monrovia are currently occupied by IDPs seeking shelter, and the world body's agencies and non-governmental partners are rushing to help the desperate people cope with the devastation. The city has been divided into government-controlled and rebel-held pockets, but agencies are able to deliver potable water to all of the IDP sites that are accessible. Still, relief agencies continue to be unable to access more than two-thirds of Liberian territory.

Ms. McAskie has met with the Force Commander of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peacekeeping contingent and stressed the need for security for IDP camps and people travelling the 40-kilometre stretch of road between Monrovia and Roberts Airport.

According to Moses Okello, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative for Liberia, an agreement reportedly reached with the Liberians United For Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) will have the rebel group retreat beyond the Po River by mid-day Thursday. When in force, this agreement – brokered with the help of ECOWAS forces on the ground and the commander of a US warship stationed offshore – will effectively ensure free access to the Monrovia port, a crucial entry point for the delivery of fuel, food and other relief items to the capital. The new frontline will also allow a number of displaced people stranded in the Mamba Point area to return to their homes beyond the present battle zone.

Meanwhile outside Monrovia, there were reports of new displacement from around Buchanan, Liberia's second city and the scene of fighting between government forces and Movement for a Democratic Liberia (MODEL) rebels.

In other news, the airlift of equipment for the peacekeeping force on the ground from the Freetown-based UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) continued today with three land rovers, one crane and two trucks being sent to Monrovia.