Sub-regional consultation on the humanitarian agenda for West Africa

28 April 2003 -- World Bank Premises, Abidjan
"Renewing Partnerships"
Overview of Meeting

1. On 28 April 2003, the UN Humanitarian Envoy for the Crisis in Côte d'Ivoire hosted a one-day regional meeting to discuss West Africa's key humanitarian challenges, its sub-regional dimensions and the strategies for an effective and integrated humanitarian response notably in the context of the Consolidated Appeals Process, (CAP). The participants were: the IASC members of the Côte d'Ivoire country team; the UN Resident and/Humanitarian Coordinators from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone or their representatives; the regional representatives of the WFP, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNDP; IOM and the ICRC. The African Development Bank was also present.

2. The presentations by UN Resident Coordinators on the challenges of their specific country situations highlighted an array of underlying sub-regional concerns that are at the root of conflict and instability, including: the sophisticated and interlinked network of rebel groups, including the increasing cross border activity of armed groups, the related proliferation and manufacture of small arms, and forced cross-border and internal displacement of large populations. These three issues are at the heart of the humanitarian malaise currently afflicting the sub-region, and they are issues that cannot be dealt with in a "stand-alone" manner by Country Teams. Within this context, the presentations further underlined the need for coordinated UN action to ensure humanitarian "safe zones", including humanitarian corridors, and the safety of humanitarian workers. The deaths of 3 ADRA workers in eastern Liberia in late February, the deaths of 4 Ivorian Red Cross volunteers in western Côte d'Ivoire in early January, and the lack of safe access to some 70% of Liberian territory as well as western Côte d'Ivoire for humanitarian workers are manifestations of a problem which needs urgent attention.

3. In such an environment, the UN should work in an integrated manner to determine the specific modalities for: the protection of civilians; ensuring access to vulnerable persons, including through cross-border cooperation and interventions; flexible resource allocation that will allow humanitarians to adapt to evolving situations on the ground and aid to "follow" moving populations across national borders; improving regional humanitarian information management. Many participants requested a stronger OCHA role in regional coordination as a way of stimulating constructive regional communication and information sharing to attain these goals, and to work more closely with UN political entities.

4. It was agreed therefore that a broad regional strategy was needed to complement the respective efforts of country teams to manage the specific challenges that they face. One example of the interaction of national and sub-regional phenomena is the situation in western Cote d'Ivoire, where remnants of Liberian and Sierra Leonean rebel groups perpetrate wanton violence and looting. Simultaneously, armed elements operating out of western Cote d'Ivoire have launched attacks in eastern Liberia. It is clear that the cross-border activities of armed elements have exacerbated the conflicts in both countries and contributed to the serious deterioration of security for civilians and aid workers alike. Vulnerable populations have been pushed out of western Côte d'Ivoire into Liberia, and subsequently pushed back into Côte d'Ivoire, into Guinea, or forced to flee to Ghana by boat after outbreaks of fighting in eastern Liberia. The insecurity in which these populations are living has been extreme, and the ability of the humanitarian community to aid them has been limited if not nul. Southeastern Guinea is experiencing rising tension due to the activities of these armed elements and the constant influx of populations fleeing the violence and instability. Guinea fears being drawn into the conflict. This is a prospect that could be fuelled by the illegal arms trafficking on the common border with Mali and the ethnic dynamics of its impending internal political transition.

5. The regional representatives made succinct presentations of their programmes and partnerships in the region. They uniformly emphasized the importance of conflict prevention and resolution, and the indispensability of closer interaction between UN humanitarian and political actors to this end. They also emphasised the importance of integrated contingency planning, joint assessments and programming, and innovative financial resource mobilization accompanied by an urgent expansion of the donor base. UN Agencies are already discussing and formulating strategies to tackle the regional dimensions and challenges to the effective delivery of humanitarian aid. WFP is currently evaluating the possibility of merging their two major EMOP programmes - Cote d'Ivoire plus 5, and the rest of West Africa, in order to gain flexibility in reaching populations. A major concern that has arisen for WFP in this regard is whether or not donors would respond positively to such a strategy.

6. Given the constantly evolving destabilizing factors, both man-made and natural, in West Africa and the ensuing fluidity of population movements, some Agencies signalled difficulty in predicting and defining beneficiary groups within the CAP timeframe. Some Agencies felt strongly that common contingency planning, spearheaded by OCHA, and with a more intimate participation by donors, could alleviate certain gaps in our ability to react in a timely manner to quickly changing situations on the ground. UNICEF has developed a sub-regional approach to humanitarian action entitled, "Leadership for Human Security". This initiative seeks to address the crisis of leadership that leads to human rights abuses, the collapse of social services, and the cycle of poverty at the sub-regional level, through concerted conflict prevention and conflict resolution. Greater regional cooperation among the UN agencies and other major humanitarian actors such as the ICRC will be indispensable in maximizing the efficacy of such strategies.

7. CAP funding for the region has been disappointing, and there is a sense that some donors are questioning the humanitarian approach in the region. Concerted efforts must be made to find the financial and political support that will allow humanitarian aid to reach all of those in need, as well as to ensure that the aid provided satisfies the minimum international standards. An African Development Bank representative presented a proposal for a Regional Peace and Development Fund for conflict-affected countries. This Pilot Fund is open to ECOWAS member states and merits detailed follow-up.

8. All participants agreed on the urgent and critical need for active cooperation at HQs between the political entities of the UN system and humanitarians, complemented at the field level with the offices of the SRSG. This should be reinforced by the participation of designated humanitarian actors at high-level political meetings to ensure that the humanitarian agenda is properly inscribed, discussed and acted upon. In Liberia, humanitarian efforts are almost wholly at the mercy of political developments. In Côte d'Ivoire, however, effective humanitarian aid is now a vital element to maintaining a stable environment in which the national reconciliation government may take root. In the other countries bordering Côte d'Ivoire -- Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana - the effective and strategic delivery of humanitarian aid will underpin all political efforts to maintain stability and grapple with the negative effects that these crises are having on them. Effective humanitarian aid in Sierra Leone is equally indispensable in paving the way for rehabilitation and reconstruction there. In this sub-regional context, humanitarian and political UN actors should recognize their inter-dependency and collaborate as fully as possible to achieve their respective, complementary goals.

9. As a result of the discussion, participants agreed that there should be an inter-agency Regional Strategy developed for West Africa which would provide the umbrella for the 2004 CAPs. It was agreed that key NGOs and Donors should be invited to participate along with core UN agencies in a short visit to the countries of the Mano River Union plus Cote d'Ivoire in June 2003 to prepare such a regional strategy. Decisions on the 2004 CAPs should flow from that strategy which would be finalized at a subsequent regional meeting of all interested parties.

Abidjan, 6 th of May

OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS (OCHA)
Regional Support Office for West Africa
Tel: +225 22 40 51 75/76 + 225 22 40 44 40/41
Fax: + 225 22 40 44 35