DFID provided a Technical Assistant to advise
on policy and would be funding additional Technical
Staff.
Relief and Humanitarian Assistance
The Commission provides relief assistance
to displaced persons and communities in camps,
newly resettled communities, for returning refugees
and non-camp IDPs. Various gifts received from
abroad have been distributed to IDPs, the war-wounded
and amputees. The Commission remains grateful
to the UN Agencies and NGOs for the delivery
of relief and humanitarian assistance to camps,
host communities and other categories of IDPs.
Additionally, the inter-agency body of food
pipeline agencies, donors and government, known
as the Committee on Food Aid (CFA), continues
to be very instrumental in developing national
food aid policies and strategies and in the
coordination of operations. Through the untiring
efforts of the Humanitarian Community, IDPs
continue to benefit from health, water and sanitation,
non-food items and educational support.
Repatriation and Resettlement
As the security situation continues to improve,
more and more refugees continue to express willingness
to come back home. As the disarmament process
progressed, Government set up the National Recovery
Committee, co-chaired by the Ministry of Development
and Economic Planning and the NCRRR. The primary
task of the NRC is to plan for and facilitate
the recovery process and the quick restoration
of civil authority in newly accessible areas.
In this light, the NCRRR actively participated
in the assessment missions into Kambia, Bombali
and Koinadugu in the North and Kono in the East.
Already, Round Table Conferences have been organized
for Kambia and Kono and donors have pledged
their support. In fact one of our programmes,
the SRRP, has reconstructed the administrative
building, magistrate court and the prison in
Kambia. District offices have already been established
in Kambia and Kono in readiness for repatriation
and resettlement of returnees and IDPs. They
have to facilitate and ensure the speedy resettlement
of these people together with the quick restoration
of their livelihood.
Repatriation and Reintegration Programme
The Repatriation and Reintegration Programme
is funded by the United Nations High Commission
for Refugees and implemented by the National
Commission for Social action (NaCSA).
Its major objective is to strengthen NaCSA's
capacity to coordinate emergencies and reintegration
programmes of returnees, refugees and internally
displaced persons (IDPs).
The programme's major activities are: repatriation,
relief and resettlement, monitoring flash points
for the movement of returnees, refugees and
IDPs, Monitoring stability and reconciliation
and establishing and/or reinforcing collaborative
links with developmental partners.
In all it activities, the programme pays special
attention at chiefdom level to women, especially
heads of households to access land for residential
and agricultural purposes. Monitoring of vulnerable
groups such as female-headed house holds, unaccompanied
children, elderly, disabled and the chronically
ill, also receives special focus.
Since September 2000, Government through NaCSA
and UNHCR has repatriated about 60,000 Sierra
Leonean refugees from Guinea. NaCSA has negotiated
with local authorities for land at Jimmy Bagbor
where UNHCR has constructed a refugee settlement.
The DDR camps in Kenema and Gondama have also
been turned over to NaCSA for the construction
of Way Stations. Another Way Station is also
being constructed at Zimmi for returnees to
transit before departing for their homes of
origin. UNHCR provides food rations and non-food
items for the returnees to restart their lives.
Some of these returnees have been placed in
transit camps, and others resettled into host
communities in various parts of the country.
Also, over 65,000 people have returned spontaneously.
We acknowledge the support of the UNHCR, Ministry
of Transport and Communication, IOM, SLRC, OCHA,
the IMC, the Ministry of Health, ICRC and others
in this exercise.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in collaboration
with NaCSA has built 34 houses in Port Loko,
Masiaka, Kaffu Bullom and Freetown for amputees
and war-wounded victims. The beneficiaries have
been resettled in their new homes. There are
also plans for more houses to be built nation
wide for this vulnerable group. As peace is
consolidated, the programme will focus on reintegration,
resettlement and issues pertaining to women,
children and the disabled. We now have in place
appropriate structures to facilitate the process
of resettling IDPs. There are District Resettlement
Committees with a specific mandate to make recommendations
on the security and safety of their respective
districts to the National Resettlement Assessment
Committee, which would effect the resettlement
process with the leadership of the Commission
and support from the broader humanitarian community
and line ministries. In October last year, the
resettlement strategy was updated in light of
developments in the peace process in the country.
This strategy provides the policy guidelines
for the resettlement process.
As far as re-integration of ex-combatants is
concerned, the Commission has close links with
its sister organisation, the National Committee
for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration
(NCDDR). In order to strengthen the link, we
now consider some level of inclusion of ex-combatants
in sub-project proposals submitted to the Commission
as a criterion for approval
