The United Nations refugee agency has succeeded in dispatching a truck convoy from Liberia to Mauritania in a 25-day journey aimed at redeploying (omplacere, flytte) resources as part of a broader cost-saving effort that will benefit thousands of people, writes UN News Centre.
– This was an extraordinary achievement. The redeployment was done under extreme conditions and it succeeded thanks to the perseverance of the convoy members, said Ursula Aboubacar, Deputy Director of UNHCR’s Middle East and North Africa Bureau.
The 20 vehicles driven by staff from UNHCR’s partner GTZ, the German aid agency, carried 2,000 buckets, 1,600 kitchen sets, 4,500 plates, 9,600 bars of soaps, 3,125 blankets, 3,920 jerry cans, 20 bales of fabric, 3,600 items of women’s clothing and numerous mosquito nets.
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The convoy was sent to Mauritania as part of UNHCR efforts to maximize the use of existing resources and minimize the cost of the new operation.
The UN agency is looking at ways to redeploy as many assets as possible from other programmes currently phasing down in West Africa, among them the Liberia assisted repatriation programme.
The resources from Liberia will be badly needed by UNHCR, which said it is facing funding shortages for the Mauritania operation. The agency launched a $7 million (knap 37 mio. d. kr.) appeal at the end of August, but has received only $500.000 (2,6 mio. d. kr.) so far
LANGVARIGT FLYGTNINGEPROBLEM
The 17-month operation, which faces some major logistical challenges, is scheduled to start this month.
The aim is to help resolve one of the most protracted refugee situations in Africa. Some of the Mauritanian refugees have spent more than two decades in exile.
More than 60,000 Mauritanians fled to Senegal and Mali in 1989 when a long-standing border dispute between the two countries escalated into ethnic violence.
Kilde: www.un.org
