Sierra Leone
USAID to fund NGOs in Sierra Leone

afrol, 27 June - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today it is committing $2 million to support emergency needs resulting from the continuing civil crisis in Sierra Leone. 

This money will fund the following non-governmental organizations to provide health, agriculture and shelter programs in Sierra Leone: 

CARE: Will receive $700,000 to supply 5000 war-affected families with household kits and plastic sheeting. Funds will also be used for shelter reconstruction and income generation projects. 

World Vision: Will receive $750,000 for emergency health programs for displaced people returning to their homes. World Vision will also provide seeds and tools to 10,000 farm families. 

Merlin: Will receive $566,000 to provide emergency health care and nutritional support to children under five, and people who have been displaced. 

This brings total USAID humanitarian assistance in Sierra Leone to $39.3 million for this fiscal year. This includes $24.4 million for food aid in Sierra Leone, plus additional food resources for Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea and Liberia; $11.1 million in emergency humanitarian assistance and $2.8 million for civil society building and support of the Lome peace accord, and $1 million to aid those wounded and otherwise affected by war. 

There are 105,000 registered internally displaced persons in Sierra Leone, and there are approximately 490,000 refugees in neighboring countries. 

Sierra Leone has been embroiled in a civil crisis since 1991. Warring parties signed a cease-fire agreement in May 1999. Last July, President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah and the leader of the rebel Revolutionary United Front, Foday Sankoh, signed the Lome Peace Accord, formally ending eight years of civil war. The war claimed at least 20,000 lives and, at its peak, forced almost half of Sierra Leone's 4.5 million inhabitants from their homes. 

The U.S. Agency for International Development is the U.S. government agency that provides development and humanitarian assistance worldwide. 

Source: USAID

© afrol.com. Texts and graphics may be reproduced freely, under the condition that their origin is clearly referred to, see Conditions.    You can contact us at mail@afrol.com