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What the ICRC did in 2013

Countries
Liberia
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ICRC
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Detainee welfare

  • visited over 1,800 detainees in 22 places of detention, including prisons and police stations; helped the Bureau of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Ministry of Justice) to improve water and sanitation infrastructure, benefiting 1,342 detainees in 8 prisons;

  • provided soap for 1,700 inmates in all 16 of Liberia's prisons;

  • organized supplementary feeding for 152 malnourished prisoners in Monrovia Central Prison;

  • helped several foreign detainees to contact their relatives abroad;

  • provided more than 2,000 blankets, 900 mats, 400 buckets, 500 jerrycans, 75 water barrels, 1,000 food plates and several dozen mosquito nets to over 2,000 inmates in all 16 of Liberia's prisons; provided essential drugs for the treatment of detainees in all 16 prisons;

  • participated in a prison monitoring course for more than 30 members of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights, civil society organizations and the Ministry of Justice;

  • held a prison health seminar with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Justice, as part of our training for prison health workers and prison officers.

Restoring family links

In the turmoil of disaster and conflict, such as that which followed the 2010 presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire, family members can be separated in minutes, sometimes leading to years of anguish and uncertainty about the fate of children, spouses or parents. The ICRC, the Liberia National Red Cross Society and the network of National Red Cross Societies and volunteers in the region and across the world trace missing persons, exchange family messages, reunite families and attempt to clarify the fate of those who remain missing.

In 2013, the ICRC:

  • reunited 89 children and 3 vulnerable adults with their families in Côte d’Ivoire;

  • registered 58 children in order to trace their families in Côte d’Ivoire;

  • set up 360 phone calls so that Ivorian refugees could call their families;

  • collected 279 Red Cross messages from Ivorian refugees in Liberia and distributed 407 to Ivorian family members in Côte d’Ivoire and in Liberia.

Cooperation with the Liberia National Red Cross Society (LNRCS)

The ICRC helps the LNRCS enhance its ability to carry out its humanitarian mandate.

In 2013, the ICRC and the LNRCS:

  • distributed 335 sets of essential items including soap, lappas, buckets, kitchen sets, tarpaulins and sleeping mats to 1,212 people affected by heavy rains, storms or fire in Grand Bassam, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu, Montserrado, Nimba, River Cess and River Gee Counties;

  • conducted first-aid training for 20 motorcyclists, plus "train the trainers" sessions for 12 first-aid instructors from Red Cross branches;

  • trained 21 community supervisors in managing water and sanitation facilities and teaching good hygiene practices in their communities;

  • renovated 75 wells in 44 communities in Lofa, Grand Gedeh and River Gee Counties;

  • chlorinated 450 wells in Grand Gedeh and River Gee Counties;

  • distributed 75 cutlasses, rakes, shovels, diggers, pingarlins and wheelbarrows to 44 communities in Grand Gedeh and River Gee Counties so that they could clean up their local areas;

  • supported training for 147 women affected by sexual and gender-based violence, and provided them with kits that would enable them to earn an income from cosmetics and catering;

  • trained 32 branch volunteers in how to reach disaster victims quickly and safely.

Water and habitat

ICRC water and habitat programmes provide basic services to vulnerable communities and facilitate their access to safe water supplies, improved conditions of living and sanitation.

In 2013, the ICRC:

  • constructed 4 new wells with hand pumps, serving over 2,000 people in Grand Gedeh and River Gee Counties;

  • repaired 128 wells and hand pumps, benefitting more than 32,000 people in Montserrado, Grand Gedeh, River Gee and Maryland Counties;

  • trained 118 community hand-pump mechanics and 168 hygiene promoters in 24 communities in Grand Gedeh, River Gee and Maryland Counties.

Promoting international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles

The ICRC works to increase knowledge of international humanitarian law (IHL) and humanitarian principles among international and national authorities and civil society organisations. In addition, the ICRC collaborates with the Liberia International Humanitarian Law Committee to promote, ratify and domesticate IHL treaties.

Armed forces (Armed Forces of Liberia, United Nations Mission in Liberia), Liberia National Police and joint security forces

In 2013, the ICRC:

  • held two IHL workshops for 19 instructors and officers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL);

  • conducted a pre-deployment IHL session for 64 AFL soldiers who were to participate in the peace-keeping mission in Mali;

  • conducted an IHL briefing session for 23 AFL soldiers deployed to monitor security near the border with Côte d'Ivoire;

  • enabled an officer of the Armed Forces of Liberia to attend an IHL course in San Remo, Italy;

  • briefed 297 senior officers from the United Nations Mission in Liberia on ICRC activities and IHL;

  • conducted 4 awareness sessions on basic humanitarian principles and ICRC activities for 300 officers of the Liberia National Police at the National Police Training Academy in Monrovia;

  • held 4 awareness sessions on basic humanitarian principles and ICRC activities for 69 joint security personnel in Grand Gedeh and Maryland Counties.

IHL implementation

In 2013, the ICRC:

  • together with the Liberia International Humanitarian Law Committee, organized a legal drafting workshop for 10 persons from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Law Reform Commission, Independent National Commission on Human Rights and Liberia National Commission on Small Arms;

  • sponsored 3 representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and National Commission on Small Arms to participate in the ICRC ECOWAS seminar on IHL implementation and the Arms Trade Treaty in Abuja, Nigeria;

  • conducted 2 awareness-raising sessions on IHL implementation, ratification and domestication for 28 representatives and senators at the National Legislature in Monrovia;

Liberian journalists

In 2013, the ICRC:

  • held 3 information sessions on ICRC activities and the importance of IHL implementation and domestication for 69 local journalists in Monrovia;

  • carried out 5 media field trips for 14 radio reporters from Montserrado and Grand Gedeh Counties;

  • held a humanitarian reporting competition in Monrovia, involving 66 radio journalists.

The ICRC has 87 staff in Liberia.