Crisis at the Border: Conflict in Cote d'Ivoire Causes Thousands to Flee to Liberia

More than 120,000 Ivorians have <a href="http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/un-official-says-criticism-of-peacekeepers-in-icoast-unfounded" target="_hplink">fled</a> -- and continue to flee -- into neighboring Liberia.

In the past week alone, its estimated that more than 9,000 refugees arrived in the southeastern Liberian coastal city of Harper, in Maryland county, after many villages were attacked.

This abandoned school building on the outskirts of the city is now home to more than 4,600 people. The site was designed as a temporary transit center for 1,500 people -- but is now bursting at the seams.

The early arrivals got tents; but those who arrived more recently have to sleep on the floors of the derelict schools; others have built makeshift wooden shelters themselves; using leaves as a roof to try to shield them from the searing sun and the occasional rain.

<em>Pictures by Caroline Gluck. Follow her on <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/carooxfam" target="_hplink">Twitter</a></em>

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<em>Families fleeing the conflict. Harper, Maryland County</em>

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<em>A transit site where Oxfam installed 10000 litre water bladder + taps as well as latrines and wash facilities for men and women</em>

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<em>Families take refugee in an abandoned school building in Harper, Maryland County.</em>

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<em>A boy comforts his brother as they take refugee in an abandoned school building in Harper, Maryland County
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<em>For more information about Oxfam's work in Cote d'Ivoire and what you can do to help, <a href="http://www.oxfam.org/en/emergencies/ivory-coast-liberia-crisis" target="_hplink">please go here</a>.</em>


Visit the web site at http://www.oxfam.org

Reuters - Nations open talks on world arms trade treaty #armstreaty #att

Mon, Jul 12 2010
By Patrick Worsnip
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The world's nations opened negotiations on Monday on an arms trade treaty meant to regulate the $55 billion global weapons market and prevent guns from pouring into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities.
One person every minute dies as a result of armed violence, and some 128 armed conflicts since the end of the Cold War in 1989 have led to at least 250,000 deaths each year, according to the Control Arms Campaign, an international advocacy group.
After years of debate, the U.N. General Assembly last October authorized formal talks. Monday marked the start of the first of three preparatory sessions over the next year, with a four-week conference planned for 2012 to finalize a treaty.
Supporters aim is to set common rules for international arms sales -- from rifles to fighter planes -- to replace a patchwork of national laws riddled with loopholes that make it easy to buy weapons for conflicts.
Key issues in the negotiations will include what criteria governments will have to fulfill to get a green light for arms sales and how compliance would be monitored.
U.N. disarmament chief Sergio Duarte told delegates from the 192 U.N. member states they could "help reverse the vicious cycles of conflict and armed violence, which up until now have so shattered and destroyed human life and potential."
A treaty would seek "to inject some sense of predictability into a complex and sensitive issue," conference chairman Roberto Garcia of Argentina said last Friday. That could stop arms fueling events like the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, where weapons were sold even after the killing began.
TOUGH NEGOTIATIONS
Not all countries are committed to a treaty. Major arms producers Russia, China, India and Pakistan were among 19 nations that abstained in last year's General Assembly vote, and one country -- Zimbabwe -- voted against.
That indicated negotiations would be tough. Diplomats said a treaty would not be a panacea and rogue governments and militants would probably keep seeking black market options.
The United States, which controls two thirds of global arms sales, agreed to join the treaty drafting process only on condition that it be run on the basis of consensus -- effectively giving it, and all other countries, a veto.
The resolution approved by the General Assembly also included a paragraph diplomats said was essential for the United States, where the right to private gun ownership is a sensitive domestic political issue. The paragraph says national governments will continue to regulate domestic arms sales.
Nevertheless, President Barack Obama's decision to back the talks reversed the position of former President George W. Bush's administration, which had opposed it on the grounds that national controls were better.
Advocacy groups urged U.N. member states to push for a tough treaty that would make it difficult for human rights violators to get weapons to kill their own people.
"By the end of the next two weeks, member states must have made real progress: and this means delivering a draft text," said Anna Macdonald of aid group Oxfam, which wants a treaty.
British delegate John Duncan described that as "over-ambitious," but said some countries now appeared more receptive to a treaty than they had last year.
"Even the Russians didn't disagree on the need to stop weapons falling into the hands of criminals and terrorists. The question is how it's going to be done," he told Reuters.
(Editing by Chris Wilson)
Visit the web site at http://www.oxfam.org

Oxfam media reaction to end of rescue efforts

January 23, 2010

 

Mark Fried, spokesman of the relief agency Oxfam International said:

“The end of search and rescue efforts does not mean we can slow down. Relief and recovery for the survivors is the priority now.

“Hundreds of thousands who lost everything but their lives need water for drinking and washing. They need latrines to contain the spread of disease. They need shelter and simple household items like cooking pots.

“Haitians are grieving, but they are also buoyed by the generous outpouring of support from around the world. Despite the losses they have suffered, they are working hard to turn the empty lots, golf courses and churchyards where they have taken refuge into places where they can live in dignity. Oxfam and other aid agencies are there working alongside them.”

***Broadcast quality video of Oxfam water distribution at Petionville club, Port-au-Prince, filmed Friday January 22. It’s loosely edited including interview with Oxfam Country Director Yolette Etienne. Downloadable in 3-set profiles. http://drop.io/haitivideo/media

 

22 Janvier

 

Mark Fried, porte-parole d’Oxfam en Haïti

 

« La fin des recherché ne veut pas dire que nous devons ralentir. Au contraire, les efforts d’aide humanitaire et de secours pour les rescapés est notre priorité. Des centaines de milliers de survivants  - qui ont tout perdu et survivent malgré la souffrance, la faim, la soin - ont besoin d’eau pour boire et se laver. Ils ont besoin de latrines pour éviter la propagation de maladies.  Ils ont besoin d’un toit et d’objets très simples comme des marmites pour se nourrir ou des verres dans lesquelles boire.

 

« Le people haïtien est en deuil, mais tout aussi reconnaissant envers la générosité démontrée a son égard. En dépit des pertes en vie humaines, ils travaillent extrêmement dur pour transformer de nombreux lieux vacants en refuges, où ils peuvent vivre en toute dignité. Oxfam et les autres agences humanitaires seront présents, cote-a-cote, jusqu’au bout. »

 

TV : Images haute résolution de distribution d’eau : http://drop.io/haitivideo/media