U.S. to contribute additional $7.5 million for crisis in Ivory Coast and Liberia

U.S. to contribute additional $7.5 million for crisis in Ivory Coast and Liberia

2011-06-16 07:05:23 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- The U.S. State Department on Wednesday announced an additional contribution of $7.5 million for the humanitarian crisis in Ivory Coast and neighboring Liberia.

The department said the pledge will benefit the refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other conflict-affected populations in the region. With Wednesday's pledged, the U.S. humanitarian assistance to the region will reach over $51 million.

The latest U.S. contribution will include $6.5 million in support for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and $1 million for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

This assistance will help provide basic life support such as food, health care, and essential household items; the construction and maintenance of camps where needed; increasing access to clean water; and will support efforts to restore family links severed as a result of displacement.

Last December, nation-wide violence erupted in Ivory Coast when former president Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down after he lost the UN-certified presidential run-off election in November to Alassane Ouattara, who was finally sworn in last month after Gbagbo's surrender in April.

The UN's peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) estimated that over 1,000 have been killed in the post-election violence. In addition, more than 210,000 refugees fled to Liberia and up to a million were internally displaced.

The situation in the North African country is improving after the arrest of Gbagbo but some continuing unrest is still generating new refugees and preventing IDPs to return to their homes.

The U.S., through the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, has provided more than $28 million for humanitarian response in Liberia, Ivory Coast, and other neighboring countries since March 2011.

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