UNHRC Implementing U.S. $4m Peace and Development Project On Behalf of Ecowas

30 May 2011
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Abuja - Nigeria — The United Nations Refugee agency (UNHCR) is implementing a Peace and Development Project in the three West African States of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia with financial support of US$4 million provided by the African Development Bank to the ECOWAS Commission, the UNHCR Representative to Nigeria, Madam Gogo Hukportie has said. Speaking during a courtesy visit on the President of the ECOWAS Commission H.E. James Victor Gbeho on Thursday 26th May, 2011, the UN official said the fund would support re-integration of refugees and displaced persons and contribute to Economic Recovery in the three ECOWAS member countries.

Madam Hukportie also disclosed that the UNHCR has received a separate US$500,000 from the ECOWAS Commission to assist Liberian refugees. She praised ECOWAS for its contributions to support for UNHCR humanitarian activities, recalling the recent ECOWAS support for the UNHCR in providing humanitarian assistance to those displaced by the recent crisis in Jos, north- central Nigeria, and in Niger, as well as West Africans displaced in Libya. Madam Hukportie said the UNHCR will be hosting an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) conference in Abuja, Nigeria 5-7 July 2011, where the implementation of the Kampala Convention on IDPs will be discussed, adding that Sierra Leone and Gambia have signed and ratified the document, which provides a legal framework on the reintegration of displaced persons in Africa.

She also emphasized the importance of the conference and the implementation of the Convention to the West African region as it will provide the framework for addressing the challenges of IDP in the region. Ambassador Gheho reaffirmed the ECOWAS Commission's commitment to continued collaboration with the UN, particularly the UNHCR, and other partners in providing humanitarian assistance where necessary. He pledged the Commissions support for the IDP conference and directed that measures be taken to improve coordination between ECOWAS and the UNHCR ahead of the conference and in providing humanitarian support to deserving citizens of the region.

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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