Report on the Utilization of the ECOWAS Contribution to WFP for Mudslide Emergency Response in Sierra Leone

Context of the disaster

On 14 August 2017, heavy rains resulted in a mudslide and flash floods in and around the

capital, Freetown. The mudslide and flooding claimed the lives of around 500 people, with

over 600 unaccounted for. The former President of Sierra Leone, H.E Ernest Bai Koroma de-

clared a national emergency and appealed to the international community to provide urgent

assistance.

The disaster affected almost 12,000 people, leaving hundreds of households displaced due

to damaged or destroyed homes, children orphaned and vulnerable groups at risk of falling

even further into poverty. The disaster also destroyed the livelihoods of affected households.

Figure 1: WFP GIS map showing impact of the mudslide

Disaster Response Activities and Partnerships

In the immediate aftermath of the devastating floods and mudslide, WFP launched an Imme-

diate Response Emergency Operation (IR-EMOP) to provide support to displaced people.

With the timely and generous contribution of US$565,000 from the ECOWAS commission,

WFP provided vital food assistance to thousands of people, including many children, affect-

ed by the mudslide and floods. The ECOWAS funding contribution enabled WFP to reach

1,472 affected households in the affected communities with a two month-food package com-

prising of rice, pulses, vegetable oil and salt. Furthermore, 1,792 households benefited from

cash transfers to cover a month of food needs as households start to rebuild their lives.

1 According to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs Registration Pillar data

Overall, in coordination with cooperating partners, WFP was able to provide food and nutrition

assistance to 11,724 people in the areas impacted by the mudslide (Regent) and flooding

(Kamayama, Kaningo, Juba, Mountain Cut, Culvert, Dwarzack, Wellington, Kissi Brook and

George Brook). WFP provided two rounds of food packages comprised of a two-week house-

hold ration of rice, pulses, vegetable oil, salt and fortified complementary food to over 2,000

households, and 350 children residing in shelters in Regent and Kaningo.

IR-EMOP project activities were carried out in collaboration with complementary partners.

Strong partnerships with UN agencies, the Department of Disaster in the Office of National Se-

curity (ONS) and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were fundamental to the

emergency response, including WFP partnership with Street Child Sierra Leone, an international

NGO with strong community networks in the areas of general food distribution and monitoring.

WFP worked closely with the Department of

Disaster in the ONS who lead the govern-

ment response. ONS was responsible for

the coordination of the response through the

pillar system as well as camp management.

This helped to coordinate WFP response on

the ground with the activities of the entire

humanitarian community, including state

and non-state actors.

As part of the food distributions, specialised

nutritious foods, namely Super Cereal, were

provided to children aged 6 - 23 months in

order to prevent acute malnutrition. Children

aged 6 - 59 months and pregnant and lac-

tating women suffering from moderate

acute malnutrition were treated at community clinics in close to the affect areas. WFP worked

closely with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation’s Directorate of Food and Nutrition and

UNICEF to assess and refer children with malnutrition to health facilities under the community-

based management of acute malnutrition approach. WFP provided on-the-job training for health

facility workers on treating cases of moderate acute malnutrition. WFP also provided food assis-

tance to local relief workers (morgue, rescue and care workers) as an incentive for their labour

in the rescue effort and homeless children living in orphanages.

In addition to distributing food, WFP provided cash-based transfers allowing the beneficiaries

greater flexibility in buying the food of their choice. Each family was allocated two cash based

transfers totalling USD213. Cash based transfers were closely coordinated with UNICEF, the

National Commission for Social Action – a government social protection agency and processed

through Orange Mobile Money.

WFP was tasked by the United Nations Resident Coordinator to coordinate the humanitarian re-sponse of United Nations (UN) agencies. The agency worked with the Government and other partners in the distribution of non-food items, logistics support and geo-spatial mapping of disas-ter areas, registration of beneficiaries and in providing electricity internet connection for the hu-manitarian community at field coordination sites.

Picture: Francis Boima (WFP)

The principal partners were the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, the Min-

istry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. WFP

provided technical support to the ministries in registering mudslide and flood affected households

using SCOPE, WFP’s corporate digital beneficiary and transfer-management platform. SCOPE

was used to inform operational decision making for WFP, the government and its partners. Using

SCOPE platform, WFP registered 3,314 households, providing all with biometric identification

cards used to facilitate the cash transfer package.

Cooperation with sister UN agencies increased efficiency and enhanced programme effective-

ness. For instance, close collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) ena-

bled WFP to quickly deploy staff for registration of beneficiaries in affected communities. WFP

also worked closely with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) who distributed non-

food items, as well as UNFPA and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empower-

ment of Women (UN Women) who provided dignity kits for women and girls in mudslide and flood

affected communities.

In addition, WFP played a key role in setting up and managing camps for displaced families in

two locations, Juba and Old School, providing prefab structures which were used by ONS as

command centre. WFP also provided electricity to en-

sure the protection of displaced households and inter-

net service for humanitarian actors to enhance infor-

mation sharing.

Visibility WFP continued to highlight the contribution from

ECOWAS to support the mudslide and flood affected

communities in Sierra Leone.

Starting with the handover ceremony in December

2017 attended by Mr. Alozie Amaechi Godfrey and

Ms. Gloria Uwunze, which took place at Juba camp to

highlight the ECOWAS support to the people of Sierra

Leone. The event was attended by WFP and Office of

National Security and gained newspaper and TV cov-

erage. Also, the post implementation monitoring visit

in June 2018 by the ECOWAS delegation led by the

Commissioner of Social Affairs and Gender, Dr. Siga

Fatima Jagne was covered both by print and electron-

ic media such as the breakfast show on Radio De-

mocracy 98.1.

Additionally, WFP was active on one of the largest platforms to reach people both throughout Sierra Leo-ne as well as globally – Twitter. Several tweets on the ECOWAS donation were posted on the main @WFP Twitter handle, which has almost 1.5 million followers

Beneficiary stories were also shared in the local

newspaper.

Table 1: Overview of Project Beneficiary Information

Beneficiary Category

Planned (male)

Planned (female)

Planned (total)

Actual (male)

Actual (female)

Actual (total)

% Actu-al v.

Planned (male)

% Actual v. Planned (female)

% Actual v.

Planned (total)

Total Ben-eficiaries

5,268 6,007 11,275 5,628 6,096 11,724 106.8% 101.5% 104.0%

By Age-group:

Children (6-23 months)

496 504 1,000 469 469 938 94.6% 93.1% 93.8%

Children (24-59 months)

496 604 1,100 469 586 1,055 94.6% 97.0% 95.9%

Children (5-18 years)

1,744 1,886 3,630 1,876 1,993 3,869 107.6% 105.7% 106.6%

Adults (18 years plus)

2,532 3,013 5,545 2,814 3,048 5,862 111.1% 101.2% 105.7%

Food Assistance Distribution (in-kind ration and cash transfers)

Out of the US$565,000 donated by ECOWAS, US$287,873 was used to procure food together

with its associated costs of handling and transportation while US$277,127 was used for cash

based transfer to meet the food and nutritional needs of beneficiaries as per the table above.

Item Unit (MT) US$ value

Food Transfers

Cereals 129.568

Pulses 19.26

Veg. oil 7.435

Super Cereal 20.513

Super Cereal plus 0.224

Salt 1.619

Subtotal 178.619 US$287,873

Cash Transfers

Contributions to the humanitari-an, early recovery cash transfer package

US$277,127

Subtotal US$277,127

Grand Total US$565,000

Story Worth Telling

6

Margaret Thoronka still recalls her family’s narrow escape on 14 August 2017 when the Sugar Loaf

mountain collapsed sending a deluge of flood waters downhill claiming over 500 lives and leaving a

further 600 missing, presumed dead.

"I grabbed my four children and together with my husband we quickly went to higher ground," says

Margaret. “We survived the floods, but our house didn’t. It was swept away by the torrent of water.”

The family had their house close to the waterbed along the narrow alleys of Pentagon in the Kama-

yama section in Freetown.

Margaret's family, like hundreds of others, had their home and all their belongings destroyed that

morning. In addition to losing her livelihood, Margaret also lost her sister, her husband’s elder

brother and thirty of her neighbours to the floods. She now lives in an unfinished house with anoth-

er sister together with her children, however the lack of space means the husband is living else-

where. Even before the disaster, the family's income from selling vegetables and coconut jelly was

inadequate to properly feed themselves and ensure adequate nutrition. Now, with everything gone,

Margaret’s family has been surviving on assistance provided by friends and organisations like WFP.

To help families like Margaret's to start over, a cash-based transfer programme was organised by

the Government, with the support of UKAid, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), WFP and oth-

er partners, wherein all affected families are given a set amount of funds using mobile technology.

As part of this programme, WFP provided money for families to buy food, in addition to providing in-

kind food for all affected people. Cash-based transfer allowed families the control over the foods

they chose to buy from the local markets.

Despite the challenges that still lie ahead and the terrible memories they carry, the family’s resili-

ence is evident. With the support, they have received from WFP and cooperating partners, they have

an opportunity to rebuild what was lost.

7

For more information, contact: Housainou Taal, Representative and Country Director housainou.taal@wfp.org

Francis Boima, Communications Associate francis.boima@wfp.org

Prepared by:

Mervyn Chiumia and Francis Boima

69B Smart Farm Off-Wilkinson Road Freetown.