US embassy cable - 05LAGOS722

UNCLAS LAGOS 000722 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, NI 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADORS' FUND FOR REFUGEES: NIGERIA 
PROPOSAL 
 
REF:  STATE 27113 
 
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Proposal Summary 
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1.  The Oru Refugee Camp in Ogun State, Nigeria, has a 
critical need for latrines. The United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) minimum standard is 
one latrine per 20 people; at one latrine per nearly 70 
people, Oru Camp falls below this standard.  Mission 
proposes a grant of $20,000 from the 2005 Ambassadors' 
Fund for Refugees to the Oru Refugee Camp to build 18 
latrines.  These latrines, along with 10 being 
constructed with UNHCR funds, would bring the ratio to 
one latrine per 27 people.  If this proposal is 
approved, the UNHCR Nigeria office will manage the 
project funds.  Ijebu North Local Government, the local 
government where the camp is situated, will be 
responsible for building the latrines.  UNHCR Nigeria 
projects the new latrines would be completed within two 
months of the availability of the funds. 
 
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Justification 
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2.  About 5,300 refugees, primarily Liberian and Sierra 
Leonean, reside at the Oru Refugee Camp.  However, much 
of the assistance provided in the camp does not meet 
acceptable standards because of funding constraints 
caused by the influx of Liberians in May and June 2003. 
(This influx resulted in significantly more refugees 
without a commensurate increase in UNHCR funding.)  In 
the area of sanitation, all indicators, save one, are 
below standards.  The number of people per communal 
latrine is 68, against a standard of 20; the number of 
people per communal shower is 66, against a standard of 
50, the percentage of dwellings with individual 
latrines is 28%, against a standard of 100%; and the 
percentage of communal buildings with adequate water 
and sanitation is 72%, against a standard of 100%. 
Funding is urgently needed to enable UNHCR and the 
local government to build more latrines, thus improving 
water and sanitation conditions.  This project will 
especially assist women and young girls as the new 
latrines will help them avoid having to venture into 
isolated areas, where they are vulnerable to sexual 
exploitation and gender-based violence. 
 
3.  Thirty-five additional latrine units would bring 
the camp within the standard of one latrine per 20 
persons.  UNHCR Nigeria will fund the construction of 
10 latrine units in 2005.  The 18 additional units 
proposed in this project will bring the ratio to one 
latrine per 27 people and position the camp to achieve 
the UNHCR standard in 2006.  The project will improve 
general environmental conditions in the camp as well as 
the quality of water from hand pumps used for drinking 
purposes. 
 
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Code of Conduct 
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4.  Mission has received a copy of the UNHCR Nigeria 
code of conduct. The code meets the core principles 
listed in reftel. 
 
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Mission Capacity to Award Grant 
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5.  Mission has the contract authority and capacity to 
award a grant to UNHCR Nigeria prior to the end of 
FY2005. 
 
6.  This cable has been cleared by Embassy Abuja and 
USAID. 
 
BROWNE