US embassy cable - 05LAGOS782

UNCLAS LAGOS 000782 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, NI 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADORS' FUND FOR REFUGEES: NIGERIA 
PROPOSAL 
 
REF:  A. STATE 27113 
 
B. LAGOS 722 
C. May 25, 2005, email from C. Chang to S. Litke 
 
1. This is a revision of the proposal submitted in 
reftel B. As requested in ref C, this revised 
submission proposes the Nigerian Red Cross (NRC) rather 
than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR) as the grant recipient. 
 
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Proposal Summary 
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2.  The Oru Refugee Camp in Ogun State, Nigeria, has a 
critical need for latrines. The 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 Nigerian Red Cross will manage and 
implement the project.  The NRC 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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3.  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 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. 
 
4.  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 
--------------- 
 
5.  NRC follows the UNHCR code of conduct.  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 
------------------------------- 
 
6.  Mission has the contract authority and capacity to 
award a grant to the NRC prior to the end of FY2005. 
 
7.  This cable has been cleared by Embassy Abuja and 
USAID. 
 
BROWNE