Six-hundred-and forty-four Liberian children separated from their parents since the Liberian civil war ended in August 2003 have been reunited with their families, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday.
It said 229 children were repatriated from Guinea, 199 from Sierra Leone, 12 from Ivory Coast and 199 were traced in Liberia itself.
”Since July, the humanitarian organisation has also repatriated 19 foreign children from Liberia to their homes in neighbouring countries,” the statement added.
Last April, the ICRC launched its fourth poster campaign with pictures of nearly 500 children. The posters were displayed in public places throughout Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.
”If a family member recognises a child on a photo, we use a regional database to carefully cross check the information with that gathered from separated children registered in West Africa,” an ICRC representative, Roland Hunziker, said.
The ICRC is presently dealing with about 1 500 cases of separated Liberian children in West Africa. An average of 15 children are being returned to their families per week.
In a separate development, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) opened seven new offices in Liberia.
Speaking at a ceremony in the port city of Buchanan, about 145km east of Monrovia, WFP representative Justin Bagarisha said the agency has received more than $5-million out of $6-million needed to feed Liberian children until December. – Sapa