What the UN Can and Can't Do
By Steven Ehrenberg
 Refugee children from Liberia and Sierra Leone stand in a shelter at a new refugee camp in Abidjan. The camp was built by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). (Photo: Issouf Sanogo/Agence France Presse) |
Underneath the stadium, families crowd into bare concrete rooms to escape the rain. Lines of pebbles separate the spaces claimed by families. Children return from trips outside carrying firewood on their heads.
Liberia has been torn apart by civil war. Since 1990, about 200,000 Liberians have been killed in the fighting between rebel groups trying to seize power. Another 220,000 Liberians had to leave their homes and villages. According to a UN group that ranks countries by health and living conditions, Liberia places next to last.
This month, the United Nations sent a medical team into the stadium to help prevent the spread of disease among the 33,000 Liberians living there. UN relief workers have been in Liberia since a disastrous civil war broke out.
"Basically, the main issue [in the stadium] is water and sanitation," explained Brian Grogan, a humanitarian affairs officer for the UN. "By distributing water and digging [bathrooms], we've been able to stem the spread of cholera." (Cholera is a deadly, infectious disease that spreads easily in unhealthy conditions.)
How Can the UN Help?
The fighting in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, grew so violent this summer that the UN temporarily pulled its relief workers out. It was too dangerous for them to remain. On July 15, the UN decided that the violence had cooled enough for their workers to return.
When disaster strikes a country, UN relief workers are ready to rush in—as soon as it's safe enough.
"We need better security," said Grogan. "We need to be able to get in there and operate."
Outside of Monrovia, the situation is even worse. "Even in April, before the conflict reached the capital, we could access only 30 percent of the territory," said Grogan. "When it was in the capital, it went down to nothing; now it's back up to about 20 percent."
Once the violence settles and political calm returns, the UN is prepared to help Liberia's hungry, tired, and sick population return to better living conditions. With the civil war in Liberia spiraling out of control, more countries are paying attention—and asking how to help.
