Addressing the Urgent Needs of Togo's Refugees

AGAME, Benin — When violence erupted following Togo’s presidential elections, Akpene Adankpo only had time to gather up her five girls before fleeing with her family across the border into neighbouring Benin.

“They were firing guns in the quarter. They were killing people,” said Akpene who escaped the fighting with her husband and five daughters, ages eight to one-and-a-half. “We were afraid to be victims so we fled. We left everything.”

According to news reports, some 40,000 Togolese refugees have so far fled into neighbouring Benin and Ghana since clashes broke out around the 24 April presidential polls. Over 60 per cent of the refugees are women, young people and children under five. Ten per cent of the women are of childbearing age. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that about 200 refugees are currently being registered each week.

During his recent visit to nearby Niger, United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan discussed the continuing crisis in Togo with Niger’s President Mamadou Tandja.

To meet the continuing maternal health needs of the refugee population, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is working with Benin’s Government to set up health posts in refugee camps. In addition, supplementary food and vaccination programmes have been set up for pregnant women and their children. Multiple cases of malnutrition have been identified, and mothers are being educated about good nutrition and proper health care for themselves and their families.

Maternity health kits, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, soap and other supplies have been provided by UNFPA to the camps. Facilities for pregnant women and childbirth at nearby health centres have also been put in place. In addition, UNFPA has recruited two midwives and two data collectors to process information on the refugee populations.

“Thank you for being our partner,” said Moussa Yarou, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Public Health, as he spoke to UNFPA’s Executive Director, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, during her recent tour of the camp. “UNFPA and other partners have taken the responsibility to work with us to meet the needs of the refugees.”

“UNFPA and the United Nations are mobilized to work with the Government to help the refugees,” agreed Ms. Obaid, as she handed over a UNFPA donation of family planning materials and medical equipment valued at $25,000 to the Government for the refugees’ use. “This camp is a demonstration of inter-agency cooperation and collaboration.”

Within Togo, UNFPA, working with other United Nations agencies, is assisting more than 10,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) scattered all over the country and mostly staying with host families in outlying villages.

UNFPA is providing reproductive health supplies intended for pregnant women and young girls displaced by the conflict. The Fund is also supporting non-governmental organization (NGO) sensitization workshops meant to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections and HIV as well as to provide information on family planning and contraceptives to displaced persons and their host families. Data is also being collected on IDPs and their host families to better address their ongoing reproductive health needs.

Most importantly, UNFPA is collaborating with the Togolese Ministry of Social Affairs, Women and Child Protection and NGO partners to provide psychosocial counselling to the displaced persons. One hundred and nine counsellors, mostly from NGOs, had been trained by July. Counsellors are also being provided with locally constituted hygiene kits for women to distribute during their counselling sessions.

“Any displaced person who has been removed from his or her normal environment automatically becomes vulnerable,” said Fidelis Zama Chi, UNFPA Representative in Togo. “Many have shattered lives and have lost family – a child losing a parent or a wife losing a husband. Some are victims of sexual abuse. Their lives must be rebuilt. That’s the basis for this psychosocial counselling.”

Akpene and her family will remain in the refugee camp in Benin until she feels that the conflict has truly ended.

“The violence continues still,” said Akpene sitting with her children on a mat outside the tent she shares with her family to escape the sweltering heat. “If that stops, then we will return. But for now, I will stay here with my family where it is safe.”

Contact Information:

Senegal: Angela Walker, tel:+221 889-0369, awalker@unfpa.org

New York: David Del Vecchio, tel:+1 (212) 297- 4975 or +1 (917) 892-7764, delvecchio@unfpa.org; Abubakar Dungus, tel. +1 (212) 297-5031, dungus@unfpa.org