Crisis in North Africa: CHF responding to the needs of conflict-affected populations

March 9, 2011 — The escalating conflict in Libya is creating regional chaos and uncertainty, forcing mass displacement to neighboring countries.

More than 200,000 people have fled to Tunisia and Egypt. Over half of these are in Tunisia, creating a burden for the local host population and straining already overstretched services, such as water, sanitation, markets and health services. As hostilities within Libya continue, the evolution of the current crisis into a complex regional humanitarian emergency seems increasingly likely.

In response to the growing humanitarian crisis, CHF International is mobilizing an Emergency Response Team* to assess the evolving and most pressing needs of vulnerable communities affected by the conflict.

CHF’s global humanitarian response programming, particularly in shelter and livelihoods assistance, includes programs in Georgia, West Bank/Gaza, Ethiopia, North and South Sudan, Indonesia, Haiti, Colombia, Honduras and El Salvador.

*UPDATE (March 17, 2011): CHF is monitoring the situation in Libya closely. With the intensification of the conflict, we have postponed plans to send an Emergency Response Team. As the situation develops we will decide if we can operate effectively and, if so, send in a team to assess the needs of the people affected by the conflict as planned.