The Concerned Christian Community (CCC) last week, distributed food and non-food items to more than two thousands internally displaced persons (IDPs) sheltering at three IDP centers in Montserrado, Margibi and Lower Bong counties.

The donations distributed to the IDPs came from DORCAS AID International, based in Netherlands and the Church World Service.

The beneficiary IDP centers included the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex, Paynesville; Kakata, Margibi County and Totota, Lower Bong County. The direct beneficiaries are vulnerable women and family members, girls and elderly persons.

According to CCC's National Executive Director, Mrs. Mariama Z. B. Brown, the food and non-food items included rice, health kits, blankets and beef. She added that the continued distribution of rice is the way of showing DORCAS AID International's support to the war-wearied population of Liberia.

She told The INQUIRER that the exercise is notwithstanding, CCC's way of empowering the IDPs as they return to their previous camps. The CCC is one of the leading and respected humanitarian and relief groups in the country.

Meanwhile, an international humanitarian relief agency based in the Netherlands has been assessing the pressing humanitarian needs of the affected population of war-torn Liberia to identify ways of providing relief.

ZOA Refugee Care is presently operating in more than 11 countries in the Balkans, Africa and Asia, providing a wide-range of humanitarian assistance which includes emergency relief to IDPs and refugees, and their rehabilitation and reintegration through requisite programs.

Relief aid, psycho social assistance, primary health care, rural enterprise development, mobilization and rebuilding of social structures, among others are the sectors emphasized by the ZOA Refugee Care programs.

Presently, the presence of the agency in Liberia which is the first in West Africa is seen as the start of a new ZOA/CORD country program, which they believe is to stay for a long term of at least eight years.

In a bid to commence operations in the country, the agency recently dispatched a consultancy team to the country to appropriately assess the needs of the destitute population and make recommendations.

The ZOA assessment team is headed by Mr. Wim Franken. And it includes Ms. Sue Cutter, Messrs Guido Reinier van Westerlaak, Timotheus Johannes Gaasbeek and Bernard Jaspers Faijer. The team is guest of the Concerned Christian Community (CCC).

In his assessment report, Mr.Franken who departed the country yesterday for Netherlands said their assessment confirms that both uprooted and non-rooted need support, saying that in the emergency phase, their primary focus will be on the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and new arrivals to IDP campsites.

The short term which is the initial emergency response is expected to take about 6-12 months while the overall goals include responding rapidly, effectively and appropriately to the most urgent needs identified, establishing credibility with key actors in Liberia, initiating partnership relations and continued assessment, planning and fund-raising locally for subsequent phases.

The medium term which might take 24 months, focuses on preparations for the return of IDPs' to their home areas, facilitation of their resettlement, support of local rehabilitation initiatives, the continued local capacity building, actualizing assessments, planning and local fund-raising and the assessing appropriate options for a regional orientation

The long term, scheduled for six years, takes into account the continued facilitation of the resettlement process, continued support of local rehabilitation initiation, continued local capacity building, introduction of integrated, development-oriented activity planning, actualizing assessment, planning and local fund-raising and the introduction of regional initiatives/networks, DDR and peace building initiatives.