OCHA Situation Report No. 9
Uganda: Floods
16 October 2007


HIGHLIGHTS

- 586 PRIMARY LEAVING EXAMINATION CANDIDATES BENEFIT FROM FOUR NEW 
LEARNING CENTRES IN AMURIA AND KATAKWI DISTRICTS

- NUMBER OF CLOSED SCHOOLS DROPS FROM 110 TO 50

The information contained in this report has been gathered by the Office 
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) from sources 
including the Government of Uganda, UN agencies, non-governmental 
organizations and the Red Cross movement.

Situation Overview

1. The humanitarian response to the flooding and water-logging across 
eastern and northern Uganda continues, with the clusters deploying daily 
operations in the Teso sub-region from the regional coordination hub in 
Soroti.

2. The thin presence of humanitarian actors especially in Bugisu region 
is a key impediment to humanitarian response.

3. Health risks continue to be a major concern. Access to health care 
service, inadequate staffing and short supply of drugs to functional 
health facilities are of specific concern. The danger of epidemic 
disease outbreaks looms.

4. Although the rains subsided again in the past week, access 
constraints continue to hamper effective operations. Of particular 
concern is the need to hasten maintenance and repair works on roads and 
bridges.

5. As of 11 October, Katakwi district is accessible from Soroti, 
following the reopening of Komolo Bridge.

6. The Awoja bridge remains closed and the use of small boats to cross 
continues. Most feeder roads can only be plied in 4x4 or 6x6 vehicles.

7. The regional cluster leads based in Soroti, in consultation with 
OCHA, characterizing the situation as a combined food and non-food 
emergency, have identified two immediate overarching priorities for the 
response:

- To stabilize the food security situation as quickly as possible in 
areas that have been cut off and where the immediate lack of food is 
evident; and

- To prevent the outbreak of waterborne epidemic diseases by 1) enabling 
and equipping local health structures to respond; 2) distributing 
"household safe water kits" and other essential non-food items; and 3) 
supporting the resumption of safe water distributions.

Humanitarian Response

Shelter and Non-Food Items (NFIs) Working Group

8. The Working Group confirms that 17,000 family kits and 21,535 
household safe water kits have been distributed in Teso and Bugisu sub 
regions to date. A complete list of partners working in the area of 
shelter and NFIs can be found in the Who-What-Where (3W) Matrix at the 
end of the Situation Report.

9*. For its part, the Red Cross has supported 7,919 households with NFIs 
in Katakwi, Amuria and Soroti. Camp Coordination and Camp Management

10*. In collaboration with the German nongovernmental organization 
Arbeiter Samaritar Bund (ASB), the Office of the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has conducted an initial assessment in 
Katakwi, identifying seven camps in which to start the implementation of 
camp management activities. Camp management activities will gradually 
spread to other camps.

11*. UNHCR met with the Local Council V (LCV) and Chief Administrative 
Officer (CAO) for Katakwi to discuss the district's proposal that a 
number of camps need to be relocated to higher ground due to the floods.

9. For its part, the Red Cross has supported 7,919 households with NFIs 
in Katakwi, Amuria and Soroti.

Camp Coordination and Camp Management

10. In collaboration with the German nongovernmental organization 
Arbeiter Samaritar Bund (ASB), the Office of the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has conducted an initial assessment in 
Katakwi, identifying seven camps in which to start the implementation of 
camp management activities. Camp management activities will gradually 
spread to other camps.

11. UNHCR met with the Local Council V (LCV) and Chief Administrative 
Officer (CAO) for Katakwi to discuss the district's proposal that a 
number of camps need to be relocated to higher ground due to the floods.

Full_Report.pdf: 
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=BCE3859AF46E51E38525737600656B8D&file=Full_Report.pdf

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