Action by Churches Together (ACT) Appeal Sudan - Relief and Rehabilitation: AFSD-01 Geneva, 10 January 2000
Appeal Target: US$ 660,450 Bahr El Ghazal with its estimated population of 2.2 million has over the years been devastated by civil war, drought, famine and occasional floods. In December 1997 hunger was widespread and forced many people to abandon their homes in search of food. Many arrived in Wau, the capital city, or neighbouring villages where several humanitarian agencies were involved in providing relief to these internally displaced persons (IDPs). The following proposal from Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) is a continuation of the ACT appeal AFSD83, which closed on 31 December 99. The appeal was issued in response to the dire situation of the IDPs at the time, many of whom were starving and many died either en route or upon arrival. However, due to the efforts of humanitarian agencies, many lives were saved but needs are still very much evident in the 4 IDP camps surrounding Wau. The program components and financial status of the Appeal are as follows: Shelter Nutrition Health Care Agriculture Education Repatriation Total Appeal Target US$ 660,450 Less: Pledges/Contributions Received 460,000 Less: Requested Carry Forward Balance from AFSD83 Cash 100,915 In-kind (food & non-food) 20,000 Balance Requested from ACT network 79,535 Please kindly send your contributions to the ACT bank account and inform this office of all pledges/contributions and transfers, including funds sent direct to the implementers. Please note the Pledge Form is no longer attached with the Appeal. Account Number - 102539/0.01.61 Banque Edouard Constant Cours de Rive 11 Case postale 3754 1211 Geneve 3 SWITZERLAND For further information, please contact: ACT Co-ordinator, Miriam Lutz (phone 41 22 791 6033 or mobile phone ++ 41 79 203 6055) or ACT Appeals Officer, Neville Pradhan (phone 41 22 791 6035 or mobile phone +41 79 285 2916) Ms. Genevieve Jacques Miriam Lutz Rev. Rudolf Hinz Director ACT Coordinator Director WCC/Cluster on Relations LWF/World Service REQUESTING ACT MEMBERS Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES SCC is an indigenous ecumenical Christian organization. It supports the Sudanese churches in developing their spiritual, intellectual and resource capacity. SCC was formed in the 1940's to bring the churches together to help the spread of the Gospel and render services to the needy. In 1972 the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission was formed to rehabilitate the returnees from the neighbouring countries and the internally displaced people after the Addis Ababa Agreement. NCA is an ecumenical relief and development aid organization. It is based on the values of justice, participation, compassion and peace. NCA has had fifty years of global experience, responding to emergency situations and working on development agenda. NCA played an instrumental role in co-ordinating and implementing ACT's relief efforts in Wau in 1998/99. The Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) is one of the major Protestant churches in the Sudan. ECS is a member of the Inter Church Committee - Wau and is providing education for IDP students and conducting a feeding program for these students at its school. The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) is defined as a universal church. RCC in Wau is one of the agencies which was the first to respond to the needs of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees when they started to flood into Wau town in April 1998. The Catholic Church has been extremely active during the past year, providing medical services to the IDP population of Wau via their three clinics and the mobile clinic that travels to the two camps of Baryar and Mariel Ajiith. It has absorbed thousands of IDP children into their existing educational facilities in Wau town, as well as building temporary school classrooms in the above named camps. All the four above-named, were actively involved in the ACT Appeal AFSD83, and have again agreed to work together in the year 2000. It is however planned that SCC will be taking over from NCA the role of co-ordinating agency in 2000. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMERGENCY SITUATION Background The four states which form Bahr El Ghazal have an estimated population of 2.2 million. The semi-nomadic, pastoralist Dinka are the main group while several minor tribes, such as the Fertid and Jur, are dependent on agriculture. Civil war, drought, and occasional floods have contributed to the catastrophe. During the spring of 1997 the guerrilla movement attacked strategic towns such as Rumbek and Tonj. The ongoing fighting kept the farmers from planting their crops and forced the pastoralists to move their herds to distant places. Rainfall was very limited and resulted in a food shortage which was made worse when, out of the scarce food, the guerrilla soldiers took what they needed and left the granaries empty. In December 1997 hunger was widespread and forced many people to abandon their homes in search of food. Many arrived in Wau, the capital city, or neighbouring villages where several NGOs were involved in providing relief to these people. On 28 January 1998 Keribino Kuny Bol attacked Wau, (Keribino was one of the signatories of the Khartoum Peace Agreement, but withdrew) causing many casualties and destruction. 40,000 - 60,000 people ran away from their homes, mainly to the rebel-held area. Keribino failed to capture the town, which is still under government control. The IDPs arriving in Wau came from an area where they had very little food and where they had existed on wild fruit and herbs. There have been a number of estimates made concerning the number of IDPs that flocked into Wau in mid-1998, and the original working figure for WFP was 72,000 people. A head count carried out by WFP in January 1999 revealed a total of 46,661 IDPs, which has been hotly contested by the government. Those arriving in Wau were starving and many died either en route or upon arrival. They found refuge in the town, under the mango trees and under the verandahs of town shops. Current Situation The current situation is that through the efforts of the churches and humanitarian agencies, including ACT, many human lives have been saved. The verandahs are now empty and the malnutrition rate is low. Most people have found housing in town or in the camps of the Eastern Bank, Baryar, Mariel Ajiith or Khor Ukanda. The horrors of mid-1998 are now only a vivid memory in the minds of many people and on the surface, life in Wau seems to have normalized to a large extent. However, needs still persist as is evident from the following information. There are 4 IPD camps surrounding Wau with a total population of 30,000 people. Most humanitarian agencies are still refusing to go to Mariel Ajiith and Baryar because of lack of communications. The IDP population and the original inhabitants of Wau are dependent on food brought in by air. Wau continues to be a garrison town with limited secure land for people to cultivate. Most humanitarian agencies were very active in the initial emergency stage, but now have little funds, energy or mandate to respond to ongoing health, education and food security issues facing people who came into town as a result of the emergency. Impact on Human Lives The IDPs coming into Wau were largely from Warrap and Western Bahr El Ghazal states. They had lost their homes, food, crops and livestock through a combination of war and famine. Their situation was worsened because they were prevented from arriving in Wau as quickly as they would have liked. According to WFP, the number of IDPs in Wau is presently around 50,000. There are but a few men among the IDPs, and young men are almost non-existent. Eastern Bank Camp is close to town and has a relatively good medical service set up. While sanitation and water availability is at an acceptable level, the plastic huts which were quickly constructed by the people when they arrived more than a year ago, are inadequate. In the camps of Mariel Ajiith and Baryar the water and sanitation needs are still not adequately addressed as there continues to be too much defecation around the camp and not enough water wells for the present population. The housing is good and people are content to be living in tukuls (small traditional huts, built using local materials of grass and poles) which they are familiar with and can repair. Medical care in the two camps is a problem as NGOs who specialize in health care, refuse to have set-ups in these camps because of security and communication difficulties. Through ACT funding the Catholic Church is providing a mobile clinic weekly to these camps and referring serious cases to their clinics in town. Although people were able to grow some food, they continue to be primarily dependent on WFP food. To date WFP refuses to distribute in the two camps, citing transport, communication and security problems. People have to walk to town to collect their monthly rations and are frequently "relieved" of part of their monthly allotment by armed persons. Education is an area that is totally overlooked by most other NGOs. Most of the IDP children have not received any formal education, and there is a great need for this in order to empower people and give them the tools of productive living. Description of Damages There was no doubt of the indignities suffered by the IDP population, including loss of life, homes, stored food, crops and livestock when they arrived in Wau starving and often naked. Temporary refuge has been afforded them in Wau, but how long this refuge may continue is open to speculation as it is not possible to gauge the extent of physical damage in their areas of origin. In Wau itself, a large part of the local population, especially the Dinka population, fled town for fear of reprisals after Keribino's fall many of them have not yet returned. Physically, Nazareth in the southern part of Wau endured the most destruction as many houses in that part of town were destroyed and looted during the fighting of January 1998. Location for Proposed Response This project is proposed for Wau town, (Western Bahr El Ghazal State, in southern Sudan) along with the IDP camps of Mariel Ajiith, Baryar, Khor Ukanda and Eastern Bank. It should be noted that the situation for the non-IDP community in Wau is now often more desperate. Although most NGO activity is directed towards the IDPs, the original population of Wau is equally suffering. Current Security Situation Wau is essentially accessible by air and during the dry season by road through Raja in the form of guarded truck convoys. The train arrives in town a few times a year and with its arrival the insecurity of the area increases, as it is accompanied by horsemen who are famous for "looting". They provide security for the train in exchange for the goods they can extract from the population within riding distance. Wau continues to be a garrison town and one cannot venture far out of town as the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) essentially surrounds the town. Access to the camps of Mariel Ajiith and Baryar is problematic because of their location vis a vis a major army camp and that is why many of the other NGOs refuse to go to that camp. Local people who understand the language and are able to pick up on security issues on a day to day basis provide information to the project. Communication between Wau and Khartoum is a challenge, but is circumvented through the assistance of UN planes, mail service and the use of another NGO's radio. GOAL & OBJECTIVES To continue the work begun in 1998, of saving lives and assisting people in making a new life in a host community. Objectives Assist the Catholic Church in providing health care to the IDP community in their three clinics, as well as the mobile clinics to two camps. Support education for school-age children by providing assistance to Ministry of Education for Warrap State, the Catholic Church-run schools, ECS school and other schools. Assist the IDP communities in their attempts to work at food self-sufficiency through provision of seeds, tools and Food for Work (FFW). Provide building materials to new arrivals for them to live their lives in a relatively secure environment in one of the camps. Capacity Building: the ACT project makes a conscious attempt to work through local institutions (schools, clinics, government ministries) and to strengthen their capacity to do their work as effectively as possible. The influx of the IDPs into Wau has put a strain on the ACT partners and ACT funding and activity support can strengthen the partners to meet the new challenges they are facing. Special attention will be paid to assist in ways that strengthen the institutions in the process. BENEFICIARY INFORMATION & TARGETED AREAS Number and Type of Targeted Beneficiaries Education: The number of school aged children in East Bank, Mariel Ajiith and Baryar alone are in the range of 8,000. Children are selected on a first-come, first-served basis and special provisions are made to cater for female students (e.g. separate classrooms). 4,305 school aged children will be targetted under this program. Health: Assistance will be provided to the Catholic church to run the Wau clinics in Jebel Kehr, the Health Training Institute (HTI) and Sika Hadid, as well as mobile clinics to Baryar and Mariel Ajiith. Clinic Daily Patients HTI 172 Jebel Kehr 45 Sika Hadid 240 Baryar (Mobile Clinic) 100/week Mariel Ajiith (Mobile Clinic) 100/week It should be noted that since the influx of the IDPs into Wau, the number of patients in the three town clinics doubled and at that time the mobile clinics did not exist. Food Security: Provision of seeds, tools and food for work to each of the families in Mariel Ajiith and Baryar and in Khor Ukanda. The numbers are as follows: Camps Families Mariel Ajiith 1,000 Baryar 1,200 Khor Ukanda 500 Total Families/ Beneficiaries: 2,700/13,500 Housing: 300 newly arrived IDP families (around 1,500 persons) are targetted for housing. DESCRIPTION OF TARGETED ASSISTANCE & IMPLEMENTATION Description of Assistance Assistance will be primarily in the area of education, health, food security and housing. Education provide school uniforms to students in the schools already supported build and repair temporary classrooms provision of school desks, blackboards and classroom supplies such as chalk, pencils, notebooks provide in service training for teachers provide cooking utensils, kitchen facilities, food items as needed provide networking with WFP to assure that schools receive food regularly provide food for work for school staff work with local education committee to coordinate educational efforts provide salary stipend in situations where teachers are not receiving living wages Health - provide funds to the Catholic Church to: hire staff on their conditions to run clinics purchase a vehicle to operate mobile clinics in Mariel Ajiith and Baryar, two camps with a total population of 11,000 people with no permanent health care facility purchase lab equipment and to construct a TB clinic Food Security to provide seeds and tools to the families of Mariel Ajiith, Baryar and Khor Ukanda (total number of beneficiaries around 13,500) provide FFW for people to till, plant, weed and harvest their crops work in an advocacy role in order to assure that there is sufficient "safe" land for IDPs to cultivate seeds and tools are to be purchased within Sudan, and as much as possible in Wau, to benefit the host community and country as well as to assure the appropriateness of the seeds and tools Housing At this point while most of the IDPs in Wau are housed, the 16,000 people in the East Bank camps are not housed in appropriate shelters. "Rehousing" them would require considerably more funds than presently available. Hence assistance will consist of: providing building materials to newly arriving IDP families to build their own huts out of local materials providing FFW as they build their own huts Implementation Description Per Activity The implementing members will act as a liaison/enabling body to assist the church and other local institutions to fulfill their role in the areas of health, education and food security. In doing so the following will be needed: Personnel: 15 people required, as per details specified in the budget Field Offices: Offices set up in Wau will need to be continued External Support Required: Support for the projects will continue from Khartoum. This past year the Wau manager in Khartoum was working out of the NCA office. For 2000 the plan is for SCC to assume the lead role, and as such the manager will be working out of the SCC office. Vehicles and Equipment Rental: The implementers are essentially set up in Wau, but do need to purchase one photocopier for the office. It is also planned to purchase one pick-up truck for the Catholic Church to run the mobile clinic. Non-ACT Donor Input WFP is providing feeding for the IDPs, and is willing to provide food for school feeding. For the program to be successful, precautions have to be taken that supplies of food do not "run dry". Thus, contingency plans have been made and budgeted for, to ensure the availability of supplies should the WFP not be able to help. FFW for people to do extra work such as growing crops, building houses and assisting in the educational programs has also been budgetted for. Transition from Emergency The work in Wau is somewhat of an "in limbo" kind of work. On the one hand, the crisis phase is over but the people are essentially "prisoners" in Wau. They cannot leave, and they cannot produce enough food to feed themselves because of lack of sufficient secure land. The IDPs are not where they want to be and the camps and schools are temporary and artificial. The program is however responding to the present needs - people are being housed and fed and they are able to grow some of their own food. Their health needs are addressed and children are receiving some education in preparation for their future and in the building of a civil society of the future. Thus education and food security activities can both be seen as moving from emergency to rehabilitation and development. Even the building of huts and establishing of village camps, although temporary, can help in that process. People are moving towards normality and when the security situation changes, they may well choose to move back to their home areas and adapt quickly to their normal way of life. ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, MONITORING & REPORTING Overall direction for the work of the ACT-Wau project will be provided by the Steering Committee in Wau, which is made up of members from the SCC, NCA, ECS and the RCC. The Steering Committee is essentially the Inter Church Committee of Wau, established by the SCC. SCC will be the co-ordinating agency in the ACT 2000 project. The staff will be hired by SCC, applying SCC recruitment procedures and principles. Project Administration The ACT-Wau Project has a Project Manager in Khartoum who is responsible for the overall administration of the project. He will continue to be responsible to the Steering Committee, which is made up of members from SCC, NCA, RCC-Wau and ECS-Wau. He is the one reporting to ACT-Geneva and is responsible for Khartoum-based support. The ACT-Wau Coordinator is responsible to the Project Manager and the Steering Committee. The ACT Wau Coordinator is an SCC staff member who provided leadership on the ground in Wau last year, and is again being seconded to the project for the year 2000. SCC as co-ordinating agency, is responsible for providing narrative reports to ACT-Geneva while NCA is to be responsible for logistics and the financial channel. Project Finance Management and Controls NCA will be in charge of the finances or flow of funds and the logistical support. During the 98/99 ACT appeal, NCA worked hard at streamlining the flow of funds and improving the reporting and accounting system. This is now in good shape and should serve well in the year 2000. Disbursements and control of ACT Appeal funds are made by the finance office of NCA, on direction from the Project Manager. Bookkeeping will be done according to NCA accounting principles and procedures and reports will be prepared as per ACT guidelines. Project Monitoring Procedures Continual monitoring will be carried out by the project and concerned staff. The project Manager and Coordinator will report to SCC and NCA on a weekly basis to the Steering Committee on a monthly basis and to ACT Geneva on a quarterly basis. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE The project is for a period of one year, from 1 January to 31 December 2000. If nothing changes and the civil war continues it could well be that the IDPs will still be in town at the end of the year and the ACT members/partners may see their role as providing continuing assistance to them. However, this will need to be critically reviewed during the second half of the year and appropriate plans of action will be drawn up at that time. COORDINATION The Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) is the government focal point which coordinates humanitarian assistance to the affected population in the country. The ACT Steering Committee, which comprises the SCC, NCA, RCC and ECS, monitors the situation of the IDPs in Wau, and provides the overall direction for the program in Wau. UN agencies, namely WFP, UNICEF and UNHCU provide food for general distribution. UN agencies, INGOs and NGOs meet on a regular basis in Wau and Khartoum to share and coordinate relief efforts in the affected areas. During the past year, the ACT program has chaired the Education Committee in Wau. BUDGET (for the period January 01 - December 31, 2000) ESTIMATED INCOME US$ Pledges/Contributions Received Norwegian Church Aid 210,000 Mennonite Central Committee 40,000 Christian Aid 210,000 460,000 Requested Carry Forward Balance from AFSD83 Cash 100,915 In Kind Material - Sorghum 15,000 - School uniform material 4,000 - Fuel 1,000 120,915 TOTAL 580,915 BALANCE REQUESTED 79,535 TOTAL APPEAL TARGET 660,450 ACT-SCC-NCA ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE Description Type of Number Cost/Unit Total Unit of Unit USD USD CRISIS & POST CRISIS PHASE - Shelter material units 300 100 30,000 Nutrition - Sorghum, oil & pulses 90kg bags 1,667 kg 30 50,000 Health Care - Constr multipurpose hall lump sum 16,000 - Vehicle for mobile clinic unit 1 25,000 25,000 - Lab equipment lump sum 6,000 - Construction of field clinics lump sum 2,000 - Drugs etc lump sum 3,000 - Fuel for mobile clinics lump sum 2,000 - Staff support lump sum 20,000 - Health workers training course 6,000 - Support to Sika Hadid lump sum 6,000 Sub total 86,000 Agriculture Seeds - Sorghum lump sum 15,000 - Groundnuts lump sum 5,000 - Vegetable lump sum 5,000 Tools lump sum 20,000 Food for work for IDP camps - Sorghum bags 1,833 30 55,000 Sub total 100,000 Education - School feeding lump sum 55,000 - Desks lump sum 20,000 Description Type of Number Cost/Unit Total Unit of Unit USD USD - Uniforms lump sum 10,000 - Building materials lump sum 30,000 - Teacher subsidies lump sum 10,000 - School materials lump sum 5,000 - Teacher training lump sum 5,000 Sub total 135,000 Repatriation lump sum 12,000 TOTAL DIRECT ASSISTANCE 413,000 TRANSPORT, STORAGE, WAREHOUSING & HANDLING Material transport - Truck rental lump sum 5,000 - Airlifts and cargo flights lump sum 50,000 - Agents, packing and airport fees lump sum 2,000 Warehouse & Handling - Rental, repairs & security lump sum 3,000 - Loading and unloading lump sum 2,400 Other - Documentation lump sum 2,000 TOTAL TRANSPORT, STORAGE & HANDLING 64,400 CAPITAL EQUIPMENT Photocopier unit 1 7,000 7,000 PERSONNEL, ADMINISTRATION, SUPPORT Staff salaries & support - Project manager month 12 4,167 50,000 - 15 project staff month 12 3,000 36,000 - Project staff housing lump sum 1,800 - Volunteer stipends lump sum 3,000 Staff travel - International person 5 2,000 10,000 - Local & regional lump sum 6,000 Office operations & Communications - Office rental month 12 200 2,400 - Office utilities month 12 100 1,200 - Office stationery lump sum 5,000 - Other costs lump sum 2,400 - Telephone & fax lump sum 600 - Electronic mail lump sum 600 Vehicle Operations - Fuel and gasoline lump sum 9,000 - Maintenance & repairs lump sum 6,000 - Insurance lump sum 1,200 - Vehicle rental lump sum 2,400 - NCA administration 5% 31,450 - Guest House - Wau 6,000 - Bank charges 1,000 Sub total 176,050 TOTAL APPEAL TARGET & EXPENDITURE 660,450 Note: Further cost breakdowns of some of the lump sum amounts have been requested. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide network of churches and their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency response. The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ecumenical Centre Phone: ++41-22-791.60.33 150, route de Ferney Fax: ++41-22-791.65.06 1211 Geneva 2 Telex: 415 730 OIK CH Switzerland http://www.act-intl.org distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -