Action by Churches Together (ACT) Sitrep - No 2/00 Ethiopia - Relief Intervention by the Joint Relief Partnership (Supported by the ACT and Caritas Internationalis Networks) Report as of 30 June 2000
General Situation - Country wide Introduction This is the 2nd of the bi-monthly situation reports. The first one was sent out on 12 June 2000. Items mentioned in this report are a follow up on those of the 1st report - and hence are shorter this time. General Information The 3 Joint Relief Partnership (JRP) member churches are presently discussing a revised "Memorandum of Understanding" (MoU) between JRP and its Partners - and the establishment of the JRP Forum. The process of preparing this revised MoU was greatly facilitated by the ACT representative Mr. Lennart Skov - Hansen who was in Addis Ababa June 8 - June 21. It is hoped the MoU will be finalized this coming week. The JRP is in the process of recruiting an Information Officer - who will assure the timely and accurate preparation of these Sitreps and other required information. ACT Geneva is assisting JRP in finding a suitable candidate for a short-term assignment in helping setting up the JRP information desk and giving training to the local counterpart. The revised (DPPC) appeal document is expected by the end of next week. Details will be reported in the next Sitrep. Weather Patterns Although rains of the Meher season have begun in most parts of the country, forecasts for the southern parts of the country, and thus the regions most affected by drought, appear not to be overly promising. Food Pledges Country Wide (Relief only) As of 27 June total pledges stand at 698,702 MT of cereals, 7,183 MT Oil and 47,952 MT other commodities. Grand Total 753,837 MT out of which 44 % was delivered as of 27 June. Logistics The daily dispatch capacity of DPPC/NTCC from the port of Djibouti to the primary hubs decreased from 4,175 MT to 2,578 MT. This was due to the decrease in the number of vessels discharging at the port. DPPC/NTCC dispatch from primary to secondary hubs decreased from 4,000 MT to 3,200 MT per day due to various problems, including a two-day labor strike and a road accident. Donors representatives and NGOS have already expressed their concern about the transport rates imposed by the NTCC. In some zones, transporters release their trucks only for the transport on rough roads where the rates are high, thus creating artificial shortage of trucking capacities. WFP is planning to bring in 140 trucks from abroad to ease the transport problem. Port stocks at Djibouti were 79,052 MT food and 25,500 MT fertilizer. Expected food shipments: July - 123,374 MT Aug. - 113,311 MT Sept. - 56,495 MT Out of the total required food aid for the period January - June 2000 of 511,161 MT - only 284,260 MT was actually delivered or under dispatch. Revised monthly requirements for June - September are about 150,000 MT per month. Pre-positioning of most of this food will remain the major problem. Details of the JRP Program Status of Pledges Food Items In addition to the confirmed pledges of 50,575 MT reported in Sitrep no.1 - the 3rd CRS/USAID allocation to the JRP has now been confirmed - total 32,600 MT - bringing the total confirmed pledges to 83,175 MT. Financial Contributions Total cash contributions through the ACT network total USD 1,601,927 per 30 June 2000. Funds are for program implementation and the non - food components. Progress on Implementation NCA/EECMY NCA/EECMY continued their distributions in June - however this food will run out in July. CRS/USAID - 1st allocation - 21,050 MT June allocations were all received and distributed (7,016 MT per month- for 3 months) Danchurchaid - 2 mio. DKK The 780 MT of maize and 78 MT of famix both locally purchased was successfully distributed in June. ACT shipment - 5,000 MT The 5,000 MT is stored in Shashemane - and allocations are made on a monthly basis - because of lack of enough storage facilities in some of the final distribution sites. We made an agreement with the Ethiopian Grain Trading Enterprise to swap 1,815 MT of wheat for 1,942 MT of maize - which is the preferred staple food of the beneficiaries in the South. Following are the details of the June allocation: Center June Allocation MT Moved MT Balance MT Hagere Mariam 909.7 683.5 224.2 Ginir 283 283 - Rayitu 476 158.5 317.5 Total 1,668.7 1,125 547.7 We face serious problems in the secondary transports and are following it up daily - both with the DPPC and the National Transport Committee. EU allocation - 7,025 MT So far only one loan request has been approved by the Ethiopian Food Security Reserve Administration (EFSRA) - 2,269 MT for N-Wollo for pre-positioning. Following is the status on the transport of this from Combolcha: Centers Allocation MT Moved MT Balance MT Kozeba 500 500 - Chila Meda 300 290 10 Amde Work 250 250 - Hamusit 358 212 146 Sekota 861 293 568 Total 2269 1545 724 Here too we face serious transport problems. The transports have to be completed before the rains start. We hope to receive the loans for the other regions (N-Shoa, Borena and E-Haraghe) soon too - as the stock position of the EFSRA now stands at 83,835 MT. MME/CFGB - EECMY - 2,831 MT Following is the proposed distribution plan: Woreda July August September Total MT El Kere 154.2 154.2 0 308.4 Cheretti 384.6 384.6 0 769.2 Hargelle 569.1 569.1 554.2 1,692.4 Filtu 60.0 0 0 60.0 Grand Total 1,167.9 1,107.9 554.2 2,830.0 Caritas/ECS The 10 MT of biscuits and 15 MT of supl. Food were distributed by EECMY. Finnchurchaid - 5,35 million FIM A contract for the local purchase of 700 MT of famix was signed June 30 - and delivery time is 20 days. A 2nd contract for another 400 MT will be signed this week. This is in replacement of the proposed maize in view of the shortage of suppl. Food to go along with the monthly grain distributions. (E.g. the ACT - MME/CFGB and Vatican/Caritas shipments) The 100 MT of biscuits is due in Djibouti July 2nd. CRS/USAID - 2nd allocation - 5,396 MT No further progress as yet. Vatican/Caritas - 5,600 MT wheat Wheat is being purchased in Europe and vessel is due mid of August. CRS/USAID - 3rd allocation - 32,600 MT Confirmation received - but no other details available as yet. Non - Food Items CSA - EECMY/NEAW Washera So far the committee has purchased and distributed: 308 horses, 310 breeding sheep, 9.2 MT of wheat seed and 3,2 MT of lentil seed. Others Several proposals were received from EECMY synods for seeds, hand tools and restocking of live stock. Seed purchases are very difficult at this stage - and have to be done at the local level. For Information The following activities are planned for by ACT Members for the JRP operations - but have not yet been confirmed: EU - 2nd NGO allocation Our revised proposal to the EU has been submitted - more focusing on EGS activities and where possible in collaboration with our SWCP project sites/office. Christian Aid - 2,600 MT Maize-Bale C.A has re-submitted its proposal to DFID - now including other areas in Bale as well: Meda walabu where NCA is working together with EECMY. The other areas are Ginir and Raytu. DCA/Danida application Once the new DPPC figures come out - and JRP revises its appeal document - DCA may re-submit its application to Danida for assistance - in the amount of Approx. DKK 10 million. Dutch Interchurchaid USD 64,000 for use in South Omo Zone - not yet approved. The following is planned as activities outside the regular JRP Program: Mennonite Mission - 450 MT wheat - Afar Pastoralist Dev. Ass. 655 MT wheat - ZOA - Dessie Christian Aid - GBP 100,000 - Farm Africa Konso GBP 314,000 - Partly to be funded for the Gudina Tumsa Foundation. GBP 314,000 - Partly to be funded for REST - 5,000 MT L/P program Tigray. N.A. - Action for Development USAID - 4,383 MT of grain of EOC for S. Tigray and N-and S-Wollo. Latat/Jerusalem 37 MT of grain, 7 MT Suppl. Food for EECMY - S-Wollo. Dutch Interchurchaid - USD 87,000 for Al Nejah Charity Organization for water development in Wardher Zone, Somali region. USD 64,000 for the Afar Pastoralists Development Association, for water development and supplementary feeding in Afar Region. Sources: UN-EUE/WFP/JRP Members/Partners The JRP: During the famine in Ethiopia in 1984/1985 the Ethiopian Churches, Ethiopian Catholic Church (ECC), Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) together with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Lutheran World Federation (LWF) formed the Joint Relief Partnership (JRP) as an ecumenical body to respond to the emergency. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) joined JRP in 1986. JRP has continued its work with response to emergencies in Ethiopia since then in cooperation with relevant government bodies and its Church counter parts. The 5 members of JRP are either members of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International alliance (EECMY, EOC and LWF) or the Caritas Internationalis (CI) network (ECC and CRS). ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. The ACT Coordination Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland. Abreviations ACT - Action by Churches Together C.I. - Caritas Internationalis CRS - Catholic Relief Services DCA - DanchurchAid DPPC - Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission EEC - Ethiopian Catholic Church EECMY - Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus EFSRA - Ethiopian food Security Reserve Administration EOC - Ethiopian Orthodox Church EU - European Union JRP - Joint Relief Partnership NCA - Norwegian Church Aid USAID - United States Agency for International Development - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -