iU.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR) OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA) UGANDA - Civil Strife and Ebola Hemmorhagic Fever Information Bulletin #1, Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 December 29, 2000
Background Northern Uganda For more than a decade, civil strife has adversely affected northern Uganda, primarily the districts of Gulu and Kitgum. Since 1987, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has used Gulu and Kitgum as staging grounds for attacks on the Government of Uganda's military (UPDF) and civilians. Amidst intensified fighting in Gulu and Kitgum districts between UPDF forces and LRA rebels in late 1996, the UPDF encouraged the conflict-affected population to move into protective camps. By early 1997, more than one quarter of the population of Gulu and Kitgum districts, some 200,000 people, were estimated to have been internally displaced. Following continued LRA attacks in early 1999, attempts at a cease-fire agreement between the UPDF and LRA failed and the region remains a center for conflict and civil strife. The area has been marked by periodic relocations of affected populations during the last thirteen years. Western Uganda In 1996, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) emerged as a strong rebel movement in western Uganda. Based in the Ruwenzori Mountains, the ADF is a combination of fundamentalist Tabliq Muslims and an armed rebel group, the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU). By late 1998, the ADF began regular attacks on civilians in Bundibugyo, Kasese, and Kabarole districts. These attacks caused massive and rapid displacements of the civilian population throughout the three districts. Drought Exacerbating the unstable situation in the northeastern districts of Kotido and Moroto is drought, leaving 250,000 people in the two districts at risk. As access to pasturage decreased more than 90,000 pastoralists migrated with their cattle to other areas, including Kitgum and northeastern Lira, resulting in conflicts between local residents and the encroaching Karamojong. Throughout 2000, the drought sparked inter-clan clashes and cross-border raids between Uganda and Kenya pastoralists. Beneficial rains in August improved crop cultivation and access to pasture land, decreasing but not eliminating the need for food distribution in Kotido and Moroto districts. Numbers Affected According to the U.N.'s 2001 Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal, more than one million people of Uganda's 23 million people are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance. Of this total, 610,240 are internally displaced persons (IDPs), 213,872 are refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC), Sudan, Rwanda, and Somalia, and 190,000 people are drought-affected. The number of Ugandans in need of food assistance is estimated at 832,000, which is an increase of 251,000 people during the last year. Current Situation Overall Humanitarian Situation Despite significant economic growth in stable areas, the humanitarian situation in conflict and drought-affected areas of Uganda has deteriorated. In the last year, the number of people affected and dependent upon external assistance has nearly doubled to over 1.2 million, up from 690,000 at the end of 1999. The U.N. now considers 12 of 45 districts (Arua, Adjumani, Moyo, Gulu, Kitgum, Kotido, Moroto, Kabarole, Kasese, Bundibugyo, Kampala, and Mgpi) insecure. These 12 districts have an overall population of more than four million. Over the past 13 years, rebel groups throughout Uganda have abducted more than 15,000 children. Recently, child abductions have increasingly become a tactic used by both the LRA and ADF against the populations in Gulu, Kitgum, Bundibugyo, Kasese, and Kabarole districts. The U.N. currently estimates the number of abducted children at 5,044. Northern Uganda The LRA continues to focus its attacks in the Gulu and Kitgum districts. This disruption continues to affect the economic activity in the area, essentially cutting off any agricultural and commercial activities, and increasing the need for emergency humanitarian intervention. In the two districts, 16% of children ages 0-17 are orphans, 50% of children, under five years of age, are underweight or stunted, and 452,600 people live in IDP camps. Western Uganda Due to ADF attacks, 114,000 people are displaced in Bundibugyo, 20,000 in Kasese, and 11,161 in Kabarole. There are recent reports of more than 3,000 people fleeing their homes after ADF forces began armed attacks in western Kabarole district. However, the security situation has improved recently and there has been a small number of IDPs returning to their homes in all three districts. The main bean harvest in the Kasese district began at the end of November, which is expected to improve food security in the area. Any escalation in ADF activity in these three districts may result in affected residents fleeing once again. Drought Kotido and Moroto districts in northeastern Uganda are experiencing a second consecutive drought season. USAID's Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) reports that harvests in the two districts have improved the supply of cereals, but that due to poorly distributed rainfall, this year's harvest will be less than normal. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is currently providing emergency food commodities for 190,000 drought- affected people in the area. Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever On October 14, 2000, Ugandan Ministry of Heath officials reported the first confirmed laboratory case of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever in the Gulu District. As of December 29, the Ugandan Ministry of Health reported cumulative figures at 426 cases and 172 deaths from the Ebola outbreak. There are 394 cases and 149 deaths in the Gulu district, five cases and four deaths in the Mbarara district, and 27 cases and 19 deaths in the Masindi district. Cases in the Mbarara and Masindi districts resulted from persons affected in the Gulu district. Laboratory tests from Gulu district confirmed that Ebola-Sudan, a strand of the virus first seen in Western Equatoria in southern Sudan in 1976, was responsible for the outbreak in Uganda. Historically, this strand has a 50-70% mortality rate while other strands, such as Ebola-Zaire, have mortality rates ranging from 70-90 percent. Medical statistics from the current Uganda outbreak put the mortality rate at slightly more than 40 percent. U.S. Government (USG) Assistance in FY 2000 The USG has responded to the humanitarian consequences of the ongoing civil strife in Uganda. Between 1986 and 1999, USAID/OFDA provided more than $5,500,000 for programs in water/sanitation and nutrition. In addition, USAID/FFP spent more than $24,100,000 on emergency food aid during the same period. On October 29, 1999, U.S. Ambassador Martin C. Brennan reissued a disaster declaration to address the ongoing civil strife in northern and western Uganda. FY 2000 funding is as follows: USAID/OFDA - USAID/OFDA provided grants to Action Against Hunger, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and MedAir for water/sanitation projects, at a total level of nearly $1.7 million. These projects are improving the access to sustainable water and sanitation facilities, encouraging resettlement by having safe drinking water and latrines, increasing the number of boreholes, and rehabilitating pumps in the Gulu, Kitgum, Kotido, and Bundibugyo districts. - USAID/OFDA also provided $233,000 in FY 2000 to Catholic Relief Services for seeds and tools distribution in Lira and Kitgum districts. These distributions provide resettlement packages and growing seeds to populations in eastern Kitgum and northeastern Lira displaced by the Karomojong incursion. USAID/FFP - In FY 2000, USAID/FFP contributed a total of 14,915 MT of P.L. 480 Title II emergency food commodities, valued at $8,752,000, for food distribution in Kotido and Moroto districts. USAID/FFP's contribution includes both emergency food commodities to WFP and internal transport, storage, and handling fees. State/PRM - State/PRM provided $5,265,299 in FY 2000, through UNHCR, WFP, and IRC, to support assistance and protection programs for Sudanese, Congolese, and Rwandan refugees in Uganda. State/PRM also contributed $220,000 to the International Federation of the Red Cross for Ugandan Red Cross assistance to refugees from DROC and Rwanda. USAID/BHR/OFDA $ 1,973,372 USAID/BHR/FFP $ 8,752,000 State/PRM $ 5,485,299 Total USG Assistance in FY 2000 $16,210,671 USG Assistance in FY2001 USAID/OFDA - On October 18, 2000, Ambassador Martin C. Brennan declared a disaster due to the outbreak of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. USAID/OFDA provided $25,000 for immediate response and $50,000 to fund a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention field team that traveled to Uganda to help combat the outbreak. USAID/FFP - In FY 2001 to date, USAID/FFP has obligated 15,240 MT of P.L. 480 Title II emergency food commodities to WFP for distribution in Uganda. These food commodities are valued at $5,298,000, but do not include internal transport, storage, and handling fees. USAID/BHR/OFDA $ 75,000 USAID/BHR/FFP $5,298,000 Total USG Assistance in FY 2001 $5,373,000 distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -