OCHA Situation Report No. 5
Somalia
27 February 2006


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Update

The UN Special Humanitarian Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Mr. Kjell 
Bondevik, made a first visit to Nairobi from 22-23 February to look into 
the impact of the drought in the region and its underlying causes. In 
addition to a meeting with the Resident- and Humanitarian Coordinators 
of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia and the Regional 
Directors of several UN agencies, Mr. Bondevik met with the IASC 
Somalia. The Deputy Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal 
Government and Chairman of the Drought Disaster Committee took part in 
the latter meeting. Discussions on Somalia focused on humanitarian needs 
and operational challenges, as well as advocacy requirements.

In the margin of the above meetings, Resident- and Humanitarian 
Coordinators of the five affected countries and UN Regional Directors 
endorsed the proposal to launch a Regional Consolidated Appeal for the 
Drought in the Horn of Africa covering the period 1 March - 31 December 
2006.

Now that humanitarian operations are intensifying in Bay and Bakool and 
efforts are being made to step them up in Gedo as the security situation 
permits, UNICEF and OCHA will be traveling to Jamame, Afmadow, Mareerey, 
Jilib, Buale and Sakow from 26 February to 3 March to examine the 
situation on the ground and identify quick impact interventions to be 
undertaken as a first priority, including coordination. The team will be 
consulting with agencies already active in the area, such as OXFAM, 
COOPI, and Concern Worldwide. The preferred strategy would be to 'Do No 
Harm' by focusing on existing UNICEF-supported health, nutrition and 
water and sanitation projects and expanding them to new locations.  The 
visit is not a formal needs assessment.

An inter-agency needs assessment will take place in Adale and Warsheik 
districts, Middle Shabelle, from 28 February to 4 March to look into the 
impact of the drought on vulnerable communities, including IDPs as well 
as communities whose coping mechanisms have been weakened by the 
tsunami, and recommend priority interventions. This assessment follows a 
field trip to Adale involving UNICEF, FAO/FSAU, InterSOS, IMG, PACE, and 
WOCA on 8 February, which was organized by the Middle Shabelle Disaster 
Management Committee recently established in Jowhar.

FSAU and FEWS NET will be issuing monthly monitoring updates on the 
evolving situation. FSAU has recently developed an enhanced emergency 
monitoring tool with around 12 indicators including population movement, 
and availability and prices of cereal at markets.  This tool complements 
a sentinel site system for nutrition surveillance as well as the normal 
monitoring procedures. To facilitate better field coordination, FSAU is 
opening an office in Wajid and increasing the field analysts' presence 
there.  Agencies are encouraged to provide FSAU with any key information 
on the evolving situation to provide the most comprehensive analysis.

As part of a broader sensitization and advocacy effort to improve 
humanitarian access and security for aid workers, and further to the 
press release issued last week, the outgoing Humanitarian Coordinator 
for Somalia, Mr. Max Gaylard, sent an Open Letter to all local leaders 
and representatives in Somalia, urging them to cooperate with aid 
partners for unhindered humanitarian access and protection.

Ongoing response

Food security

Some 4,000 MT of the 5,000 MT borrowed by WFP from Sudan are currently 
being distributed to 225,000 beneficiaries in Baule, Saako and Jilib 
Districts in Lower Juba region and Garbaharey and Burdhubo districts in 
Gedo region. The rest will be arriving in the next couple of days. 
Another 4,700 MT of mixed commodities will be dispatched in the coming 
days. An additional 7,500 MT of sorghum have been borrowed and 
additional food commodities are being purchased and will be transported 
as quickly as possible to Bay, Bakool, and Hiran. The distribution of 
these 17,200 MT will cover about one million beneficiaries until the end 
of March. The distribution of about 700 MT of rice to 20,000 
beneficiaries of the selective feeding programme in Wajid district has 
been completed.

WFP's advocacy and sensitization campaigns among drought affected 
communities in preparation of relief distributions have been completed 
in Lower Juba, Middle Juba, Bay, and Bakool. Elders, community members, 
local and regional administrations actively participated. The teams are 
planning to visit Gedo shortly.

NCA, AFREC and the CBO Juba Shine have signed Field Level Agreements 
with WFP and will serve as implementing partners for WFP relief food 
distributions.

Available WFP food stocks and confirmed new funding now amount to 60,000 
MT of food. Additional contributions for an extra 15,000 MT are 
currently being discussed. If all expected contributions materialize, 
there will still be unmet requirement of some 20,000 MT until the end of 
July 2006. Depending on the performance of the upcoming long rains, 
subsequent requirements for food aid until the end of the year will be 
between 25,000 and 85,000 MT.

The February 2005 FSAU Nutrition Update indicates that Global Acute 
Malnutrition among IDPs in Wajid Town is as high as 27 %. WFP has made 
the distribution of food to IDPs in need one of its top priorities.

Care International's ongoing relief food distribution covers 300,000 
people. A total of 6,000 MT of food is being distributed, 5,000 MT of 
which in northern Gedo as relief and 1,000 MT in the framework of Food 
for Work in Bay, Bakool and Hiran. Care has confirmed the inclusion of 
CSB in their relief food ration.

ICRC has completed distribution in Bakool and Bay, as well as in Bardera 
district in Gedo and is planning post distribution assessments.

Health and nutrition

WFP has already planned limited blanket supplementary food (Corn Soya 
Blend/CSB) distributions, but considering the deteriorating malnutrition 
situation in South and Central Somalia, the Health and Nutrition Cluster 
has recommended blanket supplementary distribution of blended fortified 
food among vulnerable groups (children under five, pregnant and 
lactating mothers). WFP is looking into possibilities to further 
increase the CSB ration. Discussions are ongoing between UNICEF, WHO and 
the Gedo Health Consortium.

FSAU and GHC are planning a nutritional survey in March in Gedo.

Water and sanitation

Assessments: World Vision and UNICEF have completed the identification 
of needs for chlorination activities in Middle Juba. UNICEF has 
completed technical assessments for Hagarka, Alio Marayle, Garasmod, 
Qahira, Saydhelo, Labatanjiro, El-Dhun Adego and Daniune in Bay. Concern 
Worldwide has completed the identification of locations for the 
rehabilitation of shallow wells and boreholes in Bay. COOPI and UNICEF 
are carrying out a rapid needs assessment on the accessibility and 
availability of water for pastoral, agro-pastoral, and riverine 
communities in the districts of Qansax Dheere, Dinsor, and Baar Dheere, 
in Bay, and Sakow, in Middle Juba.

Activities: UNICEF organized a chlorination workshop in Baidoa from 20 
to 22 February for NGOs and CBOs covering Bay and Middle Juba, including 
Qansadhere, Dinsor and Ufurow, Bur, Berdale, and Habal-Barbar. Fifty 
chlorinators were trained in chlorination of the water sources under 
their coverage.

ICRC is deepening 20 hand dug wells and delivering motor pumps to two 
locations to facilitate the supply of water trucks in Gedo, and carrying 
out water trucking for Yeed and Ceel Barde areas in Bakool, and Dinsor 
in Bay. ICRC is also providing fuel to strategic boreholes in Gedo and 
the Jubas. In Bay, UNICEF is providing spare parts for strategic 
boreholes (GWS, Cel Yarow, Korunbod, Tosweyne, B/Barako, Wabdore, 
Hobishole, Daynunay) and has initiated water trucking in Rabdhure, Iska 
Rih, Is Dhorta, Gobato, Sadda Burod, in Rabdhure district, and 
Burdhunle, in Wajid district. ACF is distributing digging toolkits and 
continuing the rehabilitation of shallow wells in Wajid district. 
Concern Worldwide is rehabilitating shallow wells and training water 
committees in maintenance, hygiene and sanitation in Bay.

Care is planning to start water trucking for El Wak and Belet Hawa, in 
Gedo.

There are still gaps in water interventions in areas of Gedo and Lower 
Juba due to insecurity, as well as in western Bay. Large numbers of 
displaced people are concentrated in Habal-Barbar area, increasing the 
demand for water.

Education

Based on partners' inputs, UNICEF has identified the vulnerability 
levels of the affected regions and set priorities for Gedo and Bakool, 
which require immediate interventions to support local schools host 
newcomers due to the influx of population.

UNICEF and WFP are looking into starting a School Feeding Programme in 
Bakool and Bay. In northern Gedo, school feeding is already in place. 
Food is purchased in local markets in order to minimize the negative 
impact that a massive external inflow of food would have on the local 
economy.

Partners are continuing assessments of the effects of the drought on the 
education sector. The Africa Educational Trust has availed its field 
personnel to report on these in Bakool, Bay, Lower Juba and Hiran.

An assessment of the external/local resources available to partners for 
an initial response will be discussed at the next coordination meeting. 
A structured response strategy and setting of standards is due by the 
beginning of March.  An assessment matrix has been developed in order to 
systematize the data collection.

Protection

As a significant part of the Protection response, the coordination of 
Population Movement Tracking is underway within the broader project of 
Protection Monitoring, with FSAU assisting in the mapping of recorded 
movements from over 40 partners in the field.

Harnessing the desired protection information through a unified 
reporting format and database, the results have been matched with other 
existing sources of information to provide early indications on drought 
and/or conflict-related movements:

- Population Movements in Somalia are opportunistic principally in the 
search for water sources for people and livestock, green areas for 
animal grazing, livelihood opportunities (i.e., day labor), 
protection/security and humanitarian assistance.

- At this point, the means of coping include families splitting to seek 
resources and aid, with primary concerns being livelihood by (1) 
conserving livestock herds by seeking new water sources and grazing 
lands, and/or (2) identifying alternatives, including day labor in urban 
settlements. Another important consideration is the search for security 
and social support through their protective clan bases.

- There is a movement to larger settlements (i.e. Wajid, Baidoa, 
Mogadishu) resulting in:

    1. An increased number of different clans in one area, which is
    creating tensions

    2. The emergence of resource-based conflicts that are creating
    further displacement

    3. An increased number of women begging and forced into prostitution,
    as well as child labor.


- With crop failure and decrease in green pastures, Somali farmers and 
pastoralists are forced to abandon their lands and livestock and to 
travel great distances - i.e., moving north (to Galkayo).

- As within Somalia, cross-border movements between Somalia and Kenya 
are following the same search patterns, with some specifics being: (1) 
water sources are better in Kenya (2) greener pastures exist in Somalia 
(3) Mandera (Kenya) has Therapeutic Feeding Centres.

- Populations Movements are following trends noted in past drought 
situations, which are a combination of Livestock Migration and 
Resource-Based Movements.

With the continued flow of protection information regarding the effects 
of the drought on particular areas and populations, the Protection 
Monitoring will provide a stronger foundation upon which advocacy 
strategies will be developed and humanitarian access negotiations 
designed.  In addition, there will be links to the ongoing humanitarian 
response, both to "Do No Harm" and to enhance the Contingency Planning 
of the different clusters.

Upcoming events

Education: The next coordination meeting in Nairobi will take place on 
Tuesday, 28 February at UNICEF Somalia.

Protection: The next Protection and IDP Working Group meeting in Nairobi 
will take place on Thursday, 2 March at 14h30, OCHA Somalia

Access: The next coordination meeting in Nairobi will be on Wednesday, 1 
March at 10h00, OCHA Somalia

For further information, please contact Amanda Di Lorenzo, Information 
Officer (ext. 113) or Marie Spaak, Drought Focal Point (ext. 103)

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