OCHA Situation Report No. 1
Timor-Leste
12 March 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Highlights

- Security Council meets on Timor-Leste

- Rice shortage throughout the country creates security and protection 
concerns

- Presidential elections scheduled for 9 April 2007

- Volatile security situation causes new population displacement

- DSRSG / RC / HC visits the districts

- Humanitarian situation deteriorates, particularly in Baucau IDP camps

- Need for sustainable and durable solutions for internal displacement


OVERVIEW

One of the key events during the reporting period was a meeting of the 
UN Security Council, held on 12 February 2007 to discuss Timor-Leste and 
attended by 23 member states. Among other matters the meeting decided on 
the extension of UNMIT's mandate (1) for twelve months.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and the Simu Malu group met 
to discuss humanitarian issues of concern in each sector. The 
representatives of donor countries were briefed by the DSRSG / RC / HC, 
the Ministers of Labour and Community Reinsertion and the Minister of 
Development (2)

There is currently an acute shortage of rice in the markets in 
Timor-Leste which has led to security and protection concerns and 
looting of warehouses. In addition, El Nino effects resulting in late 
rains have impacted on the general food security situation in some 
districts. In the meantime, as El Nino seems to be over, we should 
expect a delayed but still normal rainy season.

The presidential elections will be held on 9 April 2007. UNMIT is 
supporting the preparations with 472 staff dedicated to this process 
including 250 UNVs and 170 national staff. Voter registration commenced 
on 29 January 2007 and will end on 16 March. The final date for the 
presentation of candidates for the presidential elections is 28 
February. Five candidates have been proposed. Parliamentary elections 
are still to be scheduled.

In this context there has been an escalation of violence in Dili in the 
last two weeks, exacerbated by inter-gang rivalry. There are increased 
reports of incidences of assault, group fighting, gun shots, illegal 
check-points, arson, public disturbance and property damage including a 
tendency to target particularly UN and Government vehicles. In two weeks 
the security incidences increased from 95 to 113, with several houses 
set ablaze and some reported deaths, mainly in Dili. Bairo Pite, 
Fatuhada, Santa Cruz/Taibessi and Kampung Baru are the places with 
higher incidences of violence. In the districts incidents were reported 
in Liquica (2 houses burnt), Ermera (one person killed and two injured) 
and Baucau (one person injured).

As a result of the security incidents, at least 5,000 people have been 
displaced to new locations or to existing camps since January 2007, 
leading to significant overcrowding of camps and straining particularly 
the water and sanitation services.

Within the context of the preparations for the elections, field visits 
were undertaken to all districts by the DSRSG/RC/HC. Humanitarian 
partners used the opportunity to monitor the evolution of the 
humanitarian situation in four districts (Ainaro, Viqueque, Manatuto and 
Liquica). The partners on the ground, including local Government and 
beneficiaries, reported food insecurity across all districts, water and 
sanitation, shortage of rain and looming drought, health, education and 
livelihood as the key issues of concern. There is also a sense of 
unfairness amongst those who do not receive humanitarian assistance 
despite facing similar problems as IDPs and host families. Separate 
field visits indicated a significant deterioration of the humanitarian 
situation throughout the country, particularly in Baucau IDP camps, 
which needs to be urgently addressed. Mission reports are available.

It is generally assumed that there is no immediate solution to the IDP 
issue, as it will take time to resolve the root causes of the crisis 
such as impunity, sense of security, land property and house 
rehabilitation. Although efforts will continue to facilitate the return 
and relocation of those who can and wish to do so, the humanitarian 
community should be prepared to face longer-term displacement in all 13 
districts. The Operational Plan for Durable Solutions for IDPs approved 
by the Inter-Ministerial Committee in November 2007, continues to be the 
basis for planning of IDP assistance throughout the country. As stated 
by the inter-agency Consolidated Appeal 2007 for Timor-Leste, there is a 
need to prepare a mid-to-longer term strategy to address the issues at 
stake and prepare the transition to more sustainable interventions.

With regards to early warning and emergency preparedness, the National 
Disasters Management Office of the Ministry of the Interior (NDMO) has 
prepared Contingency Plans for floods and drought, which are being 
finalised. An overarching Contingency Plan for natural disasters and 
other emergencies is available, but needs to be updated with regards to 
emergency stocks.


HUMANITARIAN SITUATION BY SECTOR

Population Movement

The estimated 100,000 IDPs (10% of Timor-Leste's population) remain 
displaced as a result of violence in Dili in 2006, and are staying with 
host families in the districts and in IDP camps in Dili and Baucau. In 
addition, following recent security incidents since January 2007, 
particularly during the last two weeks, 5,000 people have sought refuge 
in existing camps as well as in four new locations as follows (see 
attached map):

UIR - 655 persons (106 families)

RTK - 291 persons (48 families)

Cathedral - 882 persons

Tuana Laran - 29 persons

Bairo Pite Clinic - 62 persons (14 families)


Although quick surveys have been undertaken in the new and old camps 
that received new IDPs, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive 
inter-agency assessment of all IDP camps to ascertain their current most 
critical needs, particularly in the new sites and in those at risk of 
flooding. The increase in number of IDPs in some of the existing camps 
is leading to overcrowding and straining services. There is a need to 
refocus our attention to all IDP camps instead of concentrating on the 
return and relocation of IDPs. Field visits indicated that most IDPs who 
had relocated or returned to the districts came back to Dili only a few 
days later and moved into other IDP camps.

Food Aid

The current rice shortage in the markets of Timor-Leste is causing 
significant security incidents in Dili and some districts. In Baucau, 
protestors have demanded a general food distribution. The reasons for 
rice shortage vary and include, traders holding the commodity, shortage 
of rice in the region including Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines, 
market forces contributing to attractiveness of sale of rice in 
Indonesia, and delaying transportation especially to Oecussi. The price 
of rice has skyrocketed in recent weeks, and reached up to USD 60 a bag 
of 50 kg, compared to USD 12 in January 2007.

WFP in consensus with donors agreed to provide 300 MT of rice on loan to 
the Government through its Strategic Food Reserves to complement 
Government's efforts to secure rice supply and stabilise market prices. 
The Government is currently supplying this rice at $9.25/25kg in Dili 
and the districts affected by the recent hike. Starting on 23 February, 
it is planning to distribute rice across Dili via 4 centres to 5,000 
people per centre. An additional 102 MT of assorted food commodities was 
sent to Oecussi on 12 February by road to alleviate the irregular and 
insufficient ferry service to the district.

It was planned to stop food distribution by 31 January 2007 and prepare 
vulnerability criteria for targeted food distribution in IDP camps in 
Dili. However, the proposed exit strategy and defining of vulnerable 
criteria are still under discussion. Several factors have contributed to 
its non implementation, including the following:

- No formal registration of IDPs which has led to difficulties in 
targeting the most vulnerable populations.

- A critical shortage of the staple food, rice, which affects the whole 
population regardless of their level of vulnerability and more so the 
displaced people.

- A looming drought due to late rains and El Nino, and uncertainties 
regarding the harvest season.

As per the Ministry of Labour's directive, food assistance to IDPs in 
the districts will be continued until end of March 2007. The Ministry of 
Agriculture is planning to undertake a Food and Crop Assessment in March 
2007 with the support of WFP and FAO.

Shelter

Transitional Shelter units built by the Norwegian Refugee Council in 
Tasitolu, Hera, and Tibar have been handed over to the Government, while 
the transitional shelter in Becora is being finalised. The Shelter 
Working Group has proposed to identify additional transitional shelter 
sites to accommodate IDPs living in the most critical camps such as 
those posing security threats or at risk of flooding.

Some families have moved to Quarantina site at Tacitolu and arrangements 
for other IDPs to move to the transitional shelter sites are being 
finalised. A 24/7 UNPOL presence at the site is being established, in 
order to ensure that IDPs find them a better option than staying in IDP 
camps. After the spontaneous partial occupation of the transitional 
shelter units in Tibar, MTRC is planning an assessment to ensure its 
allocation in accordance with vulnerability criteria.

Due to the urgent need to address the issue of house rehabilitation and 
transitional shelter, a group of humanitarian partners is working on a 
proposal for durable solutions for IDPs to be discussed within the 
coming weeks.

The Shelter and Protection Working Groups are elaborating 
recommendations regarding the planning and implementation of the 
rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged and destroyed houses.

Protection

There has been increased reporting of incidences of incest, domestic 
violence and sexual harassment in some IDP camps, particularly in 
Jardim, Tibar, Metinaro and Baucau. Regarding Gender Based Violence, an 
area of concern is how to address these issues and encourage the victims 
to report. In some locations IDPs continue to be held hostage by camp 
managers and other IDPs.

Health and Nutrition

The Maternal and Child Health programme currently covers 20,665 
malnourished children under the age of 5, and 6,781 pregnant and 
lactating women through 55 Community Health Centres and Health Posts in 
Ainaro, Baucau, Bobonaro, Covalima, Liquica and Oecussi districts.

The Maternity Waiting Camp continues to operate at the Hospital Nacional 
Guido Valadares. Postpartum women have been very reluctant to leave the 
camp due to security reasons. The Ministry of Health will review the 
need for the Maternity Waiting Camp at the end of March 2007. UNFPA 
handed over three Nissan Patrol ambulances, 330 sphygmomanometers, 
stethoscopes and 13 desktop computer and printer sets to the Ministry of 
Health. The ambulances and items are part of comprehensive reproductive 
health services in all 13 districts, including the humanitarian response 
to the IDP situation. They were procured from funds donated by the 
governments of Norway and Sweden in July 2006 in response to the UN 
Flash Appeal.

Larvaciding has been undertaken by Health Net in several high risk camps 
around Dili. World Vision, Oxfam and Health Net are also investigating 
residual spraying in high risk camps.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

The number of IDPs in some camps continues to increase and to strain 
water and sanitation services. Emergency portable latrines have been 
provided to the Cathedral site with the assistance of CRS, Care, Plan 
and Oxfam. The Cathedral site is also prone to flooding.

The escalation of violence has on several occasions hampered access to 
IDP camps and affected mainly the provision of water and sanitation 
services, thus making water trucking more expensive, as very few camps 
have their own sources of water. Many of the organisations working on 
water and sanitation are currently experiencing critical funding 
shortages and might have to hand over their projects to the Government 
in February 2007 If there is no change in the situation. There has been 
a gradual handover of rubbish collection services to DNAS (3)

Due to unresolved specific issues of access to health services and water 
and sanitation in Metinaro and Tibar camps, a Working Group was created 
in February to propose solutions. Both Metinaro and Tibar continue to 
receive IDPs coming back from the districts in search of sources of 
income, better access to social services and shelter. In addition, 
Metinaro is very prone to flooding, it has not enough space for 
agriculture, and ground water is salty. Within the last two months 
Metinaro has had two security incidents connected to water supply, 
during which humanitarian workers were targeted for taking water from 
the village well to the camp. Tibar is in a similar situation and has in 
addition a problem of maintenance of water and sanitation facilities due 
to overcrowding.

Education

The current security situation in Dili has led to temporary closure of 
some schools and drop in school attendance. However, primary school 
attendance seems to have recently increased with the distribution of 
199,385 back packs containing stationery items by UNICEF throughout the 
country, along with 5,566 teachers bags with teaching materials. A 
number of schools and IDP camps in Dili and vicinity also received tents 
and additional learning support materials.

The WFP-assisted School Feeding (SF) programme continues to provide 
mid-morning meals to primary school children in Atauro sub-district, 
Ainaro, Baucau, Bobonaro, Covalima, Liquica and Oecussi districts, 
resulting in an increase in primary schools enrolment from 11,000 to 
14,000 pupils in Ainaro district. The programme now covers 66,082 
children, including 33,546 boys and 32,536 girls in 301 schools. During 
the past week there has been cases of attacks and theft of food intended 
for the SF programme in Liquca and Baucau districts. Security of the 
food was highlighted as the biggest problem facing the implementation of 
the SF programme at 12 schools in Maucatar, Suai Kota, Tilimar and 
Zulamai sub districts in Covalima district.

CAP under-funding

Since the launch of the Consolidated Appeal 2007 for Timor-Leste (CAP) 
in January 2007, which requests a total of USD 16.6 million, an 
estimated USD 7 million have been pledged by the Governments of 
Australia, New Zealand and Sweden as well as by ECHO.


CAP 2007 - PLEDGES
as of 23 February 2007
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|
|        |         | Amount in Nat  | Amount |            |       |
| Date   |  Donor  |    Currency    | in USD |  Sector    |Org    |
|        |         |                |  (4)   |            |       |
|        |         |                |        |            |       |
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|
|06 Dec  |ECHO     | E1.5 million   |       2|Food Aid    |WFP    |
|        |         |                | million|            |       |
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|
|        |         | E1.5 million   |       2|?           |?      |
|        |         |                | million|            |       |
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|
|19 Jan  |Australia|AUD 1 million   | 800,000|Food Aid    |WFP    |
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|
|        |         |AUD 1 million   | 800,000|Water/San   |OXFAM  |
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|
|15 Feb  |Australia|Not known       |     1.5|Camp        |IOM    |
|        |         |                | million|Management  |       |
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|
|6 Feb   |New      |NZ$ 500,000     | 350,000|Food Aid    |WFP    |
|        |Zealand  |                |        |            |       |
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|
|13 Feb  |SIDA     |SEK 2.5 million | 332,000|?           |UNICEF |
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|
|        |SIDA     |SEK 2.5 million | 332,000|Rehab       |UNDP   |
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|
|Amount  |         |                |       7|            |       |
|pledged |         |                | million|            |       |
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|
|Funding |         |                |     9.6|            |       |
|gap     |         |                | million|            |       |
|--------+---------+----------------+--------+------------+-------|


The following sectors have been partially funded:

Multi-sector (IOM)

Food Aid (WFP)

Water and Sanitation (OXFAM)

Economic Recovery and Infrastructure (UNDP)

Seven Sectors have not been funded:

Agriculture

Coordination and Support Services

Education

Health

Protection

Security

Upcoming Events

Sector Working Group meetings ? see Meeting Schedule at 
www.mtrc.gov.tl/info

27 February: Inter-Ministerial Committee meeting

1 March: Inter-Agency Standing Committee meeting

Notes

(1) United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste

(2) Records of these meetings will be shared in due course.

(3)  National Directorate for Water and Sanitation of the Ministry of 
Natural Resources, Water and Energy.

(4)  Depending on the daily exchange rate.

Disclaimer:

The information contained in this report does not necessarily reflect 
the views of the United Nations.

For additional information, comments or suggestions please contact:

Ms Guadalupe de Sousa
Head of Mission
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Timor-Leste, Dili
Mobile: 00670 ? 732 25 21
Email: desousa.ocha@undp.org

or

Ms Florentina Debling
Associate Information Officer
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Timor-Leste, Dili
Mobile: 00670 - 732 14 73
Email: humanitarian.ocha@undp.org

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