Azerbaijan - DHA: 1-31.Dec.96

United Nations
  Department of Humanitarian Affairs

 AZERBAIJAN
Situation Report from the DHA Coordinator in
  1-31 December 1996



HIGHLIGHTS
- DHA funded housing project in Devici nears completion
- ECHO announces its project funding for 1997
- Winter assistance to IDPs in Barda, ex-Turkish Camp
- UNHCR holds training seminar for Government Officials

OVERALL HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
The DHA funded housing project at Devici in Northeastern
Azerbaijan has completed 10 of the projected 25 housing
units designated for victims of torrential flooding in
October 1995. The storm destroyed an estimated 100 houses
and left more than 3,000 people homeless, with the majority
of the displaced forced to live in public buildings. The
project, funded by the governments of United Kingdom,
Norway, Cyprus, and the Netherlands, in response to the
Government of Azerbaijan request for assistance, began in
April 1996. The construction is being supervised and co-
ordinated by the Deputy Prime Minister's office, which is
also in charge of the construction and rehabilitation of
several other housing units in the same region. It is
estimated that the project will be completed in February
1997.

The recently arrived ECHO Representative in Azerbaijan has
outlined assistance plans for 1997. ECHO will continue to
concentrate in the food aid and medical sectors, with
funding of 6.1 million ECUS. The recipients of their
funding will be the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), World Food Programme
(WFP), MSF-Belgium and MSF-Holland.

Utilising USAID resources, the IFRC has completed a
distribution of winter relief items in the ex-Turkish camp
in Barda. The IDPs were responsible for the distribution of
blankets, kerosene stoves, plastic sheeting and replacement
ropes for the predominant tent camp. It was the first
distribution of plastic sheeting in three years, and this
assistance follows a series of requests from the Government
of Azerbaijan to the international community to assist in
the deteriorating conditions of this camp. Kerosene stoves
and plastic sheeting were also given to schools and
kindergartens in the camp which are attended by 2,000
children.

UNHCR convened a training seminar for Government Officials
on 13 December. The seminar's objective was to highlight
the need to amend Azerbaijan's law on Refugee and Displaced
Persons and to develop a national refugee status
determination procedure. The seminar was attended by
Supreme Court judges, parliamentarians, officials from the
Cabinet of Ministers and the Minister of Interior.

SECTORS
Rehabilitation of Children's House No.7 (for children in
difficult circumstances), under the direction of UNICEF-
Azerbaijan, is nearly completion with funding received from
the Italian Government. Located in the Baku suburb of
Sarai, it houses mentally handicapped children from 5-7
years of age. UNICEF assistance includes purchase of
kitchen sets, washing machines, refurbishing of the laundry
room, and other needed structure repairs, and training. It
is expected to be inaugurated in early January 1997.

There is growing concern within the Government of
Azerbaijan on the inceasing number of street children in
Baku. Begging and panhandling are rampant throughout the
city, a rare occurance until recently.

FOOD AID
The Government of Azerbaijan has announced that it has
received from the European Community 800 MTs of fruit
juices and is arranging with interested agencies for its
distribution. WFP has completed re-registering recipients
in six former ECHO settlements. The total number of
recipients which have been registered is substantially
lower than the previous working figure.

The IFRC completed its last round of its food assistance to
80,000 vulnerable persons. As of January 1997, their target
group of vulnerable persons will reduce to 28,000. This
number represents their decision to distribute only to
elderly living alone in urban areas. In addition, starting
in 1997, IFRC's food distribution programmes will be handed
over to the Azerbaijan Red Cross. The International aid
community, together with the Government are seeking ways to
determine vulnerability, but thus far have not reached a
substantial agreement. It is imperative that an acceptable
solution be found in order to assist those in need, who may
be falling into the gaps created by this lack of agreement.
WFP, and the main food oriented NGOs have announced that
their pipelines are sufficient for most of 1997. However,
food assistance is earmarked for IDPs with only a small
amount targeted for non-IDP vulnerable persons.

HEALTH
UNICEF and the Ministry of Health (MoH) signed an agreement
on Health Reform implementations to be conducted in the
Masali district of southeastern Azerbaijan. In addition,
UNICEF, together with the MoH and the Academy of Science
held a two day meeting on world breast-feeding activities.
A series of publications involving breast feeding,
including results of UNICEF's survey in Azerbaijan, was
published in Russian language, with short resumes of the
articles in English.

Relief International's mobile health unit and dispensaries
continue to assist the IDP-Refugee population in Sheki,
Oguz, Qubala, Qakh, Ismayili, Yevlakh, Goranboy,
Mingechevir, Saatli, and TerTer districts. During the month
of December, they were able to examine 16,245 refugee-IDP
patients. Of the reported diseases, anemia, helminthic
infections, upper respiratory tract infections, scabies and
other skin conditions, and musculoskeletal disorders were
the most prevalent. In addition RI's pilot immunisation
project in 12 districts, vaccinated a total of 2,999
children under five years against diphtheria, tetanus,
pertussis, polio and measles. UNICEF has provided materials
for this programme.

IDPs AND REFUGEES
The official UNHCR-Government of Azerbaijan figures of IDPs
remained at 609,432 for the month of December.

The UNHCR-funded limestone shelter programme saw the
completion of 90 units in December by its implementing
partner RI, and an additional 70 units by Hayat for a total
figure of 791 units in 22 settlements and nine regions in
Azerbaijan. RI also completed the construction of a double
bath house, double clinic, and a 2-room day care centre in
Saatli, an a double bath house in Barda.

In public rehabilitation activities, UNHCR's implementing
partners IRC, OXFAM and World Vision International (WVI)
saw positive results during the reporting periods. IRC
completed rehabilitation work on two schools in Fizuli
which are serving as schools and for IDP housing. An
additional six wars damaged houses in Agjebedi district
were repaired. OXFAM completed repairs on 25 Public
buildings, hosting 527 families (2,411 persons) in the
regions of Barda, TerTer, and Agdam. WVI completed
rehabilitation work on 72 buildings hosting 1,542 families
(6,707 persons).

Following the completion of its 1996 shelter projects, RI
plans to close its bases in Saatli and Sheki. Their 1997
programme will include construction of 650 limestone units
at 15 sites in Sheki, Agdam, Mingechevir, Yvlakh, Berde,
and TerTer districts. The field office will be based in
Berde. Beginning in January, they will undertake surveys to
determine areas of most critical need for shelter
assistance. In addition, follow-up surveys will be started
for shelters completed in 1995 and 1996.

In addition to the IFRC winter relief distributions in
Barda camp, RI, with funds from UNHCR, distributed 811
kerosene heaters, and 37 solid fuel heaters. IRC donated 18
two-ton tanks and two one ton tanks for the storage of
kerosene, scheduled to arrive in January 1997. Also, with
UNHCR funds, IRC distributed 9,111 kgs of soap and 9,111
kgs of detergent to the same number of recipients in
Agebedi, Beylagan, and Barda. WVI completed the
distribution of 5,800 water filters, providing over 250,000
people with clean water.

The sheep distribution project of the United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) completed the
distribution of 3,130 sheep in Berde, TerTer, Agdam,
Agcebedi, and Beylagan to 626 selected refugee-IDP families
with prior experience in animal husbandry. Using RI as its
implementing partner, the project also distributed 9,063
bales of hay and 31 tons of barley. The spin-off project of
veterinary assistance in the form of vaccination and health
care was initiated.

The revised Appeal calls for USD 30,104,755 for Azerbaijan.
As of 30 December donors had provided USD 15,164,504 and
the shortfall is USD 14,940,251.


United Nations Office in Baku, Azerbaijan
Mr. James ONeill
Tel.:  (0099412) 98 98 88
Fax:(0099412) 98 32 35

Complex Emergency Division (CED) - New York
Mr. Kazuhide Kuroda
Tel.:  (1 212) 963.5713
Fax:(1 212) 963.3630
E-Mail: dhagva@dha.unicc.org

Inter-Agency Support Branch (IASB) - Geneva
Mr. Arjun Katoch
Tel.:  (41 22) 788.6381
Fax:(41 22) 788.6386
E-Mail: Arjun.Katoch@dha.unicc.org

Press To Contact - (DHA-Geneva)
Ms. Madeleine Moulin-Acevedo
Tel.:  (41 22) 917.2856
Fax:(41 22) 917.0023
Telex:414242 DHA CH
E-Mail: dhagva@dha.unicc.org


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