Guinea-Bissau - OCHA: 23-Oct-98

Humanitarian Situation Report GUINEA-BISSAU
23 October 1998


UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT HAS
BEEN COLLECTED IN-COUNTRY BY OCHA FROM THE UN, NGOS AND ICRC NETWORK IN
GUINEA BISSAU

POLITICO-MILITARY SITUATION
As of this morning, Fulacunda is now under junta control.

Bissau was reported relatively calm this morning (as of 11:00 a.m.).
Military junta radio -Balumbo- reported that the commander of the military
junta, Ansoumane Mane, agreed to a cease-fire for the next 48 hours, asking
President Vieira to clarify his plans to stop the hostilities.

Gabu and Bafata were confirmed calm by WFP also at 11:00 a.m.

Confirmation received on yesterday report that:
1) Gabu is under junta control,
2) the soldiers from Guinea Conakry have retreated to their country.

Senegalese newspaper -Sud Quotidien- informs that Dakar is sending 1,000
additional troops to Bissau.

HUMANITARIAN IMPACT
There is continued concern over the status of UN staff in Bissau (see
yesterday s report).

The estimated 75,000 people stranded in Prabis are reported to be without
sufficient food. Signs of hunger are reported.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
WFP plans to redeploy staff to Bafata on Monday and in this regard,
clearance from NY is being sought. With their return, immediate measures
will be taken to truck 300 MTs of food to Prabis. In case of difficulties,
the Bubaque-Prabis option will be considered by piroque.

UN/NGO Bubaque Mission based on yesterday s mission, WFP confirms that both
logistics and communications conditions exist in order to preposition and
distribute the 100 MTs forseen for Bubaque (see previous updates).
Currently, it is estimated that as many as 12-13,000 IDPs are resident in
the Bijagos Archipelago. At present, there is movement of IDPs out of
Bubaque to the other islands due to the fear that at some point Bubaque
could become a military target.

An Inter-Agency Consolidated Appeal preparation meeting took place this
afternoon and participants agreed on a new schedule for the sector-based
UN/NGO approach to defining current and emerging humanitarian needs, with
sector meetings scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday.


This report is available on the internet through RELIEFWEB:
http://www.reliefweb.int

Complex Emergency Response / Consolidated Appeal Process
(CER/CAP) - Geneva
Mr. Ernest Chipman - Chief
Mr. Thierry Delbreuve
Tel.: (41 22) 788.7019
Fax: (41 22) 788.6386
Registry E-Mail: Annette.Choquet@dha.unicc.org

Complex Emergencies Division (CED) - New York
Mr. Yvon Madore
Tel.: (1 212) 963.1627
Fax: (1 212) 963.1388
E-Mail : madore@un.org

Information Service
Ms. Therese Gastaut - Director
Tel.: (41 22) 917.2300
Fax: (41 22) 917.0030
E-Mail: tgastaut@unog.ch



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