U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 65
24 - 30 November 2001


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: UN launches humanitarian appeal
SOMALIA: Puntland capital calm but "extremely tense"
SOMALIA: TNG premier holds talks in Addis Ababa
SUDAN: US $194.5 million UN appeal highlights complex crisis
SUDAN: Bombings continue in the south
ETHIOPIA: Big reduction in foreign debt
ETHIOPIA: Premier says poverty to blame for terrorism
ERITREA: Consolidated Appeal for 2002 launched
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Military coordination meeting held


SOMALIA: UN launches humanitarian appeal

United Nations agencies in Somalia launched an appeal to the international
donor community to support humanitarian activities in 2002, on Tuesday at
a hotel in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal is for US $83,683,971 "to support
a range of humanitarian and development interventions", said a press
release from the office of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator.
According to the press release, Somalia is one of the poorest and most
devastated countries in the world, with "the highest maternal mortality
rates in the world and fourth-highest infant mortality rate". About
780,000 people are now affected by food shortages, and urgently need
international assistance.

The UN estimated that the food gap until next rainy season in 2002 to be
56,000 mt, said the press release. Malnutrition rates for all children
under five in the hardest-hit areas was between 25 and 30 percent. The
areas of most concern to aid agencies were the regions of Gedo, Bay and
Bakol in the southwest, and Hiran in central Somalia, the UN World Food
Programme's country director for Somalia, Kevin Farrell, said.

According to the press release, Somalia's economy is on the verge of
collapse, "because of a sharp downturn in remittances, relentless
inflation and continued ban on livestock exports" to the Gulf states.
Somalia's remittance companies have been targeted for alleged links with
terror groups, and the largest, Barakaat, has had its assets frozen.
Because of that, Somalis in the diaspora were sending much less money
home, said the press release. Remittances, which had formerly brought into
the country's economy "up to US $500 million a year, have now declined by
up to 50 percent". This, coupled with an inflation rate which topped 116
percent over the last year could spell an economic disaster, which would
affect livelihoods and trade flows, the press release said. [Full report
at: Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=16294]

SOMALIA: Puntland capital calm but "extremely tense"

The town of Garowe, the capital of the self-declared autonomous region of
Puntland, northeastern Somalia, was reported to be calm, but tense on
Monday following heavy fighting in the city last Wednesday, a local
journalist has told IRIN. Garowe was captured last week from the forces of
the recently elected president of Puntland, Jama Ali Jama, by those of the
region's former leader, Col Abdullahi Yusuf. Farah Yusuf Nur of Midnimo
radio, who is based in Garowe, on Monday said the town was quiet, but
"extremely tense", with people waiting to see how things develop.

AFP on Friday 23 November quoted witnesses as saying that Abdullahi
Yusuf's attack on the city had been backed by 1,000 Ethiopian troops
supported by armoured vehicles, but on Saturday said that those troops had
subsequently withdrawn. A spokesman at the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, meanwhile, was quoted by the BBC on 23 November as saying that
the AFP report was totally unfounded. "I can tell you for a fact that not
a single Ethiopian soldier is inside Puntland or Somalia," said the
spokesman. Ethiopia has consistently denied accusations over recent years
that its troops are involved in the fighting in Somalia. [Full report at:
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=16092]

SOMALIA: TNG premier holds talks in Addis Ababa

A delegation from the Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia,
on Monday went to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, for talks with the
Ethiopian government. The six-man delegation, led by the newly installed
prime minister, Hasan Abshir Farah, which was visiting the country at the
invitation of the Ethiopian government, held discussions with senior
Ethiopian officials, including Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin and Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi.

Umar Hashi, a member the delegation, told IRIN by telephone from Addis
Ababa on Wednesday that the talks between the two sides had gone well. "We
had very useful and productive talks, which covered a lot of ground," he
said. Hashi said the talks had focused on "peace and reconciliation in
Somalia, and how best to coordinate the various IGAD [Inter-Governmental
Authority on Development] initiatives". An Ethiopian foreign ministry
press release on the visit said the two sides had discussed "the mutual
concerns and misunderstandings which prevailed between the TNG and
Ethiopia in recent times". According to the release, the Ethiopians
"reiterated their concern over the presence of terrorist elements in
Somalia". The delegation left Addis Ababa on Wednesday. [Full report at:
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=16505]

SUDAN: US $194.5 million UN appeal highlights complex crisis

Basic issues of food security, health and nutrition, and protection will
remain prominent among the humanitarian concerns in Sudan through 2002,
according to the US $194.5 million Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal
published by the United Nations on Monday, 26 November. The food security
situation was particularly fragile in drought- and war-affected areas of
Sudan, such that emergency situations could lead to a dramatic rise in
malnutrition, according to the appeal document. The persistence of
malnutrition among the very young and the elderly was also "of particular
concern," it said.

Armed conflict in Sudan (between the government and Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army, and other allied and non-allied militias)
continued to threaten livelihoods, displace civilians, destroy
infrastructure, obliterate assets and disrupt food production, the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in
presenting the appeal. Quality of life indicators continue to be
discouraging, particularly in rural areas, it said, and conditions were
particularly bad for those people affected by war in Unity (Wahdah) State
and western Upper Nile region, the Nuba [Nubah] Mountains, northern and
western Bahr al-Ghazal, and Eastern Equatoria. [Full report at:
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=16329]

SUDAN: Bombings continue in the south

Relief officials working in southern Sudan on Wednesday confirmed the
Sudanese government bombing of the villages of Malwal Kon, a significant
relief centre, and Madhol, in Aweil East county, northern Bahr al-Ghazal
on Monday. Antonov bombers had dropped six bombs on Malwal Kon, including
one close to a relief centre, and five on Madhol, a few kilometres to the
east, aid workers told IRIN. They also said that Antonovs had dropped
another 10 bombs, a little way south of Malwal Kon, possibly on Dhiak, on
Wednesday morning. There were no details available of casualties or
damage.

The NGO Christian Solidarity International (CSI), which has a history of
mutual antipathy with the Sudanese government in Khartoum, reported on
Tuesday that a government Antonov aircraft had killed two civilians and
injured one when it bombed the villages of Malwal Kon and Rup Wot in Aweil
East on Monday. The attack on Malwal Kon had narrowly missed a relief
compound and the local Pentecostal church, it added. The NGO Tearfund on
Wednesday said that one of six bombs dropped on Malwal Kon had missed one
of its therapeutic feeding centres, though one it had closed in October
when malnutrition rates showed signs of improving after the traditional
'hunger gap'. [Full report at:
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=16518]

ETHIOPIA: Big reduction in foreign debt

Ethiopia's foreign debt has declined to US $5.2 billion, the Ministry of
Finance and Economic Development is quoted as saying by the Ethiopian News
agency (ENA) on 23 November. The agency quoted the head of the ministry's
loans and investment department, Teklu Tefera, as saying Ethiopia's
foreign debt amounted to $10.2 billion in 1999. He said that the Russian
Federation, after joining the Paris Club, had cancelled 80 percent of the
country's debt to the former Soviet Union; the remaining 20 percent had
been included in the debt relief under the Paris Club's "Naples Terms".
This had brought about a 67 percent reduction, thereby reducing the
country's total debt to $ 5.2 billion, said ENA.

In November alone the IMF and the World Bank announced that Ethiopia had
qualified for $1.9 billion debt relief, while the Italian government also
cancelled a $375 million debt, all under the Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries (HIPC) initiative. Ethiopia is the 24th country to qualify for
debt relief under the HIPC's enhanced framework. The savings from debt
servicing as a result of the country's HIPC qualification would amount to
nearly $100 million a year for the next 20 years, providing much-needed
succour to a country whose average per capita earnings at $100 per annum
ranks second-lowest in the world. [Full report at:
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=16075]

ETHIOPIA: Premier says poverty to blame for terrorism

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, who has in recent months assumed
something of a regional mantle in the global war on terrorism, has told a
leading Arabic-language newspaper that poverty is the root cause of
terrorism. Speaking during an interview with the London-based Al-Hayat
newspaper, Meles also reiterated his belief that the radical Islamic group
Al-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI) was operating in Somalia and constituted the
driving force behind that country's Transitional National Government
(TNG), the pro-government Walta Information Centre reported on Wednesday.
During the interview, Meles argued that terrorism could never be uprooted
by punishing the terrorists alone, but that comprehensive strategies
designed to tackle its root causes were the only way that the war on
terrorism could succeed. Unless this was done, he said, killing one
terrorist would simply breed another. Meles also said that although his
country had received very little support in its own long-running campaign
against terror, there was now security cooperation between his government
and that of the United States.

Meles also spoke at length on the subject of Somalia, levelling particular
criticism at the interim President, Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, whom he
called on to make clear whether he was "with the terrorists or against
them". Abdiqassim has consistently denied any linkage between his
government and AIAI, and has gone so far as to establish an anti-terrorism
task force. But Walta quoted Meles as saying: "I do not believe
[Abdiqassim] Salad is realistic when he dismisses any ties with AIAI."
Since the 11 September attacks, Meles has repeatedly stated that AIAI
wields a strong influence over the TNG in Somalia. Regional analysts are,
however, in sharp disagreement over the issue, with many arguing that AIAI
ceased to be a force of any relevance following military defeat in the
mid-1990s.

ERITREA: Consolidated Appeal for 2002 launched

The United Nations country team on Tuesday launched its Consolidated
Appeal (CA) for Eritrea for the year 2002, requesting a total of US $120
million to fund a series of emergency and reintegration programmes drawn
up by 11 UN agencies and partner NGOs. While food aid for vulnerable war
and drought-affected populations comprises the bulk of the required
assistance in 2002, medium and long-term programmes, particularly those
targeting the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs), are being
given equal importance.

The current appeal will next year focus primarily on the plight of the
IDPs resulting from the recent border war with Ethiopia - including people
who have recently been able to return home and as those remaining in IDP
camps. Muktar Ali Farah, a humanitarian affairs officer with the UN Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told IRIN that with
the arrival of more than 4,000 UN peacekeeping troops, and the
establishment of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ), which skirts the
disputed border area, 170,000 IDPs had helped to return to their home
areas. He added, however, that to date more than 70,000 remained unable to
return home.

In this context, the UN country team will focus on return, reintegration,
rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes in non-food sectors, worth
over $66 million in all. The primary goals will be to support ongoing
efforts to effect the safe and expeditious return of IDPs and refugees,
support the resumption of farming and other income-generating activities,
complement government efforts to restore basic social and community
services and, most importantly, to phase out emergency operations and
effect a transition to development activities. [For further details see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/appeals/2002.html]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Military coordination meeting held

The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea Force Commander on
Wednesday reiterated a firm denial of recent statements made by the
Eritrean and Ethiopian governments accusing each other of destabilising
the peace process. Maj-Gen Patrick Cammaert told the 10th meeting of the
Military Coordination Commission that, despite the recent allegations, the
situation within the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) remains calm. Ethiopia
has accused Eritrea of mobilising troops within the TSZ, while Eritrea has
accused Ethiopia of using threats and blackmail to try to influence the
process of defining their common border. Cammaert appealed to both sides
to refrain from words or deeds that might be construed as provocative,
warned against the potential volatility of such incidents, and urged both
parties to live up to both the letter and the spirit of the agreements
they had entered into.

His comments follow recent statements made by Ethiopian Foreign Minister
Seyoum Mesfin while addressing the UN General Assembly, during which he
accused Eritrea of mobilising its forces within the TSZ. The MCC meeting,
held on the Mereb river bridge, which spans the border between the two
countries, was attended by representatives of both the Ethiopian and
Eritrean military, as well as those from the Organisation of African
Unity.


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2001


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