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 73
19 - 25 February 2002


CONTENTS:

SUDAN: Nuba cease-fire now in place
SUDAN: Government and SPLA clash in Upper Nile
SUDAN: EC announces US $15 million aid package
SOMALIA: Anxiety prompting exodus to countryside
SOMALIA: Charter amended to accommodate opposition
SOMALIA: 12 killed in southern clashes
ETHIOPIA: Farmers at risk as coffee prices plummet
ETHIOPIA: Five million in need of relief aid
ETHIOPIA: Church leader warns against spread of AIDS
ERITREA: More refugees return from Sudan

See also:

SUDAN: Special Report on war-related displacement from Raga [
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19778]

ETHIOPIA: FOCUS on AIDS and the elderly
[Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19857]

SOMALIA: FOCUS on US strike threat
[Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19912]


SUDAN: Nuba cease-fire now in place

The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) on Thursday
issued a statement confirming that all SPLA units in the Nuba Mountains
region of Southern Kordofan had been ordered to "observe and extend the
current military stand-down in the area", effective from 12 noon (local
time) on Tuesday, 22 January. This was bringing into force the Nuba
cease-fire agreement signed in Burgenstock, Switzerland, on Saturday 19
January, SPLM/A spokesman in Nairobi, Samson Kwaje, stated. The Sudanese
army spokesman, General Muhammad Bashir Sulayman, had previously said the
army would observe the cease-fire from the same time, and would be
"instrumental in achieving the objectives of the agreement" in the 80,000
square-kilometre south-central Nuba region.

In accordance with the terms of the Burgenstock agreement, the Nuba
Mountains region covered by the cease-fire was "the whole of Southern
Kordofan and the province of Legawa in Western Kordofan", and no others,
Kwaje said. The cease-fire was only for a period of six months, and its
renewal would depend on the experience of the initial cease-fire period,
he stated. "Its further renewal will also depend on continued needs for
further humanitarian intervention in the Nuba area after a thorough
evaluation process," Kwaje added.

The Nuba cease-fire agreement was negotiated at the initiative of the US,
which launched a new initiative for humanitarian access and peace in Sudan
following the appointment of the US special peace envoy, John Danforth, in
early September 2001. The agreement, which is due to be supervised by a
Joint Military Commission, was agreed after six days of talks in
Switzerland between government and SPLM/A Nuba delegations. [Full report
at www.eda.admin.ch/eda/e/home.html]

SUDAN: Government and SPLA clash in Upper Nile

The SPLM/A this week reported ongoing fighting between its forces and
those of the Sudanese government in the disputed oil-rich regions of
western and central Upper Nile, in south-central Sudan. It said that on
Monday 14 January it had repulsed "a huge enemy force" of about 7,000 men,
comprising regular Sudanese government soldiers and several tribal
militias, supported by two helicopter gunships and an Antonov bomber,
between Nhial Diu and Bentiu. In an earlier development, the SPLM/A had
engaged a flotilla of government barges on the Bahr al-Zaraf river,
sinking two of them, and a land convoy from Malakal town advancing on Ler,
which it had repulsed and forced to withdraw, according to the rebel
statement, released on Monday.

"The National Islamic Front government has started its ritual dry-season
offensive with military mobilisation and attacks on SPLA positions in
oil-rich areas of western Upper Nile and central Upper Nile. These
unprovoked attacks have been successfully been repulsed by SPLA units in
both fronts," Samson Kwaje, the SPLM/A spokesman in Nairobi, said in the
statement made available to IRIN.

Responding to the statement, the Sudanese government said there was
"nothing like a dry-season offensive" because the clashes around the
oil-rich regions had begun "some months ago". Muhammad Ahmad Dirdiery,
Charge d'Affaires at the Sudanese embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, told IRIN on
Wednesday that western Upper Nile was "almost 100 percent" under
government control with only "a few "pockets here and there" still
occupied by the SPLA. "Skirmishes around these places are normal, and the
government is always carrying out routine movements to protect oil
companies operating in the region," he said. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19982]

SUDAN: EC announces US $15 million aid package

The European Commission announced on Thursday that it had agreed to
provide a euro 17 million (US $15 million) humanitarian aid package for
Sudan. "The new 'Global Plan' is a concrete expression of our commitment
to help people who are among the most vulnerable on the planet," the
European commissioner responsible for development and humanitarian aid,
Poul Nielson, said in a statement. Projects funded under the 2002 Global
Plan for Sudan would be implemented by a number of organisations,
including nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), United Nations agencies,
and Red Cross organisations, the European Commission Humanitarian Aid
Office (ECHO) said.

ECHO's priority areas for assistance in Sudan are: health and nutrition;
water and sanitation; food security and emergency preparedness, according
to the statement. In the field of health and nutrition, an estimated
660,000 people would benefit from assistance to improve primary health
care, disease control, therapeutic feeding, the provision of medicines,
and training for local staff, ECHO said. An additional 355,000 people
would be assisted through water and sanitation projects, focusing on the
regions where water shortages were most severe, it added. The
strengthening of livestock support services would aim to improve food
security for up to 700,000 people in southern Sudan, and some 35,000
pastoralists and displaced families in the northern part of the country,
according to the statement. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20006]

SOMALIA: Anxiety prompting exodus to countryside

Worry over possible US attacks on Somalia has prompted an exodus from
urban areas to the countryside for safety reasons, a senior official of
Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG) told IRIN on Monday.
"There is mounting worry in people's minds over possible attacks," said
Dahir Shaykh Muhammad, the TNG interior minister. "Since December last
year, many people have been sending their families from urban areas to the
countryside for safety reasons." He said the situation had been
exacerbated by media speculation over imminent attacks. "It is hard for
ordinary people to differentiate between what is fact and what is not. One
day we are told that an attack is imminent, and the next day that it is
not," Dahir told IRIN.

Dahir reiterated that reports of the existence of camps in Somalia
belonging to the Islamist al-Qaeda or al-Ittihad organisations in Somalia
were false. "Very few people in Somalia had heard of al-Qaeda before 11
September," he said. On the question of al-Ittihad, Dahir maintained that
the organisation had existed in the early 1990s, but was now a "spent
force". [Full report at:
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19617]

SOMALIA: Charter amended to accommodate opposition

Somalia's Transitional National Assembly (TNA) has voted in favour of
amending some articles of the transitional charter to allow changes in the
number and qualifications of ministers in a bid to accommodate opposition
groups. The TNA has been debating the agreement signed by the TNG during
reconciliation talks held in Nairobi last month. The Nairobi agreement,
between the TNG and some factions opposed to it, was signed in Kenya on 24
December after weeks of formal and informal talks, in the presence of
Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi who had convened the meeting. The two
sides agreed to the establishment of "an all-inclusive government" to
ensure equitable power-sharing among all Somali clans.

"To this end, the TNA amended articles 25 and 27, and set up a committee
to study the best way to amend article 17 of the transitional charter,"
MP, Professor Abdirahman Adan Ibrahim Ibbi, told IRIN on Wednesday.
Article 25 states that "the cabinet shall consist of the prime minister
and 25 ministers only". It has now been amended to read: "The cabinet
shall consist of the prime minister and a number of ministers as deemed
necessary," Ibbi said. Article 27 stipulates that a cabinet minister must
have a university degree; it now states that a cabinet minister "shall
possess the necessary qualifications and experience", he said.

At the Nairobi meeting, the parties agreed to "to propose to parliament to
increase the number of MPs and members of the council of ministers". Ibbi
told IRIN the TNA had set up a committee to study the best way of amending
Article 17, which limits the number of MPs to 245. This was a very
sensitive issue, insofar as parliamentary representation was drawn up
along clan lines, he said. "We want to accommodate the opposition in the
interests of peace and reconciliation, but any changes to the charter
involving an increase in the number of MPs, would have to be considered
carefully to avoid upsetting the clan balance of the TNA," he explained.
[Full report at: Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19903]

SOMALIA: 12 killed in southern clashes

At least a dozen people were killed and more than 30 wounded in fighting
which broke out earlier this week near the town of Qoryoley, 130 km
southwest of Mogadishu, local sources told IRIN on Thursday. The fighting
was concentrated in the villages of Manay Murug, Bandar and Dharshinley,
all on the banks of the Shabelle river, west of Qoryoley. The clashes,
which first broke out on Tuesday, involved the Jido and Rer Shabelle
clans, and fighting was reportedly still raging on Thursday.

Muhammad Usman Gutale, a resident of Qoryoley, said the villages of Bandar
(Rer Shabelle) and Dharshinley (Jido) were burned. "We could see the
flames from Qoryoley, seven kilometres away," he said. The dead included
at least five children and two women, who drowned after the boat they were
using to escape the fighting capsized in the Shabelle river, Muhammad
said. Most of the dead were from the Rer Shabelle clan, he added. [Full
report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20003]

ETHIOPIA: Farmers at risk as coffee prices plummet

There is growing concern in Ethiopia over the impact of a continued
decline in world coffee prices, according to a report by USAID and the
European Union (EU). The report, produced by USAID's Famine Early Warning
System (FEWS) and the EU's Local Food Security Unit (EU-LFSU), highlighted
the fact that coffee exports generate 60-70 percent of Ethiopia's foreign
exchange earnings. More than 700,000 households are dependent on coffee
production, and up to 15 million more people are partly dependent on the
coffee economy.

According to the International Coffee Organisation, world coffee prices
have reached a 30-year low, having declined by more than 70 percent in the
last four years alone. This is largely due to an excess supply of coffee
consistently outstripping consumption. Over the last three years, Ethiopia
has lost almost US $167 million in export revenues as a result of the
slump in coffee prices - an amount equivalent to almost half the country's
annual export earnings. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19852]

ETHIOPIA: Five million in need of relief aid

Over five million people will need relief assistance in Ethiopia this
year, a drop on previous years due to an improvement in the humanitarian
situation and relatively good harvests. Presenting an agreed strategy for
2002 in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, the government's Disaster Prevention and
Preparedness Commission (DPPC), the UN and other partners noted that
557,204 mt of food grain would be required this year to address both acute
and chronic needs. Nearly 5.2 million people would require assistance,
DPPC Commissioner Simon Mechale said. He warned, however, that problems in
areas that were chronically food insecure "can easily switch to acute if
not addressed adequately and in a timely manner", the pro-government Walta
Information Centre reported.

Georgia Shaver, the Ethiopia country representative for the UN's World
Food Programme (WFP), said two relatively good crop production years had
helped reduce the number of people needing assistance by nearly 20
percent, compared to last year. "The humanitarian situation in Ethiopia
has improved since the most recent crisis years of 1999 and 2000," she
told the launch of the 'Assistance Requirements and Implementation
Strategy 2002'. "But five million people, less than 10 percent of a
population of more than 60 million, is still an impressive figure of needs
that persist in this country," she stressed. "Despite good rains and
crops, we still have a common responsibility towards these millions of
Ethiopians who find themselves unable to meet their basic daily needs."

WFP's spokesman in Ethiopia, Wagdi Othman, told IRIN that according to
official figures, 6.2 million people were in need of relief assistance
last year, although the figure dropped to 4.6 million in August. [Full
report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20018]

ETHIOPIA: Church leader warns against spread of AIDS

In a sermon marking the country's holiest day, the head of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church has warned about the spread of AIDS. Patriarch Abune
Paulos, in an address to celebrate Ethiopian Epiphany, urged the community
to provide support and show compassion to victims of the virus. Ethiopia
has the third-highest number of people in the world living with HIV. The
disease has orphaned a million children. He said that all Christians
should support efforts being taken to prevent further spread of the virus.

"He has travelled to every corner of the country to send this message,"
said His Grace Abune Gerima, a spokesman for the patriarch. "It is
important, because every day so many people are dying. It is a very
serious issue in Ethiopia. We teach the people about the dangers and that
they should be careful. It is important that people use contraceptives,"
he told IRIN. "Education is the key to this and that is why we have spoken
to all the dioceses across the country and they are playing their part."
Abune Gerima added that the Epiphany was an important time to talk about
the dangers of AIDS because so many people gather at churches to hear the
priests speak. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19811]

ERITREA: More refugees return from Sudan

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
has reported that it has repatriated another batch of Eritrean refugees
from Sudan. A spokeswoman for the agency told IRIN that 1,606 Eritreans
returned to their country on Sunday from the Sudanese town of Kassala.
UNHCR said this was the 50th convoy to return to Eritrea since the
voluntary repatriation exercise began last May, bringing the total number
of returnees so far to around 36,500. On 31 December, some 3,200 Eritreans
boarded the largest convoy to date, prompting UNHCR and the Sudanese and
Eritrean governments to make arrangements for two convoys each week. In
addition to overland convoys to the eastern Eritrean town of Teseney,
UNHCR has taken returnees home by sea from camps in Port Sudan to the
Eritrean port of Massawa, the agency added in a press release. The
repatriation is planned to continue until December, ending one of UNHCR's
longest-running refugee situations. Some of the returnees have been in
exile for three decades. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19515]


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