U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 88
24 - 30 February 2002


CONTENTS:

SUDAN: Khartoum bans relief flights
SUDAN: Government makes gains in transition zone
DJIBOUTI: Govt says US has not asked to launch attack on Iraq
ERITREA: Envoy warns of "terrorist elements" abroad
ERITREA: Food running out in Sudan refugee camps
ETHIOPIA: Camp walkout by Sudanese refugees
ETHIOPIA: Armed forces in Awassa accused of "illegal acts"
ETHIOPIA: IMF hails economic performance
ETHIOPIA: WFP warns of increase in food needs
ETHIOPIA: EC pledges money for food aid
ETHIOPIA: Rise in child deaths in Afar
SOMALIA: Security Council urges "constructive" reconciliation talks
SOMALIA: Deteriorating food security outlook in Sool Plateau
HORN OF AFRICA: Polio almost eradicated

See also: ETHIOPIA: Feature - The high cost of coffee [http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30063 ]



SUDAN: Khartoum bans relief flights

The Sudanese government on Thursday banned UN relief flights to two huge
regions of southern Sudan, effectively cutting off air access from Kenya
to the south. Martin Dawes, spokesman for the UN-led Operation Lifeline
Sudan (OLS) told IRIN the ban meant there were now no OLS flights leaving
the logistics base at Lokichoggio, northern Kenya, raising concerns for
the welfare of up to three million people in the war-ravaged south. "This
is extremely serious for the operation, for the beneficiaries, for aid
workers, and for the basis of OLS," Dawes said. The access denial covers
all flights to the far south regions of Eastern Equatoria and Western
Equatoria for a nine day period, and has prompted speculation that
government forces were about to launch a major offensive against the rebel
Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30128 ]

SUDAN: Government makes gains in transition zone

Sudanese government forces have made military gains in a key strategic
transition area between north and south Sudan, government and rebel
sources said on Thursday. The Sudanese regular army based in the town of
Damazin and the paramilitary People's Defence Forces had captured the town
of Madal, Southern Blue Nile, on Monday inflicting "heavy casualties" on
forces of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in
the area, the Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) reported. A statement from the
SPLM/A confirmed that Madal, located some 90 km north of the Ethiopian
border at Kurmuk, had been seized. Local sources told IRIN that government
forces had launched a major offensive in the area seven days ago involving
helicopter gunships and Antonov bombers, and was still ongoing. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30102 ]

DJIBOUTI: Govt says US has not asked to launch attack on Iraq

Djibouti says the US has never asked for permission to use its territory
to launch attacks against Iraq. According to government spokesman Rifki
Abdouldaker Bamakhrama, Djibouti was "opposed to any action of the kind",
the Djibouti news agency (ADI) reported. "The Unites States has never
asked the Djibouti government for permission to use its territory as a
staging ground for attacks on Iraq or on any other country in the region,"
he said. The presence of US and other western forces in Djibouti fell
within the framework of the international coalition against terrorism, he
added. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30075 ]

ERITREA: Envoy warns of "terrorist elements" abroad

Eritrea's ambassador to the UN has warned that an umbrella organisation -
known as the Alliance of Eritrean National Forces - has bases in foreign
countries and requested international assistance to counter "terrorist
elements". In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Saturday, Ahmed Tahir
Baduri said the Eritrean Jihad "terrorist movements" which were "members
of the Al-Qaeda network", were part of this Alliance. "This umbrella
organisation has bases and physical presence in some neighbouring and a
number of western countries," he said. "These groups continue to obtain
sanctuary as well as financial and other forms of assistance in western
capitals." "Terrorism is not a new phenomenon to my country," he added.
"The State of Eritrea has lived it since its formal independence in 1993
as the youngest country in Africa." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30052 ]

ERITREA: Food running out in Sudan refugee camps

The UN World Food Programme on Tuesday warned that it is running out of
food aid to assist more than 91,000 Eritrean refugees living in camps in
Sudan. In a press release, it said the agency had already been forced to
cut by almost half the amount of food being distributed, and may have to
suspend the operation altogether if donations dry up. "We are appealing to
donors to come forward urgently with contributions to assist the Eritrean
refugees," said WFP's Country Director in Sudan, Ronald Sibanda. "Many
people are ready to go home but until they do, our help is all they have."
WFP is currently assisting 91,000 refugees who are expected to return home
in the course of next year as part of a major voluntary repatriation
exercise organised by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30056 ]

ETHIOPIA: Camp walkout by Sudanese refugees

Thousands of Sudanese refugees staged a mass walkout from an
Ethiopian-based refugee camp after learning of a visit by a high-level
Khartoum government delegation, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Monday.
The protest occurred after the delegation flew in from North Sudan to
inspect two refugee camps. Some 10,000 refugees at Sherkole camp on the
border with Sudan packed up and left after the visit was reportedly given
the go-ahead by the Ethiopian government. The incident occurred in August,
but has only just been reported. Tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees
have poured into Ethiopia in the last two decades fleeing the civil war
between the north and the south, most of them from war-torn south Sudan.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30020 ]

ETHIOPIA: Armed forces in Awassa accused of "illegal acts"

The Ethiopian government has been urged to crack down on dissident members
of the armed forces who have been accused of indiscriminate killing and
torture. The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) claims that government
security forces in Awassa, capital of the Southern Nations, Nationalities
and People's Region (SNNPR), have persecuted the local population. Armed
troops were sent into Awassa in May to restore calm after a bloody
confrontation between a local ethnic group and police over local political
changes. But EHRCO argues that the armed forces are taking the law into
their own hands and attacking local civilians. “Government armed forces
have committed illegal acts against innocent citizens in Awassa," it said
in a report. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30124 ]

ETHIOPIA: IMF hails economic performance

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has welcomed Ethiopia’s economic
performance but warned of the food crisis that has hit the country.
Shigemitsu Sugisaki, the deputy managing director on the executive board
of the IMF, said that real growth remained strong in the economy. He was
speaking after the third review of Ethiopia under the three-year Poverty
Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) deal. “Ethiopia's performance during
the first annual program under the PRGF arrangement was good, and the
second annual program remains on track," he said. “Real GDP growth
remained strong at an estimated five percent in 2001/02, while inflation
remained negative as a result of food surpluses following the bumper crop
in 2000/2001. “However, since July of 2002, Ethiopia has suffered from a
drought, which is affecting food production and causing food shortages in
some regions, as well as a rebound in cereal prices," Sugisaki warned.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?Repo! rtID=30098 ]

ETHIOPIA: WFP warns of increase in food needs

Ethiopia is facing a massive food shortfall because of the severity of the
drought that has hit the country, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said
on 20 September. “Needs have increased substantially over recent months
and the revised shortfall to the end of 2002 is expected to be over
200,000 tons,” it said. The Ethiopian government and the United Nations
are expected to make an appeal for food aid later this week in which they
will revise the numbers of people in need. Currently the Ethiopian
government's emergency arm – the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness
Commission – believes some 5.9 million people need food aid. [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30022 ]

ETHIOPIA: EC pledges money for food aid

The European Commission has pledged about Euros 15 million for
drought-stricken Ethiopia – dependent on the scale of the food emergency.
It is expected to announce that the money will buy 67,000 mt of food aid
after the Ethiopian government spells out the scale of the crisis. The EC
has also earmarked Euros three million to buy 10,000 mt of food aid
through non-governmental organisations. All the food aid will be bought
locally. In a statement released to the press called “the EC’s Commitment
to Food Security”, it said it would adopt a “definite position” after the
mid-term crop assessment. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30079 ]

ETHIOPIA: Rise in child deaths in Afar

Child deaths in drought-stricken Afar Region, northeastern Ethiopia, have
risen dramatically over the past four months, according to the latest
nutritional survey from the area. Some 36 children have died in the
regional capital Asyaita alone, with high numbers of deaths in other
towns, the study by the nongovernmental organisation, World Vision,
revealed. Children in Afar, a region of mainly pastoralists and
agro-pastoralists, also suffered from a high degree of stunting. Around
one third of children were stunted, it said. According to the report,
acute malnutrition has reached around six percent while global
malnutrition stands at 30 percent. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30080 ]

SOMALIA: Security Council urges "constructive" reconciliation talks

The UN Security Council has called on Somalis to participate
"constructively" in next month's national reconciliation conference. The
conference - which should have been held in April - is due to take place
on 15 October in the Kenyan town of Eldoret, after months of debate and
postponements. Disagreement between the so-called "frontline states" -
Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti - who had been tasked with laying the
groundwork for the conference had led to the delays. The conference is
being sponsored by the regional Inter Governmental Authority on
Development (IGAD). Security Council President Stefan Tafrov on Tuesday
said Council members reaffirmed their “united and firm” support for the
Somali reconciliation process. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30096 ]

SOMALIA: Deteriorating food security outlook in Sool Plateau

Abnormal levels of migration of livestock into and within Sool Plateau,
northern Somalia, will have "grave" food security implications for the
pastoralist community living in the region, says USAID's Famine Early
Warning System (FEWS). The patchy and short Gu rains this year, lasting
from March to May, had attracted a large migration of livestock, FEWS
reported. The resulting competition for scarce resources, such as water,
had also resulted in an abnormal migration of animals within the plateau,
as well as to the Somali region of eastern Ethiopia. Calving rates, milk
reproduction and livestock value had been affected during the third
consecutive year of below normal rainfall in the region. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30055 ]

HORN OF AFRICA: Polio almost eradicated

With only two cases of polio paralysis to date this year in Ethiopia,
Somalia and Sudan, the Horn of Africa is extremely close to being
polio-free, the World Health Organisation (WHO said on Wednesday. The two
cases were recorded in Somalia. No cases have been found in Sudan and
Ethiopia for well over a year, a press release from WHO's Polio
Eradication Information Office said. "However to finish the job, the Horn
countries must continue mass polio immunisation campaigns and urgently
require the funding to carry these out," the statement said.

"Despite the enormous challenge of delivering polio vaccine to children in
Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, the people of these countries have almost
wiped polio out of the Horn," Dr Bruce Aylward, WHO's coordinator of the
Polio Eradication Initiative, told a key meeting in Nairobi on Wednesday.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30077 ]


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2002


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