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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 97
13 - 19 July 2002


CONTENTS:

DJIBOUTI: ADB approves US $5.3 million for health services
SOMALIA-KENYA: Refugees forcibly returned
SOMALIA: Renewed clashes in Puntland likely
SOMALIA: First-ever AIDS awareness campaign
SOMALIA: Troop build-up creates tension in Sool
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN urges sides to cooperate with border demarcation
ETHIOPIA: EU calls for public inquiry into Tepi, Awasa killings
ETHIOPIA: UN report calls for land ownership
ETHIOPIA: WFP warns of food shortages
ETHIOPIA: Plea for more food aid
SUDAN: Two injured in government bombing
SUDAN: Annan secures partial lifting of aid restrictions


See also:

ETHIOPIA: Interview with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28874

HORN OF AFRICA: Leading destination for illegal arms:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28809

ETHIOPIA: Interview with president of southern nationalities region
(SNNPR): http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28902



DJIBOUTI: ADB approves US $5.3 million for health services

The African Development Fund (ADF), a soft loan arm of the African
Development Bank Group, has approved US $5.3 million in loans and grants
to boost basic health services in Djibouti; focusing on improving the
health of mothers, their children, and the fight against HIV/AIDS. The
effort is part of a five-year programme, starting in 2001, aimed at poor
families. In a statement, the ADF said the by improving the health of the
population school enrolment and productivity should increase. "The
objective of the project is to improve the quality of mother and child
health services, the surveillance and control of communicable diseases and
particularly reduce the risk of contamination from HIV and sexually
transmissible infections," the ADF stated. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28881]


SOMALIA-KENYA: Refugees forcibly returned

Humanitarian agencies have expressed concern at the plight of Somali
refugees camped in the northeastern Kenyan town of Mandera who, they say,
were forcibly returned by police to Somalia; and called on the government
and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to provide better protection.
The temporary camp, known as Border Point 1, hosted some 3,000 refugees
before the police arrived but was now empty, a humanitarian worker told
IRIN on Thursday. "This is forced repatriation, and is a violation of
international law," he added. Humanitarian workers, who spoke on condition
of anonymity, said the killing of a man and wounding of another in Mandera
on Monday, angered Kenyan authorities. "The Kenyans interpreted this as
the Somalis bringing their problems into Kenya," the worker said. Two
truck loads of police arrived at the camp on Tuesday, sealed it off, beat
up the refugees then forced them to return to Somalia, just 500 metres
away, the workers said. Three refugees were injured in the ensuing melee,
two of whom sustained head wounds, a humanitarian worker said. [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28880]


SOMALIA: Renewed clashes in Puntland likely

Residents of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern
Somalia, are bracing for renewed fighting between the forces of Col
Abdullahi Yusuf and those of his rival for the area's presidency, Jama Ali
Jama, a local reporter told IRIN on Wednesday. Early on Wednesday, a force
of at least 1,000 militiamen and 31 pick-up trucks mounted with heavy
weapons, called "technicals", left Bosaso, commercial capital of Puntland
and the current seat of the Abdullahi Yusuf administration, on their way
to Qardo, some 240 km south of Bosaso, said Abdinasir Mire Adan, of the
Bosaso-based Midnimo radio. Qardo is Jama's stronghold. The deployment
follows the failure of the mediation efforts of the Bosaso elders between
the two sides, businessmen there said. "Basically the elders could not
bridge the gap between the two," one businessman said. Yusuf's forces are
said to have set up base in Jurille 60 km north of Qardo, while Jama's
forces are dug in some 40 km north of the town. "Only 20 km separates the
two forces, and the likelihood of clashes is imminent," Abdinasir said.
"Abdullahi Yusuf is determined to capture Qardo and clear the
Bosaso-Garowe for good." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28861]

SOMALIA: First-ever AIDS awareness campaign

A group of campaigners against HIV/AIDS in Somalia, called AIDSOM, last
week held the country's first ever public awareness demonstration in the
coastal town of Marka, south of Mogadishu. Riding in trucks draped with
banners carrying Somali slogans such as "AIDS is real, don't ignore it",
and "get a blood test before marriage, the group of young men drove
through the streets spreading their message over loudspeakers, one of the
campaigners told IRIN. "We did not experience any harassment and were
mostly welcomed by the local population", said AIDSOM head Abdullahi Jama
Hassan. However, he acknowledged that in some places the campaigners were
forced to leave the area. "It is going to be very difficult to convince
Somalis, but we are going to try," he said. Abdullahi explained that there
was very little awareness of HIV/AIDS in Marka, as elsewhere in Somalia.
"Our biggest problem, since we started this last year, has been ignorance,
mixed with denial of the disease", he said. "People, even educated ones
are likely to say - This disease can not happen here." [Full story see at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28835]


SOMALIA: Troop build-up creates tension in Sool

Tension is rising in the disputed Sool region of the self-declared
republic of Somaliland as forces of Somaliland and those of the
self-declared autonomous region of Puntland deploy in the area, a local
journalist told IRIN on Monday. Abdinasir Mire Adan of the Bosaso-based
Radio Midnimo (Puntland) said the Somaliland authorities had deployed a
force of 450 men at the village of Yagori, some 60km north of the Sool
regional capital, Las Anood. The region which falls geographically within
the borders of the former British Somaliland, but where most of the clans
are associated with Puntland, is claimed by both Puntland and Somaliland.
The deployment of the force is part of the Somaliland administration's
initiative to assert control over the area and win the support of the
clans in the eastern parts of Somaliland, sources in the Somaliland
capital, Hargeysa, told IRIN. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28808]


ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN urges sides to cooperate with border demarcation

The UN Security Council has called on Eritrea and Ethiopia to fully
cooperate with the border demarcation process between the two countries.
In a statement on Friday, Council President Jeremy Greenstock of the UK
said the process was a "key benchmark" for lasting peace between the two
countries. On 13 April, an independent Boundary Commission in The Hague
issued a ruling on the Eritrea-Ethiopia border, following a bitter
two-year border war which broke out in 1998. The sides were due to meet
Commission officials in The Hague on Monday to discuss demarcation. The
Security Council said the meeting was expected to "initiate full and
effective cooperation by the parties in order to ensure an expeditious and
orderly process".  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28807]


ETHIOPIA: EU calls for public inquiry into Tepi, Awasa killings

The European Union has called on Ethiopia to hold a public inquiry into
clashes between security forces and protesters that left 128 dead,
diplomats told IRIN on Wednesday. Three ambassadors representing the EU
member states urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure an "open
transparent and public" inquiry into the incident. The clashes erupted
after an ethnic group in the Tepi Region, some 700 km southwest of Addis
Ababa, protested over the result of local elections. The EU's call comes
after Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi discussed the killings with EU
head Romano Prodi. They also discussed the May shootings in Awasa in which
at least 17 people were killed in clashes between demonstrators and
police. The EU has also called for an inquiry into that incident.
Diplomats said that Zenawi was "deeply concerned" by the killings. The
appeal by the EU also follows a weeklong diplomatic mission it sent to
Tepi to establish what had happened. The Netherlands Embassy led the
five-member team. It presented its findings last week to the president of
the region, Haile Mariam Dessalegn, and urged him to support an open
inquiry. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28858]


ETHIOPIA: UN report calls for land ownership

The Addis Ababa-based UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said on
Tuesday that granting farmers in Ethiopia ownership of their land could
speed up development. Launching its annual Economic Report on Africa, it
said land ownership should form the cornerstone of any agriculture-led
development plan in the country."Land tenure and governance are among the
most pressing areas requiring institutional reforms in Ethiopia," the
report said. "Although the land issue is politically difficult, it needs
to be resolved quickly since it impedes the development of several key
sectors." "In particular the success of the government's main development
strategy - agriculture-led industrialization - may largely depend on
addressing rural land tenure insecurity," it said. Almost 90 percent of
Ethiopians live in rural areas and more than half of export earnings in
the country comes from agriculture. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28836]


ETHIOPIA: WFP warns of food shortages

Ethiopia is facing a food shortfall of almost 200,000 tons until the end
of the year, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. It said
emergency food aid would be used to cover priority areas, but appealed to
the international community to pledge assistance to cover needs. The
appeal comes after the Ethiopian government's aid arm - the Disaster
Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC) - on Friday warned of
serious food shortages countrywide. After issuing its alert, the
government pledged 45,000 tons of cereal but this is some 187,500 tons
short of the actual needs required until December. "Existing emergency
food aid stocks will be used to cover priority areas," WFP said in a
statement, released after the DPPC appeal. "Stocks of blended food have
been borrowed from WFP development programmes to cover the urgent needs
among children in Afar region." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28838]


ETHIOPIA: Plea for more food aid

Ethiopia has called for a huge increase in food aid from the international
community, warning that lives are at risk from serious shortages. The
warning came from the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission
(DPPC) - the government's aid arm - which issued its alert on Friday. The
alert is part of the traditional bi-annual relief assistance appeal made
by the Ethiopian government in January and July. The report said poor
rains across many parts of the country had led to widespread crop failure
and had taken a heavy toll on livestock. "The crop failure and poor
livestock conditions have caused considerable food shortages in all the
affected areas," the report said. A recent assessment had established that
the food situation in many areas over the coming months "would be grave,
threatening the lives of many."  "The poor livestock condition in Afar
[Region] and the neighbouring pastoral areas of Oromiya and Somali
[Regions] has severely curtailed the supply of milk, and its impact on
children will be serious," the report added. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28812]


SUDAN: Two injured in government bombing

Government warplanes dropped 12 bombs on the town of Ikotos, Eastern
Equatoria, on Friday, seriously wounding two people, according to the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Torit. "Our place has been targeted on three
consecutive bombings and we don't understand why," Jervasio Okot, of the
Nairobi Social Communications Office of the Diocese of Torit, south Sudan,
told IRIN on Tuesday. "These are social places, they are out of the
military area." The bombers had also attacked Ikotos on 26 June,
demolishing the house of a local priest, and again on 29 June, when
another building in the church premises was destroyed, the Nairobi office
of the Torit Diocese stated on 12 July. "Consequently, the civil
population in Ikotos is in a constant state of fear", it said. The
Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi had no immediate comment. Okot said the
Antonov bombers were also seen over the area on five occasions on Monday,
but did not drop any bombs. "The people had to go into hiding and could
not even prepare food during the day," he said. The government could, he
said, be targeting Ikotos and the surrounding area as a result of the
capture by the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in
June of the garrison town of Kapoeta, some 120 km east of the town of
Torit. Government aircraft could be hoping to target rebels in the
villages around Kapoeta, he added. The Sudanese army denied, last week,
bombing civilians in Kapoeta after losing control of the town.  [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28876]


SUDAN: Annan secures partial lifting of aid restrictions

The Sudanese government has agreed to relax restrictions on humanitarian
access to all but 18 sensitive locations in conflict-affected south Sudan,
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said last week. "We have agreed that there
is a need for comprehensive access, except in 18 locations, where for
security reasons, the government believes it is not safe for them to
operate," Annan said at the end of a two-day visit to Khartoum on 11 July.
However, he added that these locations would be kept "under review". "As
the situation changes, those will be looked at and hopefully opened up,"
he said. Annan did not give details of the areas. He said Sudanese
President Umar Hasan al-Bashir had agreed on the need for "comprehensive"
humanitarian access for aid deliveries. "The president and I agreed that
food needs to get to the needy, and that humanitarian workers must have
free and unfettered access," Annan said. Humanitarian sources told IRIN on
Monday that, following Annan's visit, access restrictions had been lifted
on 23 locations. Although agencies had been allowed to access these
locations by road or barge (but not by air), the Sudanese government had
previously told aid workers it could not guarantee their safety, the
sources said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28814]


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