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 99
27 July - 02 August 2002


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: Shatigadud takes control of Baidoa
SOMALIA: Somaliland parties agree on conditions for fair polls
SOMALIA: IGAD technical committee to visit Somalia
ERITREA: Over a million people at risk
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Boundary Commission to open field office in Adigrat
ETHIOPIA: NGO promotes home-ownership project
ETHIOPIA: Ethnic clashes worsening effects of drought
ETHIOPIA: WFP warns food rations may be slashed
ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Airlines to modernise fleet



See also:

ETHIOPIA: Feature - Govt orders evacuation of camps near Addis:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29082

ETHIOPIA: Focus on primary education:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29084



SOMALIA: Shatigadud takes control of Baidoa

The chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), Col Hasan Muhammad
Nur Shatigadud, is now in full control of the southern town of Baidoa, a
local source told IRIN on Wednesday. Baidoa, which is the headquarters of
the RRA, has been the scene of fierce factional fighting between two RRA
factions over the past month. The fighting first broke out on 1 July
between forces loyal to Shatigadud and those of his two deputies, Shaykh
Adan Madobe and Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade, in an apparent power struggle.
According to the source, fighting resumed again on Wednesday morning and
lasted about three hours. Forces loyal to Shatigadud managed to drive out
those of Madobe and Habasade. "The entire town is now in the hands of
Shatigadud," he said.He went on to say that Madobe-Habsade forces had
withdrawn from Baidoa and were reportedly regrouping. "They are in
Goob-Gaduud Shabelow, 25 km southwest of Baidoa," he said.Baidoa residents
told IRIN the population would welcome an end to the fighting "no matter
who wins". "After what we have been through, those of us who are left
welcome with open arms anything that will end this madness," said one.
Baidoa has seen a large exodus of people fleeing the fighting over the
past week. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29125]

Click here for earlier Baidoa stories:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29107;
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29086


SOMALIA: Somaliland parties agree on conditions for fair polls

Registered political parties in the self-declared republic of Somaliland
have agreed on conditions necessary for holding free and fair elections in
the region, a source close to the discussions told IRIN on Thursday. The
agreement, between eight of the nine registered parties in Somaliland, was
reached at the end of the talks, Abdi Du'ale of the Somaliland Academy for
Peace and Development (SAPD) said. The discussions began in February and
were organised by the SAPD. "They have been meeting every Wednesday over
the past six months, after which they agreed on the rules of the game for
the upcoming elections," he added. Somaliland is due to hold presidential
elections in January, sources close to the Somaliland authorities told
IRIN last month. The parties agreed that for the polls to be free and
fair, election laws must be finalised and a massive campaign launched to
sensitise the public. Furthermore all parties would observe the electoral
laws and no party could seek preferential access to the media or to public
assets. Finally, a supreme court president would be appointed before the
elections, Du'ale said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29124]


SOMALIA: IGAD technical committee to visit Somalia

The technical committee of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on
Development's (IGAD) is expected to go to Somalia on Wednesday, a senior
Kenyan official confirmed to IRIN on Tuesday. The committee - which
comprises the frontline states of Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia - was
established by the foreign ministers of the IGAD member states when they
met in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in February. Its mandate includes
monitoring the Somali peace process and drawing up the terms of reference
for the forthcoming peace conference, determining the criteria for
participation and deciding on the number of participants. Only the
representatives of Ethiopia and Kenya took part in the committee's last
fact-finding mission to Somalia in April. Djibouti refused to participate,
stating at the time that there had been insufficient preparation. However,
the Kenyan official said that "this time round we are hopeful Djibouti
will join the mission". He added that the committee would be accompanied
by the Kenyan special envoy for Somalia, Elijah Mwangale, who would be
visiting the country for the first time. A Djibouti foreign ministry
official told IRIN that Djibouti's members "will be in Nairobi on
Tuesday". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29083]


ERITREA: Over a million people at risk

The UN and the Eritrean government have warned that over one million
people are at risk in the country due to severe drought caused by the
failure of seasonal rains and the aftermath of the recent war with
Ethiopia. Addressing a joint donor briefing in the Eritrean capital
Asmara, the Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission (ERREC) and UN agencies
said the figure included over 524,000 people directly affected by drought
in 2002. Other vulnerable people comprised tens of thousands of internally
displaced people (IDPs), returning refugees and demobilised soldiers. The
total population of Eritrea is about 3.7 million. Key concerns, according
to the briefing, were an increase in water-related diseases, an increase
in malnutrition, destabilisation of returnees, livestock deaths, crop
failure and long-term damage to the asset base of families. ERREC and the
UN have set up a task force to address these concerns and identify
priority needs. The donor briefing follows an alert issued by the Eritrean
government last week warning of a looming humanitarian crisis after the
complete failure of vital rains in April-May and the continuation of the
"unprecedented" dry spell into June and July - the prime planting months.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29103]


ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Boundary Commission to open field office in Adigrat

The independent Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) is to open a
field office in Ethiopia's Tigray region - which borders Eritrea - on
Monday to ensure the speedy implementation of border demarcation. In a
statement - released after a mid-July meeting in The Hague between both
sides - the EEBC said the office, to be established in the town of
Adigrat, would enable staff to "resume" survey work. The move follows
calls by the president of the commission, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, for
Ethiopia to lift a ban on EEBC surveyors carrying out their work in the
contested border area. He said he had personally urged the Ethiopian
authorities to lift the ban before the start of the rainy season. The
Ethiopians imposed the ban on 27 April, but reports say it has now been
lifted so that the field office in Adigrat could be up and running by the
EEBC's deadline of 31 July. The EEBC was set up as part of a peace deal
between Ethiopia and Eritrea following their two-year border war which
broke out in May 1998. It was tasked with drawing up a 1,000-km
international boundary between the countries and then physically marking
it out. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29051]


ETHIOPIA: NGO promotes home-ownership project

Etalemahu Tadese, an accountant, was used to living in squalor. She had no
kitchen or latrine, and the roof of the mud hut leaked. She lived in the
rented one-room hut with her 72-year-old mother, son, and two teenaged
relatives. "We lived like that for almost a year," Etalemahu told IRIN. In
many other parts of the world, she could easily have afforded a proper
home. But Etalemahu lives in Ethiopia - one of the poorest countries in
the world and where nine out of 10 people live in substandard housing.
Etalemahu, who now works for the Agricultural Research Institute in Ambo,
western Ethiopia, has been able to escape the misery of her former
existence. With the help of the charity Habitat for Humanity Ethiopia
(HFHE) she has built herself a house - one she now owns. "It took us three
months to build the new house," she said, proudly standing outside it. She
said more attention should be given to housing and the difficulties faced
by families in buying homes. [Full story see at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29087]


ETHIOPIA: Ethnic clashes worsening effects of drought

Ethnic clashes have erupted between rival groups fighting over scarce
water sources in Ethiopia's Afar Region and surrounding areas, the UN
Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (EUE) has warned. The Afar and the Issas
have clashed near the Awash River that runs through their territory while
searching for water, according to a report published by the EUE. The
report states that some 400 cattle were stolen by the Afar who launched
the attack on the Issas from Shinille zone in Somali Region. Many clashes
between the groups are being sparked because of the drought which has had
a "devastating" impact on the pastoralists in the region. Children are
also begging for water at the side of roads, according to the report by
the EUE, whose mission was carried out in mid-July. The clashes are
worsening the impact of the drought which has hit Afar Region and
surrounding areas including parts of Oromiya and Somali Regions. Issa
community leaders told the EUE team that they would have to return to the
water points regardless of the risks if their cattle are to survive.
Conflict has also meant that traditional watering holes have been left
empty because it is too dangerous to return to the Awash River and refill
them. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29061]


ETHIOPIA: WFP warns food rations may be slashed

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that food rations will have
to be cut to meet the needs of families hit by drought in Ethiopia. In a
report, it said that unless more food aid was received rations would run
out in two months. The Afar region was particularly hard hit, the food
agency pointed out. "In many areas, wells have dried up and people are
walking long distances in search of water," it said. "Animals are further
weakened by the trek." On Friday, major donors were flown by helicopter
over Afar region by the government's Disaster Prevention and Preparedness
Commission (DPPC) to see the scale of the problem. "It looks serious," one
member of the flight told IRIN. "There were a lot of carcasses and
migration by pastoralists in search of water." WFP added that food aid
reached a peak in July with some 5.9 million people in need of help.
"Relief food assistance now available (around 115,000 tons of cereals) can
only meet August and September requirements at reduced rations," it
warned. "Further contributions are urgently needed."
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29053]


ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Airlines to modernise fleet

Ethiopian Airlines (EAL) on Friday announced plans to modernise its fleet
with 12 new state-of-the-art Boeing jets. The move - which was agreed in a
US $480 million deal - is a setback for the European-led Airbus consortium
which had been trying to woo EAL. EAL, which employs almost 4,000 people,
is to buy six "New Generation" planes for US $480 million and lease a
further six from the American airline giant. There had been speculation
that Airbus had clinched the deal, which would have ended some 35 years of
EAL using Boeing airplanes. Bisrat Nigatu, the chief executive of the
company, told a press conference that the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia had
financed the deal. "Both Airbus and Boeing have been campaigning hard over
the last few years for this deal, with Airbus proposing its A319-100 and
A330-200 airplanes," he added. Ethiopian Airlines, which last year made
around US $8 million in profit, currently has 12 jets and 12 turbo prop
planes for domestic flights. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29062]


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