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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Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 132
15 - 21 March 2003


CONTENTS:

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Security Council urges cooperation with border 
  commission
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Ethiopia rejects accusations of laying mines
ERITREA: Minister says Badme will remain in Eritrea
ETHIOPIA: Drought exposing women to abuse, says UNICEF
ETHIOPIA: Afar food crisis improving but "far from
over"
SOMALIA: Presidential contender urges support for
Somaliland poll
SOMALIA: Somaliland reiterates it will not join peace talks
SOMALIA: EC advises partners to evacuate staff
SOMALIA: Best cereal production for years in south
SOMALIA: Ceasefire again violated as fighting resumes in Mogadishu
SUDAN: Ceasefire reportedly breaks down in Darfur
SUDAN: UN delivers aid to Southern Blue Nile
SUDAN: End of first round of talks on disputed areas
SUDAN: Ceasefire extended

ALSO SEE:

ETHIOPIA: Feature - New scheme aims to improve healthcare
Full story

SUDAN: Feature - Ecological aspects of the conflict
Full story

ERITREA: Feature - Drought worsens as world attention focused elsewhere
Full story


ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Security Council urges cooperation
with border commission

The UN Security Council has called on Ethiopia and Eritrea to accept an
independent ruling on demarcation of their common boundary. In a
resolution, adopted on Friday, the 15-nation council also approved a
six-month extension of the UN peacekeeping mission's (UNMEE) mandate,
until 15 September. Tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea have mounted in
the past week as Ethiopian leaders have indicated that Ethiopia may not
accept a ruling made by the Boundary Commission last April demarcating the
border between the two countries. These indications led the Boundary
Commission to chastise Ethiopia last week for trying to change the ruling.
Furthermore Eritrea's foreign minister, Ali Said Abdella, warned in a
letter submitted to the Security Council last week that Eritrea may be
plunged into yet another war with Ethiopia if the latter were allowed to
"flaunt international law" and reject last year's border ruling. The
two-year border war, which left at least 70,000 dead, ended with the
signing of a peace accord in December 2000, in which both countries agreed
that the commission's decision on the border would be final and binding.

Full story


ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Ethiopia rejects accusations of laying mines

Eritrea has accused Ethiopia of laying mines in the buffer zone between
the two countries, an allegation Addis Ababa described as "surprising".
The claims were made by Eritrea's Commissioner for coordination with the
UN peacekeeping force, Brigadier General Abrahaley Kifle, after military
leaders from both countries met in Djibouti earlier this week. "At a time
when the demarcation on the ground is immediate, the woyane [Ethiopia]
regime is creating obstacles to hamper the process," he said, according to
the Eritrean ruling party's Shaebia website.

Full story


ERITREA: Minister says Badme will remain in Eritrea

The town of Badme "has been Eritrean and will remain so", Eritrea's
Information Minister Ali Abdu Ahmed stated in an open letter to the
British Broadcasting Corporation released on Tuesday. The letter accused
the BBC's World Service of broadcasting information that was "downright
dangerous and unprofessional". In particular, Eritrea took issue with an
"erroneous and far-fetched statement" by the BBC that "tens of thousands
died in the two-and a half-year [border] war that started when Eritrean
forces occupied Ethiopian administered Badme on May 1998". The minister
pointed to the April 2002 border ruling issued by an independent boundary
commission which "asserts that Badme is in Eritrea" and therefore Eritrean
forces could not have invaded their own territory.

Full story


ETHIOPIA: Drought exposing women to abuse, says UNICEF

Fears are growing that women and girls could be subjected to sexual abuse
after being forced from their homes because of the drought currently
gripping Ethiopia, the UN said on Wednesday. The UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF) said emergency peacekeeping and humanitarian operations must
insist on a zero tolerance approach to sexual abuse. Launching a two-day
workshop in Addis Ababa to raise awareness of the issue, it stressed that
women and children must be protected, particularly in emergencies.
Ethiopia is currently reeling from a severe drought which has affected
some 11 million people, according to the government. Thousands have been
forced from their homes as they go in search of food or work to help keep
their families alive. "Sexual abuse and sexual exploitation are risks that
must be factored in when developing all of our programming," said Joanne
Dunn, UNICEF Child Protection Officer. She added that the workshop could
not be more timely with the current humanitarian crisis brought on by the
drought. "Large numbers of women and children are being displaced from
their homes and exposed to heightened risk of violence," she pointed out.

Full story


ETHIOPIA: Afar food crisis improving but "far from over"

The food crisis in Afar - one of Ethiopia^Òs hardest hit regions - is
improving, according to the UN^Òs Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (EUE). But
it warned that the crisis was not over yet. Afar region ^Ö where aid
organisations first warned of the current drought emergency which has now
affected 11 million people ^Ö is gradually emerging from the crisis. ^ÓThe
situation in Afar in general appears to have improved but remains
reversible,^Ô the EUE said in a report. It stressed however that the short
rains due between March and April were vital to any recovery. "Every
effort must be made to prevent a second major wave of animal deaths and to
prepare for a rehabilitation phase,^Ô it noted. Tens of thousands of
livestock are believed to have died during the drought which hit the
remote and inhospitable region in northeastern Ethiopia, home to the
nomadic Afar.

Full story


SOMALIA: Presidential contender urges support for Somaliland poll

As campaigning kicked off for Somaliland's first multiparty presidential
elections, leading opposition contender Ahmed Muhammad Silaanyo said the
international community should support the self-declared republic's
fledgling democratic process. "What Somaliland is doing is an experiment
which is, yes, nebulous and new, but worthwhile and which I believe the
international community should help with," he told IRIN on Thursday. "The
international community is now spending so much money on Eldoret [Somali
peace talks, now moved to Nairobi] and what is going on there?," he said.
"If the international community could give a fraction of those resources
to help the election system in Somaliland, that would be worthwhile, and I
am sure the world would be very proud of what we are doing." Silaanyo is
one of two opposition candidates running against incumbent president Dahir
Rayale Kahin in polls scheduled for 14 April. Somaliland, a former British
protectorate, declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 after
the collapse of the Siad Barre regime, but has not been internationally
recognised. In the last decade it has moved away from conflict, while the
rest of Somalia has been locked in civil strife. Last December,
Somaliland's first multiparty elections at local level passed off
peacefully.

Full story


SOMALIA: Somaliland reiterates it will not join peace talks

The authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have
reiterated they will not take part in the ongoing Somali reconciliation
talks in Kenya. According to a statement issued on Sunday by the region's
information minister, Abdullahi Duale, Somaliland was not a party to the
Somali conflict. "There are no Somaliland military forces operating on
Somali territory," the statement said, adding that Somaliland had
"refrained from interfering in Somalia's internal affairs despite numerous
provocations". The minister was reacting to media reports that the Kenyan
chairman of the talks, Bethwel Kiplagat, was awaiting an invitation to
Somaliland to discuss the peace process. Some Somali leaders attending the
peace talks in Kenya have, in the past, proposed that extra delegates be
allocated to represent Somaliland and have repeatedly called for the
region to be brought into the process. Duale's statement said that the
regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which is
mediating the talks, was aware of Somaliland's stand on the issue.

Full story


SOMALIA: EC advises partners to evacuate staff

The European Commission (EC) has advised international NGOs whose
operations it funds in Somalia to evacuate their international staff. The
recommendation "to consider evacuation of their international staff from
Somalia with immediate effect" was given to the NGOs on Thursday "as a
precautionary measure until such time as the situation can be assessed as
normal". According to an EC advisory note, received by IRIN, it said that
in view of the military action against Iraq, the EC delegation was urging
its partners "at the very least to reduce their international staff inside
Somalia to the absolute minimum". International NGO sources told IRIN
there was concern that the US government's military action in Iraq "may
create adverse conditions in Somalia", a mainly Muslim country. All
international staff in EC liaison offices in the country would be
evacuated, and all normally scheduled flights operated by its humanitarian
branch, ECHO, would be suspended, the note said.

Full story


SOMALIA: Best cereal production for years in
south

A food security watchdog says southern Somalia has recorded the best
cereal production in years, due to good seasonal rains. In its latest
report, the Food Security Assessment Unit (FSAU) - a joint project of the
EC and FAO - said "very good rainfall with high intensity and frequency"
in the region had led to the "best ever recorded" cereal production in the
post-war era. It noted that cereal production following the deyr rains
(October-December) had registered almost an 80 percent increase on the
1995-2001 period. The best production for sorghum was recorded in Bay
region, while Lower Shabelle contributed most of the maize production,
said the FSAU report.
According to the report, the good harvest had relieved pressure at the
household level in the regions of Gedo, Hiran and Bakol "which were areas
of food security concern".

Full story


SOMALIA: Ceasefire again violated as fighting resumes in Mogadishu

Heavy fighting has again broken out in the Medina district of Mogadishu,
according to sources in the Somali capital. The fighting pits militias
loyal to faction leader Muse Sudi Yalahow against those led by his former
right-hand man, Umar Mahmud Muhammad Finish. The clashes, which began on
Tuesday, continued on Wednesday. At least 10 people have been killed and
scores wounded, Medina resident Mahmud Abdi told IRIN. He said the latest
round of fighting was a continuation of the battles which erupted in late
February. "The two sides have been confronting each other for the last two
weeks," he said. "It was just a matter of time before they started again."
Yalahow and Finish both belong to the Da'ud subclan of the Abgal, and the
fighting is said to be a struggle between the two to gain supremacy within
the subclan.

Full story


SUDAN: Ceasefire reportedly breaks down in Darfur

A ceasefire between a rebel group known as the Sudan Liberation
Movement/Army (SLM/A) operating in Darfur, western Sudan, and the Sudanese
government was broken on Thursday, SLM secretary general Mini Arkoi Minawi
told IRIN. "We will fight because they [the government] broke the
ceasefire already," he said, speaking from Karnoi in western Darfur, about
60 km from the Chadian border. He claimed two government helicopter
gunships were dropping bombs in the area. Minawi told IRIN the SLM/A had
agreed to a ceasefire with the government some days ago, so that peace
negotiations could be held. The SLM had also demanded a general amnesty
from the government, and a pledge to implement development projects in the
region, 'Al-Khartoum' newspaper reported on Wednesday. The minister of
cultural and social affairs in northern Darfur, Khalil Adam Al-Karim, was
reported as saying the ceasefire agreement was aimed at restoring security
in the region and allowing the government to consider the SLM/A's demands.

Full story


SUDAN: UN delivers aid to Southern Blue Nile

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) have
begun delivering aid to Southern Blue Nile, eastern Sudan, for the first
time ever. The initial intervention was targeting areas controlled by both
the government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A), the UN agencies said in a joint statement released on Wednesday.
A total of 72 mt of cereals, pulses and corn soya blend were being
delivered on Wednesday, WFP spokeswoman Laura Melo told IRIN. Over the
next month, WFP would truck and airdrop food supplies to a total of 79,000
people who were deemed to be "critically food insecure", the statement
said.
Food would be provided to moderately malnourished children over a
six-month period, and WFP teams would continue to monitor the situation on
the ground, and provide food as needed in the months leading up the next
harvest in October 2003.

Full story


SUDAN: End of first round of talks on disputed areas

Key talks between the Sudanese government and the rebel Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army (SPLA/M) on the disputed areas of the Nuba
mountains, Southern Blue Nile and Abyei has achieved "limited progress",
Kenya's special envoy to the talks, Lazarus Sumbeiywo, said on Wednesday.
In a statement issued at the end of the talks in the Kenyan capital,
Nairobi, he said the parties had held an "earnest and frank discussion".
"Most importantly, the delegates from these areas were able to discuss
with each other - for the first time since 1994 - their concerns, issues,
causes and possible solutions to the conflict," Sumbeiywo stressed. The
spokesman at the Sudanese embassy in Nairobi, Muhammad Ahmad Dirdeiry,
told IRIN the negotiations marked "a good beginning" and had "kickstarted
the process very successfully". Most of the time was spent "hammering out
the modalities", including the agenda, guiding principles and format for
further negotiations, he said.

Full story


SUDAN: Ceasefire extended

The ceasefire between the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) rebel group has been extended until 30
June, rebel spokesman Samson Kwaje told IRIN on Monday. The decision was
reached during the current session of peace talks in the Kenyan capital,
Nairobi, which is discussing the disputed areas of Southern Blue Nile, the
Nuba Mountains (Southern Kordofan State) and Abyei (also Southern
Kordofan). He added that the talks were going well, but they were
"painfully slow". Until Friday, the two sides had not moved beyond a
discussion of the agenda for the talks, which are supposed to finish on 19
March. If necessary the current round of negotiations, being held outside
the framework of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development
(IGAD), might be extended, he said. "I don't know if we will reach
agreement during this session," he added.

Full story


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