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

Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 141
17 - 23 May 2003


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: Official power cuts due to water shortages
ETHIOPIA: Campaign launched to help pastoralists
ETHIOPIA: Over 100 killed in southern floods
ETHIOPIA: MSF criticises resettlement programme
ERITREA: Rights group urges release of detainees
ERITREA: EC provides extra aid as warning issued over food crisis
ERITREA: New school curriculum to boost productivity
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN draws up action plan ahead of demarcation
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Talks could help, UN says
SOMALIA: Medical workers strike in Mogadishu
SOMALIA: Orphans facing street life after Saudi NGO pulls out
SOMALIA: Floods endangering food security
SOMALIA: Puntland opponents sign peace deal
SUDAN: Arrival of first US military plane since 1993
SUDAN: Sides agree to monitor ceasefire


ALSO SEE:

	
ERITREA: Special Report on 12 years of independence at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34250

ETHIOPIA: Interview with Tswahab Tadesse, administrator of Shiraro at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34163



ETHIOPIA: Official power cuts due to water shortages

Ethiopia imposed two day a week power cuts on Friday, which experts say
could cost the economy US $200 million a year in lost output. The
countrywide move, which follows months of daily rationing, is blamed on
serious water shortages in Ethiopia's hydroelectric dams because of the
severe drought. The Ethiopian Economic Association (EEA) warned that the
blackouts would have a catastrophic effect on the economy, estimating it
would shave 3.4 percent off the GDP. Berahanu Nega, director of the EEA,
blamed the power cuts on poor management of public services by the
government. "There is no question of the fact that the government has
failed to provide essential services to the community," he told IRIN. "The
problem we are facing now is not just electricity but a serious shortage
of water in the capital city."
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34280]


ETHIOPIA: Campaign launched to help pastoralists

A major campaign has been launched to tackle the growing threat to the
existence of Ethiopia's seven million pastoralists. The World Bank
announced a US $30 million grant under a scheme approved on Thursday aimed
at fighting their deepening vulnerability. It is the first phase of a
15-year project. Pastoralist organisations welcomed the announcement and
said it constitutes the biggest ever development programme for
pastoralists in the country. "This is a very challenging project," Doudi
Tari Abukula, from the Pastoral Community Initiative (PCI), told IRIN. "We
just hope that the theory and development will work on the ground because
there are a lot of good issues included in this project that have not been
tried before." Among the key elements is a far-reaching decentralisation
plan whereby pastoralists will get a voice in how the money is spent on
micro-projects in their communities. Pastoralists - nomads whose
livelihoods depend on their livestock - are one of the most marginalised
groups in Ethiopia, inhabiting inhospitable lowland areas. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34253]

ETHIOPIA: Over 100 killed in southern floods

Flooding in southern Ethiopian has killed 119 people and forced some
110,000 from their homes, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
Quoc Nguyen, UNICEF's emergency coordinator in the region, said the crisis
was getting worse as disease started to take its toll on affected
families. He also revealed that a malaria outbreak had hit the
flood-affected areas of the remote Somali Region in southeastern Ethiopia.
"The situation is getting worse because of a lack of access to the areas
that have been hit," he told IRIN. "It is difficult to have a clear idea
of what is going on." The biggest killers at the moment were diarrhoea and
respiratory infections, he said, but crocodiles were also attacking
people. Rescue workers were using motorboats and a helicopter to try and
access families cut off from their homes. The region, which has been
severely affected by drought, was hit after the Wabe Shebelle River burst
its banks on 22 April, flooding dozens of villages in the region. "The
main issue for us is to get to the people hit by the flooding and provide
support but it is an extremely tough logistical operation," Nguyen said.  
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34195]

ETHIOPIA: MSF criticises resettlement programme

A major resettlement programme in southern Ethiopia has been condemned by
the aid agency Medicins sans Frontieres (MSF) for sparking a humanitarian
crisis. The organisation condemned the move of 15,000 people to Bale zone
for "inadequate planning and implementation" and increasing health risks
to settlers. Thousands of people were "dumped" along the roadside in Bidre
- some 600 km from the capital Addis Ababa, MSF said. In March, the people
were transported in trucks from Shewe camp, some 70 km away, where they
had sought refugee from the severe drought gripping on the country. But
since then, thousands of families were now living under plastic sheeting,
with little food and almost no access to water. "The settlers in Bidre are
in the mud, sleeping under a piece of plastic in the rain," said Austen
Davis, General Director for MSF. "MSF has serious concerns about the
impact of inadequately planned resettlement on the health of the
settlers," he said in a statement. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34200]

ERITREA: Rights group urges release of detainees

The human rights group, Amnesty International, has criticised the
continued detention of hundreds of people in Eritrea, including 11
prominent politicians and a number of independent journalists who have
been held since September 2001. In a statement to mark Eritrea's 12th
independence anniversary - and the 10th year of formal independence - on
24 May, the organisation urged President Isayas Afewerki to release all
political prisoners or bring them to trial. The statement also criticised
the arrests of members of minority Christian sects, such as the Jehovah's
Witnesses who oppose military service. "A further 300 or more prisoners of
conscience arrested since September 2001 include Eritrean diplomats, civil
servants, businesspeople, journalists from the state media as well as the
banned private press, army and security personnel including former EPLF
[Eritrean People's Liberation Front] fighters, two local employees of the
US embassy, Eritreans forcibly returned from Malta in September 2002, and
a recently visiting Eritrean with Swedish citizenship," the statement
pointed out. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34165]


ERITREA: EC provides extra aid as warning issued over food crisis

The European Commission is to provide an extra E11 million to alleviate
the effects of the drought and improve the food security situation in
Eritrea. In a statement, it said this pledge brings to nearly E50 million
the total contribution of the European Union to Eritrea, including the
Commission and EU member states. Out of the new pledge, E5 million will be
allocated to the World Food Programme to provide supplementary feeding and
E6 million for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to implement
activities focusing on South Red Sea, North Red Sea and Anseba
provinces.Meanwhile, a food security watchdog has warned that serious and
widespread food insecurity persists in Eritrea. The US government's Famine
Early Warning System Network (FEWS) said immediate improvements in food
security would depend primarily on increased deliveries of relief food.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34278]

ERITREA: New school curriculum to boost productivity

The Eritrean government is to introduce a new school curriculum for the
next academic year aimed at boosting productivity. According to the
official Shaebia website, Education Minister Osman Saleh said the new
curriculum for the 2003-2004 academic year met international standards and
"will enable students to be productive citizens once they finish school".
He told a seminar of education workers in Assab that the current
curriculum had "not been encouraging in terms of the students' efficiency
to work after completing school." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34246]


ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN draws up action plan ahead of demarcation

The UN says it has drawn up an "action plan" for the impending demarcation
of the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Some 55 experts from the UN in
both countries met in the Eritrean capital Asmara this week to discuss the
potential consequences and implications of the independent border ruling.
Demarcation of the 1,000 km border between Ethiopia and Eritrea is
expected to begin in July. But concern has been raised that the move could
lead to tension as territory is transferred between the countries. In
particular the now symbolic village of Badme - where the war flared up and
which is currently administered by Ethiopia - belongs to Eritrea,
according to the border ruling. Villagers in west Tigray have warned they
are prepared to prevent the pillar sites being laid along the new
boundary. In a statement, the UN Country Teams said their talks focused on
"humanitarian, legal and human rights issues" affecting the populations of
both countries. They also addressed the implications of demarcation on
families living inside and outside camps or with host communities in both
countries. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34273]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Talks could help, UN says

The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) said on Thursday that talks
between the two countries could be "beneficial" for the peace process.
However Eritrea has dismissed any notion of talks on the border issue as
"unthinkable." Acting Information Minister Ali Abdu Ahmed told IRIN the
issue was "closed and hermetically sealed". Demarcation of an
internationally recognised 1,000 km border is expected to begin in July,
according to the independent Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC).
But Ethiopia is contesting the ruling by the EEBC which puts the village
of Badme - where the border war was triggered - in Eritrean territory, and
has called for changes to the decision. Ali Abdu said the ruling "made it
crystal clear that the case was put to rest once and for all". Sainte
acknowledged that the dispute could have implications in delaying
demarcation which is due to start in the eastern sector. "At the moment it
is obvious that if there are issues between Ethiopia and the EEBC, which
there are, it must affect the work to some extent," she told a weekly
press briefing, video-linked between both capitals. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34248]

SOMALIA: Medical workers strike in Mogadishu

Hundreds of Somali medical workers in the capital Mogadishu held a one-day
work stoppage on Wednesday to protest against rampant insecurity in the
city, one of the organisers told IRIN on Thursday. The strike was arranged
by the Somali Medical Association (SMA) and supported by a group of 14
civil society organisations, including groups from the education sector,
said Dr Muhammad Mahamud Bideey, a member of SMA executive committee.
According to Bideey, all schools in the capital were also closed for the
day. He said that the strike affected "all routine work". "Only emergency
cases were worked on yesterday [Wednesday}. Almost all medical facilities
in Mogadishu took part," he stated. Bideey stressed that the insecurity in
the city was undermining their work. "We have had medical staff abducted
and some maimed or killed," he said. The aim of the strike was to
encourage the residents of Mogadishu take a stand against lawlessness and
rampant crime and to "stop supporting criminals for clan reasons". It was
also meant to put pressure on the various factions to take responsibility
for what happens in areas under their control. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34247]

SOMALIA: Orphans facing street life after Saudi NGO pulls out

Somali communities have reacted with shock and dismay over a decision to
close the Saudi-based Al-Haramayn aid agency after the US government
accused it of links with terrorists. The Islamic agency closed its doors
in Somalia on Saturday after the Saudi government ordered its
international staff to leave the country, Nur Alasow a Somali employee of
the agency told IRIN.  Al-Haramayn first came to Somalia in 1992, at the
height of the famine which led to the failed US-led Operation Restore
Hope. The agency ran a total of eight orphanages - five of them in
Mogadishu - housing about 3,500 children throughout the country. The other
orphanages were in Merka in southern Somalia, and Burao and Hargaysa in
the self-declared republic of Somaliland. Alasow said that most of the
orphans the agency cared for had lost one or both parents in the civil
war. "We have no idea what we are going to do now," he said. "We have
enough supplies to last till the end of the month. After that it is up to
Allah."  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34225]

SOMALIA: Floods endangering food security

Flooding in the Juba and Shabelle river basins of southern Somalia are
endangering the food security of the populations living there, a watchdog
organisation has warned. The EU and FAO's Food Security Assessment Unit
(FSAU) said in its May report that the worst-affected areas were in the
Jowhar district of Middle Shabelle Region, the districts of Qoryoley and
Kurtunwaarey in Lower Shabelle, and Merka. The flooding follows heavy
rains in the Ethiopian highlands and Somalia in the last few weeks. The
situation has been exacerbated by the fact that local farmers are cutting
into river embankments in order to irrigate their land, but instead they
increase the flood risk, the report said. A Somali agronomist told IRIN
that since the collapse of the Somali government in 1991, no-one has been
able to de-silt the riverbeds or manage the sluice gates on the rivers or
adjoining canals, which contributes to the seasonal flooding.  [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34198]

SOMALIA: Puntland opponents sign peace deal

The administration in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland and
opposition forces signed a peace deal on Saturday aimed at ending conflict
in the region, a local journalist told IRIN on Monday. The talks which
have been under way in Bosaso, the commercial capital, since 10 May,
between the Puntland administration of Col Abdullahi Yusuf and the
opposition led by Gen Ade Muse Hirsi, "ended with the signing of a
power-sharing agreement between the two sides", said Muhammad Sa'id
Kashawiito, of the Bosaso-based Midnimo radio. Under deal the opposition
will have three ministers, two vice-ministers, two governors, two mayors
and the commander of either the police force or the army, Kashawiito said.
Furthermore, the opposition militia will be integrated into the Puntland
security forces. "As of Saturday the opposition ceased to exist,"
Puntland's acting information minister Abdishakuur Mire Aden told IRIN.
"The agreement brings to a close a dark chapter in Puntland's history."
According to Kashawiito, the people of Puntland welcomed the peace
agreement which ends two years of conflict and power struggle in the
region.  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34164]

SUDAN: Arrival of first US military plane since 1993

A US military aircraft has landed in Sudan for the first time in 10 years,
according to the US anti-terror task force operating in the Horn of
Africa. In a statement, received by IRIN on Wednesday, the Combined Joint
Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) said the C130 Hercules plane, on a
logistics support mission, landed in Khartoum on 17 May. It was met by
Sudanese military officers and a US defence liaison officer in Khartoum,
Colonel Dennis Giddens. "The opportunity for CJTF-HOA personnel to visit
Sudan highlights progress toward improving the overall relationship
between the US and Sudan," the statement said. It quoted Giddens as saying
there had been "important changes" in ties between the two countries. He
recalled that a year ago, Sudan had invited the US to open its military
liaison office in Khartoum. "Lately, Sudan has also been proactive in the
war against terrorism, working to deny terrorists safe havens and means to
operate," Giddens said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34223]

SUDAN: Sides agree to monitor ceasefire

At the end of the current round of peace talks in Kenya, Sudan's warring
sides have agreed to monitor a cessation of hostilities accord. The
Sudanese government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A) signed an accord to establish a monitoring and verification
mechanism under an already-existing Memorandum of Understanding on the
cessation of hostilities.  Media sources, however, indicated that little
progress was made on issues such as wealth and power sharing between the
north and the south, as well as security arrangements during a six-year
transition period provided for in the Machakos protocol, signed last July.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34279]


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