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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 143
31 May - 06 June 2003


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: Government defends resettlement scheme
ETHIOPIA: People dying at an alarming rate in the south - EUE
ETHIOPIA: Premier calls for firm action to combat poverty in Africa
ETHIOPIA: Funding shortfall hits food aid distribution
SOMALIA: Families flee fighting in Middle Shabelle
SOMALIA: Fact-finding mission ends tour
SUDAN: Yellow fever vaccination campaign begins

ETHIOPIA: Government defends resettlement scheme

The Ethiopian government has said that a scheme which provides for the
resettlement of some two million people over the next three years, but has
faced criticism from the international community, is necessary if Ethiopia
is to stave off future food emergencies. It has also said it will not shy
away from the scheme and has urged the international community to support
it fully.

Pilot programmes to resettle some 40,000 farmers have already been
launched in at least three of the country's 11 regions and more are
expected to begin. In a statement released on Monday by the Ministry of
Information, the government acknowledged that the programme had
experienced some difficulties. "It must not be expected that the
implementation of the current and future large-scale resettlement
programmes are or will be without any drawbacks or difficulties," it said.
"It must be borne in mind that the resettlement programmes and other
related schemes, meant to ensure food security, may sometimes pose
temporary setbacks which would need to be mitigated through serious and
relentless efforts."
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34539]

ETHIOPIA: People dying at an alarming rate in the south - EUE

The UN's Emergencies Unit in Ethiopia has warned that people are dying at
an "alarming rate" in southern parts of the country. It said the affected
areas had been hit by a "green famine" (famine despite the absence of
drought) which had been exacerbated by poor targeting of food aid to
starving families. Similar warnings had been issued by aid agencies, which
said that the crisis was worsening in certain parts of the country, such
as the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR). The
situation was severe in Sidama and Welayita, both in SNNPR, the EUE said
in a report titled 'Green famine in Sidama and Welayita.' "Hundreds of
children are severely malnourished and large parts of the population now
not only suffer from malnutrition, but also from malaria," the unit noted.
"In some kebeles [hamlets] people die at an alarming rate, due to a
combination of lack of food, disease, inappropriate diet and unsafe
drinking water." It said there was "no end in sight" to the green famine,
which it blamed on the small size of landholdings, large family sizes and
a lack of development.

[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34508]

ETHIOPIA: Premier calls for firm action to combat poverty in Africa

Africa's leaders must face the stark reality that the continent "is going
nowhere" towards its anti-poverty goals, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi declared on Monday in Addis Ababa at a symposium held jointly by
the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank. He
called on the continent's leaders to shed "past practices, biases and
dogmas" so as to boost economic growth. Meles said just "tinkering around
the edges" would not be enough for Africa if it was to achieve its 2015
Millennium Development Goals. Economists argue that the continent is
unlikely to reach the MDGs and could even slip further into poverty.
Growth rates have fallen and the AIDS pandemic is reducing them further.
He also said the international community must overcome prejudice and allow
world trade to boost development on the African continent. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34478]

ETHIOPIA: Funding shortfall hits food aid distribution

Millions of Ethiopians are at risk of starvation because of a funding
shortfall for food aid, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said on
Monday. WFP said it was facing a US $90 million shortfall for its
emergency operations in 2003 in drought-stricken Ethiopia. "As we enter
Ethiopia's lean season before the harvest, the number threatened by
starvation has shot up from 11 million to 12.5 million, and our best
estimates are that it is still climbing," said James Morris, the executive
director of WFP. He also criticised the international community for
forcing WFP to cut food rations and also to decide on criteria for
distribution. "We have not had enough support to give out a complete
cereal ration in Ethiopia, and we and our partners have been forced to
reduce it from 15 kilos a month to 12.5 kilos. Currently we have
commitments of about half of what we need for the new emergency operation.
The threat of a pipeline break in September remains," he said. [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34452]

SOMALIA: Families flee fighting in Middle Shabelle

Hundreds of families have been fleeing their homes in the Middle Shabelle
Region, south-central Somalia, local sources told IRIN on Wednesday. The
exodus followed an outbreak of heavy fighting in the village of Raghe-Eil
between opposing militias, the second incident of its kind since March.
"Many families have been fleeing their homes in the village and the
surrounding areas since Thursday [29 May]," said a local journalist in the
Somali capital, Mogadishu. The fighting, concentrated within a 20 km
radius around Raghe-Eil, 95 km northeast of Mogadishu, was between the two
Abgal sub-clans of Muhammad Muse and Warsangeli, the source said. It
reportedly started after forces loyal to the self-styled "governor" of
Middle Shabelle, Muhammad Umar Habib a.k.a. Muhammad Dhere, a Warsangeli,
captured the village, said the journalist. Families were leaving Raghe-Eil
and the surrounding villages which bore the brunt of the fighting, and
were moving in response to reports of renewed fighting and fear that "the
fighting will resume again", Ahmadey Shaykh Hasan, a leader of the
Muhammad Muse sub-clan, told IRIN on Wednesday. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34512]

SOMALIA: Fact-finding mission ends tour

A fact-finding mission from the African Union (AU) and the regional
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), sent to look into the
security situation in Somalia, has arrived back in neighbouring Kenya. The
21-member mission, led by Maj-Gen Joseph Musomba of Kenya, which was in
Somalia for 12 days, also included observers from the EU and the Arab
League, and Somali delegates, according to a statement by the organisers
of the Somali peace talks in Kenya. Musomba told IRIN that the aim of the
mission had been to prepare the ground "for the future deployment of
African Union military observers". The mission would help plan for the
deployment of peacekeeping troops "if the conference [peace conference]
approves such a step". Musomba said the team had encouraged those it met
"to abide by the ceasefire agreement". He said most of the Somalis his
delegation had met wanted peace. "The ordinary people we met are crying
for peace. It is the leaders who are letting their people down," he
asserted. He said it would be a shame if the talks in Nairobi did not
produce "positive results". "The Somali people we saw have so much
expectation and hope for the eventual outcome of the conference."
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34481]
 
SUDAN: Yellow fever vaccination campaign begins

A vaccination campaign to halt the spread of yellow fever in Imotong and
Ikotos, Eastern Equatoria, southern Sudan, began on Sunday, Ben Parker,
the spokesman for the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, told IRIN. A
total of 40,000 doses of the vaccine had been delivered by air to Ikotos
on Saturday, he said, and 75 trained vaccinators had begun work the next
day. Imotong town, the epicentre of the outbreak, and the Momoria camp for
internally displaced people on the edge of Ikotos, were to constitute the
initial focus, he said. The IDP camp is home to several thousand people
fleeing insecurity in the area. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had
ordered a further 125,000 vaccines, which it hoped would arrive by next
week so that the campaign could continue without interruption, Parker
added. The Sudanese Ministry of Health and WHO were also planning a
parallel campaign in government-held areas, such as the garrison town of
Torit, in Eastern Equatoria, he said. Oxfam and Norwegian Church Aid have
begun delivering 1,700 mosquito nets to the area. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34464]


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