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 157
6 - 12 September 2003


CONTENTS:

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Peace process at "critical" stage says UN
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Families return to border town
ETHIOPIA: US funding for human rights organizations
ETHIOPIA: Athletes join the fight against hunger
ETHIOPIA: Spiralling population growth contributing to food insecurity
DJIBOUTI: Ethiopia assisting migrants ordered to leave
SUDAN: Annan calls for more support as peace talks continue  
SUDAN: Darfur rebels accuse government of breaking ceasefire
SUDAN: Health interventions lag behind needs - UNICEF
SOMALIA: Peace talks expected to resume
SOMALIA: Leaders discuss peace process
SOMALIA: Mogadishu hit by skyrocketing fuel prices


ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Peace process at "critical" stage says UN

The Ethiopia-Eritrea peace process is at a "critical" juncture with
demarcation of the contested 1,000-kilometre border between the two
countries just weeks away, the United Nations stated on Thursday. "Clearly
this is an important time," George Somerwill, deputy spokesman of the UN's
Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) told journalists at a video-linked
press briefing between Asmara and Addis Ababa. "There are clearly a lot of
meetings taking place and we can presume, a lot of people, the major
players, are all talking to each other." Somerwill added: "Obviously
demarcation is an extremely important part of the whole process of
bringing about peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36517]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: End "cold peace" urges Annan

The peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea must not "lose momentum" in
the crucial run-up to the demarcation of their common border, UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged. In his latest report on both
countries, he also called on them to end their "cold peace" and take
advantage of the economic potential normal relations would offer. "While
the final steps of the peace process may be the most difficult," Annan
stated, "they are also the most important for the future of the two
countries and must be taken sooner rather than later". He also said that
both countries should be "more actively assisted" to fulfill the
commitments of the peace deal by the international community. Sir Elihu
Lauterpacht, president of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission -
tasked with implementing the new border - urged speedy demarcation.
Lauterpacht called on both countries to ensure the security of demarcation
teams whose arrival, he stated, was "imminent". "...the Commission has
reminded the parties of their complete and sole responsibility, within the
areas under their control, for ensuring the safety of all demarcation
personnel," he said in the UN report, released last week. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36488]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Families return to border town

More than a thousand families have returned to an Ethiopian border town
destroyed during the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday. The families, who fled
Zalambessa during the bloody conflict, which ended in December 2000, have
returned to start rebuilding their demolished houses, the ICRC added.
Zalambessa was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting during the
border war - which cost the two countries some 70,000 lives and millions
of dollars in lost revenue. People have gradually been returning to the
town over the past two years. The ICRC has been distributing tarpaulins
and blankets as temporary shelter for the returning families. Tents have
also been erected as emergency health centres run by the Ministry of
Health for 10,000 people for the next three months. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36453]

ETHIOPIA: US funding for human rights organizations

The United States embassy in Addis Ababa launched on Monday a small grants
scheme worth $360,000 to support human rights organisations in Ethiopia.
Aurelia Brazeal, the US ambassador to Ethiopia, said 43 local
organisations and charities would benefit from the scheme, aimed at
helping to bolster democracy in the country. Brazeal told representatives
of human and civil rights organisations that fostering political pluralism
and enhancing economic development would enable people to resist the lure
of "extremists". Brazeal said the grants to human rights groups aimed to
"empower" women and minority groups, increase literacy, and improve
economic growth. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36480]

ETHIOPIA: Athletes join the fight against hunger

Ethiopian world champions Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba joined tens
of thousands of other athletes on Sunday to launch a six-kilometer charity
race through the heart of the capital, Addis Ababa, as part of the fight
against hunger. "This is a race against hunger and one we must win," said
Kenenisa, who was fresh back from victory in the 10,000 metres at the
world championships in Paris, France. "If we are committed we can beat
it," said the 21-year-old runner, who beat legendary runner and fellow
Ethiopian Haile Gebreselassie to first place in Paris. He was joined by
another rising star, Tirunesh, the youngest ever winner in the history of
the World Championships at just 18 years old. The two runners led the
thousands of participants, who each paid US$2, before pulling out on the
orders of their coach because they were still recovering from the Paris
games. "Although we did not run, it was a symbolic gesture for us,"
Tirunesh said. "We are here to show that we support the race against
hunger. It is a noble cause."  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36434]

ETHIOPIA: Spiralling population growth contributing to food insecurity

Polygamy is fuelling a population explosion in impoverished southern
Ethiopia, which in turn compounds an existing food crisis, according to
the US Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS). FEWS said the
spiralling population was one of a number of underlying causes of the
widespread food insecurity in Ethiopia. Each year an estimated five
million people are in need of food aid regardless of weather conditions in
the drought-prone country. "Polygamy, though declining, is still a
dominant feature of the family structure in some parts of the region,
contributing to the high population growth rate and leading to a high
number of female-headed households with limited means to provide for their
children," said FEWS, which is backed by the US Agency for International
Development (USAID). "Women and children in polygamous households are
vulnerable as they are usually disfavored by the bread-winner husbands."
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36431]

DJIBOUTI: Ethiopia assisting migrants ordered to leave

Ethiopia's government has been providing transport and food rations for
thousands of illegal immigrants ordered to leave Djibouti by 15 September,
the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told IRIN on Friday. "We are
assisting the immigrants," said a spokesman from the foreign ministry in
the capital, Addis Ababa. "Most of them have links here already. For those
who do not have the resources to come to Ethiopia, then we have been
supporting them from Djibouti. We have been providing transport services
and other help." Since the order, announced in July, some 42,000 people
have left the tiny Red Sea state, many of them travelling to Ethiopia. The
crackdown on illegal immigrants - who are mainly from Somalia, Ethiopia
and Yemen - is thought to be motivated by economic and security concerns.
Thousands of them thronged to a transit centre in Djibouti, established by
the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, in an attempt to apply for asylum and
legalise their stay. The UNHCR said it was struggling to cope with the
numbers who turned up at the transit camp. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36452]

Sudan: Annan calls for more support as peace talks continue

There is an urgent need for increased donor support to save lives in
Sudan, said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday. "The humanitarian
imperative to save lives and reduce human suffering cannot await the
completion of the peace process," Annan said in his latest report to the
UN General Assembly on humanitarian assistance to Sudan.

On Thursday, the government delegation at peace talks taking place in
Naivasha, Kenya, reportedly requested a three-day break from negotiations
with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) to deliberate
separately.

Security issues have been the focus of discussions at the talks, in
particular arrangements governing the co-existence of the national army
and the SPLA, as well as their partial integration.

The unprecedented talks between SPLM/A leader John Garang and Sudanese
Vice President Ali Osman Taha have been taking place for over a week now,
leading many to believe that a deal may be struck. Taha was joined on
Wednesday by the Sudanese Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bakri Hassan Salih
and other army generals, and on Thursday by experts on wealth-sharing.
 
SUDAN: Health interventions lag behind needs - UNICEF

Although considerable resources have been invested in health care in
southern Sudan over the years, the impact they have made "seems pale in
comparison to the continuing needs", says the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF,
in a new report. A combination of chronic underdevelopment, acute natural
disasters and ongoing civil strife, meant that health care needs were
still not being met in many places, said the agency in a report entitled
"Overview of the Health Situation in Sudan 2002". "Access to health care
is not good and it is not improving," the author of the report, Dr
Michaleen Richer, told IRIN. Without roads and transport to bring people
to health services, communications systems between health workers and
people living in rural areas, and higher levels of education to allow
people to diagnose correctly and prevent illness from occurring, no real
impact would be made, she said. She added that routine immunisations and
preventative health care were "very poorly supported" by the local
population, who had to concern themselves with the basic needs in life -
finding food, clothing and shelter. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36470]

SUDAN: Darfur rebels accuse government of breaking ceasefire

A rebel group in western Sudan's Darfur region, the Sudan Liberation
Movement/Army (SLM/A), has accused the Sudanese government of breaking a
ceasefire agreement signed last Wednesday by both sides. SLM
Secretary-General Minni Arkou Minnawi told IRIN the government had
attacked three of its camps outside Kutum, northern Darfur. On Sunday
morning, two helicopter gunships and government militias attacked the
camps, he said, killing two members of the SLA and injuring four. "We
don't know how many civilians have been caught up in it," he added.
Minnawi said similar attacks occurred on Monday. No comment was available
from the Sudanese embassy in Nairobi. The agreement, which came into
effect on 6 September for 45 days, covered a ceasefire, ways of
controlling irregular armed groups in the region, and the release of all
prisoners of war and those detained in connection with the conflict. The
Sudanese government said on Saturday that it had freed 54 SLA prisoners as
part of the agreement, agencies reported.  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36435]

SOMALIA: Peace talks expected to resume

The Somali national reconciliation conference is expected to reconvene
this weekend in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, after a three-week hiatus, a
member of its organizing committee told IRIN.  The talks were adjourned
after the reading of a draft charter - an interim constitution - "so that
Somali legal experts and a Kenyan constitutional lawyer could harmonise
the different views "and come up with a clean document," said James Kiboi
of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) technical
committee which is steering the talks. The proceedings were also adjourned
"due to the absence of a number of prominent leaders", a member of the
Somali civil Society group attending the conference told IRIN. Some of the
countries underwriting the cost of the talks felt that "the conference
will not be broad-based enough without the presence of these people and
asked IGAD to give time to bring everyone on board," added the source.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36514]

SOMALIA: Leaders discuss peace process

The president of Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG),
Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, and four prominent faction leaders met on Tuesday
in Mogadishu to discuss the Somali peace talks currently underway in
Kenya, one of the leaders told IRIN on Wednesday. The meeting brought
together Abdiqassim, the leader of the Juba Valley Alliance, Col Bare
Hiirale, Mogadishu-based faction leaders Muse Sudi Yalahow and Usman Hasan
Ato, and Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA).
It was the first meeting between Abdiqassim and Yalahow, who has been one
of the most implacable opponents of the TNG. Ato told IRIN that the
meeting was aimed at "salvaging" the current Somali peace talks being held
at Mbagathi, outside Nairobi, under the auspices of the regional Inter
Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). He denied that the five
leaders were organising parallel talks, saying they wanted "to bring to
the fore some of the problems with the Nairobi peace talks, which forced
some of us to abandon it".  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36492]

SOMALIA: Mogadishu hit by skyrocketing fuel prices

The price of fuel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, has more than doubled
in just two weeks, sources there told IRIN on Tuesday. Diesel - the fuel
most commonly used by businesses and vehicles - went from 7,000 Somali
shillings (30 US cents) per litre two weeks ago to 18,000 Somali shillings
(80 US cents) by Monday this week, local journalist Liban Abdi Warsame
said. A cargo of fuel reaching the port of El-Ma'an, north Mogadishu, on
Monday, had been expected to alleviate the severe shortage. However, it
did not, due to a strike by the Association of Transporters - fuel tanker
owners - over "higher fees imposed on them by the port management", said
Liban. There were two main reasons for the shortage, Dahir Ali, a
Mogadishu businessman, told IRIN. Firstly, there had been no fuel
deliveries in the city for the past month or so. Secondly, those who have
fuel have been taking advantage of the scarcity "to get as much for their
commodity as they can" before a new shipment arrives. "There is definitely
an element of price gouging by some traders," he said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36463]


IRIN-CEA
Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
Email: IRIN@ocha.unon.org

[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to
change your keywords, contact e-mail: IRIN@ocha.unon.org or Web:  
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this
item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003


distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
    Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Horn of Africa                   www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/hafrica