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 197
5 - 11 June 2004


CONTENTS:

SUDAN: UN secretary-general welcomes release of aid workers in Darfur
SUDAN: Annan calls for advance team ahead of peacekeepers
SUDAN: Peace unsustainable without democratisation - think-tank
SUDAN: UN agencies plan to immunise 2.26 million children in Darfur
ETHIOPIA: Major relief effort in progress for resettled people
ETHIOPIA: Private radio stations to be licensed for the first time
ETHIOPIA: UNHCR moves Eritrean refugees away from border zone
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UN force optimistic about stalled peace process


ALSO SEE:

AFRICA: Anti-FGM strategies discussed at Narobi conference Full story


SUDAN: UN secretary-general welcomes release of aid workers in Darfur

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan 
Egeland have welcomed the release of 16 humanitarian workers detained by 
rebel forces in the war-torn Darfur region of western Sudan. The UN Office 
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement 
issued on 6 June that the 13 Sudanese and three international workers were 
in good health when they were released the previous day after being held 
by an armed unit of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A).

In a statement released by his spokesman on Monday, Annan condemned the 
workers' detention, which, he said, had violated humanitarian law and 
principles. He "underscores the crucial importance of safe and unhindered 
humanitarian access, and urges all parties to facilitate it in this crisis 
where every moment counts", the statement said.

The OCHA statement quoted Egeland as speaking out against the detention 
and delayed release of the aid workers, which, he said, "contradicts the 
solemn promise to facilitate all relief work made by SLM/A leaders and the 
other parties to the conflict last week during meetings with donors and UN 
officials in Geneva".

Full story


SUDAN: Annan calls for advance team ahead of peacekeepers

Annan has called for the deployment of an "advance team" in Sudan to pave 
the way for a future UN peacekeeping mission once a comprehensive peace 
agreement has ended the 21-year civil war.

"I am convinced that the deployment of an advance team... would show the 
commitment of the international community to assist the parties," said 
Annan in a report presented to the UN Security Council on 3 June. "The 
international community faces a truly daunting task in helping the 
government of Sudan and the [rebel] SPLM/A [Sudan People's Liberation 
Movement/Army] to overcome their differences during peace 
implementations," he added.

Annan said the sheer size of Sudan, which is as large as Western Europe, 
and a total lack of infrastructure meant that it was important to send 
staff there as early as possible so that they could handle the inevitably 
daunting logistical challenges. He warned that the advance team would need 
the full cooperation of both the government and the SPLM/A at all times, 
and would need to be granted complete and unrestricted freedom of movement 
throughout Sudan, as well as exemption from passport and visa regulations, 
and the right to import and export all necessary property, supplies and 
equipment.

Full story


SUDAN: Peace unsustainable without democratisation - think-tank

Sudan will fail to enjoy the fruits of peace if it does not democratise 
both its peace process and its political system during the six-year 
transitional period following the signing of a comprehensive agreement, 
according to the South Africa-based think-tank, the Institute for Security 
Studies (ISS).

"A sustainable peace is unlikely unless a government is established that 
enjoys the confidence of the Sudanese masses and demonstrates an 
unqualified commitment to peace," said ISS in a report issued this week. 
Bringing parties other than the (ruling) National Congress Party and the 
SPLM/A into the peace process, and creating a transitional national 
government that enjoyed the confidence of the Sudanese people were 
essential, said ISS.

The wars in the south and in Darfur should be viewed as the "inevitable 
result of a state dominated from its beginnings by minority interests", 
according to the think-tank. "The same malfunctioning state is now 
spawning revolts among groups inspired by the achievements of the SPLM/A, 
but fearful that the IGAD peace process will deepen their own 
marginalisation," it said.

Full story


SUDAN: UN agencies plan to immunise 2.26 million children in Darfur

UN agencies and the Sudanese health ministry have launched a plan to 
vaccinate 2.26 million children against measles in Darfur, rushing to 
complete the exercise before the onset of the long rains that render most 
roads in the region impassable each year.

"We have the potential to save up to 50,000 lives by preventing a measles 
outbreak here," Carol Bellamy, the executive director of the UN Children's 
Fund (UNICEF), is quoted as saying in a statement issued on Monday. 
"Almost a quarter of the children are already showing signs of 
malnourishment, making the threat of the measles virus even greater," she 
added.

The month-long campaign is being led by the Sudanese health ministry, the 
UN World Health Organisation and UNICEF, in coordination with several 
national and international organisations.

Full story


ETHIOPIA: Major relief effort in progress for resettled people

A major relief effort is under way to avert a potential crisis from 
affecting the government~Rs controversial resettlement scheme, 
humanitarian sources told IRIN on Tuesday. Some 250,000 people are being 
provided with supplementary food as families who moved under the scheme 
face serious shortages.

Two therapeutic feeding centres have been established in one resettlement 
region to prevent children from starving, and to combat the malnutrition 
that is breaking out. Mobile food storage centres, plastic sheeting to 
shelter families and 64,000 mosquito nets to prevent malaria are all being 
moved in to avert a crisis.

The humanitarian sources told IRIN that whereas the scheme, under which 
2.2 million people are being translocated over three years, had not yet 
assumed the proportions of a crisis, it was a "situation of serious 
concern".

Full story


ETHIOPIA: Private radio stations to be licensed for the first time

Ethiopia is to issue its first-ever private radio broadcasting licences in 
the next two months, Bereket Simon, the information minister, told IRIN on 
Monday. The licences, he added, would be issued ahead of the 2005 
elections that analysts say will be a litmus test of the government~Rs 
commitment to democracy. "We are coming near to the elections, and the 
government is ready to provide all groups running for office access to the 
public," the minister said. "It is a basic right of all citizens."

The decision has been welcomed as a significant step by the 13-year-old 
coalition government, towards relaxing its grip on the country's fledgling 
media. It would also enable the public to play a greater role in the 
democratisation process under way in the country, analysts in the region 
told IRIN.

Ethiopia's ruling party - the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic 
Front - has often been criticised for its alleged tight grip on the media. 
Critics have also questioned the government's commitment to free the 
country's broadcasting sector, noting that licensing laws were passed as 
long as five years ago - in June 1999.

Full story


ETHIOPIA: UNHCR moves Eritrean refugees away from border zone

Thousands of Eritrean refugees are being moved away from the contested 
border with Ethiopia, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner 
for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Monday. Some 2,400 refugees who had been 
living in makeshift camps in Ethiopia close to the disputed 1,000-km 
border began moving last week "further into Ethiopian territory for their 
own safety", Mahary Maasho, the UNHCR spokesman in the Ethiopian capital, 
Addis Ababa, told IRIN.

The move, he added, had followed mounting calls for the refugees, many of 
whom fled their country during the 1998-2000 bitter war between the two 
neighbours, to be moved from the border area for their "protection and 
emotional safety". The refugees had been living in Wa'ala Nihibi camp, 
near Sheraro in West Tigray - a camp which had suffered several 
unexplained fires that destroyed hundreds of homes. It is 20 km from the 
existing border.

The UNHCR said refugees were still arriving from Eritrea at the rate of 
about 250 per month, and the new arrivals would also be sent to a safer 
refugee camp in Shimelba, 50 km from the border. This site meets 
international standards and UNHCR protection rules, according to Mahary.

Full story


ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UN force optimistic about stalled peace process

The peacekeeping force of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) 
said on Thursday it remained optimistic about a breakthrough in the 
stalled peace process between the two countries. "I think what UNMEE is 
most concerned about is finding or helping the parties to find a solution 
to the impasse," the UNMEE spokeswoman, Gail Bindley Taylor Sainte, said. 
"We have to remain optimistic because we remain here, and as long as we 
remain here we remain optimistic that things will move ahead."

"The real issues are between the parties and the EEBC [Eritrea Ethiopia 
Boundary Commission] and that is where things remain. It has to be 
resolved at that level," she added. "What we can do is assist in some way 
once we know where we stand, but we have to first see what each side is 
prepared to do and where there can be compromise."

Sainte, addressing reporters at a weekly video-linked press briefing from 
the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan 
was "very much involved [in the peace process] with letters moving back 
and forth".

Full story


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