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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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-Up 215
9 - 15 October 2004


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: New president takes oath of office
SOMALIA: Annan welcomes election of transitional president
SOMALIA: High malnutrition rates observed in four areas
ETHIOPIA: World Bank official warns over oil prices
ETHIOPIA: Time for excuses on Africa over - Blair
ERITREA: Failure of long-cycle crops predicted
ERITREA: UN envoy discusses food situation with Afewerki
SUDAN: EU concerned over increased violence in Darfur
SUDAN: New polio cases prompt enhanced immunisation campaign
SUDAN: Two relief workers killed by landmine in Darfur


ALSO SEE:

SUDAN: Demolitions render thousands of IDPs homeless
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43641&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=SUDAN

SOMALIA: New president takes oath of office


Somalia's newly elected President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed took his oath of
office on Thursday at a ceremony in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, attended
by several African heads of state, diplomats and representatives from
international organisations.

Yusuf, a career soldier and politician took the oath of office in the
Somali language. He was sworn-in by the speaker of the transitional
federal parliament, Shariff Hassan Sheikh Adan, amid cheering by thousands
of Somalis who turned up for the ceremony held in the auditorium of a
sports stadium. The Kenya Army band played the Somali national anthem and
the Somali flag was unfurled in the hall as a 21-gun salute boomed outside
the auditorium.

Yusuf was elected on Sunday and vowed to re-establish stability in the
Horn of Africa country, ravaged by factional warfare since 1991. Declared
winner in the run-off round of the poll, he has served as president of the
northeastern self-declared autonomous region of Puntland since 1998.

Somalia ceased to function as a modern state in 1991 when armed groups
overthrew the regime of Muhammad Siyad Barre, precipitating a ruinous
civil war that saw numerous warring warlords and their militias carve the
country into fiefdoms. Many previous attempts to end anarchy in Somalia
failed.

Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43665&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=SOMALIA


SOMALIA: Annan welcomes election of transitional president

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the election of Abdullahi Yusuf
Ahmed as Somalia's transitional president and pledged that the world body
would fully support efforts to restore stability in the war-torn, Horn of
Africa country.

In a statement released by his spokesman on Monday, Annan said that he
looked forward to "the formation of a transitional federal government
capable of beginning reconciliation and reconstruction in a spirit of
consensus and dialogue". He emphasized the UN's readiness "to do its
utmost to support the return of normalcy and good governance in Somalia"
and urged all Somalis to "be part of the effort to restore peace and
security in their country".

Meanwhile, the Acting United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Jesper
Morch, has urged the international community to contribute to the
Humanitarian Response Fund for Somalia where hundreds of thousands of
people are suffering from the effects of a prolonged drought. In a
statement issued on Monday, Morch said that the Fund had distributed over
US $1 million to international non-governmental organisations since April
this year for projects in drought and conflict-affected areas of Somalia,
including Gedo, Lower Juba, Sool, Sanaag, Bari and Nugal regions.

Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43621&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=SOMALIA


SOMALIA: High malnutrition rates observed in four areas

High levels of malnutrition have been observed among communities in four
areas in Somalia, with some of them experiencing greater rates of
malnutrition than what would be considered acceptable, the UN food and
agriculture agency said in a report. Those affected include Lower and
Middle Juba Riverine communities, IDPs [internally displaced persons] in
Bossaso, and inhabitants Dhusamareeb and Adaado districts in the
drought-affected central region of the country, the Food Security
Assessment Unit (FSAU) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said
in a report released on Wednesday.

The report also said that the humanitarian emergency in the
drought-affected areas of Gedo and Juba Valley remained of a cause for
concern. A rapid food security and nutrition survey in the area is
currently underway, according to the FSAU update for October. It noted
that early, above normal and widespread rainfall in northern pastoral
areas had began to improve water and pasture conditions in the region, but
it was still too early to determine the rainfall's overall impact on
emergency situation.

Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43682&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=SOMALIA


ETHIOPIA: World Bank official warns over oil prices

A senior World Bank official warned on Tuesday of the "substantial" impact
of continuing high oil prices on developing countries. Francois
Bourguignon, the bank's chief economist, said that precious foreign
exchange reserves were being depleted by as much as one third and families
were paying more for goods.

"With the same amount of money people will not be able to buy the same
amount of goods as before," Bourguignon, who was on a six-day visit to
Ethiopia, told journalists in the capital, Addis Ababa. "The drop in the
real purchases made by those people is around two to five percent of GDP,"
he added. Bourguignon said some countries had seen their foreign exchange
reserves depleted by as much as 30 percent as they struggled to pay for
oil.

He said that experts from the World Bank estimated that oil prices had
risen by around $10 a barrel on average from the previous year. "The
impact of that on oil consuming countries is substantial," added
Bourguignon, who has been holding talks with Ethiopian officials on global
anti-poverty targets.

Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43622&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=ETHIOPIA


ETHIOPIA: Time for excuses on Africa over - Blair

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Friday the time for excuses on
Africa was over, adding that Africa must be pushed to the top of the
world's agenda. As he left Ethiopia after the opening of the
British-sponsored Commission for Africa, set up to reverse the continent's
fortunes, Blair charged that now was the time for action.

"The price of failure would be disaster for Africa and for the wider
world," Blair said as he unveiled his vision for the continent, which has
grown poorer in the last 40 years. "The prize for success will be an
Africa standing proud in its own right in the international community.
Next year will be the year of decision for Africa and the international
community."

Blair sees his positioning as president of both the powerful G8 and the
European Union in 2005 as a unique chance to tackle the crisis facing
Africa. And the commission he chairs will publish its report by March,
ahead of the UK- hosted G8 summit in June, to inform Blair on how to
combat the continent's enormous woes.

Africa will be asked to intensify peer group review to stamp out
corruption and human rights abuses. Rich nations will be asked to
write-off debt, end subsidies and increase international aid. Disease,
HIV/Aids, debt, poor trade rules and conflict are all ravaging Africa.

Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43593&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=ETHIOPIA


ERITREA: Failure of long-cycle crops predicted

Inadequate rainfall in September could result in a "total failure" of
long-cycle crops and a below average harvest of short-cycle crops in
Eritrea, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) predicted on
Friday. "As most of the short-cycle crops were at the late vegetative and
early flowering stage in August, continuity of the rains through the end
of September was assumed critical for the upcoming harvest," the
USAID-funded FEWS NET said in its latest update.

It said a nutrition survey carried out by the Health Ministry in
collaboration with various other governmental and non-governmental
organizations in Debub, Anseba, Northern Red Sea, and Gash Barka zones had
shown that malnutrition rates had risen significantly since the previous
survey last December.

The worst affected areas were Gash Barka and Anseba zones, where the
prevalence of 'global acute malnutrition' rates was 19.1 and 18.4
respectively. Although the number of food aid beneficiaries had originally
been estimated at 1.9 million, for the past eight months only 1.3 million
on average received food aid and at reduced rations, it reported.

Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43595&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=ERITREA


ERITREA: UN envoy discusses food situation with Afewerki

The United Nations Special Envoy for the Humanitarian Crisis in the Horn
of Africa, Martti Ahtisaari, arrived in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, on
Wednesday to discuss the humanitarian situation in the country with
President Isaias Afewerki, senior government officials, the UN country
team, NGOs and donor country representatives, OCHA said in a statement
issued on Wednesday.

According to OCHA, some 1.9 million Eritreans are in need of emergency
relief assistance this year. Malnutrition rates, for example, have risen
with the prevalence of global acute malnutrition rates as high as 19.1
percent, 18.4 percent and 13.9 percent in Anseba, Gash Barka, and Northern
Red Sea zones respectively.

Most of the country was also in dire need of drinking water, and tens of
thousands of people required immediate support through accelerated water
trucking, OCHA said. Prices of most foods had also been very high over the
past few months, making the market a less viable option for most urban and
rural poor households.

Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43647&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=ERITREA


SUDAN: EU concerned over increased violence in Darfur

The European Union (EU) on Wednesday told Sudanese President Umar Hasan
al-Bashir that it was concerned over increased violence in the western
Sudanese region of Darfur, Bart Jochems, a spokesman for the Dutch foreign
minister whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, said.

Jochems told IRIN Foreign Minister Bernard Bot met the president in the
capital, Khartoum, and also held meetings with Manuel Da Silva, the UN
Humanitarian Coordinator, and Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman
Ismail. Before arriving in Sudan, Bot had told journalists in Luxembourg
that the situation in Darfur had remained "mixed", saying: "The Sudanese
government should continue to feel the pressure from as many sides as
possible," he said.

According to humanitarian workers, the security situation in Darfur has
further deteriorated, with increased violence driving an additional
220,000 people from their homes in August. The humanitarian sources said
they expected the number of displaced people to rise further in the near
future.

The conflict in Darfur between the Sudanese military supported by Janjawid
militias said to be allied to the government, against rebels fighting to
end alleged marginalisation and discrimination of Darfur residents by the
state, erupted early last year. It has displaced about 1.45 million people
and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The UN has
called the crisis one of the world's current worst humanitarian crises.

Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43655&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=SUDAN


SUDAN: New polio cases prompt enhanced immunisation campaign

Eleven confirmed cases of polio were reported in Sudan this year,
prompting two United Nations agencies and an international
non-governmental organisation to step up efforts to stem the spread of the
crippling and sometimes fatal disease, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
said on Wednesday.

Most of the cases were genetically linked to the polio virus endemic in
northern Nigeria, UNICEF said in a statement. UNICEF was working with with
the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and Rotary International in the
fight against the spread of polio, it added.

Sudan had been polio-free since April 2001, but cross-border movement
between Chad and Sudan is believed to have re-introduced the virus. The
conflict in the western region of Darfur, where the first of the 11 cases
was noticed, prevented the immunisation of all children under the age of
five.

Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43646&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=SUDAN


SUDAN: Two relief workers killed by landmine in Darfur

Two relief workers employed by Save the Children (SC-UK) were killed on
Sunday in Darfur region when their vehicle hit an anti-tank landmine. The
two, one British and one Sudanese, were travelling in the Um Barro area of
North Darfur State when their vehicle struck the landmine, Mike Aaronson,
director general of SC-UK, said in a statement.

The UN special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, said: "The victims of the blast
were humanitarians, whose presence in Darfur was motivated by the wish to
assist people affected by the conflict. It is tragic that people who have
come to Darfur to help the victims of the civil war become targets and
victims themselves."

He added: "This particular trip of the Save the Children vehicle had been
fully notified to both the government of Sudan and the Sudan Liberation
Movement, as per agreed notification procedures."

Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43628&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=SUDAN


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