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 226
1 - 7 January 2005


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: No sign of military build-up, says UNMEE
SOMALIA: Agencies seek $10 million for tsunami-affected areas
SOMALIA: African Union to deploy peacekeepers
SOMALIA: Fears of water-borne diseases in areas affected by tsunami
SOMALIA: Cabinet to be named, new gov't to plan relocation
SUDAN: South/North agreement key to Darfur peace - UNSC
SUDAN: UN envoy urges halt to Darfur fighting so children can be
   vaccinated
SUDAN: Final peace pact to be signed in Nairobi on Sunday



ALSO SEE:

SOMALIA: New government brings hope to war-ravaged country //Yearender//
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44939

SOMALIA: Chronology of events leading to the interim gov't at:
  http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44938

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Border dispute remains major challenge //Yearender// at:
  http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44921

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Chronology of key events in 2004 at:
  http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44922



ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: No sign of military build-up, says UNMEE

The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) deputy head, Sissel Ekaas,
said on Thursday there was no sign of a military build-up in the Horn of
Africa. Eritrean president, Isayas Afeworki, had claimed in his New Year
address that Ethiopia was making unexplained military preparations.
However, Ekaas said recent Ethiopian troop movements were known in advance
and occurred at least 15 km away from the demilitarised zone that
separates the two countries.

"As we know - on both sides the rhetoric has always been very strong and
at times it reaches fever pitch," Ekaas told a video-linked press
conference between Asmara and Addis Ababa held at UNMEE headquarters.
"There have been a lot of accusations and counter accusations about a
build-up and of course, UNMEE, despite the holiday period, has continued
its monitoring in all sectors," she added. "This statement by President
Isayas is his analysis and his interpretation. He sees this as, perhaps,
preparations for war."

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44947]


SOMALIA: Agencies seek $10 million for tsunami-affected areas

The UN has launched a flash inter-agency appeal for more than US $10
million dollars to help thousands of people in Somalia who were affected
by the tsunami that devastated areas of South Asia and swamped some Indian
Ocean coastal areas on 26 December.

The Somali appeal, which was launched on Thursday, was part of a larger
request for $977 million for all the countries affected by the tsunami.
According to the appeal document, northeastern Somalia was the worst
affected, particularly a stretch of around 650 km between Hafun [Bari
region] and Garacad [Mudug region]. The damage extended to other parts of
the Somali coast, including the Lower Juba area.

The tsunami led to the loss of life, destruction of shelters, houses and
water sources, and loss of productive assets. Many parts of Somalia were
already suffering from four consecutive years of drought and periodic
floods, in addition to chronic insecurity. "The tsunami represents a
further assault on an already vulnerable population," the appeal statement
said.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44946]


SOMALIA: African Union to deploy peacekeepers

The African Union (AU) is to deploy a contingent of Ugandan peacekeepers
to war-ravaged Somalia, with the first troops expected to arrive by the
end of the month, officials said on Thursday. The AU said the decision was
taken at the meeting of its Peace and Security Council (PSC) in Addis
Ababa, which voted to send in an AU peacekeeping mission.

The PSC also agreed to send an advance mission to Nairobi to meet with the
transitional government to establish the exact requirements and timetable
ahead of full deployment. "The Peace and Security Council has authorised
the AU to deploy the advance mission to Nairobi to draw up plans for the
AU Peace Support Mission in Somalia," Assane Ba from the AU's conflict
centre, said.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44940]


SOMALIA: Fears of water-borne diseases in areas affected by tsunami

The Indian Ocean tsunami that slammed onto the Somali coast destroyed
water sources and sanitation facilities on Hafun peninsula, putting up to
1,000 households at risk of water-borne diseases, the UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF) said.

"UNICEF is positioning antibiotics, ORS [oral rehydration salts] and
chlorination packages in Hafun out of concern that water-borne diseases
could break out," Bob McCarthy, UNICEF Somalia emergency officer, told
IRIN on Wednesday.

"We are also supporting water-trucking, trying to reinforce health
services and looking to other areas subject to assessments confirming the
extent of needs," he added. The agency, which was planning to distribute
blankets, jerry cans, soap, cooking utensils and plastic sheeting in the
area, said about 2,000 children had been affected in Hafun alone. "We want
to do everything possible to ensure that their education is not
disrupted," McCarthy added.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44925]


SOMALIA: Cabinet to be named, new gov't to plan relocation

Somalia's new leaders are to reconstitute their country's cabinet this
week and then decide when to relocate their new administration from
Nairobi to Somalia, a Kenyan minister said on Tuesday. "We met the Somali
president [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed] together with the prime minister [Ali
Muhammad Gedi] and the speaker of the national assembly," John arap Koech,
Kenya's minister for East Africa and Regional Cooperation, told a news
conference in Nairobi.

"They assured us that they will be appointing the cabinet this week.
"After the appointment of the cabinet, they are going to plan to relocate
to Somalia," Koech added. "I am very hopeful that this time they are going
to go to Somalia because they seem to have sorted out the problems that
were giving a lot of dissatisfaction to the members of parliament." [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44894]


SUDAN: South/North agreement key to Darfur peace - UNSC

The UN Security Council expressed hope that resolution to the long-running
conflict in southern Sudan, between Khartoum and the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), will play a role in determining the
conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. In a press statement
released on Wednesday by the Council's president for January, Ambassador
Cesar Mayoral of Argentina, the Council said it hoped the agreement
between Khartoum and the rebels "would have a positive impact on the
situation in Darfur".

The Sudanese government and the SPLM/A signed the final two protocols,
last month, of a comprehensive peace deal to end the longest running
conflict in Africa. In the statement, the Council also said that it looked
forward to the formal signing of the peace deal on 9 January by the two
sides. Meanwhile in Darfur, UN humanitarian officials were being
dispatched to an area around the town of Tina, in North Darfur state, to
assess whether the situation there was "safe and appropriate" for the
return of large numbers of refugees, according to UN News.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44959]


SUDAN: UN envoy urges halt to Darfur fighting so children can be
vaccinated

The UN Secretary-General's envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, has urged parties to
the conflict in the western region of Darfur to suspend hostilities so
that a three-day campaign to vaccinate nearly six million children against
polio can take place safely. Pronk told a news conference in Khartoum on
Monday that he would approach the Sudanese government and rebel groups in
Darfur to urge them to observe "three days of tranquillity" during the
immunisation scheme, which is due to begin on 10 January, UN News Service
reported.

He said that the call to suspend hostilities was necessary because both
sides had only been "paying lip service" to a ceasefire they signed
earlier in a bid to end the two-year conflict that has claimed tens of
thousands of lives and displaced more than 1.85 million people. "And that
means no action whatsoever," he said. "That means that all forces should
stay in the camps, in the barracks - not outside - not hampering any
humanitarian action to reach the people, in order to stop polio - to stop
a devastating attack on the people of Sudan."

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44919]


SUDAN: Final peace pact to be signed in Nairobi on Sunday

African leaders and other world dignitaries will gather in Nairobi on
Sunday to witness the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement between
the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement
(SPLM/A), Kenya's regional cooperation. The pact is expected to end more
than two decades of civil war that has killed hundreds thousands of
people, displaced many others and prevented development in southern Sudan.

"This Sunday, we have a very big celebration [in Nairobi] - the signing of
the comprehensive [peace] agreement before the international community,"
Kenya's minister for East Africa and regional cooperation, John arap
Koech, told reporters in the capital. "The number of dignitaries that is
going to be in Nairobi will be many." The signing in Naivasha, Kenya on
Friday of a permanent ceasefire between the government and the SPLM/A, and
an agreement on how the various peace protocols so far signed would be
implemented, paved the way for the conclusion of the final deal. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44897]


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 2005


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
     Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                                    guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Horn of Africa                   www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/hafrica