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 305
10 - 16 December 2005


CONTENTS:

HORN OF AFRICA: UNMEE monitoring tense border despite setbacks
HORN OF AFRICA: UN relocates expelled staff from Eritrea to Ethiopia
ETHIOPIA: ActionAid urges release of anti-poverty campaigners
ETHIOPIA: Gov't to pull back troops from tense border
SOMALIA: UN launches $174 m humanitarian appeal for 2006
SOMALIA: Primary attendance lowest in the world - UNICEF
SUDAN: AU mission in Darfur running out of cash
SUDAN: Scores killed in ongoing clashes in West Darfur
SUDAN: Officials responsible for Darfur crimes, says rights watchdog


HORN OF AFRICA: UNMEE monitoring tense border despite setbacks

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE)
is continuing to monitor the tense border between the two countries
despite restrictions on operations and the expulsion of some of its
staff, a UN official said.

"The ban imposed by the Eritrean government on UNMEE helicopters is
still in place [and] restrictions are continuing on the movement of
UNMEE patrols," Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN Under-Secretary-General for
Peacekeeping Operations, told reporters on Thursday.

"Our capacities have been reduced by the obstacles that have been put in
place," he said. "But I'm pleased to inform you that thanks to the
ingenuity of the mission, we have been able in the last two months to
maintain our capacity to monitor in the Temporary Security Zone, even in
a degraded way."

Guehenno said the relocation on Thursday of 89 UNMEE staff who were
ordered expelled last week by Eritrea was "temporary".

On Friday, the African Union and the European Union expressed grave
concern over the deepening crisis between Ethiopia and Eritrea and said
their organisations would continue to seek a peaceful resolution of the
situation.

Full report:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50731]


HORN OF AFRICA: UN relocates expelled staff from Eritrea to Ethiopia

The United Nations relocated some staff on Thursday from its
peacekeeping mission in Eritrea to Ethiopia following Eritrea's decision
to expel European and North American personnel working there.

Officials at the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) said 87 of
nearly 180 expelled staff were leaving aboard three flights from the
Eritrean capital, Asmara, to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

"The decision to relocate comes as a reaction to a number of actions and
decisions by Eritrea that affects the safety and security of our staff
and also our ability to operate," Jean-Marie Guehenno, UN
Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, told reporters in
Asmara.

"We are at a critical time. Never has there been such a great crisis for
the mission. The unacceptable actions and restrictions on [UNMEE], if
they are sustained, will have implications for the future," he added.

UNMEE, Guehenno said, would present a report to the UN Security Council
in early January outlining possible actions it may consider in view of
restrictions imposed by Eritrea as well as the expulsion order.

The Council would make "critical decisions" about UNMEE after assessing
the impact of the expulsions. Full report:

[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50695]


ETHIOPIA: ActionAid urges release of anti-poverty campaigners

The international charity ActionAid has urged the Ethiopian government
to release two anti-poverty activists who are facing possible treason
charges.

Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demessie had done nothing illegal, nor were
they involved in any unconstitutional activities, ActionAid said on
Friday.

The two are among at least 57 opposition leaders, journalists, trade
unionists and civil society members seized days after appearing on a
government wanted list in November.

"They have worked to improve the lives of Ethiopia's poorest people
through legitimate social activism," said Fikre Zewdie, director of
ActionAid Ethiopia. "This kind of activity is protected by the
constitution and cannot be characterised as anti-state."

The move comes as the European Parliament issued a stern warning to the
country.

"The House calls for the immediate establishment of an independent
international commission of inquiry, optimally under UN responsibility,
to investigate the human rights abuses and to identify and bring to
justice those responsible," it said in a statement issued from
Strasbourg.

"The House calls on the Ethiopian government to immediately and
unconditionally release all political prisoners and journalists and
fulfil its obligations with respect to human rights, democratic
principles and the rule of law." Full report:

[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50733]


ETHIOPIA: Gov't to pull back troops from tense border

Ethiopia will pull back troops from its tense border with Eritrea to
comply with a United Nations order to avert fresh conflict in the Horn
of Africa, the Ethiopian foreign minister said.

In a letter to the UN Security Council, Seyoum Mesfin said Ethiopia was
ready to reduce its troops to December 2004 levels to help ease tension.

A statement published in the state-run Ethiopian Herald on Saturday said
the withdrawal would take place despite some risks to the country's
security.

Full report:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50625]


SOMALIA: UN launches $174 m humanitarian appeal for 2006

Civil unrest, a recent wave of assassinations and piracy in Somalia are
hampering humanitarian access to over one million vulnerable people in
the war-ravaged nation, aid officials said on Wednesday.

"Somalia remains one of the most difficult and dangerous humanitarian
operating environments in the world," according to 2006 Consolidated
Appeals Process (CAP), which was launched in the Kenyan capital,
Nairobi.

"The high level of insecurity and increased threats posed by extremist
groups has considerably reduced 'humanitarian space' in many areas, and
particularly in southern Somalia," the humanitarian appeal document
said.

The US $174,000,000 appeal focuses on the protection needs of Somalia's
most vulnerable groups, especially the country's 370,000 to 400,000
internally displaced persons.

"This group suffers from a lack of access to basic services and lack of
income-generating opportunities as well as being extremely vulnerable to
food insecurity," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.

The CAP prioritises education, particularly for girls, and seeks to
improve and increase access to safe drinking water. Full report:

[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50691]


SOMALIA: Primary attendance lowest in the world - UNICEF

Only one out of every five children in Somalia is enrolled in primary
school, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in its State of the World's
Children report for 2006.

Somali children are further disadvantaged by disease, conflict and harsh
environmental conditions, the agency added.

"The net primary attendance ratio is lower than anywhere in the world,
at just 12 percent for boys and 10 percent for girls," the report said.
"Years of underinvestment have left Somalia lagging behind the rest of
the developing world in education."

UNICEF said the lack of a functioning national administration since 1991
had further constrained human development in Somalia, which according to
the 2004 under-five mortality rate, has the sixth worst under-five
mortality rate in the world.

Some 26 percent of Somali children are moderately or severely
underweight, while 133 out of every 1,000 children will die in infancy,
UNICEF said.

Full report:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50693]


SUDAN: AU mission in Darfur running out of cash

The African Union (AU) will run out of cash for its mission in Sudan's
troubled Darfur region within four months, the head of peacekeeping for
the 53-nation bloc warned on Friday.

AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit told reporters that the
mission could be jeopardised without more resources from the
international community.

"As of today we have only resources in cash to maintain the mission to
the end of March [2006 or] very early April," he said at the AU
headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

His warning came despite the European Union providing 70 million euros
[US $84 million] to the AU on Friday to help cover a shortfall of around
$135 million.

Currently the AU has 6,932 staff in Darfur, 5,623 military observers and
1,309 civilian police. Full report:

[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50723]


SUDAN: Scores killed in ongoing clashes in West Darfur - ICRC

Continuing clashes between two communities of Arab nomads near the town
of Zalingei in West Darfur have left around 60 people dead and hundreds
of families displaced, aid workers said on Thursday.

"The clashes near Zalingei started a month and a half ago, with ups and
downs, but they resumed six days ago [on 9 December]. The fighting was
very intense," said Lorena Brander, spokesperson for the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sudan.

A local observer said the fighting between the cattle-herding
Hotiya-Baggara and the camel-herding Newiba-Aballa nomads was probably
caused by a dispute over local resources and cattle.

"Around 60 people were reportedly killed in the fighting, which was
still continuing on Monday, and forced newly displaced people to IDP
[internally displaced person] settlements in Zalingei," Radhia Achouri,
spokeswoman for the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), said.

During earlier clashes in the area in October, between 150 and 200
people were reportedly killed and thousands of cattle stolen, Achouri
added.

Aid workers estimated that by Thursday, around 250 families of between
six and eight people each had arrived in Zalingei. Full report:

[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50698]


SUDAN: Officials responsible for Darfur crimes, says rights watchdog

Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir and other senior officials should be
investigated for crimes against humanity in Darfur and placed on a UN
sanctions list, the international lobby group Human Rights Watch (HRW)
said in a report on Sunday.

The report, "Entrenching Impunity: Government Responsibility for
International Crimes in Darfur", was published in advance of Tuesday's
UN Security Council meeting, where the prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, is scheduled to report on his
investigation into atrocities in Darfur.

The UN Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC in
March 2005.

The New York-based human rights watchdog documents the involvement of
more than a dozen civilian and military officials in directing and
coordinating attacks by the Janjawid militias and the Sudanese armed
forces since mid-2003.

"The Sudanese government's systematic attacks on civilians in Darfur
have been accompanied by a policy of impunity for all those responsible
for the crimes," Peter Takirambudde, HRW's Africa director, said in a
statement. "Senior Sudanese officials, including President [Umar al-]
Bashir, must be held accountable for the campaign of ethnic cleansing in
Darfur."

The looting and destruction of villages was not just condoned by
government officials, the report noted, it was also methodically
organised, with troops and militia members permitted to take land,
livestock and other civilian property after killing, raping and
torturing tens of thousands of people.

Full report:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50626]


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


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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