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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e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-Up 337
22 - 28 July 2006


CONTENTS:

DJIBOUTI: High prices, declining purchasing power hit urban poor
SOMALIA: Gunman kills government minister
SOMALIA: Ministers, MPs resign from transitional gov't
SOMALIA: Food insecurity persists amid expected poor harvest - FAO
SUDAN: SPLM - a year after Garang
SUDAN: SPLA child soldiers demobilised in the south


See Also:

HORN OF AFRICA: Pastoralists address common issues at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54806

SUDAN: Balancing the budget in the south at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54792]

SUDAN: Interview with David Gressly, UN Deputy Resident and Humanitarian 
Coordinator for southern Sudan at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54769]


DJIBOUTI: High prices, declining purchasing power hit urban poor

Increasing commodity prices are exacerbating the plight of the poor in 
the city of Djibouti, according to a monitoring group.

"For poor urban households, summer is a critical period of the year when 
their income is diminished and the cost of [living] typically peaks. 
Declining purchasing power is expected to contribute to low dietary 
intake and consequently higher malnutrition rates," the USAID-funded 
Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) said in its July report 
on Djibouti.

[Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54818]


SOMALIA: Gunman kills government minister

Tension rose in the southern Somali town of Baidao on Friday after an 
unidentified gunman killed a federal government minister as he left a 
mosque after prayers.

An eye-witness said Abdalla Deerow Isaq, the Constitution and Federalism 
Minister in the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), was shot at 
point-blank rage.

"We came out of the mosque and then we heard a gunshot and next thing 
Deerow was on the ground," said a businessman who was at the mosque. "He 
was rushed to hospital but he was already dead," he added.

The situation in Baidao, the temporary seat of the government, "is very 
confusing [and] this has caused a great deal of uncertainty", a member 
of the transitional parliament said from the town which is 240 km 
northwest of the capital Mogadishu, where the TFG is based.

Full story at:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54861]


SOMALIA: Ministers, MPs resign from transitional gov't

Uncertainty gripped the Somali transitional federal government (TFG) on 
Thursday after 18 members of parliament, including several ministers and 
deputies, resigned from office.

"We resigned after it became very clear that this government is not 
interested in peace or reconciliation," said Usman Hassan Ali Ato, 
Minister for Public Works. "More are expected to announce [their 
resignations] at a press conference later this evening."

[Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54840]


SOMALIA: Food insecurity persists amid expected poor harvest - FAO

This year's main cereal harvest in Somalia is expected to be poor 
because most of the areas hit by the severe drought had received 
insufficient rainfall, according to the United Nations Food and 
Agriculture Organization (FAO). It said 2.1 million people were still 
experiencing food shortages.

Malnutrition rates remained high in many areas, including Gedo, Bakol 
and Juba Valley, the FAO said in an update on Somalia released on 
Tuesday.

[Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54808]


SUDAN: SPLA child soldiers demobilised in the south

Some 242 children who have been in the fighting units of the southern 
Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) were on Tuesday 
disarmed and demobilised at a ceremony in the southern town of Tonj in 
Warab State.

Organised by the Southern Sudan DDR Commission, the ceremony was the 
biggest since the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) for southern Sudan 
was signed in January 2005.

[Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54813]


SUDAN: SPLM - a year after Garang

Several people in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba still pay their 
respects every day at the grave of John Garang de Mabior, former leader 
of the Sudan People?s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), a year after 
his death.

Buried at the top of the hill, Garang lies symbolically between the new 
parliament of southern Sudan and the army barracks, in a grave guarded 
by SPLA soldiers.

[Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54850]


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