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 342
26 August - 1 September 2006


CONTENTS:

SUDAN: Security Council approves UN force for Darfur
SUDAN: Risk of humanitarian disaster in Darfur - UN official
SUDAN: Aid worker killed after abduction in Darfur
ETHIOPIA: UNICEF appeals for aid for flood-affected women and children
HORN: Effects of drought persist despite rainfall
SOMALIA: Interim gov't, Islamic group in for Khartoum talks
SOMALIA: Further conflict could worsen humanitarian crisis - FAO


SUDAN: Security Council approves UN force for Darfur

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday voted to create a UN 
peacekeeping force for Sudan's western Darfur region, but the troops 
would be deployed only with the approval of the Sudanese government.

Sudan has been rejecting a UN force for Darfur and has proposed sending 
its own troops to the region. The three-year conflict has displaced at 
least two million people and claimed an estimated 200,000 lives.

Resolution 1706, backed by the United States and Britain, passed with 12 
votes and three abstentions: China, Russia and Qatar. It provides for 
the transfer of African Union peacekeepers currently in Darfur to the UN 
force.

Full report at:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55359]


SUDAN: Risk of humanitarian disaster in Darfur - UN official

The world's largest humanitarian operation in the western Sudanese 
region of Darfur is on the verge of collapse due to escalating violence, 
a United Nations humanitarian official warned on Monday.

"Insecurity is at its highest level since 2004, access at its lowest 
levels since that date and we may well be on the brink of a return to 
all-out war," the Emergency Relief Coordinator and 
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, told the 
UN Security Council on Monday.

"Our entire humanitarian operation in Darfur - the only lifeline for 
more than three million people - is presently at risk," he added.

Full report at:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55315]


SUDAN: Aid worker killed after abduction in Darfur

A staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
has been killed after being abducted east of the Jebel Marra mountains 
in North Darfur, the ICRC said.

The 31-year-old Sudanese national was part of an ICRC team stopped by an 
unidentified group of armed men on 16 August after distributing food in 
the area. He was forced to drive one of two vehicles stolen in the 
incident.

Full report at:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55347]


ETHIOPIA: UNICEF appeals for aid for flood-affected women and children

More than 200,000 people have been affected by the floods that have hit 
several regions of Ethiopia, leaving thousands of women and children 
homeless, vulnerable to deadly water-borne diseases and facing a battle 
for survival because the raging waters destroyed houses, livelihoods and 
food stores, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.

At least 630 people have died from the floods. According to UNICEF, families are facing multiple displacements as the river levels rise due to continuing rainfall, especially in the western, central highlands and northwestern areas of Ethiopia where several rivers have flooded.

Full report at:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55350]


HORN: Effects of drought persist despite rainfall

The March-May rainfall in most of the areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and 
Somalia that had suffered drought was insufficient to restore food 
security and residents would continue to need emergency humanitarian aid 
until the end of 2006, according to early warning agencies.

The June-September rains in the Greater Horn of Africa have, however, 
been normal or above-normal, leading to serious flooding in Ethiopia and 
some parts of Kenya and Somalia, according to an August report by the 
USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) and several 
partners. Massive flooding has killed more than 600 people and caused 
widespread destruction in many places this month.

While humanitarian assistance and rainfall in March, April and May 
helped to bring some improvements in food security in the Horn of Africa 
areas hit by drought between October 2005 and March 2006, most pastoral 
and agropastoral households continue to face a food security crisis, 
according to the report.

Full report at:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55294]


SOMALIA: Interim gov't, Islamic group in for Khartoum talks

After initially delaying a second round of peace negotiations, 
delegations from Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the 
Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which controls the capital, Mogadishu, 
have left for the Sudanese capital Khartoum to resume talks, officials 
said. The talks, being mediated by Sudan, which is chairing the Arab 
League, were due to commence on 31 August.

The negotiations are seen as the "best hope to end Somalia's suffering", 
said Abdullahi Shirwa of the Civil Society in Action NGO. "This is a 
critical and an important opportunity and should not be missed. I hope 
both sides realise this and will grasp it."

Full report at:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55312]


SOMALIA: Further conflict could worsen humanitarian crisis - FAO

A United Nations agency says renewed efforts to prevent conflict in 
Somalia are urgently required, as further insecurity in the war-scarred 
Horn of Africa country could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis.

"Conflict prevention and peace efforts by all national and international 
actors must be strengthened," the Food and Agriculture Organization 
(FAO) said in its latest report on Somalia, released on Thursday. An 
estimated 1.8 million people in Somalia, which has not recovered from a 
devastating drought earlier this year, would need urgent humanitarian 
aid until the end of 2006.

An escalation of violence in Somalia could significantly increase the 
number of people in need, according to FAO. "This would not only prolong 
the time period of the crisis, but further undermine the resilience and 
abilities of the population to manage future shocks," said Cindy 
Holleman, technical coordinator of FAO's Food Security Analysis Unit for 
Somalia.

Full story at:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55365]


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