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 373
21 - 27 April 2007


CONTENTS:

DJIBOUTI: Government declares drought in pastoral zones
SOMALIA: Return home, gov't tells civilians as guns fall silent
SOMALIA: Kismayo fighting forces civilians to flee camps
SOMALIA: UN, EU urge humanitarian action
SUDAN: Aid agencies suspend work in Darfur town
AFRICA: Continent needs 2.4 million new jobs every year, says ILO
AFRICA: Working poor to increase by 20 percent - ILO

Also see:
SOMALIA-YEMEN: 500 Benadir families seek resettlement in a third country
[Full report at http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71803]

SOMALIA: Struggling to help displaced Mogadishu residents
[Full report at http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71807]


DJIBOUTI: Government declares drought in pastoral zones

The Djibouti government has declared drought in the inland pastoral 
zones that have witnessed a prolonged dry spell since October.

The worst-affected areas are the Northwest pastoral zone and the 
Southeast border subzone, although the regions reported some rains in 
April.

The Djiboutian government, in an appeal for aid, said the drought had 
affected the livelihoods and food security of the pastoralists, 
particularly those who did not receive remittances from urban areas and 
depended solely on livestock.

[Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71845]


SOMALIA: Return home, gov't tells civilians as guns fall silent

The Somali transitional government has urged civilians who fled fighting 
in the capital, Mogadishu, to return home, saying the violence has 
ended.

"This [fighting] is over," Madobe Nuunow Muhammad, the Minister of 
Information, said. "Major operations are over and government forces are 
engaged in mop-up operations. We are now calling on the people to return 
to their homes."

To facilitate returns, he added, the government had set up a special 
committee to resettle the displaced, but did not give details of how it 
would operate.

After nine days of continuous heavy fighting, Mogadishu was quiet on 
Friday, although there were reports of looting and some shots fired. A 
civil society source said civilians were still fearful that the fighting 
was far from over. "We are waiting for the new phase," he added.

[Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71844]


SOMALIA: Kismayo fighting forces civilians to flee camps

Fighting between different clans serving in Somali's interim government 
in the port city of Kismayo forced displaced persons living in camps to 
flee again, sources said on Monday.

Many internally displaced families in the Faanole neighbourhood of the 
city abandoned their camps as fighting broke out. Some set up temporary 
shelters away from the area and others headed towards the Kenyan border. 
At least 25 people reportedly died in the town. Kismayo is 500km south 
of the capital, Mogadishu.

[Full reports http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71779]


SOMALIA: UN, EU urge humanitarian action

John Holmes, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian 
Affairs, warned that Somalia had become the most dangerous place in 
world for aid workers.

Holmes told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that none of the sides in 
the deadly fighting that has raged in Mogadishu in recent weeks was 
respecting the rules of war or making any allowance for aid operations.

"Civilians in Mogadishu are paying an intolerable price for the absence 
of political progress and dialogue and the failure of all parties to 
abide by the rules of warfare," said Holmes, also the UN's Emergency 
Relief Coordinator.

Separately, the European Union (EU) has reiterated its concern regarding 
the humanitarian situation in southern Somalia, and has appealed to 
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf to personally intervene as a matter of 
utmost urgency.

[Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71805]


SUDAN: Aid agencies suspend work in Darfur town

Several aid agencies working in West Darfur have suspended work in Um 
Dhukun, affecting about 100,000 people, including refugees from Chad and 
Central African Republic (CAR), a spokesperson said.

Citing continuing violence, the charities Oxfam GB, Save the 
Children-Spain, Mercy Corps and Triangle said they had temporarily 
suspended all but essential work after increases in violent attacks on 
aid workers in the area.

"We have temporarily withdrawn; we need local authorities and the people 
of Um Dukhun to give us assurances that this will be secure when we 
return," Caroline Nursery, country director for Oxfam in Sudan, said.

[Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71748]


AFRICA: Continent needs 2.4 million new jobs every year, says ILO

Africa needed to create 2.4 million jobs per year to meet the Millennium 
Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015, the International Labour Office (ILO) 
said.

Regina Amadi-Njoku, ILO regional director for Africa, told journalists 
the continent needed 11 million jobs every year to meet the MDGs; 
however, only 8.6 million jobs were available.

There are 368 million workers in Africa, which accounts for 11.9 percent 
of the total world labour force.

[Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71756]


AFRICA: Working poor to increase by 20 percent - ILO

The number of people working in extreme poverty in Africa would increase 
by 20 percent by 2015, Juan Somavia, Director-General of the 
International Labour Organization (ILO), said at the opening of the 11th 
regional meeting in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

"Most of the work in Africa is of a near-subsistence nature, with more 
than eight out of 10 workers in the informal economy [operating] with 
low pay, low productivity and low protection," said Somavia.

ILO's recent report, "The Decent Work Agenda in Africa: 2007-2015", 
stated that Africa had the largest working poor in total employment of 
any region. In sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent live on less than $1 a day 
and 80 percent on less than $2 a day.

[Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71775]


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