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 379
2 - 8 June 2007


CONTENTS:

DJIBOUTI: Buses take vaccinations to the people
DJIBOUTI: Pastoralists hit by delayed rains
SOMALIA: Acute diarrhoea, cholera infect hundreds in Somaliland
SOMALIA: Media shutdown silences community voices
SOMALIA: Returnees find supplies short in Mogadishu
ETHIOPIA: Tackling environmental challenges with trees


DJIBOUTI: Buses take vaccinations to the people

Saada Idriss rushed to board the bus but she was preoccupied with the 
task at hand - vaccinating as many children as possible in two days. 
Saada, head of education at the Djiboutian health ministry, explained: 
"This is different from the two other [previous] campaigns. The goal is 
to reach more households, farther away, hence the bus."

As part of a national health team that conducted the campaign, she 
joined colleagues to vaccinate children against poliomyelitis (polio), 
measles, whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus - five major diseases 
that remain potential threats to children under five years old in the 
Horn of Africa country.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72611


DJIBOUTI: Pastoralists hit by delayed rains

Pastoralists in inland areas of Djibouti are finding it increasingly 
difficult to feed themselves as livestock conditions deteriorate because 
of the delayed onset of the March-May rains, a famine early warning 
agency has reported.

"Milk production is practically non-existent and staple food prices are 
exceptionally high, further decreasing pastoralists' already low food 
access following recurrent years of drought," the Famine Early Warning 
Systems Network (FEWS Net) said in its latest update on Djibouti 
released on 5 June.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72579


SOMALIA: Acute diarrhoea, cholera infect hundreds in Somaliland

More than 600 cases of acute watery diarrhoea, some of them confirmed to 
be cholera, have been reported in the Togdheer area of Somalia's 
self-declared republic of Somaliland and its capital, Hargeisa, since 
mid-May, a humanitarian organisation said. Some eight people are known 
to have died of the disease.

Aid agencies were working with local health authorities to decontaminate 
water sources and improve sanitation, according to N. Paranietharan, 
health coordinator with the United Nations World Health Organization's 
(WHO) Somalia office. WHO and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) have 
delivered treatment supplies to the affected areas, and a health 
sensitisation campaign was under way, he said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72599


SOMALIA: Media shutdown silences community voices

The closure of several leading radio stations by the Somali government 
has silenced important community voices in the war-ravaged country, a 
media watchdog has said.

The stations, HornAfrik radio and television, Shabelle Media Network and 
Radio Voice of Holy Koran, were shut down on 6 June, for alleged support 
of anti-government elements.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72598


SOMALIA: Returnees find supplies short in Mogadishu

Residents of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, are flocking back to the 
city but many have found their homes destroyed, while food and medical 
care are in short supply, local sources said. "Our estimate is that 
since the end of major combat, [late April-early May], 16,000 to 17,000 
families have returned to the city," said a civil society source 
involved in assisting the returnees.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) put the number of returnees at 
90,000 or nearly a quarter of the hundreds of thousands of people who 
fled, adding that insecurity was preventing more returns.

"Many are staying in houses that are partially destroyed, with no roofs, 
and their belongings looted," the source said, adding that the situation 
was being exacerbated by the escalation of violence in the city.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72626


ETHIOPIA: Tackling environmental challenges with trees

Benishangul Gumuz regional state in southern Ethiopia was a lush, green 
area before local residents began cutting down most of the trees. "Once 
60 percent of the country's total area was covered with forest but now 
it has declined," Yaregal Aysheshim, president of the regional state, 
said. "Nowadays cutting trees for various activities is increasing."

According to Yaregal, of the 50,380 sqkm comprising Benishangul Gumuz, 
60 percent is still covered with forest. But there are concerns that the 
bamboo, eucalyptus and rubber trees, incense and gum forests, as well as 
the indigenous trees of Wanaza, Sholla, Dokima, Sessa and Tikur Enchiet, 
could be threatened.

The exercise is part of a national tree-planting initiative that aims to 
plant 52 million trees before Ethiopia's year-long millennium 
celebrations in September. Each Ethiopian is expected to plant two 
trees.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72625


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