This report includes: A) East Africa: Regional Operations for Refugees/Internally Displaced Persons in Burundi, Rwanda, Zaire and Tanzania B) West Africa: Liberia/Sierra Leone C) Former Yugoslavia D) CIS: Tajikistan
>From B. Szynalski, Director, Operational Policy and Support Division. For information regarding resources, donors are requested to contact Ms. B. Karlstrom Dorph, Director, Resources Division, WFP Rome (Ph. 39 6 5228 2500)
Due to the short working week, there will be no weekly report on 5 April. The next weekly report (No. 14) will be issued on 12 April 1996.
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. EAST AFRICA: REGIONAL OPERATIONS FOR REFUGEES/IDPs IN BURUNDI, RWANDA, ZAIRE AND TANZANIA
1. Burundi: a) WFP assesses food aid needs and provides assistance to 7,500 persons displaced in Bururi by violence; b) WFP food convoy attacked and looted - some food recovered.
2. Rwanda: WFP will provide food assistance in support of FAO/EU seeds and tools distribution.
3. Zaire - Goma: a) WFP transfers a staff member threatened by refugees; b) Stock levels of cereals and pulses very low; c) Current oil stocks will last to mid-April - WFP borrows oil to cover need and donations have been confirmed.
4. Zaire - Uvira: a) Refugees arrive in Uvira camps at a rate of 50 per day due to insecurity; b) Low malnutrition rates reported among people arriving to Kibogoye reception camp from Murwi, Cibitoke province. B. WEST AFRICA - Liberia/Sierra Leone Regional Operation
1. Liberia: a) Airlifting operation launched to bring relief food aid to Cape Mount; b) WFP delivers food to IDPs trapped in Bomi County; c) Visit from Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; d) Secretary General of the OAU in Liberia for talks on the peace process.
2. Sierra Leone: a) Improvement in security encourages displaced to return to their villages in Bo and Magburaka provinces; b) Peace talks between NPRC and the RUF 25 March in Abidjan; c) WFP emergency operation has been approved on 18 March for over 600,000 war affected populations in Sierra Leone.
C. FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
1. Bosnia-Herzegovina: Pipeline for wheat flour and edible oil for the coming months has improved considerably after a long period of shortages due to recent arrivals.
2. Serbia and Montenegro: Distribution of first WFP local purchase since lifting of international restrictions proceeds smoothly.
D. CIS
1. Tajikistan: WFP has issued an appeal for emergency food assistance - outstanding needs for the next 12 months are 33,000 mt.
PART II - COUNTRY AND REGIONAL OPERATIONS DETAILS
A. EAST AFRICA: REGIONAL OPERATIONS FOR REFUGEES/IDPs IN BURUNDI, RWANDA, ZAIRE AND TANZANIA
1. REGIONAL
1.1 A meeting to enhance coordination of activities under the current Rwanda/Burundi regional emergency operation was held 22 to 24 March 1996, chaired by the Manager of the WFP Regional Bureau for Eastern Africa, with the WFP Country Directors of Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda and the WFP Emergency Coordinators of Bukavu and Goma participating.
1.2 Rwanda/Burundi regional emergency operation - resourcing status as of 27 March:
Total food shortfalls From April to December 1996
COMMODITY QTY. MONTHS MAJOR SHORTFALLS OCCUR
CEREALS 129,326 MT AUG - DEC PULSES 25,936 MT SEPT - DEC OIL 2,885 MT OCT - DEC CSB 4,034 MT APR - JUN, NOV,DEC SALT 1,861 MT APR - DEC MISC. 94 MT ---------------------- TOTAL 164,134 MT
2. BURUNDI
2.1 Security incidents have been increasing in the interior of the country. In Bururi and Muramvya provinces, confrontations have left several dead and wounded, and incidents have also occurred in Gitega and Muyinga. 2.2 In Karuzi, rebels have infiltrated the southern part of the region, which remains inaccessible. Shooting was reported in Bugarama along the national highway RN1 on 19 March.
2.3 Mubimbi: As a result of crop damage caused by hail storms in Mageyo in February, WFP carried out a 15 day ad hoc food distribution of 300 grams maize and 100 grams beans to 862 families. ICRC distributed seeds and tools.
2.4 WFP carried out an assessment mission in Mutimbuzi on 25 March following a request from the Governor. The displaced population in this area are not able to cultivate their lands, which have been mined. A request has been made for ad hoc assistance for 539 families to start on 28 March.
2.5 Central Burundi - Karuzi: Ad hoc distribution took place on 19 March to 1,800 malnourished children at the Nyabikere parish. Food was delivered to the depot of FOCSIV (an Italian NGO) in Gitega, which delivered commodities directly to the parish.
2.6 Southern Burundi - Bururi: Following attacks by rebels in Songa which left some 100 dead, WFP carried out a mission on 21 March to assess the needs of the local population. Some 7,500 persons have been displaced following the violence, and are gathered in six main areas throughout the province. WFP provided them 300 grams maize and 100 grams beans per person per day for 15 days. As security has not permitted WFP to deliver food directly to the area, distribution has been carried out by the local administration. UN humanitarian staff were evacuated from this province last week, and a curfew has been put into effect.
2.7 Northern Burundi - Ngozi: A WFP food convoy was attacked on the morning of 27 March some 20 km from the Ngozi depot en route to the Kibezi refugee site. A WFP Ngozi Logistics officer and the military were able to recuperate 180 bags out of 286 looted.
3. RWANDA
3.1 Former US President J. Carter predicted a sharp increase in repatriation rates as a result of progress made at the Tunis summit of the Heads of State of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Zaire and Tanzania.
3.2 The first trials of the International Tribunal for those accused of genocide are scheduled to start in Arusha in April. The Rwandan Government will conduct its own trials in Kigali in May.
3.3 The rate of repatriation is the lowest yet for 1996. Transit centres in Rwanda received 790 returnees: 514 from Zaire, 110 from Burundi, 16 from Tanzania and 150 from Uganda. 393 of the returnees arrived via Gisenyi, 121 returnees via Cyangugu, 110 via Butare, and 166 via Nyagatare.
3.4 During the reporting period, WFP Rwanda received 1,497 mt of food and distributed 981 mt to some 65,400 beneficiaries in all parts of Rwanda. Current stocks (as at 25/03/96) stood at 8,242 mt of food.
3.5 FAO and the European Union are distributing seeds and tools in several parts of the country. WFP will provide food assistance to the most vulnerable farming families in the period of pre-harvest scarcity.
3.6 A number of serious security incidents, many involving loss of human life, have been reported in the Western prefectures of Cyangugu, Gisenyi and Ruhengeri. The recently recruited tally-clerk of WFP is missing in Gisenyi.
4. ZAIRE - GOMA
4.1 The Government of Uganda restricted the movement of the Nabresco trucking fleet, WFP's contracted carrier. Although the matter was eventually resolved, WFP had already implemented direct road transport from Mombasa to avoid potential reduction in food supplies to Goma/Bukavu. 4.2 The arrest of a Rwandan refugee by Contingent soldiers for robbing a WFP field assistant led refugees to threaten that WFP staff member. WFP was forced to transfer her to a different camp for safety.
4.3 Fighting continues around Sake. Fighting in the north has reached the border of Rwindi National Park and Tongo, a village just behind Katale camp. A portion of the southern area along the lake, including a section of the Bukavu road, is controlled by the Hutu militia. Kinshasa is to deploy some 600 soldiers into the area.
4.4 Following an increase in the Masisi conflict, LWF evacuated 80 Hunde children to Ndosho from their orphanage in Masisi north of Sake.
4.5 A refugee was arrested and sent to Kinshasa after preventing a child from repatriating to Rwanda to join his father.
4.6 Stock levels of cereals and pulses were very low, covering 12 days and 9 days respectively. The CSB ration was decreased to prolong the present stock (six weeks coverage). UNHCR has agreed to add some 300 mt of UNIMIX to the general ration, which will cover an additional three weeks at 15 grams per person per day. This will allow WFP to distribute CSB until the beginning of May.
4.7 Current stocks of oil will cover a 15 grams per person per day ration into the middle of April. The situation should start improving in April, as WFP has borrowed oil from different operations in the region, and donations totalling 1,250 mt have been confirmed.
5. ZAIRE - BUKAVU
5.1 Due to transport problems ex-Kampala, food arrivals from Mombasa are below the usual average of 600 mt per week. 660 mt of foodstuff were received in total (190 mt from Mombasa and 470 from Dar es Salaam). Stocks of oil and cereals are very low, covering 6 days and 15 days respectively.
5.2 Two members of the former Rwandan armed forces living in Chimanga and suspected of dealing in firearms were expelled from the camp after threatening to kill a female aid worker employed with CARE.
5.3 The process of closing down the non-accompanied children's camp in Katana has started. The closure of schools is still in effect, causing the number of street children to increase.
6. ZAIRE - UVIRA
6.1 The Uvira caseload has increased to 176,009 beneficiaries (67,461 Rwandans and 108,548 Burundians) from 175,738 last week, reflecting 693 new registrations and 417 spontaneous returns to Burundi from 7 to 22 March.
6.2 Refugees continue to arrive in the Uvira camps at a rate of about 50 per day because of insecurity. Meanwhile, refugees are also reportedly returning to Bubanza province in Burundi on a spontaneous basis.
6.3 The majority of recent arrivals to the Kibogoye reception camp are arriving from Murwi in Cibitoke province also due to insecurity. Low malnutrition rates have been reported by IHA (an international NGO), which screens new arrivals.
7. TANZANIA
7.1 Camp leaders are being trained on the communal food distribution system at the Chabalisa II camp in Karagwe. A camp president was elected for Chabalisa I in Karagwe.
7.2 In Kigoma, a total of 208 new refugees arrived in Kanembwa camp during the reporting period due to insecurity.
7.3 During the past week, a joint GOT/WFP mission was carried out in the Kigoma and Kagera regions to identify potential food-for-work activities in the refugee-affected areas.
B. WEST AFRICA
1. LIBERIA/SIERRA LEONE REGIONAL OPERATION (LIBERIA, SIERRA LEONE, COTE D'IVOIRE AND GUINEA)
1. Liberia
Liberia
1.1 The Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity, Dr. Salim A. Salim, arrived in Monrovia on 27 March for talks on the Liberia peace process. Henri Francois Morand of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation visited on 27 March.
1.2 WFP began airlifting emergency food on 25 March 1996 to some 22,000 malnourished women, children and old people trapped by fighting in displaced shelter camps in Sinje, Tiene and Bowaterside in Cape Mount county. The last WFP convoy to Cape Mount was on 14 December 1995, before fighting closed the roads. WFP delivered 15 mt of assorted food commodities on 21 March to some 2,000 displaced persons trapped in Suehn, Bomi county.
1.3 A WFP convoy departed Monrovia on 27 March 1996 to Tapitta with 55 mt of assorted food commodities for immediate distribution to some 12,000 displaced and returnees.
1.4 A joint assessment mission on 27 March visited Kolahun and Voinjama, Lofa county (under ULIMO-K control) by helicopter. The mission reported widespread farming activities in the area, and a need for seeds, tools, medicine and food aid to cover needs during the pre-harvest hunger period.
1.5 WFP stock as of 26 March stood at 16,919 mt assorted food commodities, including 11,491 mt of bulgur wheat.
2. Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
2.1 Alhaji Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party was elected President in a run-off election on 15 March. The first peace talks between the Chairman of the NPRC, Brigadier Maada Bio, and the leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Corporal Foday Sankoh, took place on 25-26 March in Abidjan.
2.2 Following improvement of the overall security situation and the declaration of an unconditional cease-fire by RUF on 14 March, internally displaced have returned to their villages of origin in Bo and Magburaka provinces. However, persistent violations of the ceasefire last week occurred in the south- east, with several civilians killed or mutilated.
2.3 An emergency operation (EMOP) has been approved to assist over 600,000 internally displaced persons in Sierra Leone from April to December 1996. Total WFP food requirements have been estimated at 41,467 mt of food commodities for a total cost of USD 24 million. While the food pipeline for this EMOP will be ensured initially through borrowing from the regional PRO 4604 operation (for Liberia, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire), donors are urged to make pledges early in order to ensure the timely arrival of shipments to Freetown port.
2.4 A house-to-house verification of the displaced population in Kenema will be completed by the end of March. New beneficiary registration cards will then be issued for the April food distribution, after duplicates have been eliminated, etc.
2.5 A verification and registration exercise in the Freetown camps was completed between March 10 and 12. Preparations for verification of the displaced population in Bo are underway.
2.6 Following an ICRC survey in Zimmi which registered a caseload of 5,600, distribution began on March 20 of WFP food transported by helicopter from Kenema. Cross-border deliveries of WFP food by the ICRC to a caseload of 30,000 in RUF-held areas in Kailahun district is continuing.
2.7 Food distribution in Segbwema is at a standstill due to failure to identify an implementing partner in the area. Negotiations in that regard are ongoing. Distribution in Bo and Kenema is in progress.
2.8 WFP current stock levels: cereal 4,411 mt, vegetable oil 608 mt, CSB 1,333 mt, pulses 563 mt.
C. FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
1. Bosnia-Herzegovina
1.1 The pipeline for wheat flour and edible oil for the coming months has improved considerably after a long period of shortages. Delivery to Bosnia-Herzegovina of recently arrived food aid is ongoing. Substantial new pledges of mostly wheat flour and some protein foods have also been confirmed, and are expected to arrive beginning in May. DWM and HPB remain in short supply.
1.2 Deliveries of WFP food aid have increased, as the remaining USA/19 shipment is discharged in the Croatian port of Ploce and the Montenegrin port of Bar. More than 10,000 mt were moved to multiple destinations in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the reporting week. This will secure sufficient wheat supply - the main staple food aid commodity - for at least two months. The M/V Bloemgracht arrived on March 26 with 853 mt of canned fish from Canada. 347 mt of canned fish from Norway for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Eastern Slavonia and some 8,000 mt of wheat flour of a 17,000 mt Japanese donation are also expected to arrive in May.
1.3 Demonstrations by thousands of displaced people anxious to return home occurred in Tuzla, but conditions for organised return are not yet adequate. Spontaneous returns continue on a small scale, however. The registration of internally displaced people and refugees in Serb-controlled areas of Bosnia has been completed, but final figures will not be available for a few weeks. It is estimated that up to 65,000 people from Sarajevo fled to towns in Eastern Bosnia when control of the city was turned over.
1.4 Sarajevo: Food security in the city, following months of shortages, has slowly continued to improve. More than 4000 mt of wheat grain were despatched from Ploce over the week for milling in Sarajevo as part of the WFP rehabilitation programme. A further 908 mt of WFP food aid were received there for direct distribution to beneficiaries.
2. Serbia and Montenegro
2.1 In addition to the wheat flour and oil unloading from the M/V Corpus Christi at the Montenegrin port of Bar during the reporting period, more WFP wheat flour for Bosnia, donated by the EU, is scheduled to be transported through the port in mid-April.
2.2 Distribution of the first WFP local purchase in Serbia since the lifting of international restrictions (4,900 mt of wheat flour donated by the Netherlands) is proceeding smoothly. Another 4029 mt of wheat flour donated by the EU will also be purchased locally by WFP. Some 9,000 mt of wheat flour given by Japan is expected to arrive in May for Serbia, Montenegro and for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
D. CIS
1. Tajikistan
1.1 WFP has issued an appeal for emergency food for Tajikistan. WFP and NGOs have identified 620,000 of the most vulnerable people needing relief food. Of these, WFP is targeting some 400,000 people for food distributions. The remainder are expected to be covered by NGOs. WFP's outstanding needs for the next twelve months are 33,000 mt, valued at USD 19 million. WFP's food aid pipeline will run out in May unless further donations are received.
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 13 of 1996 - March 29, 1996)