This report includes: A) Albania B) Democratic People's Republic of Korea C) Burundi, Rwanda, Zaire and Tanzania D) Uganda E) Ethiopia F) Angola.
>From P. Ares, Chief, Programming Service. Available on the Internet at WFP Home Page http://www.wfp.org/ or by e-mail from HicksDeb@wfp.org (fax 39 6 5228 2837). For information regarding resources, donors are requested to contact Mr. F. Strippoli or Ms. A. Blum, WFP Rome (telephone 39 6 5228 2504 or 5228 2004).
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. ALBANIA
1. Current Situation a) Situation in Albania deteriorates, and borders close. UN Security Council issues statement urging international community to provide humanitarian assistance, and for all sides in Albania to work together to ease tensions. b) No reports of population movements across borders as of 14 March. WFP logistical preparedness plans are being reassessed and revised as the security situation worsens.
B. DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
1. Update a) The WFP Executive Director is scheduled to visit DPR Korea 15-18 March. b) Donors have pledged USD 18.6 million towards total WFP needs of USD 41.6 million for an emergency operation to assist 1,730,000 children and flood-affected adults over a period of one year.
C. EAST AFRICA: REGIONAL OPERATION FOR BURUNDI, RWANDA, ZAIRE AND TANZANIA
1. Eastern Zaire a) Flow of refugees into the town of Ubundu, 150 km south of Kisangani on the Zaire River, at the rate of 10,000 refugees a day. b) WFP has despatched total of 193 metric tons of food to Ubundu by rail and by air. Movement of food from railhead across the river to current encampment limited by lack of boats. Onset of the rainy season also hampers the delivery of relief assistance. c) UN/NGO mission to Tingi Tingi on 9 March finds several hundred refugees still in the camps, in very weak condition. Other refugees are returning to the camps. WFP air shuttle between Goma and Tingi Tingi and Amisi starts. d) WFP airlift from Mwanza, Tanzania to Kisangani resumes 13 March after break of only twelve days following departure of international staff from Kisangani. Air deliveries from Kisangani to Punia and Ubundo, using small aircraft, continued during this period.
2. Rwanda a) Insecurity continues, but nearly all food convoys run as scheduled. b) Food delivery to Ruhengeri possible for the first time in over one month. c) Delivery of food continues at increased rate compared to previous month.
3. Burundi a) FAO/WFP Crop and Food Assessment Mission report indicates food supply situation in early 1997 remains tight. Emergency food assistance in 1997 will be required for an average 265,000 persons each month, for a total 48,000 metric tons of food. Full Report available on the Internet at http://www.fao.org/
4. Tanzania a) Flow of Zairian refugees into Kigoma slows by 50 percent, from an average of 1,000 refugees per day to 500 per day. b) Limited trucking capacity and poor road conditions continue to hamper relief efforts. Attempt is being made to pre-position two months' worth of food in camps by the end of March before heavy rains make access by truck impossible. c) In drought affected regions, critical shortages of food and water reported.
D. UGANDA
1. Update a) Preparations made for verification exercise to identify internally displaced population in Kitgum.
E. ETHIOPIA
1. Update a) Joint assessment is being undertaken to determine needs in drought-affected pastoralist areas of the Somali Region, Borena and Bale zones of Oromia Region and in affected areas of South Omo of the Southern Region (SNNP).
F. ANGOLA
1. Update a) Drought-related crop damage reported in coastal districts of Seles, Quilenda and Conda of Cuanza Sul Province, and in Cuanza Norte Province. FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission scheduled for mid-April. b) WFP food stock position is currently low, with maize, CSB, pulses, oil and sugar stocks expected to be depleted within the month. WFP support to demobilisation programmes and to displaced and war affected persons will be suffer unless stocks are replenished soon.
PART II - DETAILS
A. ALBANIA
1. CURRENT SITUATION
1.1 The situation in Albania is deteriorating rapidly. Civil violence, the looting of arms arsenals and general chaos is now a nation-wide phenomenon. All Embassies except those of Italy and the United States are being evacuated, as well as families of UN and American Embassy staff. The country's borders and Tirana's airport are now closed.
1.2 Albania's President Sali Berisha and the leaders of major political parties have called for a UN- and NATO-led military intervention that would stop further escalation of the conflict. UN and European officials have made it clear there is no possibility of international military intervention to restore order.
1.3 The UN Coordinator in Albania reports that an MSF mission recently took place to Vlora, a city under rebel control and apparently in one of the worst situations of all southern cities currently held by the rebels. The mission found that although the city is in turmoil, no food crisis is apparent among the estimated population of 100,000. This appears to be confirmed by an ECMM mission report.
1.4 No population movements have so far been reported across the borders of either the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) or the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). However, the Macedonian government has requested the UN Secretary-General to halt the current withdrawal of UN soldiers from the FYROM/Albanian border.
1.5 WFP logistical preparedness plans are being reassessed and revised as the security situation worsens. Access routes, transport (private Albanian fleets and standby international fleets in Bosnia-Herzegovina) and storage facilities have been identified.
1.6 In New York, the UN Security Council has issued a statement urging the international community to provide humanitarian assistance, and for all sides in Albania to work together to ease tensions.
B. DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
1. UPDATE
1.1 The Executive Director of WFP is scheduled to arrive in Pyongyang on 15 March for a four-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Ms. Bertini will visit WFP-assisted projects and meet high-level government officials.
1.2 An appeal for USD 41.6 million in emergency food aid for DPR Korea was launched by WFP on 12 February, for an operation to assist 1,730,000 children and flood-affected adults over a period of one year. WFP requirements for this emergency operation are 100,000 metric tons, together with cash to cover operational costs.
1.3 As of 10 March, a total of USD 18.6 million had been received in pledges towards the appeal, from Australia, Denmark, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and the United States. A recent additional pledge has been received from Norway.
C. EAST AFRICA: REGIONAL OPERATION FOR BURUNDI, RWANDA, ZAIRE AND TANZANIA
1. EASTERN ZAIRE
1.1 General
a) Efforts are being made to provide urgently needed assistance to refugees who continue to stream into Ubundu. Over 75,000 people have gathered near this small railway town on the Zaire River, 150 km south of Kisangani. Most of these refugees are part of the 160,000 group who fled Tingi Tingi camps on 28 February. Some 10,000 refugees are arriving each day, weakened by a week-long 200 km walk. Following a visit of Zairean Government officials, the refugees are reported to have been authorised to cross the river and a new site to accommodate the refugees has been tentatively identified on the west bank, some 30 km from Ubundu,.
b) By 12 March, WFP had despatched 193 metric tons of food to Ubundu: an initial consignment of 65 metric tons of food was railed from Kisangani on 8 March and is under distribution. A further 8 metric tons were airlifted and another 120 metric tons of cereals and pulses were railed from Kisangani on 11 March. The onset of the rainy season is hampering the delivery of relief assistance, further aggravating the already critical situation of the refugees. The Ubundu railhead is on the west bank of the river and there is only one boat to ship supplies to the east bank where the refugees are currently encamped. Air deliveries from Kisangani to Ubundu continued throughout the week and some 36 metric tons of essential supplies reached Ubundu with the WFP Andover aircraft.
c) An inter-agency UN/NGO mission flew over Amisi and landed in Tingi Tingi on 9 March and found several hundred refugees still in the camps. These are some of the people who were too weak to flee when the camps emptied, but other refugees are also starting to emerge from the surrounding forests where they had hidden. WFP has initiated an air shuttle between Goma and Tingi Tingi and Amisi; on 12 March the plane made two rotations, carrying 700 kg of cargo. An air evacuation to Rwanda of the most vulnerable groups in these camps is being considered.
d) Food is also being airlifted into Punia, hosting some 5,000 refugees. Punia is used by the refugees as a transit point and many are reported to be on their way to Ubundu.
e) The WFP airlift from Mwanza, Tanzania to Kisangani resumed on Thursday, 13 March. On the first flight, the aircraft carried 30 metric tons of maize meal. The airlift was interrupted for only twelve days, since 28 February, when international staff left Kisangani; as described above, air deliveries from Kisangani to Punia and Ubundo, using small aircraft, continued during this period.
1.2 Goma and Bukavu
a) Between 3 and 9 March, WFP distributed high-energy biscuits to 2,600 beneficiaries in the Goma area: 687 returnees and 1,913 recipients in hospitals and nutritional centres. The number of returnees moving through Goma represents an increase in repatriation as compared to previous weeks. In Bukavu during the same period, 792 returnees were assisted with biscuits.
b) WFP and UNICEF will jointly assist primary school children through a school feeding programme in Goma. Under this programme, to be implemented also with the assistance of local NGOs, food and non-food items will be provided to children to encourage school attendance. Food will be cooked and served to school children during week-days, while teachers will receive dry ration as an incentive. Teachers in Bukavu will also receive WFP food assistance.
c) Plans have been made in Bukavu to cope with a potential influx, should more refugees return to Rwanda through Bukavu. A way station has been set up in Kingulube, half-way between Shabunda and Bukavu, to assist refugees with food and medicines. Road rehabilitation is also receiving attention.
2. RWANDA
2.1 Insecurity remains a matter of concern. A series of incidents were reported in recent days in Byumba, Kigali Rural, Ruhengeri and Kigali Ville, resulting in several casualties and loss of property. Food convoys, however, ran as per schedule, with the exception of a convoy to Kibuye, cancelled for lack of vehicles. WFP is presently also assisting in delivering seeds and tools to six communes in Nyagatare, Gitarama and Byumba prefectures, following a request from FAO.
2.2 The number of Rwandans who returned home from 3-9 March remained low. During this period, 2,431 people crossed the border coming from Eastern Zaire and Tanzania. Rwanda is, nevertheless, preparing for a possible mass return of refugees from Zaire, by pre-positioning stocks in the towns of Gisenyi and Cyangugu.
2.3 For the first time in over a month, WFP was able to deliver food to Ruhengeri. March distributions started in all prefectures of the country, placing WFP in a good position to meet the requirements set for the month. LWF, the last NGO still involved in food distributions, is presently handing over to local authorities in Kibuye. The hand-over has been completed in seven of the nine communes of the prefecture.
2.4 From 3 to 9 March, WFP distributed 3,158 metric tons of food to 234,000 beneficiaries. This continues to represent marked increases in deliveries, compared with the February average, when security hampered access of aid convoys to many areas. Most distributions benefited returnees (67 %) while the remaining assistance catered for WFP's food-for-work (30%) and institutional supplementary feeding (3%). Current in-country stocks amount to 5,763 metric tons of food, pre-positioned in all prefectures, representing on average a nine-day requirement.
3. BURUNDI
3.1 The report of the FAO/WFP Crop and Food Assessment Mission to Burundi indicates that the overall food supply situation in early 1997 remains tight. Aggregate food production of the first season crop is 7 percent below 1996 and 18 percent below the pre-crisis average for 1988-1993. The outlook for the second and third season crops (to be harvested in July and September) indicates a recovery in output, reflecting improvements in security conditions and better availability of agricultural inputs. For 1997, emergency food assistance will be required for an average 265,000 persons each month, for a total 48,000 metric tons of food. The full Report, dated 4 March, can be found on the Internet at http://www.fao.org/ (click on Economics or Global Watch, then GIEWS, then Special Reports).
3.2 The four teams conducting a joint WFP/DHA/UNICEF/FAO study of displaced populations have completed visits to all sites. The study will present a better picture of the current situation in displaced and regroupment sites, so that appropriate assistance can be provided.
3.3 From 3 to 9 March, three food convoys comprising 34 trucks arrived in Burundi from Tanzania, carrying a total of 990 metric tons of maize meal. A convoy with 64,000 litres of diesel and 50,000 litres of petrol has also arrived. The fuel has not yet been released, due to tax exemption formalities.
4. TANZANIA
4.1 The daily influx of Zairian refugees into Kigoma region has reduced during the week by 50 percent, from an average of 1,000 refugees per day to 500 per day. As at 9 March, the number of refugees in Kigoma region stood at 260,368, while the total caseload in Tanzania is now 365,418 refugees.
4.2 Limited trucking capacity and poor road conditions continue to hamper efforts to meet full rations and the pre-positioning of sixty days worth of stocks, prior to the worst part of the rainy season. WFP has deployed two senior logistics officers to Kigoma and leased additional trucks from Tabora Region in effort to keep up with the delivery of food to the refugee camps in Kasulu and Lufugu. Unless sixty days of food is pre-positioned by the end of March in at least three camps, heavy rains may render access by truck impossible, and distributions in the camps will be seriously affected.
4.3 In drought affected regions people are faced with critical shortages of food and water. Dar es Salaam is now reduced to its minimum level of water availability and cholera epidemics have broke out in two districts of the city. In rural areas the problem is worse, as food, together with water, becomes scarcer. Pastoralists already faced with having to sell much of the livestock at rock bottom prices are now faced with an outbreak of rinderpest. Action is being taken by the Government to contain the situation.
D. UGANDA
1. UPDATE
1.1 A joint WFP/local authorities team visited all sub-counties in Kitgum where internally displaced persons are present, to prepare a verification exercise. While the security situation in Kitgum remains calm, the population seems to be constantly on the move between camps and villages. A household registration exercise has begun and all displaced are being moved from their current location in trading centres and abandoned buildings to demarcated sites.
E. ETHIOPIA
1. UPDATE
1.1 Due to the failure of the October/November short rains, the water, pasture and food situation is reported as critical in the pastoral areas of the Somali Region, Borena and Bale zones of Oromia Region and South Omo of the Southern Region (SNNP). The situation has been exacerbated by the influx of pastoral groups from northern Kenya and Somalia. WFP is currently participating in a joint assessment mission to these areas with the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Committee, the European Union, USAID, Save the Children and SIDA.
F. ANGOLA
1. UPDATE
1.1 The United Nations Security Council has extended the UNAVEM III mandate through 31 March 1997. The previous mandate was due to expire on 28 February.
1.2 Reports indicate drought-related crop damage in the coastal districts of Seles, Quilenda and Conda of Cuanza Sul Province, and the absence of rain in Cuanza Norte Province during the current agricultural season. An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission is scheduled to take place starting mid-April. The mission will evaluate the effects of reported rainfall problems on this year's agricultural harvest and assess the need for relief interventions in the affected provinces.
1.3 A team of delegates from WFP, FAO, IFAD, and the NGO Movimondo-Molisv, visited Uige Province from 25-27 February to further develop a food security project launched in November 1996. WFP will support rural infrastructure and possibly measures to control sleeping sickness, a serious health problem in the province's southern region.
1.4 WFP is to close its office in Sumbe, Cuanza Sul Province, due to the overall improvement in the province's humanitarian situation. Owing to increasing needs for assistance in Uige, particularly for returning and resettling Angolan refugees from Zaire, WFP will reopen its Uige office on 1 April.
1.5 The WFP food stock position is currently low, with maize, CSB, pulses, oil and sugar stocks expected to be depleted within the month. Unless stocks are replenished soon, WFP support to soldier demobilisation and to displaced and war affected persons will be seriously interrupted.
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 11 of 1997 - March 14, 1997)
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