Report No. 38 of 1997 Date: 19 September 1997This report includes: A) Afghanistan B) Iraq C) Bosnia and Herzegovina D) East Africa: Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda E) Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo (Brazzaville).
>From J.-M. Boucher, Chief, Programming Service. Available on the Internet at WFP Home Page http://www.wfp.org/ or by e-mail from Deborah.Hicks@wfp.org (fax 39 6 6513 2837). For information regarding resources, donors are requested to contact Francesco.Strippoli@wfp.org or Aleesa.Blum@wfp.org at WFP Rome, telephone 39 6 6513 2504 or 6513 2004.
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. AFGHANISTAN
1. Update
a) During fighting in Mazar-i-Sharif, UN and NGO offices and compounds looted. Vehicles and equipment stolen from WFP compound, and 714 tons of food stocks lost. International aid staff safely evacuated from Mazar to Pakistan on 20 September. b) Regular shelling of airport area of Kabul, and insecurity in the city. WFP food convoys still possible from the south and east. c) As security situation worsens in Faizabad, capital of Badakshan province, WFP moves 1,400 metric tons of food to the city from Kyrghistan and from Ishkeshem on the border of Tajikistan. Critical shortage of basic foods reported in central province of Bamyan, where access still not possible.
B. IRAQ
1. Update - Oil-for-food agreement a) Security Council approves resolution amending SCR 986, allowing Iraq to carry over shortfall in oil exports by extending first part of the second six-month phase to 5 October.
C. BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA
1. Update a) Municipal elections in Bosnia Herzegovina generally peaceful. OSCE able to supervise registration and voting periods as planned. b) Twelve people killed in UN helicopter crash on 17 September.
D. EAST AFRICA: TANZANIA, RWANDA, BURUNDI AND UGANDA
1. Tanzania a) President declares national emergency due to drought, on 15 September. Three million Tanzanians face food shortages during coming months. WFP estimates 1.5 million people in this category require urgent relief assistance. b) Food deficit is 766,000 metric tons; additional 150,000 needed for strategic grain reserve. Government requests ten percent of the deficit, 76,600 metric tons, as emergency food aid.
2. Rwanda a) Some 3,300 Congolese refugees from Masisi area and Rutshuru arrive in western Rwanda, joining others accommodated at Mudende refugee camp. Another 13,280 refugees are in Kibiza camp in Kibuye.
3. Burundi a) Governor of Kayanza province suspends resettlement programme from regroupment camps. WFP food commodities and seeds distributed to 7,750 formerly regrouped persons in the province as they returned home. b) People begin leaving regroupment camps in Muramvya province.
4. Uganda a) UNHCR reports new influx of 650 Rwandan refugees into Kisoro, a result of recent upsurge in ethnic fighting in DR Congo along border with Rwanda. b) Food distributions to displaced persons in Gulu, Kitgum and Bundibugyo continue amid worsening security situation. In Gulu, number of displaced people who appear for food distributions much higher than expected (planning figure had been 144,000).
E. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND REPUBLIC OF CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE)
1. Update
a) In eastern DR Congo, 8,000 displaced Congolese who fled from the Masisi area to Goma abandon the two sites where they had been accommodated. Some leave for Rwanda. b) Insecurity limits WFP monitoring and distribution activities in Bukavu area. c) WFP flies food stocks from Angola to Kinshasa and Pointe-Noire (in Congo/Brazzaville), to cope with increasing food needs among Congo/Brazzaville displaced and refugees. Quantities sent so far will allow WFP to assist some 60,000 most vulnerable internally displaced persons in Point-Noire for one month.
PART II - DETAILS
A. AFGHANISTAN
1. UPDATE - information as of 18 September, updated 20 September
1.1 Mazar-i-Sharif
a) Violence broke out again in Mazar last week, with inter-factional fighting in the city and violent confrontation between the Taliban and the opposition in the areas surrounding it. As of 18 September, all UN international staff were reported to be safe at various locations in the city, where they have been holed up in bunkers throughout the fighting. Among them were three WFP international staff. Although order appears to have been restored, tension remains high. Update: on Friday, 19 September, 29 international aid staff were safely relocated from Mazar to Shiberghan (125 km west of Mazar) and on 20 September were evacuated by air to Peshawar and Islamabad.
b) UN and NGO offices have been looted, and the WFP compound has been particularly badly hit. Everything of value has been taken: vehicles, computers, furniture, walkie-talkies, codans, sitor communications equipment, calculators, air conditioners and other equipment. The compound is littered with scattered papers, which indicates that the files are damaged as well.
c) Indications are that the Mazar WFP food warehouse has been totally ransacked. The storage facility held 714 tons of cereals and non-cereal food commodities.
1.2 Kabul: Although food convoys enter Kabul without hindrance from the south and the east, there is regular shelling of the airport area by long-range artillery and considerable insecurity in the town itself. WFP delivered the 105th relief convoy to Kabul this week, for a total of more than 31,000 metric tons. This is a significant increase over last year, when 24,000 metric tons were delivered to Kabul during the whole year. It is a reflection of a major breakdown in food security in the capital and of a critical breakdown of economic activity. WFP is obliged to maintain a high profile in relief distributions. Although the WFP bakery programme has been reduced in this phase by 25 percent, to take into account the availability of the harvest, the programme will still provide aid to as many as 207,000 destitute people, including widows, children, unemployed, elderly and handicapped people in the town. Because of the reappearance of cholera, WFP is providing food for the next three months to a Ministry of Public Health preventive campaign aimed at providing clean water.
1.3 Badakshan: The security situation in Faizabad, the provincial capital, is getting worse, with looting of houses and shops at gun-point and sporadic gunfire reported. Considerable uncertainty hangs over the fate of the provincial capital. Food and fuel prices are very high in the whole Badakshan region, mainly due to extremely difficult access. To address the critical food situation, WFP is moving over 1,400 metric tons of food into Faizabad from its stocks in Osh in Kyrghistan, some 1,000 kilometres north and requiring a difficult journey over three Pamir passes of more than 4,700 metres altitude. WFP is also moving food to Faizabad from Ishkeshem on the border of Tajikistan.
1.4 Bamyan: This central province has traditionally been a food deficit area, but is now considered critically short of basic foods as a result of closure of access routes from the north as well as the south. WFP's efforts to get food convoys into Bamyan over the last two months have not been successful.
B. IRAQ
1. UPDATE - OIL-FOR-FOOD AGREEMENT
1.1 Under the second six-month phase of the oil-for-food agreement (8 June - 4 December) crude oil started flowing only on 14 August, as Iraq had not resumed pumping oil until the endorsement of the new distribution plan on 4 August. The sales period is divided into two 90-day periods, the purpose of which is to lessen the impact of a huge amount of oil reaching international markets in a short time. Thus Iraq was allowed to export USD 1.07 billion worth of crude by the cut-off date of 5 September. From 14 August to 5 September, Iraq was able to pump only USD 638 million worth of oil, thus leaving a shortfall of USD 432 million.
1.2 Negotiations took place in New York concerning a Security Council resolution to amend SCR 986, allowing Iraq to carry over into the next 90-day period the shortfall in oil exports. The resolution was adopted by the Security Council on 12 September. It allows Iraq to reach its full USD 2.14 billion quota for the present 180-day period. Under this resolution, the first 90-day period is extended to 120 days until 5 October, giving Iraq another month to sell USD 432 million worth of oil. However, the resolution reduces the second 90-day period to 60 days until 4 December, during which Iraq must sell USD 1.07 billion worth of oil. This amendment will prevent rations from being seriously reduced, thus avoiding a negative impact on the nutritional situation of the Iraqi population.
C. BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA
1. Elections
1.1 Municipal elections in Bosnia Herzegovina went ahead 13-14 September, with voting generally carried out in a calm and peaceful way. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who ran the elections, achieved 100 percent supervision of the registration and voting periods, and have stated that the elections represent a significant accomplishment in the peace process.
1.2 Preliminary results of the elections will not be available until 24 September, due to the counting of out-of-country ballots, and investigation of official complaints. After the final results are given, the elections will not be certified until elected officials take up office. Certification will be awarded on a municipality by municipality basis. The final success of the elections will depend not only on the full completion of the vote count but also on all parties respecting and implementing the results.
1.3 To ensure that food aid was not misused during the voting period, WFP delayed September distributions until the day after the polls closed. Food aid commodities that had been stored only in WFP-controlled warehouses were then released for distributions which recommenced 15 September.
2. Helicopter Crash
2.1 The accidental crash of a UN helicopter due to fog and poor visibility, on the slopes of Mount Vranica on 17 September, claimed the lives of 12 persons. The 12 fatalities, which included the Deputy High Representative, Ambassador Wagner, and the Deputy Commissioner of the International Police Task Force (IPTF), David Kriskovic, were members of the international community working towards the realization of peace in Bosnia Herzegovina.
D. EAST AFRICA: TANZANIA, RWANDA, BURUNDI AND UGANDA
1. TANZANIA - UPDATE ON DROUGHT SITUATION
1.1 On 15 September, the President of Tanzania declared a national emergency due to the drought. Three million Tanzanians (of the total population of approximately 30 million) face impending food shortages during the next three to six months as a result of drought-induced crop failure in various regions of the country. Erratic and poorly distributed rains affected both the January short-rains harvest and the country's main long-rain harvest of May/June. The hardest-hit areas are those in the northern and central parts of the country. The three million people in the 12 affected regions represent an average of 28 percent of the total population in each region.
1.2 Food shortages have caused prices to increase to double the usual price at this time of the year. Cash crops like cotton, coffee and tobacco were also badly affected by the drought, which will further diminish the already poor purchasing capacity of the population.
1.3 The food deficit is estimated by the Government at 766,000 metric tons. In his statement on 14 September, the President referred to needs of 916,000 metric tons, a total which includes 150,000 metric tons for the strategic grain reserve. The Government is appealing to donors to provide ten percent of the deficit, 76,600 metric tons, as emergency food aid. WFP estimates that of the three million people affected by drought, some 1.5 million require urgent relief assistance. WFP is preparing an emergency operation in response to the drought and is appealing to donors to make immediate contributions so that relief food can quickly reach those most in need.
2. RWANDA
2.1 Unrest in eastern DR Congo is affecting western Rwanda, with 3,300 Congolese refugees arriving from Masisi and Rutshuru. These new arrivals are being accommodated at Mudende refugee camp. WFP has despatched to the camp 10,000 food rations, in addition to the 7,000 rations sent earlier this month. The refugees have are also being provided with blankets, plastic sheeting and kitchen utensils by UNHCR. The camp population is now around 10,600 refugees. Camp storage and sanitary conditions are reportedly very poor.
2.2 Another 13,281 refugees are at Kibiza camp in Kibuye. WFP has despatched a three-month food ration to this camp in anticipation of the coming rains. These rations will cover the period September through November. Road conditions have already seriously deteriorated and deliveries had to be made with the help of four UNHCR tractors.
2.3 Two Rwandan Red Cross workers and a government official they were escorting were killed in an ambush on the Ngamira-Gisenyi road in north-west Rwanda on 12 September.
2.4 The seeds and tools distribution are due to start soon in Butare, Kibuye and Gikongoro. Seeds and tools have already been transported to these areas, for distribution through non-governmental organizations working in the communes. WFP has pre-positioned 2,200 metric tons of food for distribution to an estimated 54,000 families, to prevent the most vulnerable groups from eating their seeds.
3. BURUNDI
3.1 Update: As reported by DHA/IRIN on 18 September, the governor of Kayanza province has suspended the ongoing resettlement programme from regroupment camps, citing insecurity in the province. So far seven camps have been dismantled and some 32,500 people have returned home out of a regrouped population of nearly 90,000.
3.2 During the week of 8-14 September over 240 metric tons of WFP food commodities and 16 metric tons of seeds were distributed to 7,750 formerly regrouped persons as they returned home in Kayanza province. Emergency distributions were also carried out in Karuzi province, where 8,000 persons received 117 metric tons of food commodities. In total, WFP distributed food to 145,007 persons in Burundi during the second week of September.
3.3 WFP has completed the transfer of staff and equipment to CARE, under the new distribution arrangements recently put in place. CARE will now conduct distributions of WFP food commodities, as determined by WFP assessments.
3.4 Some 700 Burundian refugees returned to the country between 8 and 14 September. Some returnees were airlifted from various collection points in DR Congo and others came from a transit centre in Kigali, Rwanda. All these returnees have been transferred to the Gatumba transit centre in Bujumbura Rural province.
3.5 Authorities in Muramvya province have stated that people are already leaving the regroupment camps and returning to their hills of origin. WFP has agreed to provide a return package to 35,000 people. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies will carry out a census and registration of these populations and distribution of food and non-food packages will start immediately thereafter.
4. UGANDA
4.1 The refugee population in Uganda stands at 204,160 refugees, 176,780 being Sudanese refugees in settlements in north-western parts of the country and 27,380 are Rwandan and Congolese (ex-Zairian) refugees in camps in south-west Uganda. UNHCR has reported a new influx of 650 Rwandan refugees into Kisoro. This movement is associated with the recent upsurge in ethnic fighting in DR Congo along the border with Rwanda.
4.2 The ongoing exercise to transfer Sudanese refugees from Ogujebe transit centre to the Palorynia settlement in northern Uganda is likely to come to a halt due to insufficient potable water in the settlement. The few boreholes so far drilled are not enough to serve the expected number of refugees to be transferred. International Aid Sweden is presently drilling boreholes in Itula settlement, to where some Sudanese refugees will be moved.
4.3 Food distributions to displaced persons in Gulu, Kitgum and Bundibugyo continued during the past week. The security situation has worsened in all three locations with various incidents reported. In Gulu, the number of displaced people appearing for food distributions is reportedly far higher than the planning figure of 144,000.
E. CENTRAL AFRICA: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND REPUBLIC OF CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE)
1. UPDATE
1.1 Eastern DR Congo
a) The 8,000 displaced Congolese who fled from the Masisi area and sought refuge in Goma have now abandoned the two sites where they had been accommodated. As described above, some 3,300 are reported to have crossed into Gisenyi, Rwanda. The planned distribution of WFP food at the sites was cancelled. Distributions to participants of food-for-work schemes and special feeding programmes continued during the week.
b) The third repatriation barge arrived in Uvira from Kigoma in Tanzania on the morning of 16 September, with 586 Congolese refugees, bringing the total repatriated to 1,669. WFP provided food packages to the returnees as planned.
c) As a result of insecurity, monitoring and distribution activities in Bukavu were limited during the past week and only 39 metric tons of WFP food were distributed to 5,594 beneficiaries.
1.2 Kinshasa and Congo/Brazzaville
a) WFP Kinshasa distributed a total of 206 metric tons of food commodities from 8 to 14 September. WFP is currently assisting 55,615 beneficiaries, including Rwandan refugees in Congo/Brazzaville, refugees from Congo/Brazzaville and displaced Congolese (ex-Zairians). The number of refugees from Congo/Brazzaville has increased to 22,375, up from 16,618 in the previous week.
b) In order to cope with increasing food needs in Kinshasa and Congo/Brazzaville, WFP flew 85 metric tons of food into Kinshasa and approximately 50 metric tons to Point-Noire (Congo/Brazzaville) from stocks in Luanda, Angola. The aircraft, a Boeing 727, carried out a total of eight flights from 15 to 19 September (five to Kinshasa and three to Point-Noire). WFP will proceed with an additional five flights from Luanda to Point-Noire in the coming days. The quantity moved to Point-Noire will permit WFP to assist some 60,000 most vulnerable internally displaced persons for one month.
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 38 of 1997 - September 19, 1997)
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