Report No. 43 of 1997 Date: 24 October 1997This report includes: A) El Nino Watch B) East Africa: Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya C) Central Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) D) West Africa: Sierra Leone E) Resourcing Update.
>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. EL NINO WATCH
1. Global monitoring a) Global task force on El Nino set up by WFP for coordinated response to the worsening ecological threat posed by the El Nino weather phenomenon.
B. EAST AFRICA: RWANDA, BURUNDI, UGANDA, SUDAN AND KENYA
1. Rwanda a) WFP truck driver killed in attack at check point on Kigali-Kibuye road. b) Late rains and insecurity expected to affect January harvest. c) WFP requested to provide food assistance for 1.4 million people in coming months. d) Assessments in Kibungo province show serious food needs.
2. Burundi a) Funding needed if WFP internal air operation to continue beyond 10 November. Operation serves humanitarian operations in locations which are otherwise difficult or impossible to access. USD 63,570 a month required.
3. Uganda a) Security situation stable in Bundibugyo and surrounding areas. Onset of rains hampers food deliveries. b) Authorities in Gulu plan to merge various camps for displaced persons to increase their safety.
4. Sudan a) Malnutrition among displaced persons has been reported in Kagwada, Kalipapa, Lugware and Wonduruba areas in Juba county. b) Fighting around Juba continues to disrupt humanitarian operations.
5. Kenya a) WFP drought emergency operation in Kenya expanded through to 15 January 1998; donor pledges required towards total food commitment of 6,638 metric tons of cereals. b) Estimates of long rains crop down following dry spell in September.
C. CENTRAL AFRICA: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND REPUBLIC OF CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE)
1. Update a) UN/NGO assessment team arrives in Brazzaville on 21 October. People reported to be returning to southern and northern parts of the city. WFP stocks in Kinshasa are being increased to cover possible distributions in Congo/Brazzaville: 52 metric tons lentils airlifted from Luanda to Kinshasa and some 40 metric tons of high-energy biscuits to be airlifted from Kampala. b) Actual camp population of Congo/Brazzaville refugees at Kinkole camp found to be one-third of registered number. c) In eastern DR Congo, security conditions in Goma stable; border with Rwanda reopens.
D. WEST AFRICA: SIERRA LEONE
1. Update - Sierra Leone a) Agreement reached with Sierra Leone's military rulers to restore power to civilian president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah by 22 April 1998. Six-point plan drawn up at meeting sponsored by ECOWAS in Guinea.
E. GENERAL
1. Resourcing update a) Selected WFP emergency and protracted relief operations with priority resourcing needs are listed below.
PART II - DETAILS
A. EL NINO WATCH
1. GLOBAL MONITORING - WFP GOBAL TASK FORCE ON EL NINO
1.1 WFP has established a global task force to provide a coherent and coordinated response to the worsening ecological threat posed by the El Nino weather phenomenon.
1.2 At present, there are signs of drought of varying intensity in Central America, China and Papua New Guinea. In southern Africa, there are acute fears of diminished rainfall, despite the early arrival of the rains in some parts of the region.
1.3 The WFP global task force will be based in Rome. It will evaluate the world-wide impact of El Nino in the poorest countries, prioritize and coordinate response strategies and mobilize resources from donor countries. A key task will be to ensure coherent, cohesive preparedness and response, including dissemination of accurate information.
1.4 The task force will also serve as a focal point for international community and national technical agencies for information sharing on food aid needs, pipeline management, port and transport infrastructures.
1.5 In 1992-93, WFP, along with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), coordinated relief efforts prompted by an earlier weather disruption by El Nino in the southern part of the African continent. At that time, WFP's logistical coordination and infrastructure played a major role in enabling the international community to deliver over 11 million metric tons of food (including 1.6 million tons of emergency food aid) into the region.
B. EAST AFRICA: RWANDA, BURUNDI, UGANDA, SUDAN AND KENYA
1. RWANDA
1.1 The driver of a WFP truck transporting emergency food was killed during an attack at a check point along the Kigali-Kibuye road on 21 October. The truck was set on fire and 15 metric tons of food, sufficient to feed 1,500 people for a month, were lost. The truck, clearly marked with the United Nations emblem, had had to drop out of the military escort accompanying the convoy, due to mechanical problems. This is the second time that vehicles carrying relief aid have been attacked on the Kibuye road. In Kibuye province, WFP is presently providing seed protection food rations to 70,000 farmers and is assisting 13,640 refugees from DR Congo.
1.2 The late arrival of the rains for the main agricultural season, coupled with insecurity in some of the most important producing areas such as Ruhengeri and Gisenyi provinces, is expected to have a negative impact on the harvest of January 1998. Production levels are also expected to be below average in neighbouring Masisi in DR Congo, a traditional breadbasket for both eastern DR Congo and Rwanda. WFP has been requested to provide food assistance for a total of 1.4 million people in Rwanda in the coming months.
1.3 Food distributions during the past week remained high, at 2,180 metric tons. To date, WFP has also delivered 3,000 metric tons of seed protection rations, in a programme which will continue during November and December. The seed protection programme has faced delays in some prefectures due to the need to use military escorts and delays in the arrival of agricultural inputs.
1.4 WFP has agreed to provide 1,370 metric tons of emergency food assistance to five communes of Kibungo province, following a request from the local authorities and a food needs assessment mission. WFP field reports from this area indicate that most of the households visited were found to have very little food reserves.
2. BURUNDI
2.1 Household food economy assessments continue in Kirundo province, at centres for displaced populations. Following a similar exercise carried out in Kayanza, WFP has agreed to provide emergency food rations to groups of displaced persons in this province.
2.2 WFP will be forced to suspend its internal air operation on 10 November, as funding is about to be exhausted. This operation, ongoing since June 1995 with the support of various donors, serves locations in the interior of the country which, due to insecurity, are otherwise difficult or impossible to access. To date, 15,500 passengers and 210 metric tons of relief supplies have been shuttled between Bujumbura and the interior using the WFP Twin Otter. The funding required to continue this service amounts to USD 63,570 a month, or USD 763,000 a year.
3. UGANDA
3.1 Aid agencies are continuing preparations for the distribution of return packages to displaced Ugandans in Bundibugyo and surrounding areas. There are an estimated 78,000 displaced people in the area and Action Aid is carrying out a new registration exercise. The security situation remained stable during the week but the onset of the rains has begun to hamper food deliveries.
3.2 Various security incidents were reported in Gulu, including the destruction of a CARE truck by a land mine. Local authorities plan to merge various camps for displaced persons in order to ensure their safety. Insecurity in the district is also resulting in long delays of trucks destined to Adjumani, further north.
3.3 WFP's current emergency operation, EMOP 5816, is under review, and is expected to be expanded with an increased commitment of food to cover the needs of the displaced population. Insecurity in northern Uganda has resulted in an increase in the number of internally displaced persons. Lack of access to agricultural land remains a problem.
3.4 For more details on the situation of the displaced, and historical background, readers are advised to consult the report entitled "The Anguish of Northern Uganda - Results of a field-based assessment of the civil conflicts in northern Uganda", by Robert Gersony. Submitted to the United States Embassy, Kampala, and USAID Mission, Kampala, August 1997. The report can be found on the Internet at the ReliefWeb site at http://www.reliefweb.int (posted by ReliefWeb on 2 October 1997).
4. SUDAN
4.1 Malnutrition among concentrated groups of displaced persons has been reported in Kagwada, Kalipapa, Lugware and Wonduruba areas in Juba county. Earlier this month WFP delivered food aid to 8,500 internally displaced persons in Lugware and Wonduruba, and is currently seeking Government clearance to assess other areas along Yei-Juba road. Additional food aid is being forwarded to Yei for delivery as soon as clearance is received.
4.2 Fighting along the Government of Sudan/SPLA front line, around Juba, continues to jeopardize humanitarian efforts in the area, mainly in view of inaccessibility due to insecurity and lack of Government clearance for movement of personnel and food.
4.3 WFP delivered some 375 metric tons of food assistance to 97,000 vulnerable beneficiaries in the southern sector during the past week, with an additional 1,300 beneficiaries receiving food through WFP-supported food-for-work projects, and supplementary and in-patient feeding programmes implemented in collaboration with non-governmental organizations. This bring the total figure for the month of October to 1,436 metric tons delivered to 195,700 beneficiaries through the southern corridor.
5. KENYA
5.1 WFP's drought emergency operation in Kenya has been expanded through to 15 January 1998 to permit further recovery for the drought-affected people in North-Eastern and Eastern provinces. The expansion will cover about 391,000 people through general distribution and 151,000 school children through the expanded school feeding programme. The total food commitment for the expansion is 6,638 metric tons of cereals. Contributions for all this amount are still required.
5.2 Due to a dry spell in September, WFP Nairobi reports that it is now estimated that the long rains crop will be lower than the previous Government estimate of 2.16 million metric tons. Assuming an average production of 360,000 metric tons for the short rains crop which is now being planted, Kenya is likely to need to import at least 600,000 metric tons of cereals to meet needs between now and the September 1998 harvest.
5.3 Currently no additional food aid is contemplated. However, the short rains, which have just started, are critical. The outlook of the short rains harvest, expected in February 1998, will be kept under review by WFP.
C. CENTRAL AFRICA: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND REPUBLIC OF CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE)
1.1 Kinshasa and Congo/Brazzaville
a) A joint UN/NGO team landed in Brazzaville on Tuesday, 21 October, for a three-day visit to asses the immediate requirements of the city's population. The situation is described as still chaotic but people who had fled the city are reported to be returning to the less damaged southern and northern parts. The 2,000 Rwandan refugees at Bilolo are still in the area. During this visit WFP will determine the need for a food intervention in the city.
b) WFP is boosting stocks in Kinshasa in readiness for distribution as required. A total of 52 metric tons of lentils have been airlifted from Luanda to Kinshasa aboard a Boeing 727 and WFP is also planning to airlift some 40 metric tons of high energy biscuits from Kampala.
c) As of 19 October there were 36,530 refugees from Congo/Brazzaville in Kinkole camp and Kinshasa. UNHCR has carried out a verification exercise that revealed that only 10,400 refugees (or 28 percent) were living in the refugee camp. The number of arrivals has now decreased to an average of 100 refugees per day. Other sources suggest that there have been no crossings from Congo/Brazzaville for several weeks, thus arrivals are people already in DR Congo.
d) Clarification: In WFP Emergency Report no. 42, out of date information was given that stated that over 5,000 refugees at Kinkole camp were without any shelter. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has informed WFP that all of the camp population are properly sheltered.
e) As of 24 October the border between DR Congo and Congo/Brazzaville was still closed.
f) The distribution of WFP food rations to 60,000 displaced Congolese in Pointe Noire and neighbouring areas has now been completed. A WFP staff member remained in the area throughout the whole period, thus ensuring that the food distributions reached those in need.
g) The WFP-hired barge Kalesha finally reached Kinshasa on 16 October, after a two month voyage. The barge had left Kisangani on 16 August and the delay in arriving at the destination was due to low water levels of the Zaire River. Some 23 metric tons of food, out of the total 80 metric tons on board, were discharged at Loukulela.
1.2 Eastern DR Congo
a) Security conditions in Goma were stable during the week and the border with Rwanda has been opened. WFP carried out distributions to a group of 241 displaced Congolese in town, to 764 food-for-work participants along the western axis and to 4,872 beneficiaries in hospitals and nutritional centres. A total of 31 metric tons of food was distributed during the week.
b) Between 13 and 19 October, WFP Bukavu delivered 97 metric tons of food benefiting 7,110 persons. It had been planned that WFP would assist some 36,000 beneficiaries during the month of October but this target cannot be reached due to insecurity, poor road conditions, exacerbated by the onset of the rainy season, and lacking capacity on the part of local partners. Monitoring activities remain restricted to town.
D. WEST AFRICA: SIERRA LEONE
1. UPDATE - SIERRA LEONE
1.1 At peace talks in Conakry, Guinea, on 23 October, Sierra Leone's military rulers agreed to restore power to civilian president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. According to a communique from the meeting, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Committee of Five and the representative of the junta have adopted a peace plan for Sierra Leone, under which ousted president Kabbah will return to power by 22 April 1998. Under the six-point plan endorsed by AFRC leader Johnny Paul Koroma, provisions were made for an immediate ceasefire, disarmament and demobilisation of combatants, the restoration of the constitutional government and broadening of the power base, amnesty for those involved in the May coup, return of refugees and displaced persons and the commencement of delivery of humanitarian aid.
E. GENERAL
1. SUMMARY OF THE RESOURCING SITUATION FOR SELECTED WFP EMERGENCY AND PROTRACTED RELIEF OPERATIONS
1.1 The following operations are current resourcing priorities for WFP, as discussed at a donor consultation meeting in Rome on 23 October. For each country, details are given for the tonnage still required and value. For the EMOPs, a percentage shows current shortfall compared to adjusted net 1997 needs; for PROs, the percentage is for shortfall against 1998 needs. For several EMOPs extending into 1998, and for all PROs, commitments are urgently needed now to cover the needs of early 1998.
1.2 Current highest priority Emergency Operations (EMOPs) - with shortfalls against 1997 needs, unless otherwise specified:
Ethiopia EMOP 5886.00 - 31,920 mt - US$ 13.2 million - 91 % shortfall (EMOP recently approved). Shortfall includes 5,776 mt advanced from WFP Immediate Response Account (IRA) funds, pending directed pledges by donors Armenia EMOP 5301.02 - 6,130 mt - US$ 3.4 million - 62 % shortfall Iraq EMOP 5311.06 - 11,980 mt - US$ 6.2 million - 54 % shortfall Georgia EMOP 5315.03 - 3,530 mt - US$ 1.8 million - 45 % shortfall
Other priority EMOPs:
Kenya EMOP 5803.01 - 6,640 mt - US$ 3.5 million - 21% shortfall. Shortfall includes IRA advance for 2,400 mt Laos EMOP 5823.00 - 14,000 mt - US$ 7 million - 46 % shortfall. Shortfall includes IRA advance for 7,436 mt
1.3 Current highest priority Protracted Relief Operations (PROs) - with shortfalls against 1998 needs:
Nepal PRO 5324.02 - 19,380 mt - US$ 16.4 million - 100 % shortfall. Operation scheduled to start in January 1998 Angola PRO 5602.02 - 69,350 mt - US$ 56.6 million - 87 % shortfall Cambodia PRO 5483.03 - 27,790 mt - US$ 15.6 million - 41 % shortfall Zambia PRO 5428.03 - 1,300 mt - US$ 0.7 million - 35 % shortfall Algeria PRO 4155.07 - 4,190 mt - US$ 2.5 million - 74 % shortfall
Other priority PROs:
Mali Regional PRO 5804.00 - 6,935 mt - US$ 6.2 million - 45 % shortfall. Funding required to cover local purchases of millet and sorghum for distribution next year. Marketing period is September to March.
Liberia PRO 4604.05 and Sierra Leone PRO 5802 both show cash shortfalls of approximately US$ 1.5 million each.
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 43 of 1997 - October 24, 1997)
distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: listproc@vita.org sitreps nat-dsr appeal fireline web: www.vita.org rwanda dprk - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - World Food Program Reports: http://www.vita.org/disaster/wfp