Report No. 47 of 1997 Date: 21 November 1997This report includes: A) East Africa I - Floods: Somalia and Kenya B) East Africa II: Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda C) Central Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) D) Southern Africa: El Nino Watch E) Angola F) Afghanistan.
>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. EAST AFRICA I - FLOODS: SOMALIA AND KENYA.
1. Somalia a) Flood victims in southern Somalia face worsening situation, as Juba and Shabelle rivers merge. b) WFP Executive Director appeals for support from donors during visit to Somalia on 17 November. c) Logistics for the Somali flood operation are being coordinated by WFP. d) Deliveries of survival food supplies take place where possible; deliveries made in coordination with members of the Somalia Aid Coordination Body. e) Continued food assistance will be required by the flood-affected populations through to the August-September 1998 harvests.
2. Kenya a) Eastern border area of Kenya also faces severe difficulties due to flooding. b) Most affected districts are Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River and Lamu, where population is about 900,000. c) Government/UN/Donor/NGO mission led by WFP to overfly Tana River and southern Garissa districts and meet with local authorities on 24 November. d) Appeal expected from the Government of Kenya; appeal likely to include funding for aircraft and helicopters to move emergency supplies. e) Some 122,000 Somali, Ugandan, Ethiopian and Sudanese refugees have deserted their camps in Garissa district in north-eastern Kenya and moved to higher ground.
B. EAST AFRICA II: RWANDA, BURUNDI, TANZANIA AND UGANDA
1. Update a) Some 1,300 Rwandan refugees return to Rwanda from Burundi; WFP food convoys to Gisenyi postponed due to insecurity. b) In Burundi, over 10,000 persons recently displaced in the Buyengero commune, Bururi province; joint mission assesses situation of 14,000 displaced people in Rumonge in Bururi province. c) Repatriation of Congolese refugees from Kigoma in Tanzania to eastern parts of DR Congo to resume. d) Norwegian Refugee Council to take over food distributions to displaced Ugandans in the district of Gulu.
C. CENTRAL AFRICA: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND REPUBLIC OF CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE)
1. Update a) Humanitarian operations resume in Brazzaville. WFP food distributions to 20,000 vulnerable persons begin. b) In Brazzaville, WFP is UN focal point for logistics, food aid coordination, and communication infrastructure. c) In eastern DR Congo, over 1,000 Rwandan and Burundian refugees in Uvira and Ruzizi Plain forcibly repatriated.
D. SOUTHERN AFRICA: EL NINO WATCH
1. Update a) During stop-over in South Africa, WFP Executive Director speaks of likely effects of the El Nino phenomenon in southern Africa. b) WFP finalizes contingency plan for response to possible effects of El Nino in the southern Africa region, in collaboration with SADC and the US funded FEWS. c) WFP's El Nino Global Task Force will meet with representatives of the El Nino Task Forces of USAID and EU (DGVIII) in Rome in early December.
E. ANGOLA
1. Executive Director's visit a) WFP Executive Director arrives in Angola on for a five-day visit.
F. AFGHANISTAN
1. Update a) Some 160,000 people in Bamyan are in urgent need of emergency food assistance to cover three month lean period; due to embargo by Taliban on movement of relief supplies into the area from the south and absence of wheat for sale in local markets, WFP to purchase up to 3,000 tons of potatoes in Bamyan for local distribution. b) Inter-Agency Gender Mission completes its mission to Afghanistan and will report to donors in New York on 3 December at the Afghan Donor Support Group Meeting. c) First meeting held of Health Commission, composed of representatives of Taliban and of the UN/NGO community, to discuss access by women to all health facilities in Kabul.
PART II - DETAILS
A. EAST AFRICA I - FLOODS: SOMALIA AND KENYA.
1. SOMALIA - information as of 21 November
1.1 The situation continues to be critical for hundreds of thousands of flood victims in southern Somalia. The merging of the Juba and Shabelle rivers this week has formed flood plains more than 12 kilometers wide, worsening the humanitarian crisis and hindering relief access into affected areas. Furthermore, fighting flared up in Baidoa this past week, increasing concerns about the safety of humanitarian aid and rescue workers.
1.2 WFP Executive Director Catherine Bertini visited Somalia on 17 November, and appealed to donors to come forward with urgently needed additional resources for assistance to the affected areas. Donor response so far to the initial requirements for WFP logistics operations (for USD 2.5 million), under the recently launched Somalia Inter-Agency Coordinated Flood Response, has been encouraging.
1.3 WFP is the logistics coordinator for the Somali flood operation. WFP is operating a Buffalo and a Twin Otter aircraft, as well as a Hercules C130, which will be arriving shortly from Angola. Four helicopters have been hired commercially by UNICEF with a capacity of 1.5 tons each. These will be available for the delivery of emergency supplies as well as for rescue operations. Additional boats have been donated to UNICEF and WFP for the operation.
1.4 WFP is carrying out deliveries of survival food supplies wherever possible; deliveries made in coordination with UNICEF, ICRC, World Vision and other members of the Somalia Aid Coordination Body.
1.5 Supplies from WFP and World Vision International food stocks of 500 metric tons are being distributed between Sakow and Bu'alle along the Juba river through a local relief committee. Much of the flooded area from Bardera down the river (Middle Juba) was previously getting WFP food aid as drought relief. This food is now being directed to flood relief.
1.6 Personnel and survival food items are being deployed from other WFP operations to the Somalia flood relief operation. One radio technician and telecommunications equipment have been provided by WFP Kampala, together with various field kits. High-energy biscuits are being send by road from Kigali to Nairobi, from where they will be despatched to affected areas in Somalia. WFP has borrowed 2,000 metric tons of maize and 100 metric tons of corn-soya blend from the Great Lakes Regional operation for possible air-drops in the most inaccessible areas. Further loans from other WFP programmes in Africa are also being arranged.
1.7 Following air assessments throughout Somalia, experts anticipate a low harvest in the sorghum belt areas of Tieglo and Beletweyn as a result of the extended floods, and a decrease in the total area planted this year due to recurrent insecurity. Along the Shabelle river valley, crops will be destroyed if the water currently sitting in the fields does not recede in the next few days. Continued food assistance will be required by the flood-affected populations through to the August-September 1998 harvests. WFP Somalia is currently working on a strategy to address both immediate and medium-term needs.
2. KENYA - FLOOD SITUATION
2.1 Although it has attracted less attention than the flood situation in southern Somalia, the 800 km eastern border area of Kenya is also facing severe difficulties due to flooding. Much of the area has experienced up to ten times normal rainfall over the past month. Road transport has ground to a halt due to impassable flooded roads and washed out bridges and embankments. Even if the rain ceases now it will be at least a month before any normal transport links can resume.
2.2 The population of the most severely affected districts (Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River and Lamu) is about 900,000. The 175,000 people of Tana River district are considered to be most affected. The Tana, Kenya's largest river, has burst its banks in numerous places in the district and a flood peak is expected during the period 22-23 November.
3.3 WFP is leading a mission to overfly Tana River and southern Garissa districts on 24 November and hold discussions with authorities in these two districts. At this time the mission will comprise Government, UNDP, USAID, EU and CARE, together with WFP representatives.
4.4 The Government of Kenya has already declared a state of emergency in the above five districts, and in Marsabit, Moyale and the coast districts due to the floods. It is anticipated that the Government will launch an appeal to donors, which is likely to include funding for aircraft and helicopters to move emergency supplies. WFP has over 3,000 metric tons of cereals and pulses in stock from its existing emergency operation. At present it is not possible to move this food by road to the people who need it.
5.5 Updated information as of 22 November: It has been reported in the media that tens of thousands of refugees in north-eastern Kenya have deserted their camps because of the torrential rainfall of the past two weeks. Some 122,000 Somali, Ugandan, Ethiopian and Sudanese refugees fled three camps in Garissa district for higher ground after their makeshift homes were swamped by up to a metre of water. Latrine pits have been flooded, food stocks have been destroyed and shelters have collapsed in the heavy rain. All roads leading to the camps have been cut off by the flooding. An aid team arrived in the area by small plane on Saturday 22 November to investigate the damage.
B. EAST AFRICA II: RWANDA, BURUNDI, TANZANIA AND UGANDA
1. RWANDA
1.1 Approximately 1,300 Rwandan refugees returned to Rwanda from Burundi between 10 and 16 November. The returnees were taken to a solidarity camp where a one-week food ration was provided by WFP. After leaving the camp these persons will receive a three-month repatriation ration. During the same period, 27 Burundian refugees arrived in Rwanda.
1.2 Planned WFP food convoys to Gisenyi, north-western Rwanda, have been disrupted due to insecurity and are rescheduled for a later date. Nevertheless, between 10 and 16 November WFP dispatched 1,727 metric tons of food to various other destinations in Rwanda.
2. BURUNDI
2.1 Over 10,000 persons have recently been displaced in the Buyengero commune, Bururi province, fleeing from ongoing rebel activities and military operations in surrounding hills and forests. These persons are completely destitute, some sleeping in the local church and other under trees. Following a rapid assessment mission to the area, WFP has provided 16 metric tons of food for distribution through the local parish.
2.2 A joint mission comprising representatives from UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and donors, visited the lakeside town of Rumonge in Bururi province, for an assessment of the situation faced by some 14,000 displaced people gathered in three sites along the main road. WFP is providing food assistance which will be distributed by the NGO Equilibre.
3. TANZANIA
3.1 UNHCR and local authorities from DR Congo have agreed to resume the repatriation of Congolese refugees from Kigoma to eastern parts of DR Congo. It is planned that the remaining refugees be taken by boat directly to Baraka, south of Uvira, from where a large part of this refugee caseload in believed to originate.
4. UGANDA
4.1 WFP and the Norwegian Refugee Council have reached an agreement whereby NRC takes over food distributions to displaced Ugandans in the district of Gulu, and the management of the food stores at this WFP delivery point.
4.2 Some 270 malnourished children received supplementary and therapeutic feeding at Gulu and Lacor hospitals over the past week. Mothers now receive a dry food ration. All the in-patients at the Lacor hospital are benefiting from WFP food. Health units in Gulu also receive assistance from WFP for supplementary and therapeutic feeding. Some 2,000 children from vulnerable families are being fed one hot meal every day, in a programme run by the Church of Uganda, using WFP food.
C. CENTRAL AFRICA: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND REPUBLIC OF CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE)
1.1 Kinshasa and Congo/Brazzaville
a) Despite sporadic looting and gunfire, the situation in Brazzaville is improving and UN agencies and non-governmental organizations have resumed humanitarian operations in the city. A total of 13 different organizations are now operating in the area.
b) In Brazzaville, WFP is the UN focal point for logistics and food aid coordination as well as for communications. A WFP Kampala team has installed communication facilities, including electronic mail, serving WFP and UNICEF and similar facilities are being set up at the WHO regional office, which serves as headquarters for UN agencies and implementing partners in the city.
c) The distribution of a one-week WFP food ration to 20,000 vulnerable persons registered in Brazzaville started on 19 November. For this distribution, WFP has made available 80 metric tons of food which was ferried across the river from Kinshasa.
1.2 In eastern DR Congo, over a thousand Rwandan and Burundian refugees living in Uvira and the Ruzizi Plain were forcibly repatriated to their home countries on 10 November.
D. SOUTHERN AFRICA: EL NINO WATCH
1. UPDATE
1.1 During a stop-over in South Africa on her way to Angola, the WFP Executive Director held a press conference on the likely effects of the El Nino phenomenon.
1.2 At least 27 million people live in high drought risk areas in Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. WFP's initial estimates indicate that in the event of an El Nino induced drought, more than five million people would need emergency food aid from international donors from early 1998 until the next harvest.
1.3 To tackle the potentially devastating effects of El Nino in southern Africa, WFP has just finalized its contingency plan for the region in collaboration with SADC, member states and the US funded Famine Early Warning System (FEWS).
1.4 On December 4 and 5, representatives of the El Nino Task Forces of USAID and EU (DGVIII) will meet in Rome with the representatives of WFP's El Nino Global Task Force.
E. ANGOLA
1. WFP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S VISIT
1.1 The WFP Executive Director arrived in Angola on 19 November for a five-day visit. She is scheduled to meet with various government officials as well as the UN Special Representative to the Secretary-General. The Executive Director will also make field trips to the provinces of Malange and Benguela, where she will visit WFP reintegration projects and projects for displaced persons.
F. AFGHANISTAN
1. UPDATE
1.1 North-central Afghanistan - Bamyan
a) WFP recently completed an assessment mission in Bamyan, one of the poorest provinces in Afghanistan, in the north-central part of the country. The area is food deficit in normal years, but recently has been extremely hard hit because of an embargo imposed by the Taliban. This embargo was instituted in May 1997 and has restricted the movement of trucks carrying food and other essential supplies into the area from the south. WFP and NGOs estimate that there are 160,000 people in Bamyan in urgent need of 7,200 tons of emergency food assistance to carry them through a three month lean period.
b) WFP attempted to supply Bamyan via the northern routes controlled by the opposition groups but was not successful, because of the recent fighting in the area and the looting of all WFP stocks in Mazar and Hairaton. An airlift of some 2,000 metric tons of food from Termez (Uzbekistan) is now being considered by WFP, but clearance has not yet been granted by the Uzbek authorities; there is also concern that under this option only small amounts of food can be delivered at a time, at an extremely high cost.
c) On 21 November, the WFP Executive Director appealed to Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid, Head of the Taliban movement, to allow WFP convoys to transport up to 5,000 tons of wheat from Kabul to Bamyan via Ghazni. Updated information as of 24 November: a WFP convoy of trucks left Peshawar (Pakistan) this morning carrying 600 tons of food to be pre-positioned in Kabul in the event that clearance to move the food by road via the south is granted by the Taliban authorities.
d) Owing to a shortage of wheat in the area for local purchases, WFP will purchase up to 3,000 tons of potatoes in Bamyan for local distribution. With the winter rapidly approaching, which will render many of the roads in the area impassable, WFP is seeking cash contributions from donors for this immediate response which is urgently needed.
1.2 The Inter-Agency Gender Mission has just completed its mission to Afghanistan and will provide a verbal report to donors in New York on 3 December at the Afghan Donor Support Group Meeting organized by Norway. The draft mission report is expected to be made available later in December.
1.3 Health Sector: On 18 November the first meeting of the Health Commission, chaired by the Deputy Minister of Public Health, Mr. Rabbani was held. Present at the meeting were the Presidents of the Supreme Court and Department for the Prevention of Vice and Preservation of Virtue, who represented the Taliban authorities and UNOCHA, WHO, ICRC and Action Contre la Faim, who represented the UN/NGO community. The focus of the meeting was continued access by women to all health facilities in Kabul, as agreed earlier by the Head of the Taliban Shura, and as had been the case prior to July 1997. Women are not in fact being granted equal access to some hospitals.
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 47 of 1997 - November 21, 1997)
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