Report No. 50 of 1997 Date: 12 December 1997This report includes: A) El Nino: Central America B) East and Central Africa: Kenya, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo C) Afghanistan D) Iraq.
>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: CENTRAL AMERICA
1. WFP emergency operation for families affected by El Nino in Central America a) El Nino meteorological phenomenon has caused both drought and floods in countries of the Pacific area of Central America. b) WFP appeals for USD 9.4 million in emergency food aid (19,566 metric tons) to assist 323,000 affected people in remote and rugged areas of Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama. Proposed beneficiaries are in marginal rainfall areas, in communities that already suffer from extreme poverty. c) Appeal follows joint missions to the affected areas by WFP, UNICEF, FAO, UNDP and USAID to assess needs.
B. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: KENYA, SOMALIA, RWANDA, BURUNDI, UGANDA AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1. Kenya
a) Serious flood situation continues in Wajir, Garissa and Tana River; in Wajir district, cut off since mid-October, Oxfam distributes 200 metric tons of WFP food; 700 metric tons remains in stock. Some commercial supplies flow in by merchants. b) Situation still deteriorating in some areas of worst affected areas of North Eastern Province. Flood peaks in Liboi; water still moving into Somalia. c) Flooding in the lower Tana River (southern Tana River district and Lamu) escalating. Mobilization of small boats is priority for relief agencies. d) The 124,000 mainly Somali refugees in the Dadaab camps (110 km north-east of Garissa) are still totally isolated. Air bridge is high priority.
2. Somalia
a) Floods recede around Bardera, but flooding in Marere and Jamaame (60 km north of Kismayo) on the lower Juba worsens. Main priorities still shelter, blankets, fishing gear and medical supplies. Greatest food needs will develop in early January. b) Water expected to be slow to recede in the lower Juba; confluence of the Shabelle and the Juba now an inland sea covering many square kilometres. c) Significant supplies of relief food will be needed in the Lower Juba until the end of March; crops planted in receding flood waters will be harvested in March/April. d) Flood peak expected at Afmadow in five days time, e) WFP begins airdrops; food is being distributed by NGOs and local leaders.
3. Rwanda a) At least 231 Tutsi refugees were killed and 207 wounded in an attack by Hutu rebels on Mudende refugee camp in north-west Rwanda on 11 December.
4. Burundi a) European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), confirms funding for the restarting of the internal air operation in Burundi.
5. Uganda a) New wave of insurgency affects West Nile region. b) Road condition in Bundibugyo deteriorate due to heavy rains; town cut off due to flooding, hampering food deliveries to 55,000 displaced Ugandans.
6. Eastern DR Congo a) Access to areas outside of Goma remains barred to aid agencies. Some 6,000 Rwandans reported to have crossed border from Rwanda and are gathered near the old refugee camp of Kibumba, some 20 km north of Goma.
C. AFGHANISTAN
1. Update a) Antonov 32 for the airlift to Bamyan arrives in Karachi on 14 December. b) WFP steps up local purchase of surplus potato crop in Bamyan province and surrounding Hazara areas. Distributions now focus on remote Waras district.
D. IRAQ
1. Update a) Iraq officially agrees to memorandum of understanding that provides for a six-month extension of the oil-for-food agreement but suspends pumping of oil until the UN approves the new distribution plan. b) December food ration will be reduced due to low stocks of commodities currently in Iraq under the second phase of the oil-for-food agreement. c) Contributions to WFP's emergency operation needed to sustain support to the newly displaced in the north and other vulnerable groups across the country.
PART II - DETAILS
A. EL NINO: CENTRAL AMERICA
1. WFP emergency operation for families affected by El Nino
1.1 The El Nino meteorological phenomenon has disrupted the rainfall pattern in the countries of the Pacific area of Central America, causing both drought and floods, and adversely affecting the 1997/98 main cereal and bean crops. Areas particularly affected are the dry areas of north western Nicaragua, the dry provinces of central Panama, eastern El Salvador, south-east Honduras, and eastern Guatemala. Most of Central America had insufficient rainfall during the second and third quarters of 1997, the main planting season, and in certain areas, there were subsequent floods. El Nino has also affected fisheries and livestock, while the flooding has damaged wells, dams, irrigation systems, canals and access roads.
1.2 WFP has appealed for USD 9.4 million in emergency food aid for farmers and their families in the region. Under the emergency operation (EMOP NIC 5949) it is planned that food aid is to go to 323,000 people who live in remote and rugged areas of Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama. WFP will provide a total of 19,566 metric tons of emergency food rations to affected families to tide them over until their next harvest.
1.3 Most of the proposed beneficiaries live in marginal rainfall areas, in communities that are already suffering from extreme poverty, and are engaged in subsistence farming on poor soils and have little access to credit, seeds, fertilizer or technical assistance. Two types of beneficiaries will be assisted: i) farmers who have no permanent access to land, and are either sharecroppers or labourers in larger farms, and ii) subsistence farmers who own plots smaller than 2 hectares, with low quality soils, in steep terrain. The breakdown of beneficiary numbers per country is as follows: Nicaragua 145,500; Honduras 25,000; El Salvador 22,500; Guatemala 50,000; Panama 80,000.
1.4 The EMOP involves support to both relief and rehabilitation. WFP will provide farmers with food in exchange for work on irrigation systems and soil and water conservation projects that will make them less vulnerable to drought and floods in the future.
1.5 The WFP appeal follows joint missions to the affected areas by WFP, UNICEF, FAO, UNDP and USAID to assess the emergency and the extent of the food and other aid needed.
1.6 Background information on the Web: on the FAO/GIEWS Web site at http://www.fao.org (then click Economics, then GIEWS, then Special Reports) can be found the Special Report on El Nino's Impact on Crop Production in Latin America, of 25 November 1997. See also the Latin American Network Information Center at the University of Texas: http://www.lanic.utexas.edu/ and, via the Web site of the University of Michigan Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, a link to Latin America: Subject Resources http://www.si.umich.edu/~rlwls/andes.html
B. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: KENYA, SOMALIA, RWANDA, BURUNDI, UGANDA AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1. KENYA AND SOMALIA - FLOODS
The following are field observations by the WFP Regional Manager, based on a visit to some of the flood-affected areas of eastern Kenya and southern Somalia on 11 and 12 December:
1.1 Kenya
a) The Kenyan Government authorities in Wajir, Garissa and Tana River are heavily engaged in the relief response to the serious flood situation.
b) Wajir district has been cut off from the rest of Kenya from mid-October. On 4 December there were disturbances in the town over shortages of commodities. Two days later over 100 metric tons of supplies are reported to have been flown in by commercial traders, alleviating the situation at least for wage and salary earners.
c) Oxfam has distributed about 200 metric tons of WFP food in the area in the past week. About 700 metric tons remains in stock. This stock is expected to be distributed in the next 20 days, and will need to be replenished by air.
d) It will be at least two months before Wajir has road access to southern Kenya. However, given drier conditions, road access to the north (Moyale and Mandera) could open up in 10 days. Wajir was reported to have had 50 successive wet days up to 6/7 December. Between then and 11 December there had been five days without rain.
e) The worst affected areas of North Eastern Province are outlying areas of southern, western and eastern Wajir district, Wajir town (sanitation and health risks), Mandera district (at the "end of the line", therefore many supplies running low), and the northern most and southern most parts of Garissa district. The situation is still deteriorating in some areas. The flood peak in Liboi (180 km north-east of Garissa) appears to have been recorded on 12 December. It is clear water flooding suggesting a slow movement of huge amounts of water which has fallen as torrential rain further up country over the past eight weeks. This water is still moving into Somalia, adding to the problems in the Lower Juba.
f) The flooding in the lower Tana River (southern Tana River district and Lamu) is now of serious proportions. It has escalated appreciably since the last UN over-flight 17 days ago. A priority for relief agencies here is to mobilize small boats. The Malindi-Garissa trunk road has been severely damaged and is unlikely to be passable for 6-8 weeks at least.
g) The 124,000 mainly Somali refugees in the Dadaab camps (110 km north-east of Garissa) are still totally isolated. Initiation of an air bridge with at least one dedicated aircraft is now of very high priority. WFP is responsible for the movement by air of some 890 MT of food before the end of December and a further 990 MT before 15 January. In addition WFP will assist UNHCR and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to move by air the non food items for which they are responsible.
1.2 Somalia
a) While flood waters are receding fast around Bardera, the flooding in places like Marere and Jamaame (60 km north of Kismayo) on the lower Juba was still inching upwards on 12 December. The main priorities are still shelter, blankets and fishing gear for the flood displaced. Medical supplies are also needed. Some people need food now, but greater food needs are likely to develop in 20 days time, around the beginning of January. There is scope for fishing for many riverine people, who need more twine to make nets and also lines and hooks. People speaking of the last great flood in 1961 refer to it as a time of general difficulty due to stinking, stagnant water, rather than of acute hunger.
b) Water will be slow to recede in the lower Juba. The confluence of the Shabelle and the Juba is now an inland sea covering many square kilometres. A flood of this magnitude was last experienced in the area even earlier than 1961.
c) Significant supplies of relief food will be needed in the Lower Juba until the end of March. As much as 80 percent of this may have to be delivered by air in January. Thereafter an increasing proportion should be deliverable by boat and road. People are adept at planting crops in receding flood waters and should get some new harvest in March/April.
d) Recent aerial photographs of Afmadow show tips of the roofs of even permanent structures half a metre under clear flood water. The Liboi flood peak noted above (Kenya) is still moving down to Afmadow, and is expected to reach there in about five days time (as of 14 December) .
1.3 Other recent information on WFP operations in Somalia:
a) WFP began airdrops to flood victims in Somalia on 10 December, dropping food to people in Garbahare. A total of 110,000 people are to be reached over the next month under this operation, which will involve the airdropping of 1,000 metric tons of cereals and beans. Food is being distributed by NGOs and local leaders.
b) A fleet of seven WFP leased aircraft and two helicopters are based in Garissa and Mombassa, Kenya, and are carrying out regular food and non-food item deliveries to locations such as Merka, El Wak, Dadab, Garbahare and Kismayu. Twenty boats are deployed to various locations as required to bring supplies to beneficiaries.
1.4 New WFP EMOPs (emergency operations) reflecting the needs for food, non-food items and logistics support, for both Kenya and Somalia are currently being finalized by the respective country offices, and appeals will be issued shortly.
1.5 Maps showing the flood-affected areas can be found on the Web at DHA's ReliefWeb at http://www.reliefweb.int/mapc/afr_horn/index.html Also available at this site are maps showing administrative boundaries for both Somalia and Kenya.
2. RWANDA
2.1 DHA/IRIN reported on 12 December that UNHCR had stated that at least 231 Tutsi refugees were killed and 207 wounded in an attack by Hutu rebels on Mudende refugee camp in north-west Rwanda on 11 December. The camp, which is in Gisenyi prefecture, housed some 17,000 refugees mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ninety percent of the wounded taken to Gisenyi hospital had machete wounds. Survivors of the attack fled to Nkamira and Gisenyi town.
2.2 WFP has shipped via Lake Kivu 200 metric tons of food from Gisenyi to Kibuye for distribution to vulnerable populations, food-for-work participants and beneficiaries of nutritional programmes. This arrangement follows the insecurity situation prevailing in north-western areas of Rwanda. A similar operation is also planned from Cyangugu to Kibuye.
3. BURUNDI
3.1 The European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), has confirmed funding for the restarting of the internal air operation in Burundi. WFP expects flights to recommence late in the week beginning 15 December. The funding being made available is expected to cover four months of operations.
3.2 For maps of Burundi and other countries in the Great Lakes Region see UNHCR's RefWorld at http://www.unhcr.ch/refworld/refworld.htm See also the map section of ReliefWeb http://www.reliefweb.int which includes a series of recently updated maps showing numbers and location of refugees and displaced persons per country, dated 8 December 1997.
4. UGANDA
4.1 A new wave of insurgency is affecting the West Nile region; Sudanese refugees in Imvepi settlement are demanding to be transferred from the current location to a new site. In Palorinya, aid agencies operating in the area have now resumed their activities, commuting from Pakkele whenever the situation allows. In total, camps and settlements in this region hold over 63,000 Sudanese refugees. UNHCR recently released revised figures for the total Sudanese refugee caseload in Uganda, based on the registration exercise in October. The planning figure now stands at 165,000.
4.2 In Bundibugyo, western Uganda, road conditions have seriously deteriorated due to heavy rains and the town has been cut off due to flooding. This is hampering food deliveries to the area where 55,000 displaced Ugandans are still gathered. Action Aid plans to resettle this caseload before the end of the year.
5. EASTERN DR CONGO
5.1 Access to areas outside of Goma remains barred to aid agencies but the WFP and World Vision trucks that had been requisitioned have been returned. Some 6,000 Rwandans are reported to have crossed the border from Rwanda and are gathered, without shelter, near the old refugee camp of Kibumba, some 20 km north of Goma.
5.2 The situation in Bukavu is reported to be back to normal after fighting which occurred on 10 December.
C. AFGHANISTAN
1. UPDATE (most information as of 11 December)
1.1 Update, 14 December: an Antonov 32 which is to be used for the airlift to Bamyan arrived in Karachi on 14 December. Permission to use Peshawar airport for the airlift has been obtained, as has permission from the Taliban to overfly territory under their control. Items to be moved to Bamyan on the first flight include a mobile storage unit (Rubbhall), empty bags for bagging locally purchased potatoes, and a vehicle. Subsequent flights will ferry wheat and small quantities of vegetable oil and high-energy biscuits.
1.2 Wheat is slowly moving towards Bamyan using the northern land route from Termez via Hairatan and Pulikhumri; 150 tons of wheat have been dispatched and are currently in Pulikhumri (Baghlan province) on the way to Bamyan under an armed escort of the Hezbe Wahdat (Northern Alliance). Another 250 tons were due to leave Termez for Hairatan on December 12. A total of 1,030 tons of wheat purchased in Kazakhstan has arrived in WFP stores in Termez and will be drawn upon for this operation.
1.3 In Bamyan province and surrounding Hazara areas, WFP has stepped up its local purchase of the surplus potato crop. So far approximately 3,000 tons of potatoes have been purchased and distributed, and negotiations are underway to purchase another 2,000 tons. Distributions have taken place in Bamyan, Yakawlang, Lal and Panjao. WFP is now focusing attention on remote and difficult to access Waras district, where about 15 percent of the 82,000 identified people in need have been reached so far. In total, out of the planned beneficiaries of 159,000 people in the region, 78,000 have been assisted.
1.4 For maps of Afghanistan on the Web, see ReliefWeb (http://www.reliefweb.int) and the Map Collection of the quick references section of the University of Texas Library on line, at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Reference.html (includes a map of ethnolinguistic groups in Afghanistan)
D. IRAQ
1.1 On 8 December, Iraq officially agreed to the memorandum of understanding that provides for a six-month extension of the oil-for-food agreement. However, Iraq's Foreign Minister announced that Iraq would suspend the pumping of oil until the UN approves the new distribution plan for the third phase of the agreement. UN agencies, including WFP, have begun consultations with Iraqi officials to discuss various aspects of the distribution plan. The plan is to be submitted by Iraq to the UN by 5 January.
1.2 Commodities currently in Iraq under the second phase of the oil-for-food agreement are very low. As a result, the December food ration will be reduced. Rations of pulses, vegetable ghee, tea and soap will be reduced in both the centre/ south and the north. All other items will be distributed at planned levels.
1.3 WFP has not yet faced any major impediment to its food distribution in the north, despite reports of a Turkish troop advance in the mountainous Kharqurk region. Over 16,000 displaced persons have now fled fighting in Northern Iraq. WFP has provided newly displaced persons with a one-time emergency ration and has assisted them to become re-registered for their SCR 986 ration. Contributions to WFP's emergency operation are required to replenish stocks and sustain support to the newly displaced and other vulnerable groups across the country.
1.4 An extensive set of maps of Iraq are part of the Map Collection of Univ of Texas Library on line, at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Reference.html
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 50 of 1997 - December 12, 1997)
distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: listproc@vita.org sitreps nat-dsr appeal fireline web: www.vita.org dprk - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - World Food Program Reports: http://www.vita.org/disaster/wfp