Report No. 17 of 1998 Date: 24 April 1998This report includes: A) Sudan B) Indonesia C) Afghanistan D) Iraq E) East and Central Africa: Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.
>From Manuel Aranda da Silva, Chief, Technical Support Service. Available on the Internet on the WFP Home Page at http://www.wfp.org/ or by electronic mail from Deborah.Hicks@wfp.org (fax 39 6 6513 2837). For information on 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. The address of WFP is Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, Parco dei Medici, Rome 00148.
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. SUDAN
1. Update - incorporates information as of 28 April a) Critical food security situation continues in the Bahr el-Ghazal region; an estimated 350,000 people in Bahr el-Ghazal are urgently in need of food assistance. b) Clearance granted by the Government of Sudan for an additional Hercules C130 to operate from the Lokichoggio air base in Kenya, doubling WFP airdropping capacity. c) WFP currently seeking clearance from the Government of Sudan for an additional two C130 aircraft to operate from Lokichoggio, an additional Buffalo aircraft (ex-Lokichoggio) and one C130 aircraft to operate from El Obeid. d) Fleet of all-wheel drive trucks to be set up by WFP, operating out of Lokichoggio and Koboko, Uganda, to intensify road deliveries to Bahr el-Ghazal and Eastern and Western Equatoria. Advancing rainy season will make road transport difficult. e) WFP food stocks for southern Sudan available in Lokichoggio and Mombasa. f) Serious food shortages also reported in Upper Nile and Equatoria; no WFP/OLS assessment yet possible in affected areas of Upper Nile due to fighting.
B. INDONESIA
1. New WFP emergency operation a) WFP appeals for USD 88 million for an emergency feeding operation in Indonesia to assist 4.6 million people most affected by drought. Under EMOP 6006, WFP seeks to provide 225,000 tons of rice and 17,000 tons of blended food over a thirteen month period starting May 1998. b) El Nino-induced drought coincided with economic crisis affecting Indonesia's ability to import food. Total rice import requirements estimated by FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply mission at 3.5 million tons during current marketing year; international assistance required for 2 million tons of this total in the form of rice loans, grants, concessionary imports and targeted food aid.
C. AFGHANISTAN
1. Update a) Food situation inside blockaded Hazarajat region continues to deteriorate; substantial numbers of people are at risk. b) WFP assessment mission is in Behsud district, Wardak province, where 35,000 people reported to be close to starvation; locally purchased potatoes and other food stocks are being moved to the area. c) Other missions are assessing situation in affected districts of Ghor, Uruzgon and Ghazni provinces. d) Representatives from the Taliban and the Northern Alliance arrive in Islamabad for peace talks under auspices of UN and Organization of Islamic Conference.
D. IRAQ
1. Update a) Talks continue in Baghdad between UN and the Government regarding a new Distribution Plan for enhanced SCR 986 humanitarian programme. b) Pipeline for food supplies arriving in Iraq under SCR 986 has improved. c) WFP distributions to vulnerable groups continues; donor contributions required to cover needs of 893,000 people in the centre and south of Iraq until the end of June (19,000 tons of various food commodities valued at USD 10 million).
E. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: BURUNDI, TANZANIA, UGANDA AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1. Burundi a) Gatumba transit site to be closed and returnees from DR Congo currently at the site to be returned to their areas of origin; those unable to return home to be moved to new location. b) Government authorities in discussions with WFP about possible reinstallation of some 100,000 displaced persons, to begin June.
2. Tanzania a) Road conditions in Kigoma region continue to deteriorate, stranding relief trucks.
3. Uganda a) Registration exercise under way in Bundibugyo for 12,000 persons displaced by recent confrontations between army and rebels. WFP food despatched to the area.
4. Democratic Republic of Congo a) Congolese returnees continue to arrive in Baraka, south Kivu, under the ongoing organized repatriation programme from Tanzania. b) Food aid stocks in eastern parts of DR Congo remain low; distributions targeted to a reduced number of beneficiaries. c) Despite precarious security situation in eastern DR Congo, refugees from Burundi continue to arrive; an estimated 9,000 Burundians have arrived in Uvira region since January. Many are being returned to Burundi.
PART II - DETAILS
A. SUDAN
1. UPDATE - incorporates information as of 28 April
1.1 Food insecurity in the Bahr el-Ghazal region has reached critical levels. An estimated 350,000 people in Bahr el-Ghazal are in need of immediate food assistance if a major humanitarian disaster is to be averted. The number of malnourished children registered by medical non-governmental organizations is rising on a daily basis.
1.2 In October 1997, WFP with FAO confirmed serious food shortages in southern Sudan. Since then, WFP/Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) have continued to appeal for both better access and further donor support. Escalation of conflict in the area has led to greater numbers of displaced persons, cut off from already limited sources of food.
1.3 Access to the drought and war-affected areas has been the major operational constraint, with restricted clearance by the Government of Sudan limiting air operations from Lokichoggio in Kenya to southern Sudan to one Hercules C130 (air drop capacity of 1,100 tons per month) and one Buffalo aircraft (airlift capacity 400 tons per month). Clearance was recently granted by the Government of Sudan, announced by WFP/OLS on 25 April, for an additional Hercules C130 to operate from the Lokichoggio air base, increasing WFP airdropping capacity. Flights began on 28 April.
1.4 More planes are essential to further expand the delivery capacity of WFP into southern Sudan. WFP is currently seeking clearance from the Government of Sudan for an additional two C130 aircraft to operate from Lokichoggio, and an additional Buffalo aircraft, also for Lokichoggio operations, along with one C130 aircraft to operate from El Obeid.
1.5 To intensify road deliveries to Eastern and Western Equatoria as well as to Bahr el-Ghazal (at targeted monthly rate of 450 mt by road ex-Lokichoggio plus 450 mt by road ex-Koboko in Uganda), WFP intents to set up a fleet of all-wheel drive trucks to operate from Lokichoggio and Koboko. Road access will become progressively more difficult as the rainy season of April to July advances.
1.6 WFP has food stocks for the operation in Lokichoggio and Mombasa in Kenya, 500 tons of cereals in Lokichoggio and 3,500 tons en route from Mombasa which are due to arrive in Lokichoggio by mid-May.
1.7 In addition to the situation in Bahr el-Ghazal, critical food shortages are reported in Upper Nile and Equatoria, where conflict has impeded access of the population to food. WFP/OLS has still not been able to assess the situation in the affected areas of Upper Nile, due to fighting.
1.8 During the month of April, to 20 April, WFP delivered and distributed a total of 1,335 tons of food aid to 333,000 beneficiaries in the Southern Sector of Operation Lifeline Sudan (808 tons distributed to 240,000 beneficiaries in Bahr el-Ghazal). This represents 22 percent of the projected monthly requirement for the region.
1.9 An expanded WFP emergency operation, to start in May, is under final clearance. A revised appeal for funds will be issued shortly.
B. INDONESIA
1. NEW WFP EMERGENCY OPERATION
1.1 WFP on 23 April appealed for USD 88 million to begin an emergency feeding operation in Indonesia to assist those affected by drought. WFP seeks to provide 225,000 tons of rice and 17,000 tons of blended food over a thirteen month period starting May 1998.
1.2 Beginning in early 1997, the strongest El Nino phenomenon in fifty years resulted in serious drought in many parts of Indonesia. Concurrently, Indonesia was caught up in an economic crisis that is continuing to affect its ability to import food.
1.3 A FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment mission visited the country in March, and estimated that Indonesia's rice import requirements are 3.5 million tons during the current marketing year, which ends 31 March 1999. Of this, international assistance will be required for 2 million tons in the form of rice loans, grants, concessionary imports and targeted food aid. Indonesia also has an import requirement of 4 million tons of wheat which will impose a further strain on the government's already strained import capacity.
1.4 The mission estimated that, during the upcoming dry season (starting in May) and through the next major harvest in March/April 1999, some 7.5 million people in 53 districts of 15 provinces are likely to experience severe household food insecurity as a result of the 1997 drought and the deterioration of the economy.
1.5 Out of the total affected, WFP plans to provide assistance to the most vulnerable segments of the population, to up to 4.6 million people. WFP activities will fall into three main categories:
a) Nutritional support to pregnant women and nursing mothers and children under five in selected areas of the country which have been particularly affected by drought. Distribution of blended foods is to be effected through village health centres. WFP will cooperate and support UNICEF initiatives in this sector.
b) Labour intensive community food-for-work development activities, in cooperation with line ministries or directly with local governments or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and with input from UN Agencies, to include such things as rural road rehabilitation, fire hazard awareness and prevention, rehabilitation of irrigation schemes and the renovation of community infrastructure such as water wells and artificial ponds.
c) Limited free food distribution, to be effected through the Ministry of Social Welfare (Depsos). This assistance will be highly targeted within severely drought-affected districts to the worst-off families.
1.6 Under the WFP emergency operation (EMOP 6006), implementing partners will be from government ministries, local government, and NGOs who have ongoing activities in the most drought-affected areas of the country.
C. AFGHANISTAN
1. UPDATE
1.1 A number of donor missions are visiting Afghanistan in preparation for the up-coming London meeting of the Afghanistan Task Force. These include missions by the E.U., USAID, OFDA, and CIDA.
1.2 Representatives from the Taliban and the Northern Alliance arrived in Islamabad on 23 and 24 April prior to peace talks scheduled for 25 April, under the auspices of the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Conference.
1.3 Bamyan/Hazarajat
a) According to reports received by WFP, the situation inside the blockaded Hazarajat region has continued to deteriorate over the winter. As spring approaches, areas on the borders of the Hazarajat are reported to be seriously affected by food shortages. Substantial numbers of people are at risk. There is special concern for the population in four affected areas outside Bamyan province but in the Hazarajat region: Jaghori and Malistan districts (Ghazni province), Sharistan (Uruzgon province), Behsud district (Wardak province) and Lal district (Ghor province). In Behsud, 35,000 people are reported to be close to starvation and there have been unconfirmed reports of deaths due to starvation.
b) A WFP mission is now in Behsud after travelling by vehicle and then one day on foot to this remote and inaccessible area. The mission includes a doctor who will assess the nutritional status of the population. WFP is immediately making available 600 tons of food to be moved to the area, a total which is to include 500 tons of locally purchased potatoes, 100 tons of wheat from WFP's very low stocks in the area, and high-energy biscuits.
c) A mission has also been dispatched to Ghor province. Missions earlier sent on horseback to Uruzgon and Ghazni are still assessing the situation, which is reported to be serious.
1.4 UN staff in Herat have assessed the impact of floods along the Helmand River in Nimroz province in south-western Afghanistan, on the border with Iran. The flooding has affected the provincial capital, Zarang, and a large number of villages in Kang district. The immediate needs of the affected population are shelter and drinking water, both of which will be met with UN/ICRC assistance. WFP is monitoring the situation.
1.5 Flooding has also been reported in Faryab province, which borders Turkmenistan. All UN activity in the area has been suspended since September 1997, and no independent confirmation of the disaster has been possible.
C. IRAQ
1. UPDATE
1.1 Talks are continuing in Baghdad between the UN and the Government of Iraq regarding the development of a new Distribution Plan for an enhanced Security Council Resolution 986 humanitarian programme in Iraq. The UN Security Council voted in February to increase the amount of oil that Iraq could sell on a six month basis from USD 2.14 billion to USD 5.2 billion. However, a team of oil experts has recently concluded that Iraq will only be able to sell USD 3 billion of oil this year and USD 4 billion next year after extensive rehabilitation of its oil pumping capacity.
1.2 The United Kingdom, as current President of the European Union, held a conference in London on 20/21 April to discuss the provision of humanitarian assistance in Iraq. One theme of the meeting was a general consensus that significant donor assistance in Iraq is required, complementary to the enhanced Security Council Resolution.
1.3 The pipeline for food supplies arriving in Iraq under SCR 986 has improved greatly, and although some commodities are not sufficient to meet the full ration requirements, the supply of commodities has become more regular. In April, all commodities were sufficient except for rice and infant formula, which will be distributed from Government stocks, to be reimbursed later by SCR 986 arrivals.
1.4. Distributions have continued under WFP's emergency operation to provide vulnerable groups including malnourished children, pregnant and nursing mothers, people in hospitals and other social institutions and internally displaced persons and refugees with much needed food commodities. Donor contributions are still needed to meet the needs of 893,000 people in the centre and south of Iraq until the end of June. Required to cover the shortfall is approximately 19,000 tons of various food commodities valued at USD 10 million.
E. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: BURUNDI, TANZANIA, UGANDA AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1. BURUNDI
1.1 The Gatumba transit site is to be closed and the people living there (returnees from DR Congo) will be returned to their areas of origin. There are presently some 1,577 persons registered at the site but about one third of them have no home or land to return to. The authorities are seeking a new location for this group. During the week, 323 persons returned home from Gatumba and were provided with WFP return packages.
1.2 Government authorities have met with WFP to discuss the possible reinstallation of some 100,000 displaced persons. A plan for this reinstallation programme is being prepared and could begin as early as June. The authorities have requested WFP to provide return packages to these displaced persons. WFP will provide food according to availability.
1.3 WFP and CARE carried out a monitoring visit to Matumba, Bujumbura Rural, where the local parish has been distributing WFP food to needy populations. Due to insecurity in the area, food distributions are being implemented by local parish officials. Since October, two distribution cycles have targeted 12,400 persons each time.
2. TANZANIA
2.1 Road conditions in the Kigoma region have considerably deteriorated. During the reporting week, a total of 14 trucks were stranded for five days along the Kasulu-Mtabila road, as water levels were too high to allow traffic. The UNHCR trucks sent to Lugufu refugee camp, to assist with the transportation of WFP food commodities, were unable to return to Kigoma due to the flooded river.
2.2 WFP is participating in the ongoing nutritional survey in refugee camps, an exercise which is carried out twice a year. The survey has now been completed in Mkugwa and Mtendeli camps and continues in Nduta and Kanembwa. The results of this survey are expected within the next few weeks.
3. UGANDA
3.1 A registration exercise is being carried out in Bundibugyo where some 12,000 displaced persons have gathered, following recent confrontations between the army and the rebels. WFP has despatched food to the area for distribution to these displaced persons. Although the security situation is still precarious, some people are leaving the camps to go back to their homes, following a cholera outbreak in Itojo camp.
4. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
4.1 Congolese returnees continue to arrive in Baraka, south Kivu, under the ongoing organized repatriation programme for Congolese refugees in Tanzania. During the second week of April, a total of 2,229 refugees arrived in barges from the port of Kigoma, Tanzania. All these returnees receive WFP food rations upon arrival in DR Congo. During the week 11 tons of WFP food were shipped from Kigoma in one of the barges carrying refugees.
4.2 Overall food stocks in eastern parts of DR Congo remain low and distributions are targeting a reduced number of beneficiaries. During the week WFP distributed 284 tons of food to 23,712 beneficiaries in Uvira and Baraka, mostly returnees from Tanzania. Some food was also distributed for nutritional programme and small food-for-work activities. In Bukavu, Caritas has taken over the supply of food to nutritional centres. 4.3 Despite a still precarious security situation in eastern DR Congo, refugees from Burundi continue to attempt to cross into the area. An estimated 9,000 Burundians have arrived in the Uvira region since January, but there are no plans to settle them in camps and many are being returned back to Burundi.
Note: all tonnage figures above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 17 of 1998 - April 24, 1998)
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