Report No. 21 of 1998 Date: 22 May 1998This report includes: A) Afghanistan B) West Africa: Sierra Leone and Guinea C) Angola D) East Africa: Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda E) Sudan (WFP news brief as supplement to the Emergency Report).
>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 Aleesa.Blum@wfp.org or Claudia.VonRoehl@wfp.org at WFP Rome, telephone 39 6 6513 2004 or 6513 2504. The address of WFP is Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, Parco dei Medici, Rome 00148.
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. AFGHANISTAN
1. Update a) WFP team carries out assessment mission in Ghorbund valley, Taliban enclave in the conflict zone north-west of Kabul. Food assistance to Ghorbund valley is Taliban condition for lifting food blockade of the Hazarajat region. b) Preparations made for delivery and distribution of 800 tons of food through the blockade into the Hazarajat. Current WFP stocks inside the Hazarajat at 300 tons, against preliminary requirements of 7,500 tons for 167,000 people for three months. c) Distributions of locally purchased food from surplus areas within Hazarajat made in Uruzgan, Ghazni, Eastern Ghor and Wardak. d) Further displacement of people due to recent fighting in areas north of Kabul.
B. WEST AFRICA: SIERRA LEONE AND GUINEA
1. Sierra Leone a) Atrocities by the AFRC/RUF continue in the east, north and north-eastern parts of Sierra Leone; fighting between the ousted military junta and ECOMOG troops continues. b) Insecurity in the north limits road travel. c) Committee on Food Aid, the local coordinating body made up of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, finalizes updated food aid strategy paper for Sierra Leone for 1998.
2. Guinea a) WFP provides further food for refugees from Sierra Leone arriving in Gueckedou; several hundred refugees arrive each day, many in very poor condition. Some 160,000 refugees have arrived since early March. b) Food deliveries to south-western Guinea increased; more than 3,000 tons of food now positioned in the region, enough to feed 250,000 people for one month.
C. ANGOLA
1. Update a) Security situation deteriorates throughout the country; attacks by UNITA residual troops reported daily; further displacement of civilian population. b) Humanitarian activities curtailed as access to many locations no longer safe; MONUA escorts limited by reduced field presence. c) Special Representative of the Secretary-General urgently presses for full implementation of the peace accord by both sides.
D. EAST AFRICA: RWANDA, BURUNDI, TANZANIA AND UGANDA
1. Rwanda a) WFP to provide emergency food assistance to people displaced by insecurity in Ruhengeri and Gisenyi; military authorities to provide escorts for food deliveries and distributions. b) Food deliveries into Rwanda improve, with resumption of deliveries through southern corridor and local procurement of cereals and pulses in Kampala and corn-soya blend in Nairobi. c) Rail communications between Uganda and Kenya interrupted by landslides and floods which damage bridges on the Kenyan side of the border.
2. Burundi a) Another WFP airlift of essential food commodities started 20 March, from Dar es Salaam; an initial 500 tons of food to be airlifted.
3. Tanzania a) WFP barge operation from Kigoma to Uvira, across Lake Tanganyika resumes.
4. Uganda a) A group of 600 Ugandan refugees return to Uganda, part of estimated 2,000 Ugandans in camps in the Aru region in eastern DR Congo. b) Insecurity continues in northern districts; rebel activity in Lira displaces some 7,000 persons. Ambushes reported along the Kitgum/Lira road. c) Heavy rainfall in south-western Uganda affects food deliveries to refugee camps of Nakivale and Oruchinga. In western districts of Bundibugyo and Kasese, a bridge has been washed away preventing access to displaced persons.
E. SUDAN
1. Supplement as update a) A summary of current OLS/WFP air operations in southern Sudan is contained in a WFP news brief of 22 May, which supplements Emergency Report no. 21.
PART II - DETAILS
A. AFGHANISTAN
1. UPDATE - Information as of 22 May 1998
1.1 Negotiations between the UN and the Taliban in Kabul have concluded with the issuance of a Memorandum of Understanding. However, the "mehram edict", the requirement that Muslim women can work only if accompanied by a close male relative, has not yet been resolved.
1.2 The 1998 FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission is continuing in Afghanistan. Teams have collected data in most areas of the country, while in closed areas (Mazar and Kandahar regions), data is being collected by local authorities. The teams will return to Islamabad on 24 May.
1.3 Ghorbund Valley
a) An assessment mission has been sent by WFP to the Ghorbund valley, following the Taliban offer to open the blockaded areas of the Hazarajat for a one-time delivery of 800 tons of food aid in exchange for 200 tons to the Ghorbund valley.
b) The Ghorbund valley is a Taliban enclave in the conflict zone north-west of Kabul in Parwan province, reachable only by crossing the military front lines and mine-filled no-man's land separating the Taliban and opposition Hezbe Wahdat. WFP has stressed that it will not deliver aid until an assessment of the population's needs, and of security in and en route to Ghorbund, has been made.
c) A four member WFP mission of international staff crossed the front lines to Ghorbund, on 21 May, having obtained security guarantees from both the Hezbe Wahdat and the Taliban. The estimated civilian population of the area is about 15,000. The assessment was expected to be completed within a few days. Preliminary indications are that food, and especially cereals, are in short supply in the area, and prices extremely high.
1.4 Simultaneously, WFP is making all necessary preparations for the delivery and distribution of 800 tons of food through the blockade into the most affected areas of the Hazarajat.
1.5 WFP has been purchasing food produced in surplus areas within Hazarajat and transporting it to the more vulnerable areas of Uruzgan, Ghazni, Eastern Ghor and Wardak. Distribution continues to the most affected families in Wardak province. The assessment missions to Lal, Uruzgon, and Wardak are still in the field.
1.6 WFP stocks inside the Hazarajat currently total only 300 tons, against present requirements of 7,500 tons to cover 167,000 people for three months, an amount that is expected to increase as assessments are made inside Bamyan province, which has remained inaccessible due to weather.
1.7 On 14 May, four WFP trucks carrying wheat to Faizabad city were attacked in Chakran district of Badakshan province by a crowd of people who looted 22 tons of wheat. During attempts by local authorities to control the crowd, three persons were killed.
1.8 Updated information: Due to recent fighting north of Kabul, there has been an increased movement of internally displaced persons in the direction of Sarobi, Jallabad and Kabul.
B. WEST AFRICA: SIERRA LEONE AND GUINEA
1. SIERRA LEONE
1.1 Fierce fighting continues in eastern Sierra Leone between the Nigerian-led West African intervention force and members of the ousted military junta. The remnants of the junta forces continue their "Operation No Living Thing" campaign in the east and north-east of Sierra Leone, and rebel forces are concentrated in the north-eastern border areas (Koinadugu district).
1.2 Continuing insecurity in the north is limiting road travel, with roads seven miles north of Makeni considered unsafe. Vehicles are intermittently able to travel from Makeni to Koidu town.
1.3 People are moving from parts of Port Loko district towards areas of east Kambia district to escape marauding bands of AFRC/RUF fighters. Movement of vehicles is possible on the route from Kenema to Daru/Manowa into Koidu town, but beyond Daru into Kailahun is currently unsafe.
1.4 Because of food pipeline constraints, WFP continues to prioritize programmes, focusing on food-for-agriculture projects and vulnerable group feeding.
1.5 The Committee on Food Aid (CFA), the local coordinating body made up of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, has concluded its updated food aid strategy paper for Sierra Leone for 1998. The document was due to be presented at the WFP/UNHCR/Donor assessment mission meeting in Monrovia, beginning 21 May.
2. GUINEA
2.1 The condition of refugees in Guinea fleeing the fighting in eastern Sierra Leone is deteriorating. Refugees, who are arriving by the hundreds every day in Gueckedou in south-western Guinea, are suffering from exhaustion, disease and malnutrition. Since early March, more than 160,000 Sierra Leoneans have crossed the Guinean border.
2.2 During the past two weeks, 27 Sierra Leonean refugees died of respiratory diseases, diarrhoea, malaria or malnutrition. Children are the worst affected. Health workers attribute the deaths to the time spent by the refugees in the bush hiding from armed militiamen. Many refugees lived several weeks without shelter in the bush eating leaves, berries and roots.
2.3 WFP has provided more than 12 tons of high protein food to therapeutic feeding centres in the camps, enough to feed 1,600 children for one month. These centres are operated by the local Guinean Health Authority in partnership with GTZ.
2.4 WFP is also feeding civilians who have been wounded by members of the ousted military junta. Staff at the local hospital in Gueckedou in South Western Guinea have treated many people whose limbs have been severed by machete blows.
2.5 Food deliveries to south-western Guinea have been stepped up to cope with the refugee influx. WFP has now positioned more than 3,000 tons of food in the region, enough to feed 250,000 people for one month.
C. ANGOLA
1. UPDATE
1.1 The security situation throughout the country is rapidly and uniformly deteriorating, with attacks by UNITA residual troops being reported daily and civilian populations being forced to abandon their homes at the time when they would normally be harvesting. While previously these incidents were largely restricted to southern and eastern Benguela, southern Huambo and northern Huila, they are now being reported throughout the country, including Bengo province. Newly laid mines have also been reported, especially in Bie and Uige provinces. More than 4,000 new internally displaced persons have been assessed by WFP during the reporting period and will require food aid until they are able to return to their villages.
1.2 Humanitarian activities are curtailed as access to many locations is now unsafe; the ability of MONUA to provide escorts is limited by their reduced field presence. As a result of restricted access, reported influxes of displaced persons in Caluquembe, Caconda and Cusse (in northern Huila) have yet to be assessed.
1.3 The Special Representative of the Secretary-General is urgently pressing for full implementation of the peace accord by both the Government and UNITA, and has submitted a resolution to the Joint Commission with a deadline for the establishment of State Administration in the "sensitive" municipalities of Andulo, Nharea, Bailundo and Mungo by 31 May.
D. EAST AFRICA: RWANDA, BURUNDI, TANZANIA AND UGANDA
1. RWANDA
1.1 Following the Government request for food assistance to 95,230 internally displaced persons due to continued insecurity in Ruhengeri and Gisenyi, WFP has carried out initial assessments and maintained discussions with local authorities in both prefectures. There are no international organizations fully operative in these prefectures which makes detailed assessments difficult. WFP has agreed to provide emergency food assistance to the affected populations and military authorities will provide escorts for food deliveries and distributions.
1.2 In total, WFP plans to deliver 1,220 tons of food aid to these displaced persons, over a period of one month. Each beneficiary will be provided with a daily food ration of 423 gr.; for children under five the ration will be supplemented with dried skimmed milk.
1.3 Since the start of the year and until mid May, WFP has distributed over 14,000 tons of food aid in Rwanda, assisting an average of 200,000 needy persons each month. Food-for-work projects continue to receive the bulk of the assistance, with some 95,000 food-for-work participants receiving WFP food every month.
1.4 Food deliveries into Rwanda have improved over the past month, due to the resumption of deliveries through the southern corridor. In addition, local procurement of cereals and pulses has been initiated in Kampala and corn-soya blend is being purchased in Nairobi. Meanwhile, rail communications between Uganda and Kenya have been interrupted, due to landslides and floods which have damaged bridges on the Kenyan side.
2. BURUNDI
2.1 Another WFP airlift of essential food commodities for vulnerable persons in Burundi started on 20 March from Dar es Salaam, funded by ECHO. In an initial stage WFP plans to airlift 500 tons of food, using a Boeing 707. Two flights are being carried out each day, each carrying 34 tons of food. Further air deliveries into Bujumbura are planned from Mombasa, beginning 28 May, to move an additional 2,590 tons.
2.2 Between 11 and 17 May CARE distributed WFP food rations to needy populations in Ngozi, Kayanza and Bururi provinces, benefiting over 21,000 persons in these locations. General food distributions are also being carried out by Caritas in Bururi, targeting families of beneficiaries of supplementary feeding programmes.
2.3 WFP transit rations and return food packages were distributed in the Gatumba transit centre by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and by Oxfam Quebec, benefiting newly arrived returnees, repatriates returning home and residents who have not yet left for their hills of origin.
2.4 WFP staff visited six different projects which requested food assistance for 2,200 beneficiaries in Bujumbura town, Gitega, Kirundo and Kayanza. Five of these projects, all of which assist orphans, have been recommended for assistance. WFP is also considering a request from the Italian non-governmental organization GVC, to provide family rations for some 2,500 beneficiaries in Rumonge, Bururi province.
3. TANZANIA
3.1 The WFP barge operation from the port of Kigoma to Uvira, across Lake Tanganyika resumed during the week, with 509 tons of food despatched with the M/V Lukugwa. WFP is currently negotiating additional barge capacity, to increase the amount of food to be moved by barge to 1,500 tons per month.
3.2 Over 40,000 Congolese refugees have returned home since September, when the organized repatriation programme started from Kigoma. During the week 1,452 Congolese from the Lugufu and Nyarugusu camps were repatriated in two barge voyages. The returnees receive a one-month WFP food ration upon arrival in eastern DR Congo.
3.3 Burundians in Kibondo refugee camps also continue to voluntarily return home, under a UNHCR-facilitated programme. Since January, 13 repatriation voyages were accomplished and 1,540 Burundian refugees returned to their communes in Burundi. These returnees are provided with a one-week ration of WFP food prior to departure.
4. UGANDA
4.1 A group of 600 Ugandan refugees, part of an estimated 2,000 Ugandans in camps in the Aru region in eastern DR Congo, returned to Uganda during the week. The arriving returnees were provided with a resettlement package comprising a three-month WFP food ration, maize and pulses seed, as well as non-food items supplied by UNHCR.
4.2 The International Organisation for Migration has started the experimental phase of the registration of displaced persons in Gulu. This exercise, commissioned by WFP and involving the use of photographs of adult persons as identification, will also be expanded to the district of Kitgum.
4.3 Insecurity continues to seriously affect the northern districts of the country. In Lira, recent rebel activities provoked the displacement of some 7,000 persons who are accommodated in schools inside the town. WFP will provide food assistance to this new caseload. In Gulu, the rebels reportedly infiltrated three camps for displaced persons and abducted several people. Ambushes were reported along the Kitgum/Lira road and traffic is being diverted to other routes due to military operations. The trading centre of Kalongo, where a missionary hospital is located, was also raided.
4.4 Heavy rainfall in south-western areas of the country is hindering the timely delivery of food to the refugee camps of Nakivale and Oruchinga. In the western districts of Bundibugyo and Kasese, a bridge has been washed away, preventing access to displaced persons.
E. SUDAN
1. UPDATE IN SUPPLEMENT TO EMERGENCY REPORT
1.1 An update on OLS/WFP air operations in southern Sudan is contained in a WFP news brief, issued on 22 May 1998, which supplements the current WFP Emergency Report. The news brief summarizes operational developments since the lifting of the flight ban on 31 March.
Note: all tonnage figures above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 21 of 1998 - May 22, 1998)
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