Report No. 22 of 1998 Date: 29 May 1998This report includes: A) Afghanistan B) Sudan: OLS Northern and Southern Sectors C) East Africa: Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.
>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) Earthquake hits Faizabad and Rustaq on 30 May; thousands killed, many in areas hit by previous earthquake in February 1998. b) WFP convoy with 600 tons of relief food reaches the Hazarajat; a second WFP convoy from Bamyan to Taliban enclave of Ghorbund valley delivers 200 tons of food. c) WFP assessment in Ghorbund Valley concludes some 8,000 people (displaced, landless and widows) are in need of assistance. d) UN to resume activities in Kandahar on 3 June; operations were suspended in March.
B. SUDAN - OPERATION LIFELINE SUDAN NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN SECTORS
1. Northern Sector a) OLS/WFP barge convoy arrives in Juba; 1,005 tons of food aid commodities for 374,850 beneficiaries dropped at 32 locations along Nile corridor; 809 tons off-loaded in Juba, for target of 119,000 beneficiaries. b) OLS/WFP assessment of the Nuba Mountains postponed. c) WFP airlift starts to Wau from El Obeid, to deliver food for returning displaced persons and other beneficiaries; displaced continue to return at rate of about 150 persons a day (information as of 1 June); 7,477 in this category registered in May. d) Further local purchases of sorghum finalized, bringing total WFP is purchasing this year for emergency operations to 7,724 tons. Supplies of sorghum are being sent to El Obeid for up-coming airdrop operations out of El Obeid to locations in Bahr el-Ghazal.
2. Southern Sector a) Four C130 aircraft continue operations in Lokichoggio; various factors preventing full utilization of aircraft, including weak food pipeline; temporary fuel supply problem resolved. b) In Bahr el-Ghazal, distributions to Turalie/Maper, Wunrok and Mayen Abun areas of Twic county postponed due to insecurity; population movements in area reported. c) SRRA and NGOs also report population movement from Mapel (Wau county), traditionally a surplus area which has been affected by drought, to Tambura.
C. EAST AFRICA: RWANDA, BURUNDI AND UGANDA
1. Update a) In Rwanda, concern mounts over food situation in prefecture of Gikongoro; more refugees from DR Congo arrive at Byumba camps. b) In Burundi, WFP begins pre-harvest food distributions in Cibitoke province, targeting 43,000 beneficiaries; CARE to distribute WFP food to some 30,000 to 40,000 beneficiaries in Ngozi province; some camps for displaced reported to have been dismantled in Bubanza province. c) New airlift of 2,500 tons of food from Mombasa to Burundi begins. d) In Uganda, further ambushes, mine incidents and other skirmishes in northern districts; in Lira, some of the recently displaced start to go home, but new population displacements reported in the western Bundibugyo district.
PART II - DETAILS
A. AFGHANISTAN - most information as of 28 May
1. EARTHQUAKE IN FAIZABAD AND RUSTAQ - information as of 1 June
1.1 On 30 May, Faizabad, Badakhshan province, and Rustaq, Takhar province, were rocked by a major earthquake. Initial indications are that five villages in Rustaq, the area that was hit by the February earthquake, have been completed destroyed. Chah-i-Ab district, north of Rustaq, has also been affected. Shar-e-Bozorg, located north of Faizabad, has been worst hit, with some 60 percent of the villages having been destroyed. Local authorities advise that 1,717 people have been killed and 1,935 injured, but confirmed figures for the total number killed are not yet known; estimates by aid workers indicate that several thousand people have died.
1.2 It would appear that priority needs are for emergency medical assistance, water and shelter. Health non-governmental organizations are already in the area and providing assistance. WFP is currently assessing possible emergency food requirements in the affected areas. WFP has sufficient food stocks in northern Afghanistan to meet any immediate food needs. Stocks of high energy biscuits are available in Peshawar, and will be moved in as required on a UN plane. Additional pledges of food from donors are therefore not being solicited at this time.
2. HAZARAJAT REGION AND GHORBUND VALLEY
2.1 Two separate convoys of WFP relief food arrived on 28 May, one in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, where WFP has been warning that up to 167,000 people are facing severe food shortages, and one in the Taliban-held enclave of the Ghorbund valley some 100 kms north of Kabul. Under the agreement reached with Taliban authorities, WFP was required to move into these areas from two different locations simultaneously, which required extensive logistics planning and coordination.
2.2 Hazarajat region
a) The Hazarajat-bound convoy, 40 trucks carrying about 600 tons of wheat flour from Peshawar, left Kabul on 26 May and crossed the front line separating the Taliban and Hezbe-Wahdat factions in Ghazni province on 28 May, destined for Jaghori and Nawor in eastern Ghazni and Behsud in Wardak province of southern Hazarajat. A further 200 tons will be sent to the Hazarajat under the current agreement.
b) The food is being distributed, under the supervision of eight international monitors, to people in areas which could not be reached under the first phase of the WFP operation, which ended in mid-January when roads became impassable. This delivery will feed 6,000 families (36,000 people) for one month. The total being allowed in by the Taliban at this time, 800 tons, represents less than 10 percent of the food currently needed in the region.
c) Except for this convoy through Taliban-held territory, access to the Hazarajat continues to be problematic. However, a small amount of food (110 tons) is currently on the way to Bamyan via the northern routes. WFP is also purchasing locally a small quantity (500 tons) of surplus potatoes for distribution.
2.3 Ghorbund Valley
a) While the first convoy for the Hazarajat left Kabul, another convoy was dispatched from Bamyan and crossed the front lines in Parwan province on 28 May, taking 110 tons of wheat bound for Ghorbund, a 25-km-long valley of 35,000 residents under Taliban control, but trapped between warring factions of the Northern Alliance and steep mountain ridges. The population's access to Kabul and other Taliban areas has been cut off, leaving only a donkey path as the means in and out of the enclave.
b) Ghorbund was assessed on 20 May by a WFP mission of three international staff. The mission travelled under tense conditions from Bamyan city across the Northern Alliance front line into a no-man's land cleared of anti-tank mines to allow their movement, and into the Taliban-held enclave. They were accompanied by unarmed military escorts, half way by Northern Alliance personnel, and the remaining half by the Taliban.
c) Fighting has disrupted the economy of the enclave, isolating herders from traditional grazing areas and farmers from markets. Unable to get fertilizers, pesticides and seeds, and hit by floods earlier this year, the residents of Ghorbund are anticipating poor crops this season. Prices of wheat in the market are three times those in Kabul. The WFP mission estimates that one quarter of the population of 35,000, mainly displaced or landless people and widows, are in need of assistance. Update: as of 1 June, food distribution to this caseload has been completed.
3. KANDAHAR
3.1 On 28 May, a UN mission visited Kandahar to inform local authorities that following the recent agreement between the UN and the Taliban on privileges and immunities of the UN, the UN will resume activities in southern Afghanistan. WFP is expected to resume operations in the area on 3 June.
B. SUDAN - OPERATION LIFELINE SUDAN NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN SECTORS
1. NORTHERN SECTOR - most information as of 26 May; updates as of 1 June
1.1 The WFP barge convoy arrived in Juba on 22 May, after discharging 1,005 tons of food aid commodities for 374,850 beneficiaries in 32 locations along the Nile corridor. In Juba, the barge convoy off-loaded 809 tons of food, which will be distributed to 119,000 target beneficiaries. Total delivered by the barge convoy, which left the Nile river port of Kosti on 20 April, is 1,814 tons.
1.2 An OLS assessment of the Nuba Mountains has been postponed by the government of Sudan, and is now scheduled for the month of June. WFP will be participating in the mission from both northern and southern sectors.
1.3 Bahr el-Ghazal operations from northern sector
a) People are returning to Wau, increasing needs for relief food at this location. Updated information as of 31 May is that during the month of May WFP registered 10,595 beneficiaries in Wau, out of which 7,477 were returning displaced persons. The full caseload received a total of 127 tons of food assistance during the month (of which 90 tons went to returning displaced). The displaced, who were returning at the rate of about 60 persons a day a week ago, are now returning at the rate of 150 a day, and are reported to be coming from Acumcum, Akirop, Manyang, Ajeip, Thulachok and Panwaya. Eighty percent of the total are women and children under 5 years of age. As of 19 May, 530 children from among this returning displaced group were already in the supplementary feeding programme. Local food prices, especially for sorghum, have started to increase as more people return.
b) WFP is starting an airlift to Wau of 218 tons of mixed food commodities for distribution to returnees and other beneficiaries. Heavy rains in the area have made the road from Raga impassable. The food being delivered by air includes DSM and high energy biscuits for nutritional feeding programmes. The road operation to pre-position food in Wau started in mid-March, but only some 160 tons of food out of a planned 400 tons reached Wau by road, as the trucks were delayed at Raga by the Peace Forces for more than one month. Update as of 1 June: the airlift began on 31 May, with 5 tons of food moved to Wau from El Obeid.
1.4 South Kordofan: WFP completed the delivery by road of 560 tons of sorghum to 11 peace villages. The sorghum will be distributed by WFP and the Sudanese Red Crescent Society to 20,973 beneficiaries, who were registered by WFP on 4-13 May. Pulses and vegetable oil are being sent to Kadugli from Port Sudan.
1.5 Kassala: During the week ending 19 May, some 30 tons of sorghum were distributed to a total 4,813 displaced beneficiaries in Kassala. The beneficiaries were displaced by recent conflict between rebels and government forces along the Ethiopia-Sudan border.
1.6 A contract for the local purchase of 4,511 tons of sorghum using funds donated by the Governments of Japan, UK and Ireland was signed on 24 May. This brings the total WFP is purchasing locally this year for emergency operations to 7,724 tons of sorghum. The process of purchasing the sorghum began in January, but deliveries only commenced in May.
1.7 El Obeid: Some 4,000 tons of sorghum is being dispatched from WFP warehouses in Kosti to El Obeid. The sorghum is to be despatched in four tranches of 1,000 tons each, and will be used in the upcoming airdrop operations out of El Obeid to locations in Bahr el-Ghazal. Air operations out of El Obeid using a C-130 Hercules aircraft are expected to begin during the week of 1 June.
1.8 A consignment of 40 tons of high energy biscuits arrived in Port Sudan on 24 May. The high energy biscuits, which are a donation from the Government of Italy, are to be supplied to UNICEF, CARE and ACF for therapeutic and supplementary feeding programmes in southern Sudan. Earlier in the month, WFP completed despatch from Port Sudan of some 220 tons of dried skim milk (DSM) to the Khartoum warehouses of UNICEF, ACF, MSF-Holland and ADRA. The DSM was donated by ECHO and the UK government for the therapeutic and supplementary feeding programme.
1.9 The rains have started in many regions of the south supplied from the north, and WFP northern sector is stepping up deliveries of pulses, oil and DSM before the roads become impassable. Regular distributions of cereals to beneficiaries is continuing in areas served by northern sector because the cereals had been pre-positioned in the locations during the dry season.
1.10 WFP has signed a Letter of Agreement to supply 1,141 tons of mixed food commodities to SCF-UK for distribution to 57,000 drought affected pastoralists in Kutum, North Darfur. The food will meet the needs of the beneficiaries for a period of three months.
1.11 As of 24 May, WFP northern sector had distributed 1,259 tons of food during the month of May. Included in this total were Bahr el Jabel - 205 tons; South Darfur (Ed Daein - where 59,000 beneficiaries have been registered) - 766 tons; Bahr el-Ghazal - 59 tons; Kassala - 29 tons; Unity State - 197 tons; Malakal - 3 tons.
2. SOUTHERN SECTOR - information as of 24 May 1998
2.1 Four C130 aircraft continue to operate in Lokichoggio. Various problems have prevented WFP from fully utilizing the available aircraft capacity, including a weak food pipeline, the result of high demand for road transport in Kenya and continuing problems along the route to Lokichoggio due to exceptionally heavy rains. A temporary fuel supply problem has been resolved. More personnel are being deployed, easing problems of moving limited numbers of staff around by small aircraft (further complicated by waterlogged airstrips).
2.2 During the week of 17-24 May, WFP distributed 800 tons of food aid to 195,438 beneficiaries. Distributions were completed in Lokutok, Akuem, Agangrial, Natinga, Yirol, Narus, Bararud, and Acumcum, and are ongoing in Pakor, Mapel, Baar, Akot, Mankien and Leer. During the previous week, a total of 885 tons of food commodities were delivered and distributed to nearly 232,000 beneficiaries in southern Sudan.
2.3 Bahr el-Ghazal
a) Distributions to Turalie/Maper, Wunrok and Mayen Abun areas of Twic county were postponed due to reports of insecurity. The OLS security advisor completed security assessments in various locations in Bahr el-Ghazal. As a result of insecurity, populations of Maper and Turalie were displaced eastward to Aweng Payam. WFP counterparts report that the population is moving back toward Maper, and have made an urgent request for food for these groups. A WFP team in Baar (West of Maper/Turalie) was due to proceed to Maper on 27 May.
b) SRRA and NGOs have reported that populations are moving from the Mapel and Turalie area because of problems they face meeting food requirements in Mapel, a traditional surplus area where drought last year resulted in reduced crop production. Preliminary assessments indicate that these are farmers who rely heavily on crops and less on livestock products. SRRA, CARE and SCF-UK have reported large population movements from the Mapel area (which is in Wau county) to Tambura. Usually, people within the Bahr el-Ghazal region travel to Wau county to access surplus grain. A WFP/SCF team was sent to Mapel to complete a emergency assessment. A joint OLS team will be dispatched to Tambura next week.
c) Food distributions are being carried out jointly with seeds distributions in most areas of Bahr el-Ghazal.
C. EAST AFRICA: RWANDA, BURUNDI AND UGANDA
1. RWANDA
1.1 At a meeting held in Kigali on 22 May, aid agencies expressed concern over the food situation in the prefecture of Gikongoro. WFP has already approved a four-month food package of 2,200 tons for distribution through food-for-work schemes. In order to speed up deliveries, WFP will deliver half of the planned rations at the start of the projects instead of the usual delivery system based on project achievements.
1.2 In addition to this programme, WFP has agreed to make available between 500 - 1,000 tons of food for Gikongoro for the month of June, in the form of free food distributions or through a combination of free food distributions and food for work.
1.3 Preparations for the coming food distributions in Gisenyi and Ruhengeri continue, and WFP has now pre-positioned over 200 tons of food in Gisenyi town, ready for distribution. UN agencies involved in this assistance programme are also discussing with local authorities the modalities for monitoring the food distributions.
1.4 The refugee population at the Byumba camps stands now at 17,627 persons, following the arrival of 250 refugees from DR Congo. In order to improve distribution mechanisms, food distributions in Byumba have now been handed over to a women's group and the first food distributions by this group have been carried out successfully.
2. BURUNDI
2.1 WFP has begun pre-harvest food distributions in Cibitoke province, targeting 43,000 beneficiaries. These food distributions will be carried out in conjunction with the seed distribution programme coordinated by FAO. In addition to the WFP food ration distributed by CARE, each family receives a package of seed comprising 5 kg of bean seed and small quantities of vegetable seeds.
2.2 In Ngozi province, CARE will carry out the distribution of WFP food rations to some 30,000 to 40,000 beneficiaries, targeting the most vulnerable persons who need food assistance for the period until the harvest and those who could not plant B season crops. Due to food shortages caused by logistics constraints, WFP was unable to provide return packages to former residents of regroupment camps in the province as they returned to their hills of origin.
2.3 WFP is also planning a cycle of food distributions in Bubanza province, based on recent assessments. There have been reports that camps for displaced persons are being dismantled in the province, and WFP will conduct rapid assessments in each site prior to the food distributions, to verify the number of beneficiaries that remain in the area.
2.4 The WFP airlift of 500 tons of food from Dar es Salaam to Bujumbura was completed on 27 May and air operations have now shifted to Mombasa. >From this port, WFP will airlift another 2,500 tons of food commodities into Burundi, using the same Boeing 707, carrying out two flights each day.
3. UGANDA
3.1 The security situation in the northern districts remains alarming, and a number of ambushes, mine incidents and other skirmishes were reported in various locations during the week ending 24 May. In Lira, some of the 10,000 persons who had fled their homes have started to go home, but in the western Bundibugyo district new displacements are being reported.
3.2 Between 18 and 24 May, WFP made available 595 tons of food for distribution to displaced persons and refugees. During the weekend of 23/24 May, the recently displaced persons in Lira were provided with 70 tons of maize and 30 tons of pulses. There is a shortage of vegetable oil for distribution and UNIMIX is being supplied as an alternative for special feeding programmes.
Note: all tonnage figures above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 22 of 1998 - May 29, 1998)
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