Report No. 23 of 1998 Date: 5 June 1998This report includes: A) Afghanistan B) WFP Regional Contingency Planning for Kosovo C) Iraq D) East and Central Africa: Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Republic of Congo 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 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. Earthquake relief operations update a) UN, ICRC and NGO operations continue for victims of earthquake of 30 May in northern parts of Takkar and Badakshan provinces. b) Inaccessibility of affected areas hampers relief operations and full assessment of the situation. Aerial observations show damage is more extensive than previously thought. Current estimate for affected population is 70,000-80,000. c) More helicopters urgently needed; fuel supply problems and sudden changes of weather also affect operations. Two helicopters to be provided by US/OFDA. d) After immediate medical needs met, priority is now systematic distribution of food; population is traumatized and petrified to dig in the rubble for food stocks. Wheat and vegetable oil is being delivered most badly affected villages; as of 4 June, food is on all helicopter flights. e) WFP food is being provided to NGO ACTED, to supplement their wheat stocks used in bakeries in and around Rustaq producing bread for local distribution. f) WFP-contracted Antonov-32 aircraft arrives in Peshawar, to fly tents and relief supplies to earthquake operations zone.
B. YUGOSLAVIA: KOSOVO
1. WFP Regional Contingency Planning for Kosovo a) Groups of refugees from Kosovo move into northern Albania, fleeing Serb attacks. UNHCR reports 6,500 registered refugees in Bajram Curry (information as of 4 June). Large numbers also reported displaced within Kosovo. b) Displaced people from Kosovo in Montenegro are supported by host families. c) WFP regional contingency plan for Kosovo in place since March. Stocks of relief food are available in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina; 42 tons of high-energy biscuits to be transported from regional stocks in Pisa into Albania, for the refugees. d) Logistics and needs assessment missions recently conducted in the region; further assessment missions are Albania, 4-9 June, and joint WFP/UNHCR needs assessment in Kosovo, 8-12 June.
C. IRAQ
1. Update - oil-for-food a) New six-month phase of oil-for-food programme, approved on 29 May by the Secretary-General provides for increase in the food ration. Fortified infant weaning cereal included in the general ration. b) Funds earmarked for food commodities have increased from USD 916 million to USD 1.1 billion. An additional USD 180 million to be used to improve road and rail network for transport and distribution of foodstuffs. c) Substantial increase in funds for water and sanitation sector (from USD 44 million in phase III to USD 210 million in phase IV) and health sector (additional USD 100 million). d) Plan is contingent on Iraq selling some USD 4.5 billion worth of oil over the next six months; rehabilitation of oil sector is needed if Iraq is to meet the six-month target.
D. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: RWANDA, TANZANIA, UGANDA, REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1. Rwanda a) Emergency distributions to displaced persons in Gisenyi under way; number of displaced persons in area higher than anticipated; nutritional situation serious. b) Distributions to displaced persons in Ruhengeri to start soon.
2. Tanzania a) Three tractors airlifted into Kigoma from Zimbabwe, to be used as recovery vehicles for trucks carrying WFP food during rainy season, when traffic in Kigoma disrupted, hampering food deliveries into the refugee camps.
3. Uganda a) Increasing number of security incidents in northern and western districts. b) UNHCR repatriation of Congolese refugees from the Kyaka II refugee camp in western Uganda resumed; WFP provides returnees with repatriation food package; some 13,000 Congolese refugees remain in two camps in Uganda. c) An estimated 75,000 persons in Kitgum district affected by drought; assessment mission to the area planned for later in June; WFP food assistance is being given to this population along with displaced Ugandans in the district.
4. Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) a) Rwandan and Burundian refugees in Loukolela area in the Republic of Congo reported to be moving to the Kintele camp, near Brazzaville. b) Provincial authorities in Goma request UN agencies and NGOs to resume assistance to some 60,000 displaced Congolese in the Kivu area; improvement in security conditions needed to allow access by agencies.
PART II - DETAILS
A. AFGHANISTAN
1. EARTHQUAKE RELIEF OPERATIONS UPDATE
1.1 The earthquake that struck northern Afghanistan on 30 May has affected northern parts of the two provinces of Takkar and Badakshan. Only one road links these two regions, and it has been impassable due to mudslides. Central coordination of the relief operations takes place from Islamabad, Pakistan, with a secondary base in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. While the operations centre in Faizabad in Badakshan province serves the whole earthquake zone, emergency aid workers are working in two separate operations. The western operation is centred in Rustaq in Takkar province, while headquarters for the eastern operation is in Faizabad. Around Rustaq, there is some road access to affected areas, while in Badakshan, the affected areas are all reachable only on foot or by helicopter.
1.2 The inaccessibility and mountainous character of the region, the lack of roads, and their interruption by landslides, have all resulted in difficulties in assessing the situation and bringing relief. There are about 100 villages in the zone affected by the earthquake, of which so far some 70 have been surveyed; of these, 28 villages have been classed as totally destroyed (damage of 80-100 percent). More affected villages are likely to be identified as in this category. Assessments of total numbers of affected people throughout the large and remote area remain at the preliminary stage. Aerial observations, which have been conducted throughout the region, indicate that in the districts of Shahr-e-Buzurg and Chayab in Badakshan province the damage is more extensive than previously thought. As of 5 June, it is estimated that 70,000-80,000 people have been affected by the quake.
1.3 Bottlenecks: There are problems in delivering supplies by plane to the two locations where airstrips are available because of a lack of planes, more helicopters are essential to reach the many villages inaccessible by road, and fuel for the helicopters is a problem, as it has to be ferried from Dushanbe in Tajikistan (where drums are manually filled). Supplies of fuel arrived last night (4 June) in Faizabad, and additional helicopters are expected over coming days. Sudden changes in the weather continue to adversely affect operations. On 5 June, helicopters based in Dushanbe were unable to fly because of bad weather.
1.4 Coordination and staffing: There is a coordinating mechanism between ICRC, IFRC and the UN, with various NGOs cooperating in sectors in which they are active, in health, road clearance, sanitation, burials and food distributions. In both the eastern and western sectors, responsibilities have been shared out among almost 100 relief workers. A WFP international staff member is serving as UN Team Leader in Faizabad and is responsible for coordinating relief activities. He is joined by three WFP international staff and one national staff. Another WFP international staff member is to be deployed to the western side of the operation in Rustaq.
1.5 Food situation: The population is traumatized and people are petrified to dig in the rubble for household food stocks. There have been at least twenty aftershocks of high intensity since the quake hit on Saturday. The harvest is not expected before mid-July in the high altitude villages.
1.6 WFP response
a) Priority was given during the initial stage of the earthquake relief operations to rendering medical assistance to the wounded and evacuating those who are seriously injured to existing hospitals in Taloqan in Takkar province and Faizabad in Badakshan. Medical supplies and personnel were among the first items to be flown into the affected areas, and field clinics have been established in several locations. Much needed shelter materials are also being provided.
b) WFP began moving small quantities of food on the third day after the quake, and has provided 50 tons of food to Faizabad hospital for the seriously injured, and another 1.5 tons of food (including high-energy biscuits) to the clinic tending the injured in Sharh-e-Buzurg.
c) On 3 June, the decision was taken by WFP to start the systematic distribution of food, in response to evidence that food was becoming a problem. On 4 June, despite shortage of helicopters and fuel, food was delivered in the eastern sector. WFP began using the small helicopters now operating to distribute 300 kg of wheat and one carton of vegetable oil to the most badly affected villages to cover their needs for a few days until more food can be sent in. In total, in one day by making eight trips, WFP distributed five tons of wheat, 320 kg of oil and 36 kg of high-energy biscuits. This operation is continuing, and as of yesterday, 4 June, food is on all helicopter flights, on ICRC and IFRC as well as UN flights.
d) WFP has also reached an agreement with the non-governmental organization ACTED to make available WFP's stock of 130 tons in Rustaq for distribution under ACTED auspices. Using their own and WFP wheat, ACTED is running bakeries in and around Rustaq which are producing 10,000 loaves of the local bread each day. In a few days, these will stop operating and the population will be given wheat flour and pulses instead. In the meantime, the bakeries continue operating.
e) In addition, 50,000 units of US-supplied humanitarian daily rations consigned to WFP are due to arrive on 9 June in Peshawar, from where they will be delivered to quake victims.
f) WFP has stocks of 2,300 tons of food available for Badakshan and 130 tons in Rustaq, which is enough to feed all of the affected population for at least two months if necessary. The bottleneck is getting this food to the people affected. In addition to current stocks available in Rustaq and Faizabad, 355 tons of WFP wheat are on the move from Ishkeshim to Faizabad, and another 500 tons are on the way from Osh to Faizabad.
1.7 Transport
a) The Tajikistan-based UN helicopter was first to arrive at the scene of the quake, closely followed by three ICRC helicopters. All four of these are quite small. While suitable for ferrying assessment teams and limited numbers of injured in and out, their food delivery capacity is far below what is needed. Therefore, two 20-ton helicopters were arranged by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) for use in reaching quake victims. These are due in a few days. WFP has conducted logistics forward planning for the deployment of these helicopters so that they can be put to work as soon as they arrive. As they may not be able to reach all of the affected villages, delivery sites will be established in valleys from which people can collect their food. Arrangements are being made by WFP for more helicopters.
b) WFP has contracted an Antonov-32 aircraft, which arrived in Peshawar this morning (June 5) and is scheduled to begin flying in the afternoon. The plane will fly tents and relief supplies to earthquake operations zone.
B. YUGOSLAVIA: KOSOVO
1. WFP REGIONAL CONTINGENCY PLANNING FOR KOSOVO, as of 4 June 1998
1.1 The UN has been closely following the situation resulting from the outflow of Kosovars into northern Albania; refugees are fleeing Serb attacks which have left many villages razed to the ground. Confirmed data from UNHCR reports 6,500 registered refugees in Bajram Curry (information as of 4 June). In addition, figures of between 37,000 and 47,000 are given of internally displaced within Kosovo. However, these figures may not be accurate and are believed to be inflated due to the current system of registering new internally displaced person arrivals in host families in Kosovo. As of 21 May, 2,992 displaced persons had registered with the Montenegrin Red Cross.
1.2 WFP has had a regional contingency plan for Kosovo in place since March. Stocks of WFP relief food in the region, available if needed in response to the Kosovo crisis, include 1,116 tons of wheat flour currently stored in Ploce port (Croatia) and a further 150 tons of pulses, 94 tons of vegetable oil and 62 tons of high-energy biscuits (BP5s) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the next ten days, the high-energy biscuits will be transported to the region. An additional 42 tons of high-energy biscuits will be transported from regional stocks in Pisa, Italy, into Albania, for the new refugee caseload.
1.3 Two logistics missions have been conducted in the region and one needs assessment mission to evaluate the situation of displaced persons in Montenegro. The latter mission revealed that the food aid is not yet necessary, but monitoring of the situation is ongoing, since it is not clear how long host families can bear the additional burden of supporting displaced persons from Kosovo.
1.4 Two further assessment missions are planned. One is to assess the situation in Albania, from 4 to 9 June, and the other is a joint WFP/UNHCR needs assessment in Kosovo, from 8 to 12 June. An international staff member has been appointed for the Kosovo based in Belgrade, to oversee further contingency planning.
C. IRAQ
1. UPDATE - OIL-FOR-FOOD
1.1 The next six-month phase of the oil-for-food programme, approved on 29 May by the Secretary-General, provides for an increase in the food ration distributed to every resident of Iraq. Based on indications that malnutrition had remained high despite deliveries of food through the first three phases of the operation, WFP had recommended an increase in daily caloric intake from roughly 2030 k/cal to 2500 k/cal for phase IV. As approved, the plan increases daily caloric intake (to 2270 k/cal), but by less than the amount recommended by WFP. The new plan for the first time includes fortified infant weaning cereal in the general ration. Under the new plan, the funds earmarked for the food commodities increase from USD 916 million to USD 1.1 billion. An additional USD 180 million will be spent on improving the road and rail network for the transport and distribution of foodstuffs.
1.2 Recognising that poor health and sanitation are significant causes of continued malnutrition in Iraq, the new plan covers substantial increases in funds for the water and sanitation sector (from USD 44 million in phase III to USD 210 million in phase IV) and the health sector (an additional USD 100 million under Phase IV).
1.3 The plan is contingent on Iraq selling some USD 4.5 billion worth of oil over the next six months, with roughly USD 3 billion earmarked for humanitarian supplies and emergency infrastructure repairs. A team of UN oil experts, however, has concluded that USD 300 million is required for rehabilitation of the oil sector if Iraq is going to begin approaching the pumping capacity to meet the six-month target. In February 1998, the UN Security Council voted to expand the oil-for-food agreement from USD 2.14 billion to USD 5.2 billion.
E. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: RWANDA, TANZANIA, UGANDA AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1. RWANDA
1.1 Emergency distributions to displaced persons in Gisenyi are now under way and to date four communes have received WFP food commodities. The number of displaced persons in the communes visited is higher than initially anticipated and the nutritional situation seems serious, particularly among women and children who recently returned from hiding. Distributions to displaced persons in Ruhengeri are also due to start soon. There are an estimated 95,000 displaced persons in the two prefectures of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri in need of food assistance.
2. TANZANIA
2.1 Burundian and Congolese refugees in Tanzania continue to return to their home countries. Since January, 15 voluntary repatriation trips for Burundian refugees have been carried out, transporting a total of 1,833 persons. During the last week of May, another 2,292 Congolese also returned home by barge to Baraka, in eastern DR Congo, including refugees from the Lugufu and Nyarugusu camps, and 101 Congolese refugees flown into Kigoma from Zambia.
2.2 Between 25 and 31 May, 255 new Burundian refugees were registered in Mtendeli camp in Kibondo. During May, 324 Burundians were received in the Mbuba transit centre in Ngara and during the same period 654 Rwandans were received in Kibondo. The total refugee population in Tanzania at the end of May stands at 307,269 persons.
2.3 Three tractors purchased by WFP in Zimbabwe with Dutch funding, have been airlifted into Kigoma, to be used as recovery vehicles for trucks carrying WFP food. The airlift was funded by the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO). These vehicles will be particularly important during the rainy season when traffic along transport routes in Kigoma is disrupted, hampering food deliveries into the refugee camps.
3. UGANDA
3.1 An increasing number of security incidents have been reported both in northern and western districts. On the Kitgum/Lira road one WFP-contracted truck and two other vehicles were ambushed on 1 June and seven persons were killed. On the same road, an Oxfam was ambushed on 5 June. In Pakelle, a special feeding centre in a settlements for Sudanese refugees was looted, and in Gulu the Pabbo camp for displaced persons was attacked and food looted. Population displacements in Bundibugyo and Kasese, in western Uganda, continue.
3.3 During the last week of May, UNHCR repatriated 400 Congolese refugees from the Kyaka II refugee camp in western Uganda. WFP provides the returnees with a repatriation food package, handed out at the border. This voluntary repatriation programme had been suspended mid May, amid reports of a cholera epidemic and poor road conditions. There are still 13,000 Congolese refugees in two camps in Uganda.
3.2 An estimated 75,000 persons in Kitgum district are affected by drought conditions and WFP is planning a joint assessment mission to the area during the month of June. WFP has already despatched some food to assist this population, in addition to the 78,000 displaced Ugandans already benefiting from food assistance in the district.
4. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND REPUBLIC OF CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE)
4.1 Rwandan and Burundian refugees in the Loukolela area in the Republic of Congo are reportedly moving to the Kintele camp, near Brazzaville. There are presently 9,726 refugees in the Republic of Congo: 4,100 in Kintele, 3,893 in Loukolela, 1,368 in Ndjoundou and 365 in Liranga. This recent movement of the refugees appears to be related to the recent announcement of a planned screening exercise for Loukolela, to be undertaken by the government and UNHCR.
4.2 A second food convoy despatched from Kampala has reached the Bunagana border point, on its way to Goma. The trucks are carrying 120 tons of cereals which will be forwarded by barge to Bukavu and then by road to Uvira. The resumption of traffic along this route, interrupted during November, allows faster deliveries to the eastern DR Congo provinces.
1.3 Provincial authorities in Goma have requested UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to resume their assistance to some 60,000 displaced Congolese in the Kivu area. Security conditions need however to improve in order to allow access to needy areas.
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 23 of 1998 - June 5, 1998)
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