Report No. 31 of 1998 Date: 31 July 1998
This report includes: A) Sudan (additional information in Supplement) B) Angola C) Guinea Bissau D) East and Central Africa: Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo E) Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Kosovo.
>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 6 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. SUDAN
1. Update - information as of 31 July a) A supplement to the WFP Emergency Report no. 31 contains the full text of the Statement of the WFP Executive Director to the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, on the Crisis in Sudan. The statement was presented at the Subcommittee on Africa, Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, on 29 July 1998 in Washington, DC. b) Special feeding programme launched in Wau; cooked meals prepared daily by Care International, using WFP food, to the very malnourished unable to prepare food for themselves. c) Large numbers of displaced people continue to arrive in Ajiep; to ease congestion on the feeding centre in Ajiep, WFP begins airdrops to nearby villages. d) Resourcing update: donation from the European Union (DGVIII) of USD 36.5 million confirmed. To 30 July, contributions for the WFP Sudan EMOP amount to USD 100.7 million. Shortfall as of 30 July stood at USD 53.8 million.
B. ANGOLA
1. Update - information as of 28 July a) Stalemate in the peace process leads to situation now described by Angolan national press as an "undeclared war". Forced population movements continue and emergency requirements are increasing daily. b) WFP assessment of drought situation in southern Kuando Kubango and Kunene continues. Preparations being made for an appeal to donors to assist approximately 105,000 drought-affected persons with nearly 14,000 tons of food in southern Kuando Kubango; needs in Kunene will be covered under the existing protracted relief operation.
C. GUINEA BISSAU
1. Update - as of 30 July with additional information as of 4 August a) Ceasefire brokered on 26 July is holding. UN missions assess situation in Bissau on 2 and 3 August. b) Heavy rain delays second WFP convoy from Senegal, blocked at Tambacounda by rain-damaged bridge. c) Distributions by ICRC and ADPP using WFP food to people in Bafata and Gabu. Distributions in rural areas to start mid-August. ICRC and ADPP are covering both Government and rebel controlled areas. d) As of 4 August, total of approximately 500 tons of WFP relief food has been delivered to Bafata from Guinea Conakry, and 25 tons from Senegal.
D. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: RWANDA, UGANDA AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1. Rwanda a) Security incidents continue in north-western prefectures of Rwanda; in week ending 12 July, in Ruhengeri prefecture, seven family members of a WFP staff member from Butare warehouse were killed; 29 people killed in attacks on two villages in Gisenyi prefecture and 34 people killed in attack in Kigali rural. A Roman Catholic nun shot dead on 31 July in Gisenyi by unidentified attackers
2. Uganda a) WFP/Government mission assesses flood situation along shores of Lake Kyoga in Lira district of central Uganda. Approximately 13,000 people displaced by rising water identified as in need of food assistance.
3. Democratic Republic of Congo - information as of 4 August a) Fighting breaks out in the east of the country following trouble in Kinshasa. b) Current information on situation in DR Congo available in the daily IRIN East and Central Africa Updates, on ReliefWeb at http://www.reliefweb.int c) Angolan refugees in western DR Congo: Government of DR Congo makes formal request to WFP for assistance for Angolan refugees in Kisenge, Katanga province and Kahemba, Bandundu province. Estimated total Angolan refugee population around 40,000.
E. FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION: KOSOVO CRISIS
1. Update - information as of 3 August a) Fighting intensifies in Kosovo, leading to further displacements of people, especially from Malisevo. b) Within Kosovo, high-energy biscuits from WFP sent with joint UN/NGO convoy to displaced people in mountains around Malisevo, where some 20,000 displaced people now located. More WFP food to arrive Pristina by 7 August. c) Influx of Kosovar displaced people to Montenegro resumes following the fighting in Malisevo. WFP food for some 27,000 displaced delivered to local Montenegrin Red Cross warehouses. Distributions begin in Plav, Rozoje and Ulcinj. d) Nearly 100 refugees from Malisevo arrived in Albania on 30-31 July and are given shelter in Fierze, near Bajram Curri. e) Under WFP agreement with IFRC, refugees in collective centres in Albania will receive food from WFP during August (to approximately 5,000 refugees).
PART II - DETAILS
A. SUDAN - information as of 31 July
1. GENERAL
1.1 A supplement to the WFP Emergency Report no. 31 contains the full text of the Statement of Catherine A. Bertini, Executive Director of the World Food Programme, to the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, on the Crisis in Sudan. The statement was presented at the Subcommittee on Africa, Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, on 29 July 1998 in Washington, DC.
2. SITUATION UPDATE
2.1 Wau: A special feeding programme was launched this past week for displaced Sudanese arriving in Wau, who are too malnourished and weak to prepare food for themselves. Under this programme, cooked meals are provided every day by Care International, which recently established operations in Wau, and which has opened the first kitchen of a planned ten centres. Each site will be able to feed up to 500 people a day. WFP food is provided for the programme, and WFP staff working in Wau will continue to screen families as they arrive and direct those most in need to one of the kitchen facilities. WFP is airlifting in high energy biscuits and corn-soya blend (CSB) for the programme. Over the past week an average of 700 Sudanese have been arriving in Wau each day, in horrific physical condition, many having walked for weeks to reach the town.
2.2 Ajiep: Large numbers of displaced people are also arriving daily in Ajiep where WFP has been airdropping relief food since January. In order to ease the congestion on the feeding centre based there, WFP has begun airdropping food supplies to nearby villages outside of the Ajiep area.
2.3 Staffing: As at 30 July, WFP has 50 field staff operational in 17 locations in the Southern Sector: 13 WFP field teams are in Bahr El Ghazal (Majakliet, Panthou, Lunyaker, Panliet, Wullu, Ajiep, Adet, Akoc, Yirol, Abieth, Akak, Cuibet and Akon); three in Jonglei (Lankeng, Akobo and Kolmerek); and one in Equatoria (Kotobi).
2.4 Floods - Juba area: A needs assessment mission to the Kuda area (about 50 km from Juba town) reported a 10-15 percent crop loss due to two days of torrential rains. The mission recommended the provision of seeds and blankets. WFP will continue to monitor the food security situation in the area.
3. RESOURCING UPDATE
3.1 A donation from the European Union (DGVIII) of USD 36.5 million for the WFP Sudan operation has been confirmed. Total food tonnage of the contribution amounts to 24,625 metric tons. To 30 July, contributions for the WFP Sudan EMOP amount to USD 100.7 million. Total shortfall as of 30 July stood at USD 53.8 million.
4. WFP SUDAN DAILY BULLETINS
4.1 Updates on deliveries, distributions, other general operational details and the current resourcing situation can be found in WFP Sudan Daily Bulletins, which are available via the WFP Home Page on the Web at http://www.wfp.org - click on Field Operations or What's New - or through contacting <Leslie.Elliott@wfp.org>.
B. ANGOLA
1. UPDATE - information as of 28 July
1.1 The stalemate in the peace process continues as the country appears to have passed from a "no war, no peace" situation to what the Angolan national press has come to call an "undeclared war" situation. While the number of verified incidents has tended to stabilize or even decrease, forced population movements continue and, although rehabilitation activities have come to a standstill, emergency requirements are increasing by the day.
1.2 Drought situation in southern Kuando Kubango and Kunene
a) WFP assessment of the effects of the drought in the south continues, with a road reconnaissance mission in southern Kuando Kubango planned between 30 July and 3 August. WFP is preparing to launch an appeal to the donor community to assist approximately 105,000 drought-affected persons with nearly 14,000 tons of food in southern Kuando Kubango. An airlift may be required to this remote area of very difficult terrain during the first stages of the operation until a cross-border agreement with Namibia can be reached.
b) In Kunene, WFP intends to cover the needs from the existing protracted relief operation (PRO). It is intended to begin major food-for-work programmes to rehabilitate reservoirs, dams and boreholes, secondary and tertiary roads, latrines and cattle vaccination pens. In addition, support will be provided to reforestation around water catchments and to increasing agricultural production on the banks of the Kunene river. Furthermore, with the collaboration of the provincial government, WFP will register the most vulnerable (and thus most likely to be affected by the drought) and identify programmes through which to assist them.
C. GUINEA BISSAU
1. UPDATE - as of 30 July with additional information as of 4 August
1.1 The UN has confirmed that the ceasefire brokered on 26 July is holding. The ceasefire made it possible for a mission by UN heads of agencies working in Guinea Bissau (WHO, OCHA, UNICEF and FAO), to make an assessment mission to Bissau on 2 August. The group travelled by plane to Bubaque, and then to Bissau by boat. WFP was part of a second technical mission which used the same route to reach Bissau on 3 August. Results of the missions will be released in the near future.
1.2 Heavy rain is falling in the region, and has delayed a second WFP convoy from Senegal, which is blocked at Tambacounda by a rain-damaged bridge.
1.3. Distributions: Using WFP food, under agreements reached last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross began distributions in the city of Bafata on 22 July (expected to take six days), for 2,336 families (18,688 people at average of eight persons per family), while ADPP (a Norwegian NGO) started distributions in the town of Gabu on 27 July. Distributions in the rural areas will start mid-August. ICRC and ADPP are covering both Government and rebel controlled areas.
1.4 On 24 July, WFP stocks in Bafata totalled 265 tons; these, with the additional 113 tons of food about to be delivered by the fifth WFP convoy from Conakry, were expected to be absorbed by the current distributions in Bafata and in Gabu. Information as of 4 August: to date, a total of approximately 500 tons of WFP relief food has been delivered to Bafata from Guinea Conakry, and 25 tons from Senegal.
D. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: RWANDA, UGANDA AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1. RWANDA
1.1 Several security incidents were reported in the north-western prefectures of Rwanda during the week ending 12 July. In Ruhengeri prefecture, seven family members of a WFP staff member from Butare warehouse were killed. In Byumba, three nuns were kidnapped and later released in Ruhengeri prefecture. Two villages in Gisenyi prefecture were attacked and 29 persons killed. In another incident, 34 people were killed by an armed group of assailants in Kigali rural. Update on 3 August: AP has reported that a Roman Catholic nun was shot dead by unidentified attackers on 31 July in Gisenyi.
2. UGANDA
2.1 On 9 July, an assessment mission comprised of WFP staff and government officials flew to the shores of Lake Kyoga in Lira district of central Uganda after receiving reports of floods in the area. The flooding of the banks of Lake Kyoga was caused by a blockage of the free flow of the River Nile out of Lake Kyoga by floating islands and not so much by increased rainfall in the area.
2.2 Presently, approximately 13,000 people have been displaced and identified as in need of food assistance in the flood-affected area. WFP has already delivered over 50 tons of food commodities which are being distributed by local authorities. WFP reports from the area that the caseload is likely to increase, as the submerged area is extensive and more people are taking refuge on higher ground.
3. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - information as of 4 August
3.1 Eastern DR Congo
a) Fighting broke out in the east of DR Congo over the weekend (1/2 August), following trouble in Kinshasa. The UN is closely monitoring developments.
b) Current information on the situation is available in the daily IRIN East and Central Africa Updates, available on ReliefWeb at http://www.reliefweb.int or by contacting the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa in Nairobi at Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 or e-mail: <irin@ocha.unon.org>
3.2 Angolan refugees in western DR Congo
a) On 20 July, the Government of DR Congo made a formal request to WFP for assistance for Angolan refugees who fled their country because of the current security situation inside Angola, and settled in Kisenge, Katanga province and Kahemba, Bandundu province. Presently, the Angolan refugees are estimated to number around 40,000.
E. FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION: KOSOVO CRISIS
1. UPDATE - information as of 3 August
1.1 General situation
1.1 For the past week (beginning 23 July), fighting has intensified in Kosovo, leading to further displacements of people. Malisevo in particular has been the focus of recent military action. International aid agencies have found it difficult to gain access to people displaced within and from Kosovo to assess their needs.
1.2 Kosovo
a) On Saturday 1 August, 10 tons of high-energy biscuits (BP5s) from WFP were sent with a joint UN/NGO convoy to displaced people in the mountains around Malisevo. WFP estimates that there are 20,000 people displaced in this area. The people who left Malisevo report that up to 70,000 more people from the area have sought shelter throughout the mountain range. A major problem for the displaced in the mountains is potable water. Attempts by WFP to travel to the area on Sunday 2 August were unsuccessful due to insecurity. However WFP staff report that entire villages have been destroyed and abandoned. Bodies of cattle that have been killed can be seen on the streets of the villages.
b) A further 160 tons of WFP food (120 tons wheat flour, 20,000 litres of oil and 20 tons of pulses) will arrive in Pristina by 7 August. At the current ration this will cover distributions to 20,000 displaced persons for one month.
1.3 Montenegro: The influx of Kosovar displaced people to Montenegro has resumed following the fighting in Malisevo. The total Kosovar displaced population in Montenegro is now almost 27,000 individuals. WFP food for this population has been delivered to local Montenegrin Red Cross warehouses for distribution. Distributions began in Plav, Rozoje and Ulcinj on 3 August. An additional 18 tons of high-energy biscuits has arrived in Montenegro on 30 July for distribution to children among the displaced population.
1.4 Albania
a) Nearly 100 refugees arrived in Albania on 30-31 July fleeing the fighting in Malisevo. The refugees, mainly women, children and the elderly, are being sheltered in Fierze, near Bajram Curri. The new arrivals state that as many as 500 more ethnic Albanians from Kosovo are en route to Albania. The Albanian Civil Protection has erected tents to accommodate up to 1,200 refugees.
b) According to UNHCR registration, there are 13,000 Kosovar refugees in Albania, of whom 10,303 are in Tropoje District. Identification and ration cards will be distributed by 10 August.
c) WFP has agreed with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) that WFP will distribute food to refugees in collective centres in Albania in August (to approximately 5,000 refugees). There are also four tons of high energy biscuits still available in Tropoje, which can provide immediate assistance to newly arrived refugees.
Note: all tonnage figures above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 31 of 1998 - July 31, 1998)
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