Report No. 40 of 1998 Date: 9 October 1998
This report includes: A) Indonesia B) FR Yugoslavia and region: Kosovo crisis C) Sierra Leone D) Guinea Bissau E) Central and East Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
>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 06 6513 2837). For information on resources, donors are requested to contact Aleesa.Blum@wfp.org or Marius.deGaayFortman@wfp.org at WFP Rome, telephone 39 06 6513 2004 or 06 6513 2250. The address of WFP is Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, Parco dei Medici, 00148 Rome, Italy.
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. INDONESIA
1. Update - information as of 6 October a) Extracts from the findings of the joint FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission to Indonesia of 7-28 September are given below. Paddy production estimates for 1997/98 season revised downward to 45.38 million tonnes. Rice import requirement now estimated at around 5.14 million tonnes for 1998/99 marketing year. About 1.43 million tonnes of rice need to be covered by commercial/concessional imports, loans, grants and targeted food aid. b) Increasing concern for food security prospects for a large section of the population as production falls and economic crisis deepens. c) Implementation continues of WFP EMOP for drought victims. Over 86,000 tonnes of cereals have been delivered.
B. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION: KOSOVO CRISIS
1. Update - information as of 13 October a) Negotiations attempting to find a diplomatic solution to the Kosovo crisis result in agreement announced on 13 October that averts immediate threat of NATO air strikes. b) UN Security Coordinator agrees to return of UN staff, some of whom had been evacuated from Kosovo. WFP had not suspended operations prior to the agreement, but prevailing security situation had curtailed relief programmes. c) WFP will use stocks in the region to resume food distribution to the displaced population, who it is hoped will soon be able to return to their homes.
C. SIERRA LEONE
1. Update - information as of 6 October a) UNICEF Executive Director visits Sierra Leone on 1 and 2 October, visiting various UNICEF project sites. b) CARE completes distribution of expanded food rations to 36,830 vulnerable persons in Masingbi; WFP has provided two trucks to support CARE in Masingbi. c) Some fighting continues in Kenema district, but situation in Kenema town currently calm. d) UNOMSIL helicopter now available to facilitate movement to areas to which road travel is currently difficult or restricted due to insecurity.
D. GUINEA BISSAU
1. Update - information as of 2 October with additions from 14 October a) UN Inter-agency mission visits Guinea Bissau from 28 September to 2 October. b) Mission unable to confirm number of people who have returned to Bissau (some estimates give over 200,000), but noted that a significant number of people had returned to the city. Mission to recommend that the UN Security Coordinator in New York downgrade the security phase in Bissau to allow UN staff to return to the city. c) Recent cease fire violations in Bissau may affect return plans of IDPs; next round of negotiations between the Government and rebels has been postponed. d) Food convoys from Banjul in the Gambia arrive in Bafata. As of 9 October, total quantity of food delivered out of the WFP commitment of 36,670 tons was approximately 5,906 tons.
E. CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA: DR CONGO, RWANDA AND TANZANIA
1. Update - information as of 8 October a) WFP received a formal request from Government of DR Congo requesting food assistance for 500,000 Kinshasa residents affected by recent fighting. b) WFP sub-office in Cyangugu in western Rwanda to reopen to reinforce response capability in the south-west of the country, in view of internal insecurity and the crisis in DR Congo. c) Population displacements continue in Gisenyi province of Rwanda. Emergency programs in Ruhengeri remain suspended. d) In Tanzania, total of new refugee influx since early August now 9,380 Congolese and 3,373 Burundian refugees. Rate of influx now diminishing.
PART II - DETAILS
A. INDONESIA
1. UPDATE - information as of 6 October
1.1 A joint FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission visited Indonesia from 7 through 28 September. The mission revised downward its March 1998 paddy production estimates for the 1997/1998 season from 47.45 million tons to 45.38 million tons, the smallest harvest since 1991. Extracts from the Special Report of the findings of the mission are given below. Full text of the report is available on the FAO Web site at http://www.fao.org - click on Economics, GIEWS, Special Reports.
1.2 Based on the current production forecast, the rice import requirement is estimated at around 5.14 million tonnes for the entire 1998/99 marketing year (around 1.64 million tonnes or 47 percent higher than the earlier forecast of 3.5 million tonnes in April). As of mid-September BULOG (the National Logistics Agency) had already imported 2.42 million tonnes of rice and had contracted an additional 525,000 tonnes. Confirmed rice pledges/deliveries amount to a further 765,000 tonnes (including 500,000 tonnes as soft loan and 100,000 tonnes as grain from Japan); of this, 240,000 tonnes are in the form of project food aid and 525,000 tonnes as programme food assistance. This leaves a deficit of about 1.43 million tonnes of rice to be covered by commercial/concessional imports, loans, grants and targeted food aid. Bilateral discussions are underway for part of this amount.
1.3 In addition to rice, there is an import requirement of around 4 million tonnes of wheat, although the removal of subsidies and other factors may have a bearing on the import requirement for wheat. Some of this requirement has been covered through commercial imports and pledged bilateral assistance.
1.4 Food security prospects in Indonesia have worsened as production falls and the economic crisis deepens. The price of imports continues to soar due to dramatic falls in exchange rates, which in turn have fuelled rapid inflation. The Mission brings attention in its report to the fact that the sudden and rapid pace at which events have evolved since mid-1997 has meant that there have been limited opportunities for adequate coping mechanisms to develop, at both the national and household levels, to deal with serious food supply difficulties. Unemployment has risen sharply, and may be over 20 million by the end of 1998. Many unemployed urban workers are moving to rural areas. The number of people who fall below the poverty line has risen sharply and is expected to be around 100 million people by next year. Concerns are mounting that a large section of Indonesia's population will be vulnerable to food insecurity over the coming year.
1.5 Other factors affecting food supply are the political uncertainty, which has led to general insecurity and increased the demand for household stocks, and problems in distribution, resulting from reduced involvement of the private sector (millers/ traders). Many producers are retaining stocks in addition to normal requirements due to the distribution constraints or in anticipation of future price increases.
1.6 Implementation continues of the WFP emergency operation "Emergency Assistance to Drought Victims in Indonesia" (EMOP 6006), distributions under which began on 18 August. The EMOP is now targeting some 5 million beneficiaries. The first assistance was through the Ministry of Agriculture to food for work beneficiaries, poor drought-affected families in rural areas who are working on small-scale community development projects. Distributions to destitute families, through the Ministry of Social Affairs, commenced in September. Activities in conjunction with the Ministry of Health will start in November shortly after the first shipment of wheat soya blend arrives. This component will target pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under five. Due to the pattern of the drought, which affected mainly the eastern areas of the country, assistance is being targeted primarily to areas outside of Java and Sumatra, with only 20 percent of assistance targeted to the two most populous islands. Over 86,000 tonnes of cereals have already been delivered. (EMOP requirements are 225,000 tonnes of rice and 17,000 tonnes of blended food, for a thirteen month period).
1.7 As many of the areas originally targeted by the WFP EMOP may now be suffering less from the drought than from the economic crisis, re-targeting of assistance may be desirable after the next main harvest in March/April 1999. A WFP Programme Review Mission has recently arrived in Indonesia to examine the need and potential for additional food assistance in urban, peri-urban and rural areas. Although difficult to design and implement, the FAO/WFP Mission suggests that there may be some scope for the expansion of food for work programmes into urban and peri-urban areas, in order to encourage participation in community works (such as drainage clearance, sanitation and water supply improvements). WFP and World Vision are currently planning a pilot scheme in Jakarta.
B. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION: KOSOVO CRISIS
1. UPDATE - information as of 13 October
1.1 Negotiations attempting to find a diplomatic solution to the Kosovo crisis resulted in an agreement announced on 13 October that has averted the immediate threat of NATO air strikes against Serbia. The UN Security Coordinator has therefore agreed to the return of UN staff, some of whom had been evacuated from Kosovo. Before the announcement of the agreement in Belgrade, WFP had not suspended operations, but the prevailing security situation had curtailed relief programmes. Most non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other international relief organizations had also cut down on their field staff.
1.2 With stocks currently in the region, WFP is ready to resume its food distribution to the displaced people in need of assistance, who it is hoped will soon be able to return to their homes and start rebuilding.
1.3 On 8 October, WFP/UNHCR organized a convoy of 20 trucks carrying 16 tons of wheat flour in addition to blankets and mattresses to Vucitrn area, some 25 km north-west of Pristina. Stocks of 216 tons of wheat flour remained in UNHCR warehouse in Pristina as of that date.
1.4 The WFP Kosovo operation is in need of pulses and oil. Oil arrivals are not expected before November. On 11 October, 550 tons of wheat flour arrived in Ploce, Croatia. Some 130 tons will be transported overland to Pristina, while the remainder will repay stocks which were borrowed in June from WFP programmes in Bosnia and Herzegovina to meet immediate needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees related to the Kosovo crisis. This consignment is in addition to the 770 tons of wheat flour which already arrived in the port of Bar, Montenegro, on 5 October as the first food donated, predominantly to Montenegro, under the Kosovo Flash Appeal.
1.5 During the period of heightened tension before the announcement of 13 October, the UN Secretary-General had delivered his report on Kosovo to the Security Council on 3 October, but had not commented on the compliance/non-compliance with Resolutions 1160 (1998) and 1199 (1998), concluding that the Security Council would possibly wish to make its own judgement in respect of this matter, in view of the continued fighting in Kosovo at that time.
C. SIERRA LEONE
1. UPDATE - information for the period 30 September to 6 October
1.1 During a visit to Sierra Leone between 1-2 October, the Executive Director of UNICEF, Ms. Carol Bellamy, visited various UNICEF project sites, all of which are also supported by WFP, including RTI displaced camp and the therapeutic and supplementary feeding centres of the NGO Merlin in Kenema. She also visited a joint UNICEF/WFP/Africare women's group project in Bo town. WFP has provided food for the agricultural component of this income-generation project.
1.2 CARE completed the distribution of expanded vulnerable group feeding rations to a total of 36,834 IDPs and residents in Masingbi in the period leading to 6 October. Distribution of a supplementary ration of corn-soya blend (CSB), to avoid deterioration in recipients' nutritional status after initial rations are consumed, is to begin next week. The provision of expanded rations and supplementary CSB were two measures agreed upon by the Committee on Food Aid to address the serious nutritional situation in Masingbi. Two WFP-provided trucks remain in the town to support CARE in ensuring adequate and complete distribution coverage.
1.3 Fighting between kamajors and AFRC/RUF has continued in Kenema district, at Bandajuma, Mendekelema and Nyiema (Yawei chiefdom). The situation in Kenema town is currently calm; no new influxes entered the town during the past week. The current verified caseload in the town is 13,190 persons. The displaced who are not with relatives have received a one-month distribution from CRS. In addition, WFP will provide short-term food support to 4,920 persons displaced as a result of the same disturbances into Segbwema and Daru towns. The Committee on Food Aid agencies will continue to monitor both IDPs' nutritional status and the situation in Kenema district.
1.4 The seven US-donated M35 trucks are now fully operational. PAE assisted WFP to restore the trucks to working order. It is expected that two vehicles each will be positioned in Bo and Kenema and one in Freetown, to facilitate deliveries for school feeding. Eight new and two second-hand Mercedes trucks are still expected.
1.5 An inter-agency mission including representatives of NCRRR, CARE, WFP, Concern, SLRC, ACF, UNOMSIL and UN-OCHA travelled to Masingbi on 6 October by UNOMSIL helicopter. The availability of the helicopter will facilitate movement to areas to which road travel is currently difficult/restricted due to insecurity.
1.6 A meeting was convened at NCRRR regarding the need to clarify the status of IDPs and residents of informal dwellings in the Western Area of Freetown. At the meeting, the decision was announced to re-activate Grafton camp, as a site to which IDPs from unsafe chiefdoms, who remain in Freetown, may relocate and receive assistance. It is proposed that Waterloo camp become a transit camp for resettling IDPs and refugees. WFP participated in an inter-agency mission, headed by NCRRR, to Grafton camp on 2 October.
1.7 WFP approved the release during the week of 30 September to 6 October of 580 tons of assorted food commodities to implementing partners, for 33,746 recipients in various programmes.
1.8 WFP operations for Sierra Leone refugees in Guinea Conakry continue, under a six-month WFP emergency operation for Guinea (EMOP 6032) approved by FAO and WFP in August. The EMOP is to provide 17,700 tons of assorted food commodities valued at USD 5.3 million to 200,000 new Sierra Leonean refugees in the Forest region of Guinea following the internal fighting in Sierra Leone since March 1998. The refugees were formerly assisted under the regional operation for Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea and Liberia and IDPs in Sierra Leone. The refugees, who are mainly from Kailahun and Kono districts in eastern Sierra Leone, have been registered and accommodated by UNHCR.
D. GUINEA BISSAU
1. UPDATE - information as of 2 October with additions from 14 October
1.1 A UN Inter-agency mission composed of OCHA, WFP, WHO, UNICEF, UNHCR, and UNDP visited Guinea Bissau (Bafata, Gabu, Canchungo, Jolmete, Mansoa and Bissau), from 28 September to 2 October.
1.2 The mission could not confirm the current number of people in Bissau, which is estimated by the Swedish Embassy to be more than 200,000, over half of the city population before the crisis. However, the mission noted that a significant number of people had returned to the city and that small business had re-opened. The telephone lines are functional as well as electricity and water supplies. From Bafata region, about 60 to 70 percent of the internally displaced population had returned to the city of Bissau, an indication that the security situation has improved significantly.
1.3 The UN Mission will recommend that the UN Security Coordinator in New York downgrade the security phase in Bissau city to allow UN staff to return to Bissau (information as of 2 October).
1.4 If the UN security level is downgraded, the UN system will be able to resume direct operations in Bissau city, utilizing the port of Bissau as the entry point for humanitarian assistance, especially for food. However, WFP needs to be equipped in order to satisfactorily execute unloading, trucking, and storage from the port to WFP warehouses, and requires a reliable communication system which is not currently available in the capital. The targeting of beneficiaries inside Bissau needs to be well coordinated with the Government and other humanitarian organizations and issues such as Government requests for general food distribution and future rehabilitation activities have to be discussed and solved in place.
1.5 If the UN security phase is not downgraded, the National Commission, composed of the Ministry of Health and several NGOs, will undertake the food distribution for WFP on the basis of specific instructions and guidance from the WFP Guinea Bissau office in Bafata and Dakar.
1.6 In Bissau city, the major preoccupation is the lack of food reserves in the city and the absence of the UN agencies at a time when the displaced population is returning. The WFP in-country stocks of 3,000 tons of food in Bissau at the onset of the crisis have been almost totally exhausted, and only a small amount remains as a reserve for the most urgent needs.
1.7 IDPs, returnees and local population will be waiting to see the outcome of the next round of negotiations between the Government and the military rebels (junta) which has been postponed sini dine, before making any firm decisions about permanently returning to their homes. The recent cease fire violations in Bissau have raised serious concerns among IDPs and could negatively affect their return plans.
1.8 Targeted beneficiaries have been increased from the original 300,000 to 325,265. Beneficiaries receiving food since the beginning of the operation total 261,726 (133,407 rural, 58,319 urban). WFP food has been distributed by ICRC and NGOs (ADPP and the Evangelical Church). WFP is currently preparing with NGOs and National Commission an agreement on the modalities of food assistance for the future operation in Bissau city.
1.9 The first food convoy from Banjul (Gambia) with 130 tons rice and 28 tons vegetable oil arrived in Bafata on 23 September, in spite of some difficulties with Senegalese authorities. The second convoy with 350 tons food from Banjul left on 1 October and arrived on 5 October; a third one is scheduled to leave 15 October. As of 9 October, the total quantity delivered out of the WFP commitment of 36,670 tons of food was approximately 5,906 tons.
E. CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA: DR CONGO, RWANDA AND TANZANIA
1. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1.1 On 1 October, WFP received a formal request from Government authorities requesting food assistance for 500,000 residents affected by the recent fighting in Kinshasa. WFP assistance is currently being targeted to 120,000 of the neediest persons, particularly those from the slums in the outskirts of the capital.
2. RWANDA
2.1 As the situation in the west of Rwanda continues to evolve as a result of internal insecurity and the crisis in DR Congo, the Cyangugu WFP sub-office will reopen in order to reinforce WFP's response capability in the south-west of the country. Facilities in Cyangugu will be shared between UNHCR and WFP to reinforce the operational capacity and coordination between the two organizations.
2.2 Population displacements continue to increase in Gisenyi province. Emergency programs in Ruhengeri remain suspended, pending discussions between WFP, the UN Security Cell and local authorities following the land mine incident of early September.
2.3 The Rwandan Red Cross Society is to distribute seeds and tools to 6,800 households in four communes in Gikongoro prefecture. The Prefectural Food Committee is preparing a food aid request for a seeds protection programme to coincide with the RRC project. Assistance will target vulnerable families throughout the prefecture, which is prone to food insecurity in the months of October and November.
3. TANZANIA
3.1 Since early August when the new refugee influx started, a total of 9,380 Congolese and 3,373 Burundian refugees have been received in Tanzania. The influx rate has now diminished. In Ngara, small numbers of Rwandans continue to be received at the Mbuba transit centre. Presently there are 4,375 refugees at this location.
Note: all tonnage figures above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 40 of 1998 - October 9, 1998)
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