WFP EMERGENCY REPORT Issued weekly by the United Nations World Food Programme
Report No. 41 of 1998 Date: 16 October 1998
This report includes: A) Guinea Bissau B) Angola C) FR Yugoslavia and region: Kosovo crisis D) Afghanistan E) Sudan F) Central and East Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo/Brazzaville, 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. GUINEA BISSAU
1. Update - information as of 21 October a) Heavy fighting breaks out in Bissau on 18 October, forcing thousands of residents to flee again to Bijagos islands, and to the near-by regions of Oio, Cacheu and Biombo. Fighting is now escalating in other parts of the country. b) Gamamudo, 30 km to north of Bafata, attacked on 19 October. Local population immediately started leaving the area heading towards east to Gabu. UN and ICRC staff temporarily evacuated from Bafata to Senegal. c) Casamance refugees reported to be moving into Guinea Bissau.
B. ANGOLA
1. Update - information as of 6 October a) Political tension increases with continued military instability, while peace process remains stalled. b) Recent two-week suspension on UN road transportation intensifies need to stockpile commodities in interior. c) Increased emergency food aid needs place strain on food supply pipeline. New pledges for early 1999 needed, especially for CSB, maize and pulses. d) Situation in Malange province worsens; currently 52,500 IDPs registered. WFP convoy of 35 trucks with 935 tons of relief food arrived in Malange 11 October.
C. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION: KOSOVO CRISIS
1. Update - most information as of 16 October, updated 20 October a) UN mission due in Kosovo and Belgrade weekend of 17/18 October to report on compliance with UN Security Council resolutions. b) Relief convoys In Kosovo restart on 20 October after delay due to security situation. c) Agreement reached with donor of WFP food stocks in port of Bar that the food, earmarked for Montenegro, can also be utilized for Kosovo. d) In Albania, joint decision made by IFRC and WFP to cancel October distributions in Tropoje district, due to lack of security, looting of IFRC food parcels and proliferation of registration cards among non-refugees.
D. AFGHANISTAN
1. Update - most information as of 16 October a) Shelling of Kabul airport leads to suspension of flights by ICRC as of 19 October. b) With large areas of Hazarajat now under Taliban control, southern blockade in Ghazni region eased. Trade and food supply improves. Concern remains for most vulnerable households, who are still in need of food aid. c) Proposed UN assessment mission of the area still on hold. d) UN Secretary-General's Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi meets leaders of the Taliban, including the movement's head, Mullah Omar, to discuss easing tensions between Iran and Afghanistan, and return of UN staff to Afghanistan.
E. SUDAN
1. Update - extracts from WFP Sudan Bulletins for the period 9-19 September a) OLS/WFP assesses condition of Sudanese returnees from DR Congo in Yambio (Western Equatoria Region). As of 15 October, some 14,240 returnees registered by local authorities; about 1,000 per day reported to be crossing the border, returning because of insecurity in Dungu area of DR Congo. A total of 30,000 to 50,000 said to be on the move towards Sudan from the Dungu refugee camps. b) Sobat barge convoy resumes food distributions along second segment of the river corridor; by 21 October, total of 541 tons of food delivered to 42,876 beneficiaries. c) Detailed operational updates available via the WFP Sudan Daily Bulletins, issued twice weekly, at http://www.wfp.org/OP/Countries/sudan.html
F. CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA: DR CONGO, CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE, RWANDA AND TANZANIA
1. Update - information as of 15 October a) UN joint assessment mission visits Kalemie and Uvira areas of eastern DR Congo on 7 and 8 October, and estimates 8,000 and 12,000 displaced persons are in the area. b) Railway traffic between Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville suspended due to insecurity. c) In Rwanda, in response to the growing humanitarian needs in eastern DR Congo, WFP released food commodities from Cyangugu stocks to Caritas for transport and distribution in Uvira. d) WFP emergency operations recommenced in Ruhengeri. Numbers of IDPs continue to increase in Ruhengeri and Gisenyi prefectures. e) In Tanzania, influx rate of Congolese returning former refugees increases.
PART II - DETAILS
A. GUINEA BISSAU
1. UPDATE - information as of 21 October
1.1 Heavy fighting broke out in Bissau on Sunday 18 October, forcing thousands of residents to flee again to Bijagos islands, and to the near-by regions of Oio, Cacheu and Biombo. Fighting is now escalating in other parts of the country and shooting is still continuing, in addition to Bissau city, in the north-east in Sao Domingos, near the border of Senegal; in Gamamudo and Bambadinca, near Bafata from where the rebels now have entered the outskirts of Bafata; and in Quebo in the south-east. Kolda, the border town in Senegal side, has come under fire.
1.2 Bafata, where the WFP sub-office is located, has been in danger of becoming part of the war zone since Gamamudo, a town only 30 km to the north of Bafata, was attacked on 19 October. The local population immediately started leaving the area heading towards the east to the town of Gabu. Due to prevailing insecurity, UN staff, including WFP staff, and ICRC staff in Bafata were temporarily evacuated across the border of Senegal to Tambakunda on 20 October. The overall security situation in the country and on the border area of Senegal has meant that the internally displaced population that had previously returned is on the move again and has also caused Casamance refugees from Senegal to cross to Guinea Bissau. In current conditions WFP has been forced to stop its food assistance from its Bafata base and to look for ways to assist people now moving to Gabu in the east from Bafata area, or to Bijagos islands, and Cacheu and Bolama regions from Bissau city.
1.3 The next Peace Talk Negotiations are now scheduled to take place in Abuja, Nigeria, towards the end of October.
B. ANGOLA
1. UPDATE - most information for the period 23 September to 6 October
1.1 Recent weeks have been marked by further political tension and continued military instability, while the peace process remains stalled. However after the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola, MONUA, lifted the suspension on convoys on 28 September, WFP resumed overland transport on most inter-provincial routes except between Malange and the Lundas, a route which is still closed due to a destroyed bridge and insecurity.
1.2 The recent two-week suspension on UN road transportation has intensified the need to stockpile commodities in the interior. WFP food reserves in the provinces are normally sufficient to cover local requirements up to 60 days. However, because of current transportation problems and the increase in beneficiaries, reserve food stocks in certain areas are dangerously low and must be resupplied from warehouses in Luanda. Even with careful targeting of those most in need among the newly displaced, increased emergency food aid needs are placing a strain on the WFP Angola food supply pipeline. The draw-down on stocks is accelerating and new pledges for early 1999 are now needed. Most urgent are CSB, maize and pulses.
1.3 WFP has also been able to resume its special operation for access roads and associated demining. On 2 October, work on the bridge at Kutato was completed while work on the bridge at Cului was completed by 6 October. This means that the southern corridor to Menongue will soon be open for the first time since the war, which will facilitate WFP and other humanitarian logistic operations, and the return of IDPs, as well as general trade between the provinces of Huila, Kuando Kubango and Bie.
1.4 The situation in Malange province has worsened considerably. The number of IDPs registered in the province is reported currently to be 52,500. Of this total, 43,000 people, mostly women and children, have come to the city of Malange for security reasons. WFP and the humanitarian community are considering an expansion in the scope of current targeted food assistance mechanisms to cover needs for the most vulnerable of these IDPs. Update: A WFP convoy of 35 trucks carrying 935 tons of relief food arrived in Malange on 11 October, under a MONUA armed escort. The food will cover needs until the middle of December.
C. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION: KOSOVO CRISIS
1. UPDATE - information as of 16 October; some updates for 20 October
1.1 A UN mission is due to go to Kosovo and Belgrade this weekend (17/18 October) to ensure that the UN secretariat has the capacity to assess developments on the ground in Kosovo and to continue reporting on compliance with UN Security Council resolutions. The Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission (KDOM) will now be replaced with the Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM).
1.2 Kosovo: WFP staff returned to the Pristina office on 14 October to continue food deliveries. On 16 October, the first convoy with WFP food since relocation was due to deliver ten tons of wheat flour to Orahovac and Djakovica on a six-truck UN convoy. Update as of 20 October: although the convoy was delayed because of the security situation, convoys began moving again on 20 October.
1.3 Montenegro: Food assistance to the current caseload for October has been guaranteed by other agencies. WFP food stocks remain in the port of Bar where they are undergoing customs clearance. Agreement has been reached with the donor that the food, earmarked for Montenegro, can also be utilized for Kosovo.
1.4 Albania: October deliveries were completed to 6,500 refugees in Albania. Distribution in Tropoje district has been cancelled for October. Lack of security, looting of IFRC food parcels from the warehouse during the weekend of 10/11 October, plus proliferation of registration cards among non-refugees were the overriding factors in the joint decision between IFRC and WFP to cancel the distributions. WFP and UNHCR are finalizing an agreement whereby CRS will be the implementing partner for the secondary distribution of food and non-food items for Kosovar refugees in Albania.
D. AFGHANISTAN
1. UPDATE - most information as of 16 October
1.1 Kabul: Shelling of the airport has increased. The International Committee of the Red Cross suspended its flights to the city as of 19 October.
1.2 Bamyan/Hazarajat region
a) WFP national staff in neighbouring Ghazni province have confirmed that with large areas of Hazarajat now under Taliban control, the southern blockade in Ghazni region has been eased. The Hazara population has resumed their traditional movements across provincial lines, bringing out livestock, dried fruit, and handicrafts for sale for cash to buy staples and especially wheat for the coming winter. With the easing of the blockade, staff report the movement of many trucks loaded with commercial goods into Hazarajat, which is accompanied by a decrease in transport prices. The Bamyan market is at least partially open, and some road access routes into the area are also now functional.
b) The proposed UN assessment mission of the area is still on hold, pending the completion of repairs on the airstrip which is reported to have been damaged during fighting. However, the Taliban have now stated that they can guarantee road safety up to and within Bamyan.
c) WFP is now planning an intervention prior to winter to assist the most vulnerable, labour-poor households in the area based on information provided by the WFP Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) section. Even with the opening of the blockaded areas, these groups have depleted their asset levels and will need food aid to survive the winter. WFP has also received a report that some farmers who abandoned their crops at the advent of the Taliban are returning for the harvest, but have already lost up to 50 percent of their yields.
1.4 Faizabad: Rehabilitation activities for earthquake victims are accelerating due to the return of local UN staff and NGO staff to Badakshan. With the approach of winter in this mountainous region, the time frame is growing short for these activities, which may stop by the end of this month. The shipment of 2,000 tons of wheat across the Tajik border into the quake zone in Takkar has now been completed. WFP and implementing partner ACTED have determined that up to 3,500 tons in total may be needed for the rehabilitation initiative.
1.5 Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping
a) A three person WFP VAM field survey team which began work in Kabul on 6 October is still engaged in the two month survey aims to identify which types of households are vulnerable to food supply failure in Kabul and quantify the assistance needed. Particular attention is being given to labour-poor households (including households headed by women), households headed by children and IDPs. The survey is intended to assist WFP Afghanistan in targeting assistance.
b) As part of this survey, WFP Afghanistan has collaborated with colleagues in the WFP Pakistan programme to train two female WFP staff members from Kabul in household food economy data collection techniques among Afghan refugees in Pakistan. These two officers have returned to Kabul, where they will assist WFP in gaining direct access to women by collecting information on the role of women in providing for their families.
1.6 The Secretary-General's Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Pakistan to discuss easing tensions between Iran and Afghanistan. Mr. Brahimi travelled to Kandahar where he met leaders of the Taliban including the movement's head, Mullah Omar. This was the first meeting between Mullah Omar and any UN official. Discussions centred around a seven point agenda including easing Iran-Afghan tension. Mr. Brahimi indicated that depending on further negotiations, the UN may return to Afghanistan fairly soon. Return, however, will be preceded by the negotiation and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on security (expected soon), a report by the Taliban on the murders of the international staff member in Kabul and the two national staff members in Jalalabad, the assessment of sub-office locations in Afghanistan, and the hiring of two additional security officers.
1.7 WFP Afghanistan as a whole utilized 3,577 tons of food during the month of September. This brings overall utilization for the first three quarters of the year to 68,215 tons, which is 70 percent of the allocation for 1998.
E. SUDAN
1. UPDATE - in the form of extracts from WFP Sudan Bulletins for the period 9-19 September
1.1 WFP field staff in Yambio (Western Equatoria Region) report that as of 15 October, some 14,240 Sudanese returnees from the Democratic Republic of Congo had been registered by local authorities, and that they continued to cross the border at a rate of 1,000 per day. It was estimated as of 12 October that another 30,000 to 50,000 may be on the move to Sudan from refugee camps near Dungu, in DR Congo. Most of these refugees fled insecurity in Western Equatoria Region in Sudan between 1990 and 1993. They are returning because of insecurity in the Dungu area. WFP is distributing cereals borrowed from World Vision International stocks, until the arrival of 150 tons of WFP commodities dispatched by road from Koboko, Uganda. An OLS assessment mission, including WFP, is evaluating the needs of the returnees in Yambio, both in terms of food and non-food assistance. The mission will also look at the situation of displaced groups from Bahr el-Ghazal region. Local counterparts indicate that over 32,000 IDPs are in various locations in Western and Eastern Equatoria Regions.
1.2 The Sobat barge convoy has resumed food distributions along the second segment of the journey down the river corridor (updated information); 26 tons of food was distributed to 2,500 beneficiaries in Chuil on 21 October. The barge convoy has now delivered a total 541 tons of food to 42,876 beneficiaries along the Sobat river.
1.3 As part of the WFP/OLS Annual Needs Assessment exercise, training and assessment activities have started in Nyal (Unity State, Upper Nile Region) and Panthou (Bahr el-Ghazal Region). The assessment in Nyal will focus on the food economy of the resident community while the Panthou team will examine the situation of displaced and returnees. Assessments are on-going in White Nile, North, South and West Kordofan, South Darfur, Unity, Upper Nile and Kassala regions. Assessments in Bahr el-Ghazal (Wau) and Equatoria have been temporarily hampered by lack of travel permits for WFP staff. An assessment in Blue Nile State will begin after the rainy season ends.
1.4 Further updated deliveries, distributions and other operational details are available via the WFP Sudan Daily Bulletins, issued twice weekly, which appear on the WFP Web site at http://www.wfp.org/OP/Countries/sudan.html or by e-mail from <Leslie.Elliott@wfp.org>, WFP Rome (telephone 39 06 6513 2871, fax 39 06 6513 2839). The Sudan WFP Monthly Overview for September has been issued and will be available soon on the WFP Web site. Also available from <Leslie.Elliott@wfp.org>
F. CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA: DR CONGO, CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE, RWANDA AND TANZANIA
1. DR CONGO AND CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE - information as of 15 October
1.1 A UN joint assessment mission visited Kalemie and Uvira areas of eastern DR Congo on 7 and 8 October. The mission estimated that there are between 8,000 and 12,000 displaced persons in the area. The UN is currently examining the kind of assistance that could be provided to assist the displaced and other vulnerable groups.
1.2 Railway traffic between Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville has been suspended following the insecurity prevailing in the south-western area of the Republic of Congo. The suspension came at a time when WFP was planning to transfer 3,150 tons of recently arrived maize meal to Kinshasa via Brazzaville. A WFP mission is currently in Pointe-Noire for an assessment of the storage and forwarding conditions.
2. RWANDA
2.1 In response to the growing humanitarian needs in eastern DR Congo, WFP released 20 tons of food commodities from Cyangugu stocks to Caritas for transport and distribution across the DR Congo border in Uvira. An estimated 1,150 persons displaced by fighting in the Vyura area of Katanga province will benefit from the food aid. This caseload is part of the 8,000 to 12,000 people displaced in and between Kalemie and Uvira.
2.2 WFP emergency operations recommenced in Ruhengeri on 6 October with a total of 257 tons of food distributed to 32,800 beneficiaries. Operations had been suspended due to the mine incident in early September. This follows a meeting held between WFP, Government and military personnel at which it was agreed that patrols on the supply routes are to be reinforced to avoid mine-laying and ambushes, two additional vehicles are to be used for reconnaissance work in advance of WFP convoys, repairs will be carried out on bridges and roads in poor condition prior to the rainy season and a system of alternative delivery points will provide fall-back distribution sites.
2.3 Increases in the number of internally displaced persons continue to be reported in Ruhengeri and Gisenyi prefectures. Some 50,000 newly displaced persons were registered in three communes of Ruhengeri and since August the Nyarutovu camp increased in size from 5,000 to 25,000 persons. Busasamana camp in Gisenyi also continues to receive new arrivals, at an estimated rate of 160 persons per day. These new arrivals live in an abandoned church and school near the camp site. The total population at this site totals 35,625 persons. WFP continues to supply the two prefectures with food assistance.
3. TANZANIA
3.1 The influx rate of Congolese returnees (returning former refugees in Tanzania) increased dramatically during the week when 1,909 new arrivals were received at Kigoma registration centre. The majority (80 percent) of this caseload are from south-eastern areas of DR Congo affected by the current conflict.
Note: all tonnage figures above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 41 of 1998 - October 16, 1998)
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