Report No. 48 of 1998 Date: 4 December 1998
This report includes: A) FR Yugoslavia and Region B) China C) Tajikistan D) Somalia E) Guinea Bissau F) Angola.
>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. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION
1. Update - information as of 3 December a) WFP strategy review mission of its programmes in the Balkans region carried out between 21-28 November. Phasing out from Bosnia and Herzegovina should be completed by summer 1999. Food assistance in Kosovo will be required at least until first harvest in May/June 1999. Food assistance for 30,000 IDPs in Montenegro will be needed throughout the winter. b) Current Kososo operations: first snow of the season in Pristina makes roads impassable for conventional trucks. ICRC is supplying food aid until WFP food currently being cleared in Bar is available. c) In Montenegro, WFP food commodities in November, distributed by Montenegrin Red Cross, covered only one third of the beneficiary needs. d) In Albania, WFP increases its assistance to 3,500 refugees in Durres; WFP's beneficiary caseload now at 12,000, half of total refugee caseload of 24,000. e) Donations from USA, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Israel fully cover current needs of WFP Kosovo operation (EMOP 6040). Further donations will be required for extension of operation.
B. CHINA - FLOOD RELIEF OPERATIONS
1. Update - information as of 3 December a) Confirmed donor contributions (USA, Sweden, Australia, the UK and Spain) total USD 32.5 million, with 100,000 tons of rice equivalent corresponding to 40 percent of total resources required. Distribution of Government of China contribution of 100,000 tons rice to WFP operation completed. Distribution plans for the WFP-provided commodities now being finalized.
C. TAJIKISTAN
1. Project to revive the Silk Road a) WFP support provided in the form of food-for-work for rehabilitation of the final leg of the ancient Silk Road, which now links isolated Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Oblast in eastern Tajikistan to China. b) Current emergency assistance to Tajikistan by WFP accounts for 25 percent (USD 8.6 million) of the 1998 UN Consolidated Humanitarian Appeal of USD 34 million (87 percent covered as of late October).
D. SOMALIA
1. Update - information as of 4 December a) Further movement of people from Bay and Bakool in response to precarious food supply situation. Concern growing over possible failure of Deyr harvest. b) WFP distribution of 328 tons of food aid in Bakool completed; convoys into Bay currently under way. c) European Commission pledges USD 10 million in food aid for southern Somalia.
E. GUINEA BISSAU
1. Update - information as of 29 November a) Executive Secretary of ECOWAS meets with President Vieira and the Military Junta to review process of deployment of ECOMOG forces in Guinea Bissau. b) UN/WFP passenger service plane to start operations from Dakar to Bafata and Bissau. c) WFP submits assistance needs for 1999 UN Inter-Agency Consolidated Appeal for Guinea Bissau. d) WFP primary school canteen project will use UNICEF donation of humanitarian rations as well as bread through local bakeries utilizing donated wheat flour; food-for-work activities also will start shortly. e) No significant movement of refugees or displaced back to their places of origin.
F. ANGOLA
1. Update - information as of 1 December a) No improvement in either food security situation, or general security. Warehouse reserves at normal levels in most provinces but may suffer if road transport is halted for long periods of time. b) Drought in the southwest ends with advent of rainy season, but population in need of food aid until new harvest comes in. c) In the north, large numbers of IDPs have missed the planting season due to a combination of lack of arable land, seeds and tools. WFP is implementing extensive program of seed distribution in various provinces using seed purchased in the Angolan market. d) Access to needy populations increasingly limited in large areas of both Government and UNITA controlled zones of the country. Road supplies to a large section of Angola temporarily suspended.
PART II - DETAILS
A. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION
1. WFP STRATEGY REVIEW MISSION
1.1 Between 21 and 28 November, a WFP mission reviewed its programmes in the Balkans region. The mission concluded that WFP's phasing out process from Bosnia and Herzegovina should be completed by summer 1999 as the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the help of donors and financing institutions, strengthens its involvement in taking care of the most vulnerable people. Already, WFP beneficiary caseload for the former Yugoslavia programme has decreased from 600,000 in March 1998 to around 175,000 in November 1998.
1.2 In Kosovo the mission concluded that although the conditions have been improving since the end of October, food assistance will be required at least until the first harvest in May/June 1999. Moreover, some assistance will be required for re-establishing the livelihoods of the people returning to their homes and lands. Whilst the feeding and logistics operations are well functioning, WFP will need to readjust its assistance from distributions in the midst of a conflict to a stable distribution pattern for a large number of needy people. Given that 70 percent of the people are still unemployed, new uses of food aid are being investigated, such as rehabilitation projects based on food for work, bakery projects and other income generating options.
1.3 As it is expected that no significant numbers of Kosovar internally displaced persons in Montenegro will move before the end of the winter, the mission concluded that food assistance to the estimated 30,000 IDPs should continue until then, given the very limited resources of the Montenegro government.
2. UPDATE - KOSOVO OPERATIONS - information as of 3 December
2.1 Kosovo
a) There is continued tension in Kosovo. On 20 November, two Serb policemen were killed and three others wounded in Prejlep near Decani.
b) On 20 November, WFP delivered 13.5 tons of wheat flour and 1.5 tons of split peas to Glogovac municipality, home to 30,000 IDPs and 57,000 returnees. That day, all other humanitarian aid convoys were cancelled after the first snow of the season fell on Pristina and caused the roads to become impassable to conventional trucks. ICRC has agreed to send three convoys weekly, each carrying 60 tons of food aid, until WFP food currently being cleared in the port of Bar is available.
2.2 Montenegro: In November, WFP food commodities covered only one third of the beneficiary needs. The food was distributed by the Montenegrin Red Cross. The Montenegro Commissioner for Displaced People and UNHCR are preparing a 3-4 weeks plan to re-register IDPs in December.
2.3 Albania: Since the beginning of December, WFP has increased its assistance to 3,500 refugees in Durres, putting WFP's beneficiary caseload at 12,000, half of the total refugee caseload of 24,000. IFRC, CRS, and other NGOs are covering the remainder. The Office for Refugees of the Government of Albania will begin a re-registration of refugees in December, assisted by UNHCR, CRS and the Albanian Red Cross.
2.4 Generous donor response from USA, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Israel means that the current WFP Kosovo emergency operation (EMOP 6040) has been fully resourced, covering needs to the end of February 1999. However, it is expected that the emergency operation will be further extended.
2.5 On 19 November, the Security Council studied the Secretary-General's monthly report on Kosovo issued on 16 November 1998. In the report, the Secretary-General stated that he had decided against recommending a United Nations political presence in Kosovo to avoid parallel reporting channels. He recommended that NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) report to the Security Council through him. At the end of the Security Council meeting, members of the Security Council welcomed the improvement of the situation in Kosovo while expressing concern about persisting tensions in many areas of the province. The full report (S/1998/1068 dated 12 November 1998) is available on the UN Web site (http://www.un.org). For the Secretary-General's report to the Security Council, click UN documents, Security Council and Secretary-General's reports.
2.6 NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana announced on 26 November that Macedonia had agreed in principle to allow the NATO alliance deployment of forces on its soil to support the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) in Kosovo. The plan calls for 1,700 rapid reaction force members to be based in Macedonia for the protection of 2,000 OSCE monitors in Kosovo.
B. CHINA - FLOOD RELIEF OPERATIONS
1. UPDATE - information as of 3 December
1.1 To date, contributions confirmed by donors for the WFP emergency operation for flood victims in China total USD 32.5 million. Against the total WFP commitment of 247,214 tons of rice, USA, Sweden, Australia, the UK and Spain have recently provided a total of 100,000 tons of rice equivalent which correspond to 40 percent of the total resources required for the emergency operation. In anticipation of the confirmation of WFP resources, the implementation of the operation began at the end of October. Since then, the distribution of the 100,000 tons rice contributed by the Government of China, which was monitored by four joint WFP/Ministry of Agriculture teams, has been completed. In cooperation with the Government of China, WFP is now finalizing the distribution plans for the WFP-provided commodities.
1.2 As the water recedes, people are slowly returning to their homes to begin the process of rebuilding their lives, but a significant number of people may be forced to remain in temporary shelters until the end of January 1999.
1.3 Based in WFP's Country Office in Beijing and in two newly established sub-offices in the flood areas, WFP international and national staff are coordinating and monitoring implementation of the operation together with government counterparts.
C. TAJIKISTAN
1. PROJECT TO REVIVE THE SILK ROAD
1.1 On 8 November, the 32 km road project from Murgab, in GBAO province (Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Oblast/region) in eastern Tajikistan, to China was inaugurated. For the first time in more than 70 years the road is ready for traffic - reviving one of the routes of the ancient Silk Road. The final touch will be given next year when asphalt will be put down on the road, if funds and equipment allow it. Nevertheless, the tracks are already good for trucks and light vehicles.
1.2 Murgab in GBAO is located in one of the most isolated areas of the world and the rehabilitated road will provide alternative routes for land-locked Tajikistan, especially for increased trade with China. The road is constructed under the aegis of the TRACECA project (Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia). The Tajik share of the Silk Road project was reactivated after the end of the civil war and after China completed its leg to the Tajik border, linking Pakistan Karakorum highway to Central Asia. The government of Tajikistan had initiated the first leg of the road with the support of Russian border forces and the Aga Khan Foundation but the last 32 km could not be completed in 1997 because of lack of funds and food for workers.
1.3 WFP has been engaged in a food-for-work project for this road rehabilitation, distributing 50 tons of wheat flour between July and November to 200 workers, mainly to unemployed poor Kirghiz nomads from the Murgab highlands. This project is part of WFP humanitarian assistance to Tajikistan, which targets vulnerable groups through emergency feeding and where possible through food-for-work projects. Since 1993, working closely with the Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance, UNHCR, and UNDP, WFP has been the largest provider of emergency assistance to Tajikistan. WFP accounts for 25 percent - USD 8.6 million - of the 1998 UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for Tajikistan which amounts to USD 34 million (87 percent covered as of late October).
D. SOMALIA
1. UPDATE - information as of 4 December
1.1 More people are reported to be moving from Bay and Bakool, in response to the precarious food supply situation in the area. If rains do not continue over the next two to four weeks, the Deyr harvest will have largely failed, and the flow of IDPs from Bay and Bakool will increase. WFP has completed a distribution of 328 tons of food aid in Bakool and convoys into Bay are currently under way. Food aid distributions in Bay and Bakool are expected to curtail the population movement and possibly encourage some people to return to their places of origin.
1.2 The European Commission has pledged USD 10 million in food aid in response to the looming crisis in southern Somalia.
1.3 Based on the crop assessment currently being undertaken over the main agricultural areas, the Food Security Assessment Unit will revise food needs in southern Somalia through to July 1999.
E. GUINEA BISSAU
1. UPDATE - information as of 29 November
1.1 On 25 November, the Executive Secretary of ECOWAS met with President Vieira and the Military Junta to review the process of deployment of ECOMOG forces in Guinea Bissau. It is not yet known when the Senegalese forces will withdraw from Bissau and when the ECOMOG forces will arrive. Funding to support the forces is still to be confirmed.
1.2 Plans are being finalized for the UN/WFP charter plane operation for passenger services. WFP is contracting a local company, AEROSERVICE, based in Dakar, Senegal. The flight is to take place twice per week, with routing Dakar-Bafata-Bissau-Bafata-Dakar. UN agencies, NGOs and donors will benefit from this new arrangement. In addition to carrying passengers, small cargo and mail service is to be provided. WFP will prepare passenger lists and issues plane tickets.
1.3 WFP has recruited a Canadian consultant to assess the nutritional situation in Guinea Bissau for WFP assistance purposes.
1.4 On 28 November, WFP submitted two projects for the 1999 UN Inter-Agency Consolidated Appeal for Guinea Bissau: "Provision of emergency food assistance to IDPs and vulnerable population" and "Regional aircraft support of humanitarian operation". The first project will cover the IDP population for the first three months of the year. Vulnerable groups, primary school children and poor families will be assisted through feeding and food-for-work activities.
1.5 In spite of the peace agreement there are no signs of significant movements of refugees or displaced back to their places of origin. Some people have returned to Bissau only to check the situation, not to settle permanently. The IDPs are still concentrated in Cumura, Prabis and Safim.
1.6 WFP has initiated with the NGO ADPP the start-up of food-for-work project for garbage collection in Bissau city in December.
1.7 UNICEF has agreed to donate 114 tons of humanitarian rations (packets of 950 g containing instant soups, crackers, jam etc.) for a WFP pilot primary school canteen project. WFP visited three schools in Bafata to initiate this activity. As there are no kitchen facilities available in schools, WFP has contacted ICRC and UNHCR requesting them to provide cooking pots. In addition to humanitarian rations, WFP will provide 100 g of bread per school child through local bakeries using the already donated wheat flour.
1.8 According to the WFP Guinea Conakry office, almost 10,000 refugees from Guinea Bissau will be assisted by WFP shortly in the locations of Boke, Sabsale, Koumbia, Foulamori and Sareboido. A joint mission made up of WFP, UNHCR, UNICEF and IFRC visited these areas in Guinea between 24 - 27 October. The mission recommended that the refugees and returnees be regrouped into two major camps around Boke and Gaoual (Koumbia).
F. ANGOLA
1. UPDATE - information as of 1 December
1.1 The food security situation in the past two weeks has not changed, while general insecurity is on the rise. The largest segment of the population in need of assistance is still internally displaced persons, but the numbers are beginning to stabilize, possibly because many areas have already been abandoned. However, even in the so-called secure areas, IDPs in some cases still lack safe access to food. Warehouse reserves, which are currently at normal levels in most provinces, may suffer if road transport is halted for long periods of time. The persistent drought in the southwest has ended with the advent of the rainy season, but the population will still need food aid until a new harvest comes in. In the north, large numbers of IDPs have missed the planting season due to a combination of lack of arable land, seeds and tools. In some areas, displaced people have prepared the land, but are unable to plant for lack of seeds, as in Malanje, described in further detail below.
1.2 Access to needy populations is becoming increasingly limited in large areas of Angola, both in Government and UNITA controlled zones. A concerted effort of all humanitarian aid partners is necessary in order to avert a potential disaster.
1.3 Road supplies to a large section of Angola are temporarily suspended. The road Lobito-Huambo via Londuimbale remains closed to general traffic. The WFP convoy that was turned back from Chipipa two weeks ago, remains stranded in the city of Huambo. Another convoy, travelling north from Lubango to Caconda, was ambushed near Cacula and was forced to turn back. WFP continues to search for safe alternative surface routes to those areas in order to avoid the high cost of airlifting. Other areas, such as Uige, have already been added to the airlifting schedule, as there are no other means of safe transportation.
1.4 WFP is currently buying seeds in the Angolan market and implementing an extensive program of seed distribution in various provinces. In Huila province, WFP purchased an additional 580 tons of maize and sorghum seeds and 200 tons of white maize. This is the first time that purchases of this size have been made all at once since colonial times and they are opening up a commodities market that is new to the province. WFP is currently training local traders to operate as brokers between producers and ultimate buyers, thereby stimulating production and reviving the agrarian economy. In Bie province, the last harvest brought in a bumper crop of maize and WFP is planning to buy as much maize seed as possible for internal distribution. Further purchases of maize and seed are planned in other provinces.
1.5 There are now over 67,000 IDPs registered in Malanje, of which almost 56,000 are still inside the city. Of those that that have settled permanently or semi-permanently in the surrounding countryside, many face food deficiencies due to missing planting seasons, failed harvests, or lack food reserves to support themselves until the new harvest is in. In certain areas of Malanje, IDPs who have tools but no seeds, are still tilling the land in expectation of being supplied with seeds. WFP is planning to distribute seeds and tools in the outskirts of the city to families in the areas of Comarca, Kasundo, and Cazela. In Cunene, the rainy season has begun in earnest and planting is underway. WFP plans to supply food aid in these areas until the harvest, when a further assessment will be made.
Note: all tonnage figures above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 48 of 1998 - December 4, 1998)
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