Report No. 01 of 1999 Date: 8 January 1999
This report includes: A) Sierra Leone - as Supplement B) Angola C) Central and East Africa: DR Congo, Congo/Brazzaville, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda D) China flood operations E) Iran refugee operations F) Afghanistan G) FR Yugoslavia and region: 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 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.
Note: Last issue was WFP Emergency Report, no. 50 of 1998, dated 18 December 1998
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. SIERRA LEONE
1. Update - information as of 11 January a) Situation in Freetown remains volatile. Critical food supply situation results from fighting following invasion of the city by rebel forces on 6 January. b) A summary of the impact of recent events on humanitarian operations in Sierra Leone is included as a Supplement to WFP Emergency Report no. 01 of 1999.
B. ANGOLA
1. Update - information as of 11 January a) All UN flights in Angola suspended following the shooting down of two MONUA-chartered aircraft. On 26 December, a UN-chartered Hercules L-100 with ten passengers and four crew crashed near Huambo. On 2 January, a second MONUA-leased C-130 was downed soon after take-off from Huambo with nine people on board. One WFP staff member included among the missing on the second flight. b) Heavy fighting between Government troops and rebels since 5 December; conflict follows collapse of precarious four-year peace accord. c) Urgent need to replenish stocks in locations served by air deliveries, currently affected by the suspension of UN flights.
C. CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA: DR CONGO, CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE, RWANDA, BURUNDI, TANZANIA AND UGANDA
1. Update - most information as of early January a) Situation in Brazzaville improves slightly, but some fighting still reported. Displaced in Brazzaville estimated at 150,000; of whom some 60,000 registered by IFRC, Caritas and ICRC. WFP food distributed through IFRC to neediest IDPs. b) WFP airlift of additional 600 tons of food from Pointe-Noire to Brazzaville begins. c) IDPs in prefectures of Ruhengeri and Gisenyi in Rwanda continue to settle in new villages; 715,000 IDPs in the two prefectures are receiving WFP food assistance. d) In Burundi, distributions to IDPs in Kabezi in Bujumbura Rural, begun at request of Government, recently halted by the military authorities. e) Reports point to an emerging food crisis in parts of Tanzania, as food situation appears to deteriorate in Iringa, Coast, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Dodoma and Singida regions. f) In Uganda, no significant changes in situation of IDPs in northern districts of Gulu and Kitgum; security situation remains fluid. g) Some 3,000 Congolese refugees arrive in Uganda during last weeks of December.
D. CHINA
1. Update - flood relief operations - information as of 11 January a) Food distribution to flood victims in China discontinued due to lack of confirmed contributions from donors; shortfall against needs is 144,000 tons of rice. b) Urgent resourcing sought for rehabilitation phase of the emergency operation.
E. IRAN
1. Refugee operations a) Findings of joint WFP/UNHCR food assessment mission of refugee operations in Iran in December indicate considerable number of vulnerable people among refugees living outside camps. Mission recommends that food assistance be extended to cover these "non-camp" refugees, following a socio-economic survey of this group.
F. AFGHANISTAN
1. Update a) Delivery of 4,000 tons of wheat and high-energy biscuits to Hazarajat region completed on 7 January. b) WFP restarts wheat deliveries to Jalalabad bakeries after four-month suspension which followed departure of all UN international staff from the area.
G. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION: KOSOVO OPERATIONS
1. Update - information as of 8 January a) In Kosovo, WFP food aid deliveries focused on people displaced in area of Podujevo, where heavy fighting took place between 24 and 28 December. Cease-fire re-established in early January, but fighting on-going in some areas of Kosovo. b) WFP food assistance in Albania continues.
PART II - DETAILS
A. SIERRA LEONE
1. UPDATE
1.1 Although ECOMOG forces are reported to have regained control of much of Freetown from rebels who invaded the city on 6 January, the situation remains very volatile and information on the situation in various parts of the city cannot be verified.
1.2 A summary of the impact of recent events on humanitarian operations in Sierra Leone is included as a Supplement to WFP Emergency Report no. 01 of 1999.
B. ANGOLA
1. UPDATE - information as of 11 January
1.1 The UN (including WFP) has suspended all flights in Angola since two MONUA-chartered aircraft crashed, reportedly shot down. On 26 December 1998, a UN-chartered Hercules L-100 with ten passengers and four crew crashed in flames near Huambo. No WFP staff were on board.
1.2 On 2 January 1999, a second MONUA-leased C-130 was downed soon after take-off from Huambo en-route to Luanda with nine people on board, including one WFP staff member, Pedro Moreira, a flight monitor. The aircraft transported WFP food from Luanda to Huambo.
1.3 Fighting had flared up on 5 December after loyalist troops tried to drive UNITA rebels from their central highland strongholds of Andulo and Bailundo. The conflict follows the collapse of the precarious four-year peace accord intended to end more than two decades of civil war in Angola. WFP activities are adversely affected by the prevailing insecurity.
1.4 More than 300,000 newly displaced people are scattered in several provinces and food security is deteriorating throughout the country.
1.5 Less than one week after the new onset of military confrontations, WFP began food distributions to some 50,000 people sheltering from the fighting within the city of Kuito (Bie province). Operations continue in areas of critical needs such as Huambo, Luena and Malanje. However, because additional flights which had been scheduled to replenish stocks during the coming weeks have been suspended, WFP has no food stocks remaining in four areas (Banza Congo, Nzaje, Saurimo and Luena) and distributions have been reduced in Kuito and Huambo due to decreased stock levels. There is an urgent need to replenish stocks in all these locations.
C. CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA: DR CONGO, CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE, RWANDA, BURUNDI, TANZANIA AND UGANDA - most information as of early January
1. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND REPUBLIC OF CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE)
1.1 The situation in Brazzaville appears to have slightly improved after clashes between Government troops and armed groups resulted in large population displacements in recent weeks. However, there are still reports of fighting around the city, as well as in various parts in the countryside. The number of displaced persons in Brazzaville is estimated at 150,000 persons, of whom some 60,000 have been registered by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Caritas and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
1.2 WFP food stocks in Brazzaville, amounting to over 220 tons of food, are being distributed through IFRC to the neediest of the displaced persons. Between 25 December and 3 January, 75 tons of food were distributed to some 13,000 persons.
1.3 In order to allow for continued assistance to the displaced in Brazzaville and to the war-affected in Kinshasa, WFP will be airlifting an additional 600 tons of food from the port city of Pointe-Noire. This quantity represents a 15-day food ration for 100,000 persons. The food will be distributed through IFRC to 50,000 of the neediest persons in Brazzaville and to another 50,000 people in Kinshasa. Three Antonov-12s, with a capacity of 20 metric tons each, will carry out five rotations per day. This new air operation is scheduled to last for six days. Updated information: The first aircraft of the airlift landed in Brazzaville on the afternoon of 11 January.
1.4 The Government of DR Congo has declared a state of siege in six of the country's provinces. One direct consequence of this measure could be the restriction in the movement of humanitarian staff. The Minister of the Interior has confirmed that an inter-ministerial commission has been set up to clarify the application modalities of the state of siege; the commission is expected to complete its work on 13 January.
1.5 Only limited food distributions have been carried out in Kinshasa, pending the replenishment of the food stocks. There are 120,000 persons in the city who require food assistance, including war-affected persons, malnourished and street children, orphans, hospital in-patients and other vulnerable groups. In the Lubumbashi area, WFP is preparing an assistance programme for some 6,000 Congolese and an estimated 40,000 Angolan refugees.
2. RWANDA
2.1 Displaced persons in the two north-western prefectures of Ruhengeri and Gisenyi continue to settle in new villages. In Ruhengeri, more than 50 percent of the displaced population has now been housed in the new villages. In total there are 715,000 displaced persons in Ruhengeri and Gisenyi benefiting from WFP food assistance.
2.2 The health and nutritional situation of the displaced persons in camps in the north-western prefectures has improved. Government health officials are now regularly visiting the health centres established in the camps, therapeutic feeding programmes have been initiated by Concern and MFS/Belgium, UNICEF has distributed water tanks in various communes and drugs and vaccinations have been made available.
2.3 During 1998 WFP distributed close to 57,000 tons of food in Rwanda. These food distributions benefited refugees in camps in Rwanda, displaced persons in the north-western prefectures, participants in food-for-work projects together with their families, participants in nutritional programmes and needy persons from vulnerable groups.
3. BURUNDI
3.1 A distribution of food commodities and non-food items to 13,000 displaced persons in Kabezi, Bujumbura Rural was recently halted by the military authorities. The distribution teams had travelled to the area under a military escort, following the Government's request for assistance to some 30,000 recently displaced persons in Bujumbura Rural and subsequent to joint assessment missions that visited various areas of the province.
3.2 Food Economy Analysis and Rapid Assessments carried out by WFP teams in the provinces of Bubanza, Bururi and Kayanza identified another 19,500 persons who require food assistance in January, with another 3,100 persons needing longer term assistance. During the last two weeks of December over 19,000 persons benefited from ad hoc and transit food distributions.
4. TANZANIA
4.1 Various reports point to an emerging food crisis in parts of Tanzania. During the past month, the food situation appears to have deteriorated in Iringa, Coast, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Dodoma and Singida regions. A joint mission including the Government, the UN and non-governmental organizations travelled to Dodoma and confirmed that maize prices have doubled over the past months, while sales during November were down by 70 percent as compared to the same period in the previous year. Further joint assessments, including the FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment mission, are planned for January.
4.2 WFP has been distributing food to drought-affected persons, mostly in the regions of Dodoma and Singida. A total of 24,100 tons of food were allocated by WFP for this programme. The first phase of these relief distributions was completed in the two regions during December and the second phase will be carried out during January. The Government has released food from its strategic grain reserve and FAO is providing seeds for the current planting season.
5. UGANDA
5.1 There have been no significant changes in the situation of the displaced persons in the northern districts, and during January WFP plans to assist 375,000 displaced Ugandans in the districts of Gulu and Kitgum. The security situation remains fluid, with looting and abductions of minors still reported. In eastern Kitgum, distributions to drought-affected persons engaged in food-for-work programmes had to be postponed due to insecurity.
5.2 A total of 2,930 Congolese refugees have arrived in Uganda during the last weeks of December, fleeing insecurity in eastern DR Congo. These refugees have been registered by UNHCR and have started to be transported to the Kyangwali refugee camp in Hoima district. Unconfirmed reports indicate that some of these refugees are being forced back home and UNHCR is investigating the issue. Uganda is currently hosting some 175,000 refugees, the Sudanese refugees in camps and settlements in the northern parts of the country, and smaller numbers of Rwandan and Congolese refugees in camps in south-western districts. WFP provides food rations to all these refugees.
D. CHINA
1. UPDATE - FLOOD RELIEF OPERATIONS
1.1 As of 11 January, food distribution to flood victims in China has been discontinued, due to lack of confirmed contributions from donors. The WFP/Government of China flood relief operation is currently faced with a shortfall of 144,000 tons of rice. Against the total WFP commitment of 247,214 tons of rice, USA, the UK, Australia, Sweden and Spain have provided a total of 103,000 tons of rice equivalent which correspond to 42 percent of the total resources required for the emergency operation.
1.2 On 1 December 1998, the second phase of the flood relief operation started after most of the displaced persons in Hubei, Jiangxsi, Hunan and Anhui provinces left the dikes and returned to their homes or to those of friends and relatives. This new phase, made up of rehabilitation activities, involves food-for-work projects including constructing dwelling units, rebuilding farm roads, de-silting farm lands and canals, and de-silting, rebuilding or digging wells and tanks. Urgent resourcing of this second phase is essential in order to ensure that these rehabilitation activities are finalized before March when farmers will shift their activity to focus on the new planting season.
E. IRAN
1. REFUGEE OPERATIONS
1.1 WFP and UNHCR carried out a joint food assessment mission of refugee operations in Iran from 6-20 December. The mission visited camps of the three ethnic refugee groups (Afghans, Iraqi Arabs and Iraqi Kurds) that currently receive food assistance. In addition, meetings were held with UNHCR and WFP sub-office staff from the eastern regions following a recent increase in the repatriation of Afghan refugees. Over 10,500 refugees were reported to have returned to Herat in Afghanistan from the beginning of November to first week of December.
1.2 The mission's findings indicated that there was a considerable number of refugees outside camps who were considered vulnerable. One of the main reasons has been the downturn of the Iranian economy due to falling oil prices in the world market. The refugees have begun to feel the brunt of the economic hardship since they are usually the first to be laid off in difficult times.
1.3 The mission proposed that a socio-economic survey (with a nutritional focus) be carried out in order to target the "new" vulnerable refugees, and recommended that food assistance be extended to cover these "non-camp" refugees under a new system of registered beneficiaries. WFP currently provides food assistance to 88,000 refugees located in 29 camps. It is foreseen that the number to be assisted will increase upon completion of the socio-economic survey.
F. AFGHANISTAN
1. UPDATE
1.1 On 7 January WFP completed delivery of 4,000 tons of wheat and high-energy biscuits to the 120,000 vulnerable people in the Hazarajat region. Recent weather conditions, which have resulted in a relatively moderate winter so far, in contrast to usual winter conditions characterized by heavy snowfalls which normally limit access to this mountainous region at this time of year, have allowed the timely transportation and distribution of the urgently needed food assistance. Ever since the blockade imposed on Hazarajat in 1997, WFP has been closely monitoring the food situation in this traditionally food-deficit region. Following the Taliban take-over of the region in September 1998, a food assessment mission composed of local staff spent two weeks collecting data on the general food situation and recommended that food be delivered before the onset of the harsh winter.
1.2 After a four-month suspension, WFP has also started wheat deliveries to Jalalabad bakeries. All activities such as bakeries had been temporarily put on hold as a response to the attacks on UN staff and property in Jalalabad following the US military strikes in eastern Afghanistan in August 1998, and the subsequent departure of all UN international staff. There has been a 33 percent increase in bread prices and the recent resumption of wheat deliveries for the subsidized bakeries will do much to alleviate the hardships of the winter.
G. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION: KOSOVO OPERATIONS
1. UPDATE - information as of 8 January
1.1 Montenegro and Kosovo: Although the October cease-fire which briefly broke down in late December 1998 was re-established in early January, fighting is still on-going in some areas of Kosovo. Lately, food distribution has also experienced difficulties from limited transport, due to the unusually cold weather, heavy fog, closure of roads and the small number of truck drivers available during the Orthodox Christmas holidays (6-10 January), and because of the slow clearance procedures affecting relief food shipments at the port of Bar. WFP food aid deliveries have been focused on the 10,000 to 40,000 reported displaced persons in the northern area of Podujevo, where heavy fighting took place between 24 and 28 December.
1.2 Albania: Food aid assistance is currently distributed to some 22,407 refugees out of which some 11,500 beneficiaries, including the entire 9,656 refugee population in Durres and other refugees in various collective centres, are assisted by WFP. The majority of the remainder is covered by IFRC/Albanian Red Cross. The registration of refugees is on-going. Expected arrivals of wheat flour, pulses and sugar will allow food distributions until July 1999.
Note: all tonnage figures above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 01 of 1999 - January 8, 1999)
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