Report No. 02 of 1999 Date: 15 January 1999
This report includes: A) Angola B) Sierra Leone C) Central and East Africa: DR Congo, Congo/Brazzaville, Burundi and Tanzania D) Guinea Bissau E) Central America - Hurricane Mitch operations.
>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.
This issue of the Emergency Report was prepared by Natasha Nadazdin and Deborah Hicks.
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. ANGOLA
1. Update - information as of Friday 15 January a) WFP humanitarian flights in Angola resume on 13 January to some low risk locations. Flights to Huambo and Kuito are under security reviews. b) Distribution of food and non-food items to large numbers of newly displaced people continue in Huambo; relief flights by Angolan Government and ICRC sent to Kuito and Huambo; assessment of situation in Kuito to be carried out by humanitarian agencies soon; shelling around Malanje city continues, preventing relief operations.
B. SIERRA LEONE
1. Update - information as of 18 January a) UN special envoy urges countries providing troops to ECOMOG to agree to rebel-proposed ceasefire in Freetown. Humanitarian situation in the city remains critical. b) Situation up-country, as reported by WFP Sierra Leone country director currently based Conakry given below: distribution of food to IDPs continues in Kenema, where situation described as tense; most of population of Kambia now living in villages on western side of the bridge; Bo quiet, but insecurity in Pujehun district affecting local supply of food.
C. CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA: DR CONGO, CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE, BURUNDI AND TANZANIA
1. DR Congo, Congo/Brazzaville a) WFP airlift of 600 tons of cereals and pulses from Pointe-Noire to Brazzaville continues. b) Continued deterioration in nutritional situation in Kinshasa; prices of basic food commodities have sharply increased during recent weeks.
2. Burundi a) Distributions to 26,000 displaced persons in Kabezi, Bujumbura Rural completed.
3. Tanzania a) FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment mission in Tanzania due to arrive 17 January to assess situation in twelve of the most drought-affected areas. Donor representatives/NGOs will participate.
D. GUINEA BISSAU
1. Update - information for period 14 to 31 December 1998, with updates a) Transitional government named 8 January. b) WFP Regional Manager leads WFP mission to Bissau on 29 December; newly appointed Prime Minister briefed on current WFP food assistance to Guinea Bissau. c) Significant numbers of people have returned to Bissau, but total not yet clear. d) WFP and other UN agencies begin moving their offices back from Dakar to Bissau. e) UN/WFP chartered flights increased from 2 to 3 per week.
E. CENTRAL AMERICA: RELIEF OPERATIONS FOR VICTIMS OF HURRICANE MITCH IN HONDURAS, NICARAGUA, EL SALVADOR AND GUATEMALA
1. Update - most information as of 7 January, some updated as of 14 January a) WFP Executive Director visits Nicaragua and Honduras 6 - 12 January and encourages further international assistance to victims of Hurricane Mitch. b) WFP logistics mission visits the region from 8 to 20 December. c) Air operation for El Paraiso, Olancho and Choluteca started 5 January by WFP with US Air Force. d) Total WFP food aid distributed since the outset of the emergency to the end of December is 5,500 tons for Honduras and 5,600 tons for Nicaragua.
PART II - DETAILS
A. ANGOLA
1. UPDATE - information as of Friday 15 January
1.1 WFP resumed humanitarian flights on 13 January to some locations in Angola. All WFP flights, including those to Kuito, Huambo and Malanje, were suspended after the second UN plane had been downed over UNITA-controlled territory on 2 January. Resources have dwindled to very low levels in several areas, mainly those supplied by the airlift. WFP has resumed flights to the low risk areas of Uige/Negage, Ndalantando, Saurimo, Luena, Benguela, Lubango, Menongue and N'Zaji. Flights to Huambo and Kuito are under security reviews.
1.2 Humanitarian activities in Huambo over recent weeks have concentrated on the distribution of food and non-food items to thousands of newly displaced people. The Angolan Government and ICRC have recently sent some relief flights to Kuito and Huambo. Humanitarian agencies will shortly assess the situation in Kuito where there is a reported improvement in the security situation, and where food rations have been distributed to newly registered displaced people. In Malanje shelling around the city has prevented the implementation of relief programmes.
1.3 Due to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Angola, WFP is adjusting its strategy and projections. Since December 1998, the number of IDPs that need WFP support has grown from 300,000 to 545,000 in early January. It is expected to reach up to 665,000 in the near future, with larger concentrations in the cities of Huambo, Kuito, Luena and Malanje and in the provinces of Huila and Uige.
1.4 The UN Secretary-General was due to report to the Security Council on the future of the UN peacekeeping mission in Angola (MONUA) on 15 January. Heavy fighting between the Government and UNITA earlier led to the withdrawal of UN observers from provincial capitals.
B. SIERRA LEONE
1. UPDATE - information as of 18 January
1.1 The humanitarian situation in Freetown remains extremely serious. While a temporary ceasefire has been declared by the rebels, to begin at 18:00 gmt on Monday 18 January, the Government and ECOMOG forces have not yet indicated whether they will agree to the terms. The UN special envoy Francis Okello, who is mediating between President Kabbah and the RUF rebels, said on 15 January that it was essential that the three countries providing troops to the west African intervention force ECOMOG, Nigeria, Ghana and Guinea, agree to the rebel-proposed ceasefire.
1.2 WFP has appealed to all the warring parties in Freetown to observe the ceasefire to allow aid agencies to assist hundreds of thousands of civilians who during the fighting had been trapped in their homes for more than a week with little or no food and water. By 12 January, it was reported that residents of Freetown were cautiously venturing out of their homes in search of food. Prices of basic food commodities have escalated rapidly since the outbreak of hostilities in the city on 6 January.
1.3 Update as of 16 January according to information from the WFP Sierra Leone country director (currently based Conakry):
a) Information flow from Freetown is now severely curtailed because of an order from the Government that UN and NGO offices in the country are to hand over all communications equipment.
b) Kenema remains tense with reports of recent heavy fighting around Tongo and of an attack on Panguma on 15 January. More Kamajors have been moved into Kenema to strengthen its defences. ICRC offices have been reportedly looted. WFP national staff in Kenema are considering relocating WFP vehicles to Bo if conditions deteriorate further. Despite the tense situation, WFP continues to distribute food to IDPs. WFP stocks now in Kenema are about 1,370 tons, but fuel shortages and insecurity are likely to soon reduce the capacity to distribute.
c) On 15 January, the WFP country director for Sierra Leone visited Kambia from Guinea-Conakry with the UNICEF Representative to Sierra Leone and the Chief of HACU/OCHA Sierra Leone. He reported that most of the population were living in villages on the western side of the bridge, many going back to the town during the daytime. No serious nutritional deficiencies were noted.
d) As of 16 January Bo was quiet, but insecurity in Pujehun district was affecting the supply of fresh fish, palmoil and other local food commodities. Prices were rising and the road to Freetown remained closed. The situation at Mile 91 remains unclear; some 2,650 IDPs are encamped at the new police barracks. A verification team left Bo on 12 January to check IDPs reported to be at Dambara, Mandu and Gerima Junction (in Selenga and Valunia chiefdoms). These will be assisted by WFP with food and by Africare and MSF with non-food items after registration and verification is completed.
C. CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA: DR CONGO, CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE, BURUNDI AND TANZANIA - most information as of 10 January
1. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND REPUBLIC OF CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE)
1.1 The WFP airlift of 600 tons of cereals and pulses from Pointe-Noire to Brazzaville which started on 11 January has continued. This food is urgently required for distribution to 50,000 of the most vulnerable displaced Congolese who fled into northern areas of Brazzaville after fighting broke out in the area. These displaced persons are currently sheltered in some 21 ad hoc sites, in cramped, unsanitary conditions and in desperate need of food assistance. Food is also required for some 6,000 refugees who remain in the Loukolela area north of Brazzaville. Some of the food now being airlifted will be ferried by WFP across the Congo river for distributions in Kinshasa.
1.2 This is the fourth WFP airlift into Brazzaville in the past five months. WFP had pre-positioned over 3,000 tons of food in Pointe-Noire for distribution in the Republic of Congo and DR Congo but fighting and insecurity continue to prevent less costly overland despatches.
1.3 Monitoring visits to nutritional centres benefiting from WFP food assistance in Kinshasa indicate that many new cases are being registered and that the nutritional situation in the city continues to deteriorate. Market surveys conducted by WFP teams also show sharp increases in the prices of basic food commodities during the past weeks. Many of the food supply areas that stock Kinshasa remain cut off, restricting many households' access to food.
2. BURUNDI
2.1 With the help of high-level Government intervention, WFP was finally able to distribute 211 tons of food to over 26,000 displaced persons in Kabezi, Bujumbura Rural. This is one of the four sites in the province for which the governor had requested urgent food assistance. Access to these areas has been problematic.
3. TANZANIA
3.1 An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment mission is arriving in Tanzania on 17 January to carry out an urgent assessment in twelve of the most drought-affected areas. This follows recent reports of crop failures and imminent food shortages in Tanzania where the Government estimates a grain deficit of 600,000 tons. There will be six donor representatives participating in the mission, some of whom have nominated non-governmental organizations to represent them.
3.2 WFP food distributions to drought affected villagers in Dodoma and Singida are resuming mid-January. Authorities in Singida have requested an additional 26,000 tons of maize and in Dodoma an additional 210 villages are being included in this second tranche of distributions. As a result of this increase in the number of beneficiary families, two-month food rations are now being provided, instead of rations for three months for a smaller number of people, as originally planned.
3.3 Food prices in rural areas remain high, as confirmed by non-governmental organization operating in Dodoma and Singida, and in some areas maize grain markets, usually well supplied at this time of the year, are now empty. Recent reports on the food situation point to the failure of the Vuli rains and consequent poor performance of the current agricultural season, with reduced harvests expected in February and March.
D. GUINEA BISSAU
1. UPDATE - information for period 14 to 31 December 1998, with updates
1.1 The President and junta under General Mane have together appointed a transitional government to organize elections in March. The Presidency and the junta named eight ministers each to the new cabinet, which was announced on 8 January, and is headed by Prime Minister Francis Fadul. The junta appointed the Defence Minister, and the President named the Foreign Minister.
1.2 A WFP mission to Bissau on 29 December was led by the WFP Regional Manager for the Sahel Cluster who briefed the newly appointed Prime Minister on the current WFP food assistance to Guinea Bissau and discussed the future food assistance strategy, underlining the necessity of targeting. The WFP Regional Manager also paid a short courtesy visit to General Mane. The mission was informed that significant numbers of people had returned to Bissau. According to the Swedish-funded Bandim Project, about 300,000 people have already returned to the city. However, according to the information provided by the Prime Minister, the current number of returnees to Bissau is estimated by the Government at only 100,000. Further clarification of the figures is being sought.
1.3 The report of the nutritionist recruited by WFP has been finalized, and recommends that food aid in Guinea Bissau be carefully targeted. It identifies some pocket areas in Fulacounda, Boe, Bedanda and in some villages of Mansoa which need more detailed food assessment due to rice crop failure. Rice is locally preferred to wheat flour and is currently provided through WFP. However, both commodities could be used to satisfy food needs of the beneficiaries according to the WFP nutritionist's analysis, and the Government recognizes that a large WFP delivery of rice could produce a negative effect on local markets.
1.4 WFP and the rest of the UN team for Guinea Bissau have started moving their offices from Dakar to Bissau, following the downgrading of the UN security phase. Under UN security arrangements, a maximum of 12 international staff will be based in Bissau at any one time.
1.5 In total, since the beginning of the emergency operation in June, 11,337 tons of food commodities have been delivered, and 7,990 tons distributed to beneficiaries.
1.6 WFP has increased UN/WFP chartered flights from 2 to 3 per week, due to the high demand for this service.
E. CENTRAL AMERICA: RELIEF OPERATIONS FOR VICTIMS OF HURRICANE MITCH IN HONDURAS, NICARAGUA, EL SALVADOR AND GUATEMALA
1. UPDATE - most information as of 7 January, some updated as of 14 January
1.1 The WFP Executive Director visited Nicaragua and Honduras from 6 to 12 January, to view WFP operations and to encourage further international assistance towards the long-term rehabilitation and rebuilding of the region. The Executive Director visited the most affected areas and communities in both countries, met with the victims of Hurricane Mitch, saw the destruction caused by the disaster, and was present at various distribution sites of WFP aid in Nicaragua (Chinandega, Madriz) and Honduras (Choluteca. San Lorenzo). The Executive Director met with the Nicaraguan President and key ministers in Managua and with the Honduran President and Honduran key ministers in Tegucigalpa. She also met local government authorities and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with WFP.
1.2 WFP is distributing food relief to more than one million victims of Hurricane Mitch in Central America. WFP continues to target the most vulnerable groups. The neediest of the population, among them malnourished school children, pregnant women and nursing mothers, will receive supplementary food assistance. WFP will distribute food to the women at health centres and the children will be given WFP food cooked at their schools in a strategy aimed at restoring regular school day cycles.
1.3 There is a danger that food aid stocks will run out and that a three month gap in the food pipeline for the current operation may start in April unless WFP gets full financing for the USD 62 million emergency appeal for Central America, which is currently facing a 30 percent shortfall.
1.4 On 14 January in Washington DC, the Executive Director announced that a comprehensive two-year rehabilitation and rebuilding programme in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador will soon be presented to the WFP Executive Board for approval. The programme, worth USD 73 million, is designed to begin in May, to follow on the current emergency operation. In the plans for the new reconstruction and rehabilitation phase, the food for work portion of the food distributed is to gradually increase. In the second year the focus of the programme is to be on community infrastructure: roads, bridges, schools, health clinics, and water and sewage systems, and especially water management.
1.5 Between 8 and 20 December, a logistics mission headed by the Chief of the Logistics Service, WFP headquarters, visited the region. The two main recommendations of the mission were: a) to identify regional routes for food aid and ports to be used on the basis of comparative cost analysis and b) to identify opportunities to use the economies of scale in the potential cross-border relief traffic.
1.6 In Honduras an air operation started on 5 January in coordination with the US Air Force using helicopters to deliver 80 tons of food to remote areas of El Paraiso, Olancho and Choluteca. In addition, three US helicopters carrying 6 tons of food each distributed WFP food between 6 and 8 January to 13 communities in the south near the Nicaragua border (Patuca town, Bocay).
1.7 Distribution figures in December: Honduras - 4,398 tons of food (to a target population of 700,000 beneficiaries) and Nicaragua - 3,500 tons of food (to a target population of 327,000 beneficiaries). The total of WFP food aid distributed since the outset of the emergency to the end of December is 5,500 tons for Honduras and 5,600 tons for Nicaragua (information provided as of 14 January).
Note: all tonnage figures above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 02 of 1999 - January 15, 1999)
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