Report No. 12 of 1999 Date: 26 March 1999
This report includes: A) Sudan B) Somalia C) Zambia - refugee influx D) Afghanistan E) FR Yugoslavia and region - Kosovo crisis.
>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 or Natasha.Nadazdin@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.
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. SUDAN
1. Update a) Donor contributions urgently required to prevent break in emergency food supplies for Sudan in June. Greatest need is for non-cereal items (pulses, oil and corn-soya blend). b) USD 63.8 million is required to cover food needs for the rest of 1999. c) Recent fighting between the Khartoum Government and the SPLA in Bahr el-Ghazal and western and central Upper Nile seen as threat to present ceasefire which is due to be reviewed on 15 April. d) Further information on WFP appeal for Sudan on the Web. Go to WFP home page at http://www.wfp.org and click on Sudan Alert.
B. SOMALIA
1. Update - information as of 25 March a) Total food distributions under current emergency operation to reach 10,500 tons by end March; 70 percent distributed to worst hit regions of Bay and Bakool. b) Normal onset of main cereal season, Gu, depends on resumption of rains. c) Recent donation of seeds leaves shortfall of 500 metric tons. Seed distribution must take place by mid-April if rains resume. d) Food aid shortfall for all of southern Somalia between February and June now estimated at 3,300 tons by Food Security Assessment Unit. e) UN agencies in collaboration with Somalia Aid Coordination Body (SACB) launch updated appeal for additional USD 9.6 million for relief activities.
C. ZAMBIA
1. Refugee influx - information as of 18 March a) UNHCR/UNICEF/WFP, together with Government representative and US mission, assess needs of recently arrived refugees from D.R. Congo. b) Previous attempts of repatriation of earlier refugees from D.R. Congo halted by intensified fighting in D.R. Congo. Influx of refugees from D.R. Congo into northern and central Zambia increasing as fighting moves towards Lubumbashi area. Some 9,000 Congolese refugees arrived in March. UN team held donor briefing on condition of Congolese refugees on 19 March. c) Hostilities in Angola set back plans for repatriation of Angolan refugees. Some spontaneously repatriated refugees turn back to Zambia.
D. AFGHANISTAN
1. Update - information as of 25 March a) Two WFP international staff back in Kabul and Kandahar, as part of limited UN return of international staff to Afghanistan. b) UN Special Envoy attempts to arrange talks between Taliban and Northern Alliance to follow up on Ashgabat meeting. c) Sixteen WFP relief projects approved in different parts of country. d) Distributions: In Kandahar 10 tons of food distributed to flood victims. In Wardak and Logar provinces WFP food aid distributed to earthquake victims. In Faizabad emergency winter food distributed for beneficiaries identified by VAM continues. e) Resumption of UN presence in Mazar-i-Sharif to be discussed by UN heads of agencies.
E. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION - KOSOVO CRISIS
1. Update - information as of 25 March a) NATO air strikes against FR Yugoslavia started 24 March, after Yugoslav authorities refuse proposed peace accord. b) WFP operation suspended on 23 March; UN international staff evacuated from Kosovo. To continue support for IDPs, WFP puts food stocks at disposal of implementing partner Mother Teresa Society. c) WFP to move food stocks from Albania to FYR of Macedonia, to help some 11,000 refugees from Kosovo.
PART II - DETAILS
A. SUDAN
1. UPDATE
1.1 WFP urgently needs funds to prevent its emergency food supplies for Sudan from running out in June. Some 2.3 million Sudanese rely on WFP food to survive, as a result of civil war, drought and floods.
1.2 WFP's food stocks for this operation are dangerously low, as are the cash reserves needed to ensure speedy delivery of the emergency food aid. An additional USD 63.8 million is urgently required to provide food for the rest of 1999. Almost all food items for WFP Sudan operations are predicted to run out by the end of June, in both southern and northern sectors. Of greatest concern are non-cereal items (pulses, oil and corn-soya blend).
1.3 Stocks are predicted to finish at precisely the same time they are needed most, during this summer's hunger gap, the months of July to October, when locally produced food begins to run out before the next crops are harvested in November. During the same period last year, millions of Sudanese faced starvation as a result of an escalation in fighting and crop failure.
1.4 WFP issued an emergency appeal (EMOP 5826.02) in January 1999, updating and extending last year's emergency operation in response to the dramatic deterioration in food security around Bahr el-Ghazal. So far only 55 percent of the resources requested in that appeal have been contributed, the majority of which were cereals.
1.5 WFP is also concerned that the recent fighting between the Khartoum Government and the SPLA in the regions of Bahr el-Ghazal and western and central Upper Nile could threaten the ceasefire which is due to be reviewed on 15 April. The ceasefire is crucial for WFP overland transport operations which are much cheaper than airlifts.
1.6 For more information on the WFP appeal for Sudan and ongoing WFP operations in the country, visit the WFP home page on the Web at http://www.wfp.org and click on Sudan Alert.
B. SOMALIA
1. UPDATE - information as of 25 March
1.1 WFP's distribution target of 3,295 tons during the month of March will bring the total of food distributed since the start of the emergency operation in November 1998 to over 10,500 tons. Of this, close to 70 percent will be distributed by the end of the month in the worst hit Bay and Bakool regions of the south.
1.2 Rains were observed during the middle of the month in most areas of southern Somalia and in the north-west, relieving pressure on pastoralists. The rains have now stopped. However, should they resume, the onset of the Gu season (main cereal season) could be normal. The north-east has remained predominantly dry with some exceptions along the coastal strips.
1.3 Although welcomed by farmers and herders, rains are a problem for the estimated 30,000 to 34,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Gedo and Juba valleys who may require shelter assistance.
1.4 To date, nearly 75 percent of the seed requirements for southern Somalia have been met through various donor contributions (including a recent contribution of over 500 metric tons from the Government of Sweden). This leaves the shortfall of seeds at some 500 metric tons. The distribution of seeds must be carried out by mid-April, should the rains resume.
1.5 With much of the estimated food aid needs in southern Somalia met thus far, the Food Security Assessment Unit (FSAU) now estimates the shortfall between February and June at some 3,300 tons of food for all of southern Somalia (the estimated shortfall from September 1998 to June 1999 was over 15,000 tons).
1.6 UN agencies in collaboration with the Somalia Aid Coordination Body (SACB) have launched a renewed appeal aimed at mitigating the combined effects of successive failed harvests, insecurity and the impact of last year's floods. The updated appeal calls for an additional USD 9.6 million to fund relief activities in the most affected areas of the country until mid 1999. UN agencies will meet with donors in Geneva on 26 March to launch the Appeal.
C. ZAMBIA
1. REFUGEE INFLUX - information as of 19 March
1.1 A joint assessment mission, composed of the country representatives of UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP, as well as the Zambian Commissioner for Refugees and officials from the US mission, visited the area of the recent influx of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo on 17-18 March, to assess needs.
1.2 The influx is the result of the deterioration in the situation in D.R. Congo, where there has been an intensification of the fighting between President Laurent Kabila's forces and the Rebel Alliance. These developments have halted previous attempts to repatriate earlier Congolese refugees, at least in the short term, and the influx of refugees from D.R. Congo into northern and central Zambia is increasing as the fighting moves towards the Lubumbashi area. The influx of Congolese refugees which started in early March reached about 9,000 refugees by mid-March. Within this number there were 780 soldiers, who have been repatriated. The total number of refugees is about 12,000 and is expected to increase.
1.3 The refugees entered Luapula, Zambia, and most are located in Kaputa and surrounding areas. Some of these refugees have come all the way from Kalimie, Moba and Pepa. The Zambian Government has already allocated land to accommodate these refugees, who will be resettled in Mwenge, near the old camp of Mporokoso. A donor briefing by the joint mission regarding the condition of the Congolese refugees was held by the UN team on 19 March.
1.4 Plans for the repatriation of Angolan refugees in Zambia have been set back by the recent upsurge of hostilities between the Angolan Government and UNITA. The current fighting has not only disrupted the repatriation of the refugees from Zambia but has also eroded hopes among refugees for a peaceful settlement of the Angola crisis. Some refugees who had spontaneously repatriated to Angola are presently returning to Zambia.
D. AFGHANISTAN
1. UPDATE - information as of 25 March
1.1 Two WFP international staff returned to Kabul and Kandahar this week, following the initial mission by the Country Director, as part of the general but limited UN return of international staff to Afghanistan. Expansion to other cities is currently constrained by the limited number of Field Security Officers.
1.2 UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has been shuttling between Islamabad and various Afghan cities, but so far has been unsuccessful in achieving a date for talks which were to have followed up the Ashgabat meeting in Turkmenistan. The Taliban and opposition Northern Alliance are committed by the Ashgabat agreement reached on 14 March to work toward a peace settlement and a power-sharing arrangement.
1.3 WFP Afghanistan is rebuilding its international team after several staff transferred from Islamabad during the prolonged evacuation.
1.4 Sixteen new life-saving and life-sustaining projects, mainly institutional feeding and food-for-work, have been approved for Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, Bamyan, Faizabad and Jalalabad. Ten tons of food for flood victims have already been distributed in the Kandahar area.
1.5 Central Region:
a) UN international staff returning to Kabul have found all WFP-supported bakeries running smoothly, with 788 tons of wheat flour delivered to bakeries in the past week.
b) UN staff reviewed progress in rehabilitation efforts which followed the 11 February earthquake in Wardak and Logar provinces: WFP has distributed 69 tons of food aid in Wardak and 68 tons in Logar. A total of some 18,610 households were affected, with 6,255 houses completely destroyed.
c) A WFP's Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) team is conducting a food needs survey in Kandahar. In cooperation with other agencies, the VAM unit is also planning a food security assessment for the Hazarajat in 1999.
1.6 Eastern Region: In Jalalabad, wheat stocks are largely depleted. So far, WFP-supported bakeries have been running normally.
1.7 Northern Region:
a) The final distribution of emergency winter food to beneficiaries who were pre-selected by the 1998 summer VAM survey in Faizabad is ongoing. The beneficiaries are 6,000 landless families, households headed by disabled persons, elderly and widows, as well as a small number of IDPs. Some 850 tons of wheat, 20 tons of humanitarian daily rations and 5 tons of high energy biscuits will be distributed to 4,250 families in Faizabad by 26 March, and another 410 tons of food aid will be distributed by the end of March. Altogether, some 51,000 people in Badakshan province which were pre-selected by the VAM survey have benefited from the winter emergency food distribution.
b) UN heads of agencies are to discuss next week how to resume a presence in Mazar-i-Sharif, where WFP believes there are crucial needs for assistance. UN Special Envoy Brahimi is to take up with Uzbekistan the problem of the closed border with Afghanistan, which is constraining operations in the area.
1.8 Western Region: The situation in Herat is calm but the border with Iran remains closed. Nevertheless, Afghan refugees continue to return. WFP is awaiting the resumption of UNHCR activities on the border and more information on the numbers and needs of returnees.
E. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION - KOSOVO CRISIS
1. UPDATE - information as of 25 March
1.1 NATO military action against FR Yugoslavia started on 24 March, after the Yugoslav authorities had rejected the peace accord proposed in Paris between 15 and 19 March. On the same day, the UN Secretary-General said in a statement that he deeply regretted that "in spite of all the efforts made by the international community, the Yugoslav authorities have persisted in their rejection of a political settlement which would have halted the bloodshed in Kosovo and secured an equitable peace for the population." The Secretary-General's statement is available on the UN Web site at <http://www.un.org>, click news, then press releases.
1.2 On 23 March, WFP suspended its food aid distributions in Kosovo as tension rose in the region. On the same day, all UN international staff (including WFP) were evacuated from Kosovo. Non-essential UN staff were relocated from the rest of FR Yugoslavia. WFP is in on-going contact with its local staff in Kosovo.
1.3 In order to continue to support with food aid the IDPs in Kosovo, WFP has put large food stocks at the disposal of its implementing partner, Mother Teresa Society.
1.4 Since the crisis escalated, the numbers of refugees in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have increased to an estimated 11,000 according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and UNHRC. In order to support these refugees, WFP plans to move food stocks from Albania to FYR of Macedonia. In collaboration with other UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the ground, food distributions are being established and warehouses identified.
Note: all tonnage figures above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 12 of 1999 - March 26, 1999)
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