Report No. 23 of 1999 Date: 11 June 1999
This report includes: A) FR Yugoslavia and region - Kosovo crisis B) Afghanistan C) Angola D) Central and East Africa: Congo/Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania E) Liberia F) Recently approved WFP EMOPs and PRROs.
>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 2854). 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. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION - KOSOVO CRISIS
1. Update - information as of early 11 June
a) On 10 June, UN Security Council adopts resolution which establishes peace in Kosovo and defines humanitarian and disaster relief aid as one of the main responsibilities of international civil presence in Kosovo; full text of the resolution is available on the UN web site <http://www.un.org>. NATO stopped bombing after Serb military withdrawal started. b) UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP organizing a team to enter Kosovo together with international military force; WFP plans to open seven offices and delivery points in all 29 municipalities and will pre-position food and baking facilities close to or inside Kosovo. c) New UN appeal on 9 June requests further USD 473.4 million to assist 1.5 people in the region affected by the conflict, from July to December; food requirement estimated at some 187,460 tons of mixed commodities, or total WFP cost of USD 151 million; full text available on the Web at <http://www.unhcr.ch/fdrs/kosapp04.htm>.
B. AFGHANISTAN
1. Update - information as of 9 June a) Emergency food distribution to Waras and Panjo under way; 1,800 tons of wheat expected to be distributed to 15,000 families by 18 June. b) Behsud 1 and Behsud 2, south of Bamyan, to be included in WFP food distribution; 70,000 beneficiaries will receive 2,000 tons of WFP food aid through NGO MADERA in June/July. c) To avoid disruption of feeding programmes due to delayed food shipments to Afghanistan, WFP to borrow 16,000 to 18,000 tons from other WFP operations.
C. ANGOLA
1. Update - information as of 7 June a) New contributions totalling 10,000 tons of maize recently confirmed; food stocks still low, shortages of pulses affecting ongoing feeding programmes; WFP requests further donations, as additional 50,000 tons are needed until end of 1999. b) Nutritional situation worsens in Kuito, increasing attendance in feeding centres for malnourished children noted.
D. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE, D.R. CONGO AND TANZANIA
1. Congo/Brazzaville a) WFP borrows USD 1.5 million from its emergency funds to assist 100,000 returnees (previously internally displaced) to Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire; 300 tons of rice, oil, salt and sugar to be purchased for one month, before resources are provided for recently approved WFP emergency operation for war-affected populations.
2. D.R. Congo a) Insecurity in eastern areas; some NGOs suspend activities in Shabunda, Uvira and Fizi; MSF Holland closes offices in Bukavu, Goma and Kisangani. b) Insecurity in Goma discourages voluntary return of IDPs to Rutshuru in the north.
3. Tanzania a) FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment mission anticipates food shortages in Dodoma. WFP borrows 1,900 tons of grain from Government for areas affected by drought including Iringa and Arusha.
E. LIBERIA
1. Update - information as of 10 June a) WFP resumes operations in Voinjama upon security clearance issued by UN on 31 May after suspension due to security incident in April; despite improved security, looting at CRS warehouse reported.
F. RECENTLY APPROVED WFP EMERGENCY AND PROTRACTED RELIEF AND RECOVERY OPERATIONS (EMOPs AND PRROs) 1. Details given below for the following WFP operations, approved since mid-April 1999. a) Emergency Operations: Dominican Republic EMOP 6070.01 - extension of assistance to victims of Hurricane Georges; Ethiopia EMOP 6143 - relief food assistance to victims of Meher and Belg crop failure. b) Protracted Relief and Recovery Operations (PRROs): Zambia PRRO 6134 - food assistance for refugees from Angola and D.R. Congo; West Africa Coastal: Liberia PRRO 4604.07 - targeted food assistance for relief and recovery of refugees, IDPs and returnees in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana; Tajikistan PRRO 6087 - assistance to vulnerable groups; Azerbaijan PRRO 6121 - relief and recovery assistance for vulnerable groups; Georgia PRRO 6122 - relief and recovery assistance for vulnerable groups; Iran PRRO 6126 - food assistance and support for repatriation to Iraqi and Afghan refugees.
PART II - DETAILS
A. FR YUGOSLAVIA AND REGION - KOSOVO CRISIS
1. UPDATE - information as of early 11 June
1.1 On 10 June, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to establish peace in Kosovo (FR Yugoslavia). NATO stopped air attacks after the beginning of the Serb military withdrawal from Kosovo was confirmed. The resolution authorizes the UN Secretary-General to establish an international civil presence in Kosovo with the assistance of relevant international organizations, in order to provide an interim administration for Kosovo; it also defines humanitarian and disaster relief aid as one of the main responsibilities of the international civil presence in Kosovo. The full text of the resolution is available on the UN web site <http://www.un.org>.
1.2 UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP are organizing a team to travel with the international military force which will be deployed in Kosovo, in order to organize response to immediate humanitarian needs. Further humanitarian UN staff will follow.
1.3 WFP plans to establish seven offices in Kosovo, and delivery points in each of the 29 municipalities where more than 57,000 tons of food commodities including wheat flour, rice, pulses, canned fish/meat, vegetable oil, sugar and salt will be delivered in the next three months. In addition, WFP plans to organize bread production utilizing local bakeries whenever possible, or if necessary movable or mobile bakeries, or even supplying bread from Albania or FYR of Macedonia. Already, two units of the Shkoder bakery will be relocated to Kukes, and possibly later on to Kosovo. WFP is also pre-positioning food commodities to feed up to 90,000 beneficiaries for one month in Kukes (Albania). Some 50 percent of the total quantity of humanitarian daily rations (HDRs) currently available in Albania will be sent to Kukes.
1.4 Regional pre-positioning and final distributions of WFP food commodities to Kosovo will be organized from the port of Thessaloniki in Greece via Skopje, from the port of Ploce in Croatia via the port of Bar in Montenegro/FRY, and from the port of Burgas in Bulgaria.
1.5 UN agencies appealed on 9 June for a further USD 473.4 million for emergency aid to approximately 1.5 million people affected by the conflict for the period July-December 1999. The amount required is to be used for both the improvement of facilities in the countries of refuge and assistance to returnees. Once an international military presence is established inside Kosovo, UNHCR estimates that some 400,000 refugees and displaced persons from Albania, the FYR of Macedonia and Montenegro (FR Yugoslavia) may return to the province in the first three months. In the appeal, WFP estimates the food requirements at 187,463 tons of mixed commodities (USD 151 million). The appeal document is available from the UNHCR Web page <http://www.unhcr.ch/fdrs/kosapp04.htm>.
1.6 Albania: On 8 June, WFP produced directly or through agreements with 71 local bakeries some 260,000 rations of bread. WFP-produced bread is distributed to 102,000 refugees in host families (22,000 in Shkoder and 80,000 in Durres) who also receive food parcels from the Red Cross. The bakery run by the NGO War Child in Kukes is currently producing 34,000 rations daily. Approximately 6,600 rations are being sent from the WFP bakery in Shkoder to Kukes and 14,000 rations are being produced by local bakeries. Current average daily bread production for Kukes is 54,600 rations. During the month of May, a total of 1,360 tons of wheat flour was baked into bread, a daily average of 50,000 loaves, equivalent to 100,000 rations. In addition WFP provides 199,000 refugees living in camps with basic food commodities and has finished an assessment of food rations in refugee camps and as a result, increased rations have been recommended.
1.7 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: The total quantities delivered by WFP to refugees in host families in May were 1,660 tons of wheat flour, 135 tons of beans, 125 tons of oil and 138 tons of sugar. In addition, a UNHCR/WFP emergency intervention has been made for 14,000 refugees in the Kumanovo area.
1.8 In Bosnia and Herzegovina, refugees are accommodated in collective centres and with host families. WFP plans to distribute food to about 5,000 refugees from FR Yugoslavia in June (mainly to Kosovars and some refugees from Sandjak).
1.9 In Montenegro, a total of 715 tons of WFP food commodities was distributed to refugees and IDPs during the month of May. Some 40,500 out of the total of 81,000 beneficiaries were reached by WFP; the other half was reached by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). (About 75 percent of the IDPs live with host families, the remainder in collective centres). In addition, WFP has donated a total of 4,730 tons of mixed commodities to the Government of Montenegro for the local population in need of food aid. WFP signed an agreement with HELP (NGO) to provide commodities to assist in the preparation of one daily hot meal for 500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Tuzi.
B. AFGHANISTAN
1. UPDATE - information as of 9 June
1.1 Emergency food distributions are under way in the Central Highlands areas of Waras and Panjo, where fighting between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance has not as yet reached. On 8 and 9 June, more than 700 tons of wheat were dispatched from Kabul for these areas. Distribution of approximately 1,800 tons of wheat to around 15,000 families is expected to be completed by 18 June.
1.2 By the end of June, WFP food distribution will advance to the districts of Behsud 1 and Behsud 2, south of Bamyan, also not yet affected by the fighting. WFP plans to distribute 2,000 tons of wheat to approximately 70,000 beneficiaries in cooperation with the NGO MADERA. Distribution is expected to be completed by the end of July.
1.3 The next shipment of wheat for Afghanistan is delayed and will not arrive in Afghanistan before mid-September. Given current stock levels in Pakistan and Afghanistan, between 16,000 to 18,000 tons of wheat will have to be borrowed from various sources including other WFP operations to avoid major programme disruption during the summer, especially as repatriation is expected to reach its peak during the same period.
C. ANGOLA
1. UPDATE - information as of 7 June
1.1 The Governments of France and Germany have confirmed their contributions of 5,000 tons of maize each to the WFP operation in Angola. Although several shipments of food are expected in late June, shortages of commodities such as pulses are affecting ongoing feeding programs. Even with this recent announcement of newly-committed resources, WFP will still require an additional 50,000 tons to meet the needs of beneficiaries until the end of 1999.
1.2 Kuito: Relief efforts in the city continue despite the fighting in the surrounding area. WFP distributes food to IDP populations, while agencies such as CARE and Africare supply non-food items (tools, cooking utensils and seeds). Fuel shortages are a major problem for many humanitarian agencies, as resupply is difficult due to insecurity. The nutritional situation in Kuito has worsened and a significant increase in attendance of feeding centres for malnourished children is observed. MSF will carry out another nutritional survey, and is planning to open an additional feeding centre for malnourished children with food provided by WFP.
1.3 Menongue: Food distributions have been suspended after a recent security incident at a MINARS/WFP distribution point provoked by a group of gunmen and a subsequent theft of 10 tons of maize. WFP staff are investigating the matter with local authorities.
1.4 Benguela: Another inter-agency mission, involving representatives from the Government, UCAH, UTCAH, several NGOs and WFP, travelled to the Dombe Grande settlement area on 3 June. The mission confirmed the distribution of 146 hectares to IDPs in the area. A small multi-sectoral team will remain in the area to follow-up the temporary settlement activities. In total, 500 hectares in the area have been promised by Government authorities to be made available for IDPs. In addition, WFP food aid reaches some 22,000 IDPs in Benguela.
D. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE, D.R. CONGO AND TANZANIA
1. CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE
1.1 Since two humanitarian corridors were opened by the Government in early May, people have been returning to Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire at the rate of 1,500 a day, after they had fled their homes last December when the fighting resumed. Most of the returnees are in bad condition, having spent months hiding in the forests.
1.2 In order to meet the immediate needs of 100,000 of the most affected returnees (previously internally displaced) in Brazzaville, WFP has borrowed USD 1.5 million from its emergency funds. Some 300 tons of food, including rice, oil, salt and sugar will be purchased in Kinshasa, enough for one month, before WFP receives first donor contributions toward its recently approved USD 7 million emergency operation to feed 200,000 war-affected people over the period of three months.
2. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
2.1 Insecurity is still prevalent in eastern D.R. Congo. Due to repeated security incidents many NGOs have decided to suspend their activities and withdraw from Shabunda, Uvira and Fizi. MSF Holland has decided to close their offices in Bukavu, Goma and Kisangani.
2.2 In Goma, the killing by unidentified armed men of 19 people travelling to Vitshumbi has discouraged the voluntary return of IDPs to Rutshuru in the north, and surrounding villages. Goma currently has a caseload of 20,400 displaced and malnourished persons. In March, authorities held a campaign urging the IDPs to return home.
3. TANZANIA
3.1 Initial reports from the FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment mission currently in the field indicate that some areas in Dodoma will face food shortages after the harvest in July due to the rains stopping at the critical ripening stage of the crop. Meanwhile, WFP has secured a loan of 1,900 tons of grain from the Government for distribution in areas affected by drought, including Iringa and Arusha.
3.2 Since the bombing of Goma and Uvira towns during the month of May and the more recent rebel offensive in eastern D.R. Congo, over 17,000 Congolese refugees have crossed into Kigoma via the Tanzania lake shore villages. On arrival at the Kibirizi reception centre, the Congolese refugees are registered before being accommodated at the National Milling centre for a maximum of three days after which they are transported to Lugufu camp. WFP food aid is being distributed to the refugees.
3.3 The total caseload of refugees accommodated at Lugufu camp as of 6 June stands at close to 49,000 Congolese refugees. With the camp's maximum absorption capacity of 50,000 refugees and following the UNHCR request to the government for a new site, district authorities allocated a site at Illagala, south of Kigoma town.
3.4 Facilitated voluntary repatriation of Burundians from Kasulu and Kibondo camps resumed during the last week of May after a one month suspension as a result of the deteriorating security situation in some parts of Burundi. Since the beginning of the year close to 5,400 Burundians were assisted in returning to their homes.
E. LIBERIA
1. UPDATE - information as of 10 June
1.1 WFP has resumed operations in Voinjama on a limited scale after security clearance was issued by the UN on 31 May. WFP activities had been temporarily interrupted due to the security incident on 22 April when 17 UN staff members were taken hostage by a group of gunmen. Despite reports indicating increased Government security presence in Voinjama, looting at the CRS warehouse was reported on 6 June.
1.2 The Voinjama security incident in April resulted in a loss of 408 tons of WFP food aid out of 660 tons in stock.
1.3 As of 10 June three WFP convoys totalling some 400 tons of assorted food commodities has been sent to Upper Lofa for refugee and other project activities. In the last week of May, WFP distributed assorted food rations to approximately 5,630 Sierra Leonean refugees in Sinje Camp.
1.4 WFP has received 25 trucks from the European Union, with drivers and mechanics. The trucks will be based in Voinjama to shuttle between Kolahun and Voinjama.
F. RECENTLY APPROVED WFP EMERGENCY AND PROTRACTED RELIEF AND RECOVERY OPERATIONS (EMOPs AND PRROs)
1. Operations approved since 16 April 1999 (some figures rounded off); list includes operations described in recent WFP Emergency Reports:
1.1 Emergency Operations (EMOPs)
Dominican Republic EMOP 6070.01 - Extension of assistance to victims of Hurricane Georges. Duration: 120 days; 120,000 beneficiaries; 6,840 tons; total WFP cost USD 4.3 million. Approved by WFP on 29 April.
Ethiopia EMOP 6143 - Relief food assistance to victims of Meher and Belg crop failure. Duration: 210 days; 1,196,000 beneficiaries; 103,253 tons; total WFP cost: USD 40.5 million. Jointly approved by FAO and WFP on 1 June.
1.2 Protracted Relief and Recovery Operations (PRROs)
Zambia PRRO 6134 - Food assistance for refugees from Angola and D.R. Congo. Duration: 365 days; 4,185 tons; 21,900 beneficiaries; total WFP cost USD 2.5 million. Approved by WFP on 28 May.
West Africa Coastal: Liberia PRRO 4604.07 - Targeted food assistance for relief and recovery of refugees, IDPs and returnees in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. Duration: 365 days; 2,120,380 beneficiaries; 211,000 tons; total WFP cost USD 129.9 million. Approved by the Executive Board on 13 May.
Tajikistan PRRO 6087 - Assistance to vulnerable groups. Duration: 365 days; 370,000 beneficiaries; 50,082 tons; total WFP cost USD 23.2 million. Approved by the Executive Board on 13 May.
Azerbaijan PRRO 6121 - Relief and recovery assistance for vulnerable groups. Duration: 3 years; 485,000 beneficiaries; 47,880 tons; total WFP cost USD 23.2 million. Approved by the Executive Board on 13 May.
Georgia PRRO 6122 - Relief and recovery assistance for vulnerable groups. Duration: 365 days; 182,000 beneficiaries; 18,190 tons; total WFP cost USD 10 million. Approved by the Executive Board on 13 May.
Iran PRRO 6126 - Food assistance and support for repatriation to Iraqi and Afghan refugees. Duration: 365 days; 136,000 beneficiaries; 24,200 tons; total WFP cost USD 6.5 million. Approved by the Executive Board on 13 May.
Note: all tonnage figures in report above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 23 of 1999 - June 11, 1999)
distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: listproc@vita.org sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org appeal fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - World Food Program Reports: http://www.vita.org/disaster/wfp