Report No. 34 of 1999 Date: 27 August 1999
This report includes: A) Angola B) Somalia C) Afghanistan D) Middle East Drought: Jordan and Syria.
>From Manuel Aranda da Silva, Chief, Technical Support Service. Available 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 Deborah Hicks.
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. ANGOLA
1. Update - information as of 25 August a) With improved food pipeline, WFP food aid delivery expected to increase significantly; approximately 13,000 tons to be distributed in September. b) Malange security situation still tense. Ten NGOs return to Malange during the week. Total of 323 tons of WFP food distributed over the week. Delivery target for September is 3,000 tons of food for distributions to 200,000 people. Lack of vehicles for transport between WFP warehouses and distribution points. c) Increased fighting reported in Uige; some 1,016 IDPs flee Sanza Pombo to Negage; more expected. Instability and diminished traffic between Songo and Uige result in fewer local agricultural products in city markets and increasing food prices. d) In Kuito, security situation continues to deteriorate; reported shelling of Catabola slows commercial traffic and results in sharp fall in quantity of maize and other goods transported into Kuito from Catabola. WFP food deliveries by air continue. e) Huambo relatively calm; an average of three WFP cargo flights to Huambo daily transported a total of 427 tons last week from Catumbela and Luanda. f) In Moxico, influx of IDPs into Luena town increases further. g) See also weekly OCHA/UCAH reports on ReliefWeb at <http://www.reliefweb.int> and monthly Angola Peace Monitor at <http://www.anc.org.za/angola/>
B. SOMALIA
1. Update - information as of 27 August a) Interruption of humanitarian flight from Nairobi to Somalia as Government of Kenya announces ban on all flights between Kenya and Somalia on 26 August. Ban lifted on aid flights on 27 August, but Government stipulates flights to be cleared three days in advance. Negotiations on the issue continue. Humanitarian agencies rely solely on air transport for staff movements to and within Somalia. b) WFP planes can operate out of Djibouti to shuttle staff members around Somalia and take staff out of the country if needed. c) Continued concern over food and water situation in Southern and Central Somalia. Most recent assessment of 1999 Gu crop revises earlier prediction downwards. Sorghum belt of Bay, Bakool, Hiran and rainfed areas of Gedo, Middle and Lower Shabelle hardest hit.
C. AFGHANISTAN
1. Update - information as of 26 August a) Explosion occurs 29 August in Kandahar, near compound of the Taliban Supreme Leader. Ten people reported to have died and another 35 injured. b) No information on damage to UN offices located in vicinity of the blast. All UN international staff took refuge in WFP office, then flew in a UN plane to Islamabad. c) In Kabul, WFP extends distribution of CSB, sugar and edible oil to the 7,000 IDPs currently housed in ex-Soviet Embassy compound. WFP requests Government to provide rice and fresh vegetables. Sanitation conditions in the compound improve. d) UN mission to the Panjshir Valley continues; initial reports indicate that warm clothes and blankets are immediate priority, food second priority.
D. MIDDLE EAST DROUGHT: JORDAN AND SYRIA
1. Jordan a) WFP approves an emergency operation in July (EMOP 6158) for 180,000 drought-affected people, comprising small holders, small-scale herders and the rural landless, following lowest domestic harvest ever recorded in Jordan. b) Donors urged to contribute 14,800 tons of emergency food aid for the EMOP.
2. Syria a) Worst drought in four decades devastates agriculture and livestock. Rainfall in key agricultural areas between 25 and 65 percent below normal. Rainfed agriculture and vegetation in the Badia grazing lands severely affected. b) Some 329,000 people considered most at risk, needing 23,700 tons of emergency food assistance to cover basic food needs for six months. c) WFP emergency operation under preparation. For immediate needs, WFP is distributing 875 tons of wheat flour under the Immediate Response Account.
PART II - DETAILS
A. ANGOLA
1. UPDATE - information as of 25 August
1.1 General: WFP food aid delivery to its target beneficiaries is expected to increase significantly, due to an improvement in the food pipeline. Approximately 13,000 tons will be distributed in the month of September to WFP beneficiaries countrywide.
1.2 Malange
a) The security situation remains tense. Shelling of the periphery of the city of Malange continued over the past week.
b) Ten non-governmental organizations (NGOs) returned to Malange during the week, thus increasing the number of likely WFP implementing partners for its numerous projects. Caritas opened several new community kitchens, while ADRA International opened five PIC (Community Infant Programmes) centres. International NGOs had been forced to leave the city in May due to the security situation.
c) During the week, a total of 323 tons of food were distributed to WFP target beneficiaries, with priority given to vulnerable groups. In response to the growing rate of malnutrition in Malange, WFP is planning to send 3,000 tons of food for distributions in September to feed approximately 200,000 people. Earlier in the month food assistance interventions in Malange appeared to have reduced somewhat the rate of deaths due to malnutrition. Feeding centres, however, were still swamped with beneficiaries and some items, such as cooking pots, were in short supply.
d) While the slightly improved security on the road from Luanda to Malange has meant that WFP food convoys can reach the city, transportation between WFP warehouses and distribution points in Malange is difficult, as there are very few commercial transporters left within the city. As of mid-month many humanitarian agencies had no vehicles of their own to transport relief supplies.
1.3 Uige
a) There have been recent reports of increased fighting in Uige, and of further displacements of population; an unknown number of people have been killed. As a result of an armed attack reported in Sanza Pombo, some 1,016 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have fled the area to Negage. WFP and UNICEF are already assisting this group.
b) The Uige-Quitexe road has been reported insecure, as a result of a series of attacks recorded during the past week. In one incident, a private truck was attacked and five people were killed.
c) Earlier in the month, because of recent instability in the area and diminished traffic between Songo and Uige, there were already fewer local agricultural products appearing in the city markets, with resulting increases in food prices.
1.4 Kuito
a) The security situation continues to deteriorate, as shelling persists close to the city. The reported shelling of Catabola over the weekend has slowed commercial traffic between Kuito and Catabola, resulting in a sharp fall in the quantity of maize and other goods transported into Kuito from Catabola.
b) Admissions into the therapeutic and nutritional centres increased last week. The number of severely malnourished increased to 380, while the number assisted in the nutritional centres rose to 2,300.
c) WFP food deliveries by air continue. There was an average of two WFP flights a day to Kuito during the week (from Catumbela and Luanda), flying in a total of 168 tons of WFP food this week. From the existing WFP stock in Kuito, a total of 24,500 beneficiaries were assisted by WFP with 340 tons of relief food.
1.5 Huambo
a) The situation in Huambo was reported relatively calm over the past week, with no major security incidents.
b) There was an average of three WFP cargo flights to Huambo daily during the past week, transporting a total of 427 tons from Catumbela and Luanda. In addition to on-going programmes, WFP will be setting up more collective kitchens.
1.6 Moxico
a) The influx of IDPs into Luena town has continued to increase. An increase in the number of landmine victims in Luena was recorded over the past week, when eight people were reported killed and five wounded. Grenades explosions in Bairro Santa Rosa killed two children and seriously wounded two.
b) SCF-US commenced during the week distribution of 1,778 agricultural implements such as hoes and machetes to 1,778 IDPs beneficiaries for the current agricultural campaign.
c) The provincial government has announced a plan to settle some IDPs in locations beyond the security range of 5 km for humanitarian workers. NGOs in Luena are not assured that security in these areas is guaranteed.
1.7 Other sources of information:
For further details on humanitarian operations in Angola, incorporating information prepared by WFP, see the OCHA/UCAH weekly reports posted on ReliefWeb at <http://www.reliefweb.int>. See also the monthly overview of the political and security situation in the Angola Peace Monitor, also posted on ReliefWeb, and at <http://www.anc.org.za/angola/>
B. SOMALIA
1. UPDATE - information as of 27 August
1.1 Southern and Central Somalia - food and water situation
a) Over one million people in southern Somalia face another dismal harvest due to prolonged dry periods. A recent assessment of the 1999 Gu crop, Somalia's most important cereal harvest, which constitutes 75-80 percent of the country's annual production, estimates an overall cereal production of a meagre 128,880 metric tons. The harvest will only just exceed that of 1998, which had the lowest production in five years as a result of the El Nino floods. The 1999 Gu production is 41 percent lower than that of 1997 and 29 percent lower than the last 'normal' Gu of the period 1993-98.
b) The Gu assessment was carried out jointly by WFP, the Food Security Assessment Unit (FSAU), FAO and USAID's Famine Early Warning System (FEWS).
c) Predictions in June when the crops were knee high (crop establishment phase) had to be revised downwards by over 20 percent due to the late onset of the Gu rains as well as the damage by crop pests, and particular the effects of birds on the sorghum crop. Army worms also caused localized crop failures.
d) The sorghum belt of Bay, Bakool, Hiran and rainfed areas of Gedo, Middle and Lower Shabelle have been hardest hit by the poor rains.
e) The water situation is becoming precarious, especially for livestock. Water points are becoming congested and most water catchments and boreholes are either drying up or are not functioning at all. Prices of livestock remain low as demand decreases and herders are now trading livestock for a lot less grain than before.
1.2 Flights between Kenya and Somalia
a) All flights to Somalia from Nairobi, including WFP and other humanitarian agency flights, were interrupted on 26 August when the Government of Kenya announced that all flights between Kenya and Somalia were to be suspended with immediate effect, in an effort to control the flow of firearms from Somalia into Kenya. Three days before the Government had closed the Kenya/Somalia border, citing crime and insecurity as the reason. At the time of the flight suspension, the Kenyan President said that humanitarian organizations would need to seek government clearance if they wanted to transact any business between the two countries. The immediate impact of this was a grounding of all humanitarian staff movements to and from Somalia.
b) A day later, on 27 August, following a meeting of the Somalia Aid Coordination Body (donors, UN agencies and NGOs) on 26 August with government officials regarding the matter, the Government of Kenya lifted the ban on aid flights into Somalia but has stipulated that certain clearance procedures must be adhered to, according to a Government 'Notam' (an official Government air body for instructions), received Monday 30 August, and effective 1 September. The 'Notam' specified that all humanitarian flights must be cleared by government authorities three days in advance and that each UN flight must be recommended by UNHCR and UNDP.
c) As the UN operates seven flights per week and ECHO a total of eight flights per week, the aid community sees this as an impracticable compromise, and active negotiations on the subject are taking place. Humanitarian agencies rely solely on air transport for staff movements to Somalia, not only from neighbouring Kenya but within distant locations in Somalia.
d) However, WFP planes can operate out of Djibouti to shuttle staff members around Somalia and to take them out of the country should the need arise.
e) UN flights to Somalia on Saturday 28 August and Monday 30 August were permitted to operate as scheduled.
f) The directive once again hinders plans for a joint UN assessment mission to the Bay and Bakool regions of southern Somalia, hardest hit by recent harvest losses as described above, that was to take place on Wednesday 1 September. The mission team, consisting of WFP, FSAU and the UN Coordination Unit (UNIT), which is to assess the required food needs in the regions for the upcoming months, remains on stand-by. As of 31 August, the Government has yet to announce the procedures/ directives to be followed, and flights for 1 September and thereafter are still not cleared.
1.3 Further sources of information on the Web: an overview of the current political and humanitarian situation in Somalia can be found in the Report of the UN Secretary-General on the situation in Somalia, of 16 August 1999, which is on ReliefWeb at <http://www.reliefweb.int>.
C. AFGHANISTAN
1. KANDAHAR - SECURITY UPDATE - information as of 26 August
1.1 On 29 August at 21:55 local time, an explosion occurred in the south-western city of Kandahar, home to the Taliban Supreme Leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar. The explosion is reportedly due to a car bomb in a vehicle which was parked outside of Mullah Omar's compound. There are reportedly ten dead and another 35 injured.
1.2 The offices of the various UN agencies as well as the UN Guest House are located in the vicinity of the compound. Extent of the damage to these offices is unclear. All UN international staff in Kandahar at the time of the explosion took refuge in the offices of WFP. International staff were flown in a UN plane to Islamabad, Pakistan that afternoon. WFP national staff report minimal damage to the WFP office.
2. INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS - information as of 26 August
2.1 Kabul
a) WFP Afghanistan has agreed to extend the distribution of CSB, sugar and edible oil to the 7,000 IDPs, almost 90 percent women and children, currently housed in the ex-Soviet Embassy compound for up to another 30 days (24 September). The extension is subject to the following conditions being agreed by the authorities in Kabul:
- WFP staff shall have unrestricted access to the compound to monitor the distribution of WFP-supplied food;
- The authorities will continue, as a minimum, to provide the current ration of 1-2 loaves of bread per family per day.
b) WFP is requesting that authorities increase the bread ration and complement it with the provision of rice and fresh vegetables.
c) Sanitation conditions are reported to have improved in the compound as latrines have been installed. Potable water and basic health service facilities have been made available.
2.2 Panjshir Valley: The UN mission to the Panjshir Valley continues. Mission members are currently in the southern part of the valley, assessing the situation of people displaced by the fighting of the last few weeks. Initial reports from the mission indicate that warm clothes and blankets are the immediate priority with food as the second priority.
2.3 In the event that the Taliban reinforce their northern based troops and an offensive is launched in the province of Takhar, it is expected that IDPs from Takhar province would make their way to Badakshan in the north-west corner of Afghanistan.
D. MIDDLE EAST DROUGHT: JORDAN AND SYRIA
1. JORDAN
1.1 Following the recommendations of an FAO/WFP assessment mission in May, WFP approved a drought emergency operation for Jordan in July (EMOP 6158). The objectives of WFP assistance are to supplement food availability in the most vulnerable households of the drought-affected population in the rural areas and to help preserve the assets of the targeted population, facilitating recovery in the next agricultural season.
1.2 The FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission in May forecasted the lowest domestic harvest ever recorded in Jordan. While in a normal year the harvest covers 10 percent of the country's cereal needs, this year's production is expected to cover only one percent.
1.3 WFP has identified a population requiring emergency food assistance of 180,000 drought-affected people: small holders, small-scale herders and the rural landless. WFP requests contributions towards the food aid needs for the emergency operation, approximately 14,800 tons (13,500 tons of wheat and 1,300 tons of pulses). Donors are urged to follow up on the interest in the emergency operation shown by their representatives in Jordan. The Government will cover internal transport, handling and storage costs, as well as administration, staff and monitoring costs. Total costs to WFP for the EMOP are USD 3.4 million.
2. SYRIA
2.1 The worst drought in four decades has seriously affected crop and livestock production in Syria. An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Mission of late July/early August assessed the impact of the drought. 2.2 Last season's rainfall was between 25 and 65 percent below normal. Rainfed agriculture and vegetation in the Badia grazing lands were severely affected. Production of barley and wheat is 70 percent and 28 percent below average respectively. Costs of fodder and forage are increasing while sheep values plummet due to distress sales. For the price of one sheep, a herder can only buy 75 kg of wheat flour, compared with 400 kg in normal years. Government efforts - including providing extra resources, feed rations, water and veterinary supplies - have been substantial, but the scale of the drought has rendered these measures insufficient.
2.3 Small-scale herders of the Badia are the hardest-hit by the drought: 47,000 nomadic families (329,000 persons) are the most vulnerable and food-insecure. Food assistance will help maintain their nutritional status and prevent a further depletion of their livestock. WFP is preparing an emergency operation for this targeted population, with requirements provisionally estimated at 23,700 tons for a six-month period. For immediate needs, WFP is distributing 875 tons of wheat flour to nomads in remote areas, approved under the Immediate Response Account. The Government covers internal transport, handling and storage costs.
Note: all tonnage figures in report above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 34 of 1999 - August 27, 1999)
distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org appeal fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - World Food Program Reports: http://www.vita.org/disaster/wfp