Report No. 39 of 1999 Date: 1 October 1999
This report includes: A) Indonesia - East Timor B) Angola C) Somalia D) East and Central Africa: Burundi, Tanzania, D.R. Congo and Congo/Brazzaville.
>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 Natasha Nadazdin.
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. INDONESIA - EAST TIMOR
1. East Timor - information as of 3 October a) Some 80,000 displaced return to Dili, further 30,000 expected in coming days; security in Dili remains tense; some 80,000 displaced reported to be in hills around Dili. b) According to UN contingency plan for return of displaced persons, WFP in charge of food aid, ICRC water, UNHCR protection and shelter, UNICEF health. c) On 4 October WFP and ICRC to start joint operation, distributing 50 kg of rice to 16,000 families. d) WFP establishes office in Baucau - hub for humanitarian supplies to eastern East Timor and airlifts from Darwin; port of Laga will be used for food deliveries to eastern parts of East Timor. e) Need to increase existing truck fleet; additional 10 trucks to be locally provided for WFP and used for transport from Dili to Baucau; in Dili, agencies have currently available 30 low capacity trucks. f) On 29 September, first WFP food-for work programme starts to clean warehouses. g) WFP to airlift 120 tons to Baucau and Dili for distribution by NGOs.
2. West Timor a) Displaced persons estimated at 250,000, assessments to take place when security permits. b) UNHCR to start repatriation of refugees from West to East Timor on 6 October.
B. ANGOLA
1. Update - information as of 30 September a) In September WFP delivered 13,000 tons of food aid to 866,860 beneficiaries; 60 percent delivered by land. b) Uige: insecurity causes further population movements; new 4,800 IDPs arrived from Sanza Pombo, Buengas and Cangola, and received WFP food aid; food aid delivered only by air. c) Moxico: some 27,700 beneficiaries received 500 tons of WFP food aid last week. d) Malange: Nutritional situation extremely serious; WFP increases collaboration with MSF-Holland, Gruppo Volontario Civile and CONCERN to provide continuous assistance to vulnerable groups.
C. SOMALIA
1. Update - information as of 30 September a) On 28 September, UN agencies resume aid activities in Somalia's central and southern regions after three-day suspension due to killing of a UNICEF staff. b) On 29 September 1,000 tons of WFP food aid arrived in Dinsor, Bay region, to be distributed to some 100,000 persons; further shipments arrive in ports of El Maan and Merka. c) Cross border operation to deliver some 535 tons of WFP relief food to Lower Juba is on hold due to the current insecurity in the area.
D. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: BURUNDI, TANZANIA, D.R. CONGO AND CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE
1. Burundi - information as of 1 October a) Some 260,000 people from Bujumbura Rural forced to move by Burundian military, while troops operate against rebels around the capital; population regrouped in some 30 sites; humanitarian organisations allowed to visit some of the sites. b) Forcibly displaced people denied access to their fields during planting season; January harvest to be affected; WFP estimates 14,000 people at five sites near Bujumbura need food assistance.
2. Democratic Republic of Congo a) On 18 September, Government closed foreign exchange bureaux; as WFP and UN transactions are done in USD, measure expected to have far reaching implications. b) MSF Belgium assessment mission of IDPs in Dubi and Pweto, Katanga province, reports condition of some 20,000 IDPs from Pweto to be critical; WFP plans to assist malnourished in Pweto when resources for EMOP 6110 available; currently, WFP distributing rice.
3. Congo/Brazzaville a) UN mission to Kinkala on 29 September finds IDP population experiencing food shortages. b) In Brazzaville, some 130 tons of mixed WFP food aid distributed to some 43,880 people who recently returned from forest. c) Nutritional screening by MSF at 17 km from Brazzaville indicates that the rates of malnutrition between 60 and 75 percent among the children aged 0 - 5 years.
PART II - DETAILS
A. INDONESIA - EAST TIMOR
1. UPDATE - information as of 3 October
1.1 East Timor
a) According to the latest estimates, some 80,000 persons previously displaced by civil strife returned to Dili, and 30,000 more are expected to return in the coming days. The condition of returnees appears to be good and the return has been smooth thus far. OCHA and INTERFET report that basic Government services are inadequate. Security in Dili remains tense and reports continue on looting of residential buildings. It is estimated that some 80,000 displaced still remain in the hills around Dili.
b) A contingency plan had been designed earlier by UN agencies working in Dili for the anticipated return of up to 80,000 displaced people. The plan anticipated up to 10,000 displaced persons returning to East Timor daily and allocated responsibility to the following agencies for sectoral humanitarian assistance: WFP - food, ICRC - water, UNHCR - protection and shelter, UNICEF, health. Shelter and food have been identified as priority needs. Destruction of homes has been extensive and the rainy season is due in late October.
c) WFP and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have planned to launch a joint operation on 4 October to feed some 16,000 families. Each family will receive a 50 kg bag of WFP rice. ICRC is providing trucks for the operation. The food will be distributed during four to five days by church organizations.
d) WFP has established an office in Baucau which is to become the hub for humanitarian supplies to eastern East Timor and airlifts from Darwin, and from which overland distribution will be organized. In order to decongest the port of Dili, the port of Laga will be used for food deliveries to the eastern parts of East Timor. Currently, A portion of the 700 tons in Darwin will be sent (along with WFP trucks) by barge MV "Hyland Bay" to Laga.
e) With the Baucau airport open to humanitarian agencies and improved access to displaced people west of Com, distribution of humaniatarian assistance can now begin. There is a need to increase the number of truck for relief operations to 70. Availability of military trucks is explored. Apart from bringing vehicles from WFP operation in Cambodia, WFP has been offered additional vehicles by AUSAID. Additional 10 trucks will be locally provided by the Catholic Church in Baucau and will be used to transport WFP food aid from Dili to Baucau. Over 30 low-capacity trucks are now in Dili.
f) On 29 September, WFP launched its first food-for work programme, employing 30 people to clean warehouses. The programme will be expanded in collaboration with NGO partners.
g) WFP will resume airdrops of rice to places like Bobonaro, Ermera and Ainaro depending on need. Some 300 tons of rice will remain in Darwin for air-drops.
h) To date, WFP has airdropped 180 tons of humanitarian daily rations, and will airlift the remaining 120 tons to Baucau and Dili for distribution by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who have requested WFP rations in view of limited access of displaced populations to cooking facilities.
1.2 West Timor
a) The number of displaced people in West Timor is currently estimated at 250,000, but needs to be confirmed through assessments as soon as security permits aid organizations access to displaced populations.
b) UNHCR will start the repatriation of the displaced people from West to East Timor on 6 October.
c) WFP needs ground support from INTERFET for its Dili-Kupang-Dili air bridge. The airbridge will be extended for another week. Flights to Dili from Surabaya started on 28 September but are being replaced by Dili-Kupang-Dili flighs.
B. ANGOLA
1. UPDATE - information as of 30 September
1.1 September WFP target of 13,000 tons has been met, reaching some 866,860 beneficiaries in accessible areas. About 60 percent of the food aid was delivered by road and the remaining 40 percent by air.
1.2 Huambo:
a) Current stocks in Huambo are sufficient for the ongoing humanitarian operations: WFP - 800 tons, Save the Children Fund UK (WFP implementing partner) - 500 tons and ICRC - 1,500 tons.
b) WFP is currently making arrangements to obtain additional aircraft capacity to move ICRC stocks from Huambo. ICRC has been delivering 3,000 tons per month to Huambo but is now looking to shift assistance outside of Huambo, handing over a portion of its distribution districts to WFP.
1.3 Uige: There are reports of increasing insecurity and further population displacements. Over the past week some 4,800 new internally displaced persons (IDPs) arrived from Sanza Pombo, Buengas and Cangola, and received WFP food aid. IDPs have little or no access to commercial food commodities. Food aid reaches Uige exclusively by air. A collective kitchen was initiated by WFP in Candombe Novo for 250 IDPs and resident vulnerable children. It will be managed by the community itself.
1.4 Moxico: Over the past week, some 500 tons of WFP food aid were distributed to approximately 27,700 beneficiaries (23,700 IDPs, 2210 participants in food-for-work activities, and 1,740 vulnerable persons in the nutritional centre of the Luena central hospital).
1.5 Malange: Continuous fighting is reported in the outskirts of the city. Nutritional situation in the city remains extremely serious. To reinforce its capacity to provide continuous assistance to vulnerable groups, WFP has increased collaboration with MSF-Holland, Gruppo Volontario Civile and CONCERN. On 19 September, following a major attack in the Bairro Kizanga Barraga area of the province of Malange, around 3,000 shelters which IDPs were constructing under WFP coordination were distroyed.
1.6 Bie: In Kuito, WFP is adjusting the rations by increasing the quantities of pulses or adding fish to the food basked in order to reduce the incidence of pelagra (vitamin deficiency). Some 30,000 IDPs have been registered and assisted by WFP. The airport in Kuito was closed from 27 September to 1 October for maintenance. WFP airlift resumed on 2 October.
C. SOMALIA
1. UPDATE - information as of 30 September
1.1 As of Tuesday 28 September, UN agencies resumed their aid activities in Somalia's central and southern regions. UN and non-governmental organizations had suspended their activities in central and southern Somalia as of 20 September, following the murder of the UNICEF doctor on 15 September.
1.2 According to the UN Resident Coordinator, the three conditions necessary for the return of aid agencies to the country have been met: a) the perceived determination of relevant Somali authorities and communities to apprehend those responsible for the death of the UNICEF staff member; b) the viable commitments by Somali authorities and communities in southern and central Somalia to enhance the security of humanitarian workers; and c) the results of the UN review of current staff security systems.
1.3 On 29 September a WFP convoy carrying 1,000 tons of food aid arrived in Dinsor, in Bay region. The food will be distributed to close to 100,000 beneficiaries in October. A vessel MV/'Semlow' completed unloading of 850 tons of WFP food aid commodities in the port of El Maan for central Somalia whilst MV/'Rozen' completed unloading of 2,757 tons in the port of Merka.
1.4 Further WFP aid shipments for Bossasso and Berbera totalling 1,100 tons are currently being loaded at Mombasa for delivery early October.
1.5 The cross border operation to deliver some 535 tons of WFP relief food to Lower Juba is on hold due to the current insecurity in the area.
D. EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: BURUNDI, TANZANIA, D.R. CONGO AND CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE
1. BURUNDI
1.1 Following the recent rise in attacks on Bujumbura and its outlying suburbs, the Burundian military displaced hundreds of thousands of villagers in eight of Bujumbura Rural's ten communes in order to enable troops to operate unhindered against rebels around the capital. Approximately 260,000 people have been forcibly moved into some 30 sites. The total number of displaced in that province is now estimated at some 320,000 people, or nearly 75 percent of the province's total population. The total displaced population in Burundi has thus reached over 800,000 people, or 13 percent of the country's population.
1.2 On 25 September, the humanitarian community received authorisation to access some of the sites. On 27 September, four evaluation teams comprised of health, water/sanitation, non-food and food experts were organized and began visiting the accessible sites.
1.3 The humanitarian situation is not alarming at accessible sites where assistance can be delivered. However, a number of sites with regrouped people of Bujumbura Rural have not yet been visited. In addition, this is the planting season and people are being denied regular access to their fields, which may seriously affect the January harvest, already forecast to be poor.
1.4 The WFP food economy analysis assessment teams have established that food assistance is required at five sites in the province, totalling 14,000 people. In addition, there are three sites in Bujumbura town which have received people displaced from the province during this same period. They require assistance for some 5,800 people. Due to continuous movements of the population, most sites will need to be revisited to reassess the changing needs.
1.5 WFP considers the regrouped population to be a priority for ad hoc food aid distributions. WFP has scheduled distributions to the sites where an assessment has been carried out.
1.6 WFP continues to distribute seeds protection rations (SPRs) in the provinces which were considered of highest priority for that programme, but may have to hold off on those of secondary priority depending on food pipeline situation. In addition, distribution/dispatches of food for all non-essential food-for-work projects have been withheld until mid-October, so that food can be used for the regrouped population from Bujumbura Rural. WFP will continue food-for-work projects linked to the distribution of food at supplementary and therapeutic feeding centres, as well as new projects to build latrines and construct adequate drainage at the sites hosting regrouped populations.
2. TANZANIA
2.1 Food distributions for the first two weeks of September were effected in all refugee camps in Ngara and Kigoma. The total quantity of commodities distributed amounted to 2,860 tons and all refugees received a full food basket.
2.2 Following the re-registration/verification exercise in Kigoma, the preliminary figure for the refugee caseload in camps in Tanzania is now 374,600 in both Kigoma and Ngara regions. In addition to food rations provided to all registered refugees in the camps, WFP food commodities are also being distributed to 24,058 vulnerable people, both refugees and residents, under a supplementary feeding programme.
3. D.R. CONGO
3.1 On 18 September, the Government announced its decision to close all foreign exchange bureaux in the country. The holding of foreign currencies has become illegal. Since many transactions undertaken by WFP and the UN system are set in dollars, this measure is expected to have a number of far reaching implications. The UN system is meeting daily to analyse the impact on operations.
3.2 Reports from Goma indicate scarcity of basic food commodities (rice, sugar, vegetable oil, salt). Armed groups have reportedly launched attacks on vehicles, which caused a restricted movement of goods.
3.3 Bukavu : in South Kivu, 851 malnourished received 8 tons of WFP food. This quantity stands for a one-month-ration. Pending availability of resources, WFP and provincial department of health are preparing to conduct an assessment in areas reported to have high rate of malnutrition.
3.4 Goma: in North Kivu, WFP provided 32 tons of mixed food to 2,215 displaced people. Another 20 tons were delivered to 450 food-for-work participants as family rations. In Kinshasa, some 750 participants in food-for-work activities received 88 tons composed of cereals and pulses for work completed under the development operation 5732 for food security. Another 100 tons were distributed to some 13,500 vulnerable under the current WFP emergency operation (EMOP 5624).
3.5 Military activities (in Sud and Nord Kivu) are said to be the cause of recent displacement of people from Bunyakiri and Kabamba to Katana (45 km north of Bukavu).
3.6 MSF Belgium made an assessment mission to monitor the situation of IDPs in Dubi and Pweto, in the North East of the Katanga province. The mission reported the situation of some 20,000 people displaced by war from Pweto to be critical. MSF-B warns that malnutrition may jeopardize lives of many children. WFP expects to reach the malnourished in Pweto when resources for EMOP 6110 are made available. In the meantime, an Italian donation of rice will be used to fill the gap between now and the start of the operation. Another joint mission including WFP, MSF, Caritas is scheduled to take place shortly.
3.7 On 9 September, D.R. Congo military arrested two UNHCR's field assistants deployed in Kisenge. Following intervention by UNHCR and the Government they were released two days later. Reports indicate that they were arrested on accusation that UNHCR and a group of Kisenge residents were allegedly recruiting youths for UNITA forces. This has raised security concern among humanitarian organizations in Katanga.
4. CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE
4.1 In Brazzaville, 128 tons of mixed WFP food aid commodities have been distributed to some 43,880 people who have recently returned from the forest. Another 3 tons have been distributed to 2,715 recipients of special feeding programmes.
4.2 Despite the relative improvement of security situation in parts of the country, several zones affected by war are not accessible. Access remains restricted to Pool with an IDP population estimated at 23,000, Bouenza 11,000 IDPs, Kouilou 33,000 IDPs, Niari and Lekoumou 23,000 IDPs.
4.3 Ex-refugees have been encouraged to return by the surrender of some rebels and a relatively improved security. Despite the difficult living conditions in a destroyed country, the return of previously displaced populations continues.
4.4 On 29 September, the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and the first UN mission to arrive in the country since fighting broke out in December. The mission team visited the area of Kinkala, 80 km west of Brazzaville and reports that IDP population in the area has been experiencing serious food shortages. WFP has been delivering food supplies to Kinkala, and UNICEF and WHO providing medical supplies, security situation permitting.
4.5 Nutritional screening completed by MSF by mid-September at 17 km from Brazzaville indicated that the rate of malnutrition varies between 60 and 75 percent among the children aged 0 - 5 years. WFP and organizations running nutritional centres (ICRC, ACF, MSF, ICRC, IRC) are trying to alleviate the children malnutrition and carefully following further developments.
Note: all tonnage figures in report above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 39 of 1999 - October 1, 1999)
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