REPORTS ISSUED BY FAO ON EL NIÑO
Since mid-1997 FAO has been intensively monitoring and alerting the international community of the potential impact on agriculture, forestry and fisheries of weather anomalies around the world which are believed to be affected by the current El Niño phenomenon. In several parts of the world severe weather disturbances have already had far reaching repercussions on crop production and national food supply situation, livestock, fish production and forestry (especially in regard to the occurrence and extent of forest fires).

REGIONAL EMOP NIC - 5949
PROGRESS REPORT
JUNE 1998
I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

An EMOP for US$ 9.4 million in emergency food aid for poor farmers and their families in five countries in Central America, where the El Niño meteorological phenomenon has caused severe drought and floods, was approved by WFP and FAO on 02/12/97 with a 180 days duration. The need to distribute emergency food rations to cover the needs of 323,000 people, mainly children and women, in remote and rugged areas of Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama, was therein identified.

IHA/98/07
Experts tell committee meeting of the International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction that El Niño is in its dying stage, warn that frequency and severity of natural disasters will increase.

At the 10th meeting of the Scientific and Technical Committee (STC) of the International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), held at the World Bank in Washington D.C., from 8 to 12 June 1998, experts from the World Meteorological Organization stated that the El Niño phenomenon shows signs of decreasing and is in its dying stage, according to most models of forecasting.

ENV/98/3
Le Secrétaire exécutif de la Convention sur la lutte contre la désertification lance un appel en faveur de mesures urgentes visant à réaliser les objectifs de ce traité.

A l'occasion de la quatrième Journée mondiale de lutte contre la désertification et la sécheresse, quatre ans après l'adoption de la Convention des Nations Unies sur la lutte contre la désertification, le 17 juin 1994, le Secrétaire exécutif de la Convention, M. Hama Arba Diallo, lance un appel pour que soient prises, à l'échelle mondiale, des mesures urgentes à l'appui des objectifs de ce traité.

The El Niño weather phenomenon, which has brought devastating floods and droughts to countries around the world, blighting food crops, fanning forest fires and spreading animal and human disease, appears to be on the wane.
According to FAO's Agrometeorologist, Michele Bernardi, the warm water currents off the coast of Peru that lie at the heart of El Niño are now cooling and the phenomenon is entering a transitional phase. Sea surface temperature anomalies continued to decrease in many parts of the equatorial Pacific during April. However, this decrease

Aiming to enhance the World Bank's ability to respond more effectively and efficiently to the needs of societies rebuilding after conflict, this study assesses recent Bank experience and extracts lessons for ongoing and future operations.

The report is primarily based on nine case studies - Bosnia and Herzegovina , El Salvador, Uganda, Cambodia, Eritrea, Haiti, Lebanon, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka, with the following issues were analysed for each:

- The World Bank's main strengths or comparative advantages
- Partnerships with other donors, international organisations and NGOs

Arguing for the combination of relief and development in response to crisis situations, this report outlines factors for consideration in dealing with operational issues and building capacity to respond to urgent needs, as well as proposes an operational framework within which to develop an appropriate response.

The paper builds on experiences of Rwanda and of Mozambique, Cambodia and Central America. It was presented as an input to the debate launched by the UN Secretary-General on the changing nature of humanitarian crises and on the need for a new type of multi-faceted