BACKGROUND

1. One of the objectives of the Regional Strategic Plan for the Expanded Programme on Immunization 2006-2009 is to accelerate polio eradication, as stated in Regional Committee Resolution AFR/RC56/R1 adopted at the fifty-sixth session of the Committee in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2006.

2. Since the adoption of Resolution AFR/RC54/R8, there has been sustained political commitment to polio eradication in Member

Floods in the Horn of Africa-High vulnerability of populations-Major floods have recently hit parts of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. Estimated numbers of the affected populations are changing rapidly because assessments are still on-going, and new flooding is still occurring.

The major impacts of the floods are the destruction of assets, shelter and infrastructure including roads, contamination of water, destruction of farmlands and deaths of animals. This leads to a disrupted food supply, increase food insecurity, and risk to disease

Malnutrition remains the world's most serious health problem and the single biggest contributor to child mortality. Nearly one-third of children in the developing world are either underweight or stunted, and more than 30 percent of the developing world's population suffers from micronutri-ent deficiencies. Unless policies and priorities are changed, the scale of the problem will prevent many countries from achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) -- especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where malnutrition is increasing, and in South Asia, where malnutrition

The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over 183 countries.

In Brief

CHF 31,364 HAS BEEN ALLOCATED FROM THE FEDERATION'S DISASTER RELIEF EMERGENCY FUND (DREF) TO ASSIST SOME 54 HOUSEHOLDS FOR 3 MONTHS AND FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF DAMAGED STRUCTURES.

UNEARMARKED FUNDS TO REPAY DREF ARE ENCOURAGED.

The situation

The streets of Kalemie, muddied by two heavy downpours after Monday's quake and several aftershocks, were alive with commerce and activity as UN experts continued to assess the temblor's impact, an AFP photographer said.

Despite being the locality apparently worst hit by the powerful quake that rocked east and central Africa and

Weekly Introduction:
Locust Update:

The FAO (http://www.fao.org/ag/locusts/en/info/info/index.html) was last updated on November 29 indicating that the Desert Locust situation remains calm in the summer breeding areas in the Sahel in West Africa. Small-scale breeding is occurring in Mauritania and Algeria.

Lake Tanganyika Earthquake:

KINSHASA, Dec 6 (AFP) - Residents of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said Tuesday they had felt three small aftershocks from a powerful earthquake that rocked east and central Africa 24 hours earlier.

People living in the town of of Kalemie, where at least one person was killed and two wounded when several buildings collapsed during Monday's quake, said the minor tremors came at intervals lasting as long as six hours.

"Everyone kept calm and people didn't leave the building but people are still nervous," Antoine Dema, an

"We think there are many people who need assistance," the coordinator of MSF's Emergency Team in the DRC, Laurence Sailly, told IRIN on Monday from Kinshasa.

However, MSF said as it could not get