Introduction
Rome, 10 June 2008 - Facts, figures and the lastest updates from WFP's high profile emergencies.
Afghanistan
During the week, WFP provided food assistance to 200 BDPs, with 25 mt of food commodities in Lashkargah city of Hilmand province. As per the verification survey conducted by the Provincial Disaster Management Committee, some 1,300 families have been displaced from the Garmser district due to military operations, for whom food will be distributed next week.
WFP distributed emergency food to 1,300 flood affected beneficiaries in Balkh and Samangan provinces following the joint UNAMA, WFP and Afghan Government assessments.
Reports indicate a massive increase in the number of returnees from Pakistan into Afghanistan. During the week WFP distributed 200 mt of food to 6,000 vulnerable returnees in the eastern Nangarhar province. Further assessments are being undertaken to verify the vulnerable returnee families for possible food support in the eastern region.
Chad
General food distributions for the month of June have been completed in 10 out of 12 Sudanese refugee camps in eastern Chad. Cereal rations were reduced by 20 percent due to pipeline breaks caused by logistics and security constraints.
In the past week, WFP completed a 30-day seed protection rations distribution to over 160,000 IDPs in eastern Chad. The IDPs will receive another 60-day food rations in mid-June to cover their food needs during the lean season.
As of 09 June, total food delivered to eastern Chad through the Libya corridor amounts to over 6,300 mt. Another 4,000 mt is currently in transit between Khufra and Abeche. A WFP convoy of 794 mt is also expected in the Faya logistics hub in northern Chad early this week.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Given the present pipeline situation, which does not seem promising, only IDPs who have not yet benefited from WFP feeding will receive full rations in June as they are located in health zones where the global acute malnutrition rate is over 14 percent. All other IDPs will receive half rations, whereas those located in Minova, Bweremana, Kirotche and Kibumba will not receive any rations.
Ethiopia
About 10.3 million people are affected by the drought and will require cash/food assistance for the next few months. This includes 4.5 million relief beneficiaries, assisted with food in cooperation with the DPPA (Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency) and another 3.1 million Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) beneficiaries are planned to receive extended food assistance for another 2-3 months (incl. some 400,000 beneficiaries in Afar region that are planned to receive extended assistance each year). The 2.7 million PSNP beneficiaries affected by drought, is expected to receive two months of cash transfer. This brings the new shortfall for programmes assisting drought affected people and malnourished women and children (relief, PSNP and targeted supplementary food) to nearly 366,000 mt of food. In addition, use of the emergency reserve to mitigate high prices in the country has left the reserve critically low, threatening a timely humanitarian response to the drought.
To date, nearly 77,000 mt of relief food has been allocated to 2.7 million beneficiaries. Some 60,200 mt of food has been dispatched.
Kenya
A new EMOP has been prepared for approval to cater for the needs of IDPs (in camps or to sustain them after their return to their previous locations/homes) and an increasing number of vulnerable people in the arid areas of north and north-eastern Kenya where food security is worsening and may become critical if the long rains fail.
The Government's operation 'Rudi Nyumbani' (Return Home) continued, with reported decrease in the number of IDPs in camps; the resettlement has however slowed down in the South Rift region as many IDPs in the camps claim to own no land.
Initial investigation into the deteriorating food security situation in Turkana district suggests that the main contributory factors are an outbreak of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), a highly contagious and fatal viral livestock disease, insecurity over scarce resources and poor performance of the rainy season.
Myanmar
More than one month since Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, WFP continues to make progress in reaching the victims. At June 9, WFP had dispatched over 12,350 tons of food in affected areas and actually distributed 6.505 mt.
As the Cluster Lead in logistics and emergency telecommunications, WFP has been coordinating the provision of common services both in Yangon and Bangkok, together with over 45 partners from other UN and bilateral aid agencies and NGOs.
WFP has organized a total of 39 air cargo shipments into Yangon airport. These shipments have included high-energy biscuits, medical kits, tarpaulins and other vital humanitarian material such as temporary warehousing, office space and accommodation, communications equipment and small boats to facilitate staff movement around the worst affected parts of the Irrawaddy delta. Ten WFP helicopters are in Myanmar to carry food and other critically needed humanitarian supplies to hard-to-reach delta areas.
WFP has employed additional 102 national staff since the cyclone hit, and currently issuing 7 vacancies for field office positions. 63 WFP staff are now in the delta.
Somalia
ICRC warned on 4 June that Somalia is facing severe food and water shortages, leaving millions of Somalis at risk of starvation. WFP/ICRC and CARE are working in partnership to respond to the high level of need in Somalia.
Due to shortages of vegetable oil and pulses, WFP beneficiaries in the north will receive half ration of oil in June. In the south, only beneficiaries in the wet- feeding, social support, supplementary and therapeutic feeding programmes will receive oil in June. Pulses will be distributed at half ration to beneficiaries of general food distribution. The reduction will affect over one million beneficiaries.
Preparation for the expansion of the Mogadishu wet-feeding programme from 10 to 16 sites and from 50,000 to 80,000 beneficiaries is underway; implementation is expected to start by mid June.
Sri Lanka
Torrential rains in the south-west and central parts of the country have resulted in 23 deaths and affected more than 300,000 people. WFP has dispatched 246 mt of food for 182,244 people for 3-7 days in the worst-affected divisions in Kalutara, Galle, Ratnapura, Matara and Gampaha as a complement to government relief efforts; and is monitoring the utilization of food.
From June 3 to June 5, WFP participated in a UN (UNICEF, OCHA and UNDP) rapid assessment mission, together with the Minister of the Disaster Management and Human Rights, to further assess the situation and identify additional food requirements in affected areas.
200 mt of rice from the Vanni, LTTE-controlled northern areas, will be released to co-operatives outside the Vanni to ease the rice shortage.
Sudan
WFP is being forced to reduce its humanitarian air service (WFP-HAS) due to funding gaps. With immediate effect, WFP-HAS will (1) reduce its helicopter fleet in Darfur from six to five; (2) cancel plans to introduce a fixed-wing aircraft in Geneina to meet increased demand; (3) reduce its fixed-wing aircraft size by two (one DASH and one Beechcraft) reducing the frequency of scheduled flights to Darfur and southern Sudan, and terminating WFP-HAS capacity for flight charters; and (4) increase nominal booking fees of helicopter flights in Darfur (the most costly component of the air service) from US$40 to US$100. These changes will bring the monthly operational cost down to US$5.2 million from US$6.2 million. US$20 million is urgently required to ensure continued service through the rainy season.
On 8 June, a 4-point agreement was signed by the conflict parties. This 'Abyei Road Map' entails a quick return of displaced populations, redeployment of the forces and joint civil administration as well as arbitration of the border issue. WFP and other humanitarian agencies are looking into resuming activities in Abyei.
The Key
CSB - Corn-soya blend
CD - Country Director
CP - Country Programme
EMOP - Emergency Operation
Fewsnet - Famine EarlyWarning System Network
FSAU - Food Security and Analysis Unit
GFD - General Food Distribution
IDPs - Internally Displaced People
MCHN - Mother and Child Health and Nutrition
MT - Metric tonnes
PRRO - Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation
VGF - Vulnerable Group Feeding