Southern Sudan Abyei Displacement OCHA Situation Report No. 17 Reporting Period 10 th - 12 th June 2008

Transcription

1 Southern Sudan Abyei Displacement OCHA Situation Report No. 17 Reporting Period 10 th - 12 th June 2008 SITUATION Background Following the outbreak of conflict in Abyei starting on 13 th May 2008, the majority of the residents of Abyei town fled southwards to the areas of Abatok, Awal, Wunpeth, Malual Alio and Agok in the border areas and downwards into Twic County in Warrap State. A small number went to Aweil East in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State and Bentiu in Unity State. The humanitarian community is responding to the situation on the basis of the following estimates 50,000 internally displaced persons and 40,000 persons within war affected communities. However, WFP beneficiary lists have confirmed 50,183 people affected by the crisis. This number includes both IDPs and affected host communities. The last head count as at end of May 2008 had confirmed 26,000 IDPs. Conflict Resolution On 08 June the SPLM and the NCP reached an agreement to resolve the Abyei conflict. The major components of the agreement included; 1) Deployment of a new police force within two weeks of signing the agreement, 2) Granting the UNMIS force freedom of movement to operate around Abyei, 3) Formation and deployment of a new Joint Integrated Unit (JIU) force within 10 days of signing of agreement and re-deployment of SAF and SPLA troops beyond the Abyei administrative area, 4) Appointment of a new administration headed by an administrator from SPLA and the deputy administrator from NCP. The above security arrangements are expected to be in place before the end of June. Once they are in place, the displaced civilians are expected to return to their former homes. The UN has started a planning process to assist IDP returns and those IDPs that will remain in Abyei South and Twic County areas. The returning of IDPs must meet standards of appropriateness and voluntarism. A nine-member delegation from South Sudan Legislative Assembly visited Agok 9 10 June The visit was aimed at getting an appraisal of the situation on the ground and was facilitated by UNMIS. The mission met with UN agencies, NGOs, local authorities and affected community. During the meeting a briefing of the emergency operation, the successes, key priorities, challenges and gaps was given by the humanitarian workers. There was assurance from the legislators that they will be able to take the message further, especially on the gaps that include: shelter provision, nutrition (supplementary feeding programme), education and reconstruction of the livelihoods that have been lost. The legislative members expressed their appreciation of the work of humanitarian agencies present in the area. HUMANITARIAN FUNDING In order to scale up the humanitarian response, a proposal for US$7,733,748 funds to respond to the Abyei emergency was sent to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) Secretariat in OCHA New York on 06 June The humanitarian response continues to focus on food, emergency shelter, health and nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, emergency education, non-food items, livelihoods and protection. The targeted beneficiaries are 90,000 people (50,000 IDPs and 40,000 host community members) in Warrap, Northern Bahr El Ghazal and Unity States.

2 COORDINATION 1) Teams composed of OCHA, Resident Coordinator s Office, UNMIS and UNJLC are facilitating coordination of activities among partners on the ground. The teams are based in Agok, Turalei and Juba with daily coordination meetings being held in the field (Agok) at 08:30H and 17:00H at WARD a local NGO. In Juba meetings have been scaled down to once a week (Wednesdays) at 14:00H at SSRRC. 2) A coordination sector meeting was held in Agok on 11 June The meeting looked at the main coordination tasks, the planned activities, staff rotation and the transitional phasing of some of the operations in Turalei into the regular RCO activities as well as the transitional phase of planned returns. 3) The second inter-agency coordination meeting took place in Turalei on 10 June 2008 at 14:00hours as scheduled. It discussed the ongoing registration and verification of beneficiaries for food distribution and the concern over education provision for both IDPs and war affected host population. Schools have not opened since January 2008 and this has affected a number of school going children. 4) Situation reports are being regularly produced to inform the humanitarian community and GoSS on the humanitarian response. 5) NGOs, UN agencies and international organisations sending staff to the field (Agok) must coordinate with UNDSS in Juba and ensure that they obtain security clearance. Agencies should make sure that their staff are self supporting in terms of accommodation, food and transport, so as not to over-stretch the limited resources in the field. 6) All NGOs, UN agencies and international humanitarian organisations operating in Agok are asked to submit staff lists and a daily movement plan to the UN security focal point. UN security focal point in Agok shared with agencies on the ground the staff list and movement plan forms in both electronic and hard copy forms. The forms should be completed and updated regularly. (Humanitarian Actors in this Sector are: OCHA, RCO, SSRRC, UNDSS, UNMIS, UNJLC) LOGISTICS 1) Please follow the link to view and download a map of Abyei, which shows humanitarian hubs and access - Humanitarian%20Hub%20&%20Access_A3_10%20June%2008.pdf 2) On 10 June 2008 OCHA made available 4,000 litres of fuel to humanitarian agencies that are operating on the ground. The fuel will be supplied through UNMIS in Wau. 3) The Turalei payam administrators accepted the proposal for common compound premises and issued an approval letter. 4) All agencies planning to send cargo (relief supplies) to the areas affected by the Abyei conflict should liaise with UNJLC in order to jointly coordinate the delivery of cargo and maximize available tonnage space. 5) Accommodation is still a challenge in Agok and NGOs and UN agencies planning to support field operations in this area must take this into consideration in their plans. 6) Training on how to use radios has been proposed for drivers and other humanitarian staff. The training will be held by the WFP security focal person on Friday the 13 th at hrs. (Humanitarian Actors in this Sector are: UNJLC, IOM, OCHA)

3 INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE Water and Sanitation The WASH sector is providing safe portable water amounting to 5 10 liters per person per day through tankering, hand pump schemes and motorized systems. This leaves a gap of an extra five litres as the minimum standard is that each person should receive 15 litres per day, according to the Sphere Project. Water purification sachets are being distributed and may help supplement the water as people treat move available water. Sector partners are procuring over 900 barrels and 200 plastic slabs for latrine construction. The sector has over 50 Hygiene promoters disseminating basic hygiene messages and assisting with water quality control duties. Approximately 100 families (or 500 people) are being reached on a daily basis. UNICEF and ADRA are rehabilitating 40 broken hand pumps that will supply water to 10,000 IDPs in Turalei. The Agok water yard is receiving 20 litres of fuel daily to run the water pump and this has greatly improved the water provision in Agok. (Humanitarian Actors in this Sector are: ADRA, ICRC, Save the Children US, MSF Switzerland, GOAL, Mercy Corps, two local partners, Ministry of Health and UNICEF as sector lead) Food Aid On 10 June 2008, a total of 112MT of food was pre-positioned in order to feed 3,460 IDPs in Malual Aleu, Agok area. The food was transported by four IOM trucks and three WFP trucks. Head count and token distribution was completed to 2,800 beneficiaries (Women, children and the elderly) in Abatoth on 10 June A total of 46 MT has already been loaded in Wunrok destined for Abatoth. The planned head count and token distribution by WFP on 11 June 2008 in Geldau in Agok could not take place because of inaccessibility of the roads following a heavy down pour in the evening of 10 June (Humanitarian Actors in this Sector are: World Vision, Save the Children USA, Mercy Corps and WFP as sector lead) Health Matter of Fact Corrections on Previous Sitrep o The drugs dispatched by WHO last week were delivered to ADRA in Twic County and not in Agok. o WHO visited Turalei hospital following a suspected haemorrhagic and not yellow fever case. The patient was referred from GOAL clinic in Aweng to Turalei hospital but died on arrival. WHO/MoH and GOAL are following up with patient contacts for the next two weeks. o Actually, MSF Ch has two static health sites, where they are providing treatment that is; a clinic at Agok centre and at the Turalei hospital. In addition to that, the NGO sends mobile clinics twice weekly to Malual Aleu, once weekly to Madeng Jok and a once weekly again to Wanching. It plans to assess the need for more mobile clinics in areas previously inaccessible. (Humanitarian Actors in this Sector are: Goal, Ministry of Health, MSF-Switzerland, ADRA, SSRRC, and UNICEF, WHO as sector lead) Nutrition

4 The current nutrition levels in Agok as reported by MSF Switzerland (MSF Ch) indicate that 24% of children under five but over one year are either severely malnourished or moderately malnourished but slipping towards severe malnutrition. However, there are gaps in terms of the actual rates on malnutrition in the affected area as a whole and it is presumed the rates might be higher. UNICEF has provided BP5, F100 and F75 weighing scales to MSF Ch. MSF Ch began nutrition assessments alongside the vaccination campaign (9-12 June) and will hold a planning meeting chaired by MoH on Friday 13th June to discuss the results and recommendations. During a meeting with South Sudan legislative members of assembly, nutrition was highlighted as one of the key priorities that need addressing through supplementary feeding programmes. MSF Switzerland is inviting nutrition partners to a meeting to be held on 13 June 2008 in Agok. The meeting will share results of the screening on malnutrition cases. (Humanitarian Actors in this Sector are: Goal, Ministry of Health, MSF-Switzerland, and UNICEF as sector lead) Non-food items (NFIs) Organizations in the NFI sector have so far mobilized a total of 17,420 NFIs. The NFIs include commodities like kitchen sets, blankets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, soap, etc. Distribution of these NFIs is ongoing. To date, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) has distributed 360 kits in Akoc and 650 kits in Turalei. (Humanitarian Actors in this Sector are: ACF-USA, Caritas, Concern, CSI-USA, Goal, ICRC, IOM, Mercy Corps, MSF-Swiss, SC-USA, SSRRC, UNICEF, WARDS, WFP, World Vision, and UNJLC as sector lead. For details contact: Thomas.Nyambane@wfp.org) Protection According to UNICEF, as at 10 June, 96 children had been reunified with their parents or guardians out of 230 that were displaced to areas south of Abyei town during fighting in mid May. Humanitarian actors in the protection sector are still tracing 134 more children who are reported to be unaccompanied, separated or missing. The table below shows some of the achievements made by the child protection team. Situation of Children as Total Re-unified Still on Tracing Reported Unaccompanied Separated Missing Total The tracing of children is being hindered by lack of enough vehicles to cover more villages and the general state of village roads, which become difficult to access when it rains. The family tracing and reunification is being done by Save the Children Fund USA (SCF-USA) and local personnel temporarily employed by the Social Welfare Department. The following areas have been covered so far; Mading Jokthiang, Jual Jok, Awal, Abathok, Agok town, Wauchin, Mabun and Malual Aleu. (Humanitarian Actors in this Sector are: UNMIS, UNICEF, SSRRC/GoSS, SCF-USA, ICRC) Education UNCEF distributed 75 School in a box kits that can support up to 6,000 pupils in Turalei. Ministry of Education in Agok reported that a total of 19 schools opened on 10 June This is highly appreciated in addressing a sector that has been of concern to the IDPs and the war affected host community.

5 A total of 15 boxes of text books were distributed to the government in Agok by UNICEF on 11 June The text books are for primary 1 4 and are in line with the new curriculum for South Sudan. UNICEF distributed 10 balls and pumps through the ministry of Education in Agok. This will be used to support extra-curricula-activities at school.unicef as Education sector lead has facilitated the setting up of a formal committee at GoSS level so as to respond effectively to the Abyei crisis. The committee chaired by the Under Secretary of Education is compromised of partners working in that general area and namely: - Agok: Norwegian Refugee Council, IAS, Concern, Save the Children UK and World Vision and for Turalei: ADRA The committee is tasked to undertake a quick rapid assessment that will provide disaggregated data such as the number of schools on the ground and the number of school-aged children currently displaced. Meanwhile the Ministry of Education (MOEST) has also identified education materials that should be distributed quickly such as textbooks, mobile blackboards, tents, plastic sheets, temporary offices. UNICEF already has the supplies pre-positioned in Aweil ad Twic counties. The materials also include the school-in-a-box and recreational kit materials. Distribution is pending the results of the assessment, which is scheduled for 13 th of June. In addition, a monitoring mechanism is also required that will inform the committee that sits weekly in Juba. (Humanitarian Actors in this Sector are: UNICEF, GoSS/MoEST, SCF-UK, Norwegian Refugee Council, World Vision, ADRA, Concern, IAS) Shelter The initial plan to have local authorities assist with the allocation of tukuls and development of a beneficiary lists in identified locations did not materialize. Instead, authorities have requested Mercy Corps to do the targeting and keep them informed. Five communities namely, Mading Jokthiang, Agok, Juoljok, Mabuin and Wauchin have been selected for possible shelter assistance. They were chosen on the basis of accessibility, presence of high number of IDPs clustered under trees and public/social structures as well as over crowded host family facilities (Tukuls). Registration of target beneficiaries is on-going in these communities. A collaborative meeting has been held with WFP to discuss possibilities of complementing the cash for work with food assistance for the construction work. Mercy Corps will provide some tools, plastic sheets, nylon ropes, cash for work, general supervision and monitoring and WFP will provide the food component. The communities will provide the labor and local materials. Procurement of some shelter construction tools has been completed including that of axes and pangas. Plans are under way to procure shovels and more double pick-axes and nylon ropes. (Humanitarian Actors in this Sector are: Mercy Corps, more???) Livelihoods Mercy Corps conducted a rapid needs assessment and findings indicated that there is need for supporting women's bio-intensive vegetable gardening with quick maturing, high yielding and farmer preferred vegetable seeds for cultivation. Registration is on-going, targeting host communities as well IDPs that have access to arable land. Support will be in the form of provision of viable preferred vegetable seeds, some basic garden tools, training in basic agronomic practices and garden surveillance and monitoring. Community sensitization and information sharing is ongoing around the planned establishment of vegetable garden units. (Humanitarian Actors in this Sector are: Mercy Corps, more???) For additional information please contact: Andy Pendleton (UNOCHA - pendletonj@un.org ), Gift Chatora (UNOCHA - chatora@un.org ) and Finne Lucey (UNJLC - finnelucey@hotmail.com ). Send inputs/comments to: Clever Maputseni (UNOCHA maputseni@un.org). Disclaimer: This report is a consolidation of information from OCHA field reports, UN agencies, NGOs, GoSS-SSRRC and other humanitarian partners. The report is subject to availability of data and does not claim to be exhaustive or fully verified and does not represent the official position of the United Nations. If you have inputs for the next edition, or questions/comments to the current issue, please contact: maputseni@un.org