Inter-cluster mission report Afgooye, Lower Shabelle region 20 May 2014

Transcription

1 Inter-cluster mission report Afgooye, Lower Shabelle region 20 May 2014 Key mission findings: The local authorities and community elders estimated that the total population in Afgooye district is 134,892 people (22,484 households) while 102,000 people (17,000 households) live in the town. UNDP (2005) estimated the population of Afgooye town at 21,602 people. Authorities estimated that 52,200 people (8,700 households) displaced people from Qoryooley and other parts of south central Somalia live in the town though this figure needs to be verified. The main reasons for the displacement according to the local authorities include the AMISOM/SNAF military offensive in some parts of the region, delayed GU rains and protection related issues. Local authorities reported that there are four IDP settlements in Afgooye town apart from those long the corridor; however, the mission did not visit the said settlements due security concerns. An IDP representative noted that 550 households had arrived in the town during the previous week. Most of the IDPs who arrived in Afgooye from Qoryooley left behind their food stocks, assets and livestock in fear of the fighting in Lower Shabelle region. Daily arrivals of IDPs were reported although numbers were not verified. Main source of livelihood is agriculture while lack of canal rehabilitation, agricultural inputs including tools and seeds and delayed GU rains have disrupted the planting season. This has affected labour opportunities in agriculture which is the main source of income. Most of the people especially new arrivals have no access to clean water thus the risk of diseases. As a result of poor hygiene and lack of clean water, some IDPs buy the water from very far distance at high price of ,000 Somali shilling for a 20 liter jerry can Community elders noted that a household with more than 12 people use one toilet, most of the IDPs defecate along the river which is the main cause of Acute Watery Diarrhoea. There are no enough latrines to prevent communicable disease like diarrhoea, cholera and other face oral diseases, AWD was reported as the most common health problem in the town. This was confirmed during the field visit to Afgooye district hospital. EPI services were not available in two out of the three visited health facilities indicating limited EPI coverage which is contributing to the outbreak of preventable diseases. Afgooye district hospital staff reported three measles cases Qatar Red Crescent is constructing new health departments and renovating CEMOC services and emergency surgery. There is no functional ambulance in the whole district to facilitate transportation of emergency cases. Polio vaccination campaigns are conducted every month. Community leaders reported high levels of malnutrition. Most of the children with severe malnutrition are from families of new IDP arrivals and they are admitted at the Stabilization Centre. Swiss Kalmo reported that children with OTP problems are attended every week while children under-five and lactating mothers with TSFP problems are attended every month. UNMAS Risk Education (RE) teams have conducted education activities for the communities along the main supply routes leading from Afgooye to Mogadishu. Authorities requested temporary assistance for the IDPs and priority needs being food, health, WASH and Shelter/NFIs. They also stressed the need for support to the host communities including inputs for agriculture, health, canal rehabilitation and infrastructure rehabilitation. Recommendations/Action points: Food Security General Further assessment of the food security status of IDPs in Afgooye should be conducted including verifying the number of IDPs and settlements in the area and their food security status. Potential areas of focus for improved access to food and livelihood investments could include rehabilitation of primary canals owned by the communities and public roads that link main villages and Afgooye town. Improved access to food The Food Security Cluster estimates that 20 per cent of agro-pastoral and 40 per cent of riverine households

2 Mission Report 2 Health: WASH: population may be in need of support if the GU harvest is poor. Should there be need in the future for improved access to food and/or livelihood investments, there should be focus on rehabilitation of primary canals owned by the communities as well as the public roads that link main villages and Afgooye town which would be enhance access for the poor communities living in the remote areas. Livelihood assets and investments An assessment needs to be done to ascertain the levels of need related to livelihood assets and investment; this would be targeted for the next rainy season. FSC estimates that 20 per cent of agro-pastoral and 40 per cent of riverine households population may be in need of support if the GU harvest is poor. Support the provision of routine EPI services in Afgooye and VMDSO hospitals is urgently needed to increase access to EPI services and reduce morbidity and mortality related to EPI target diseases. Training health workers in outbreak prone CSR target diseases as well as provision of other refresher trainings. Routine monitoring of the health situation of the people in Afgooye including the IDPs by following up and monitoring the daily AWD and measles cases reported to the health facilities. Urgent provision of emergency medical supplies for the health facilities and routine monitoring and filling up of gaps of lack of essential medical supplies are of top health needs priority. Provision of ambulance for Afgooye to improve transport and referral of emergency cases and severely affected patients by pains including CEMOC cases. Advocate for the provision of emergency surgery services including CEMOC services in Afgooye town to save lives of emergency cases. Qatar Red Crescent should be followed up with. Rehabilitate the non- functional borehole so as to improve access to clean water, this will also reduce outbreak of water borne diseases Further assessment is required to identify specific WASH needs of both host and IDPs population in Afgooye town and in the corridor. Provide water purification tablets or chlorine to the IDPs. Conduct community mobilization and awareness Construction and rehabilitation of latrines to ensure better use. Distribute hygiene kits and provide soaps, jerry cans particularly to the new arrival Provide sanitary kits to vulnerable women and girls Conduct hygiene campaign and awareness Nutrition: Afgooye town has a number of centers that provide nutrition services. These include a Stabilization Center (SC) and an Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP) for the treatment of children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). Those with medical complications are treated at SWISSO-KALMO Health and Nutrition centre and Afgooye General Hospital currently run by Qatar Red Crescent. Most of the children admitted to the Stabilization Centre were from the new IDP families. Nutrition programmes (OTP and TSFP) are critical for the new IDP arrivals which must be followed by preventative measures including Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices and supplementation of micronutrients for pregnant and lactating mothers. Education: Mine Action: Attention is required to ensure children from families of new IDP arrivals are given the opportunity to attend school. Risk Education (RE) awareness for local population UNMAS Risk Education (RE) teams have conducted education activities for the communities along the main supply routes leading from Afgooye to Mogadishu, a total of 51,749 beneficiaries received this information. UNMAS developed a number radio awareness which have been broadcasted over Somali national radio. With further funding this initiative shall be continued. RE team to expand its awareness programme along the main supply route towards Marka into newly accessible areas when the security situation has improved.

3 Mission Report 3 Weapon and Ammunition Management Construct or refurbish an armoury at Police station, this is a long term project forecast to be accomplished in months when funding becomes available. Construct an armoury and ammunition store at military barrack when funds are available. Explosive Management Support to Security Sector Assist the local police with temporarily deployment of a Police EOD team to the area to provide IED awareness training. Secure the police station from explosive threats. Community Security Sector Dialogue Assist the local government with District Safety, to assure that the safety needs among the local population is known by local government, national security providers and AMISOM Other UNMAS will establish direct communications between the Somali Police Liaison Officer, who is permanently based in the UNMAS JOC, and the Head of Police for Afgooye in order to provide real time advice for dealing with IED s when required. Logistics Roads: The road to Afgooye is in fairly good condition. The Airstrip: There is no airstrip in Afgooye. The nearest is K50 and MIA. Protection Owing to the revival of basic law and order in the town, incidents of sexual and gender-based violence have reduced as compared to previous months past when the town was experiencing scramble for power and control between security forces. It was difficult to find evidence of children associated with armed conflict or child recruitment. Undercover recruitment is likely to be going on as children are the ones to volunteer for the conscription due to their diverse unmet needs. New IDPs raised a protection concern about their unroofed Buuls (shelter) which also do not have doors that are lockable and thieves steal their property. The rainy season is worsening their situation. IDPs reported people with disabilities among their households disables while others are mentally or visually impaired. New IDP arrivals have difficulties in accessing basic services including WASH, available clean water and food are sold at high prices. FGM is still rampant in the town and there is no fully equipped hospital that has the capacity to run circumcisions which could stop the application of such harmful practices to a level of no violence. High numbers of young divorced or widowed women in the town are still vulnerable to sexual exploitations due to the absence of livelihood programs. Due to the delayed GU rains, planting season has been disrupted implying limited income opportunities for farm labourers. The regional administration views current displacement of people as temporary and they would want to see IDPs returning to their places of origin once security improves. The community indicated that they are in need of awareness raisings on all explosives as Afgooye town has been a center of fighting and former AS base. Mission objective/purpose of mission: The purpose of the mission was to assess the humanitarian situation in Afgooye including situation of the host and IDP population in the town and its corridor including Qoryooley.

4 Mission Report 4 Mission participants: 1. Crispen Rukasha OCHA (Team Leader) 2. Abdullahi Aden - Nutrition Cluster/UNICEF 3. Hundubey Ahmed Food Security Cluster/WFP 4. Ibrahim Moallim Health Cluster/WHO 5. Michael Raine UNMAS 6. Colin Williams UNMAS 7. Abbas Mohamed Adan Protection Cluster/UNHCR 8 Omar Castiglioni DSS (CSA) 9. Rumen Atanasov DSS 10 Gariel TIBAYUNGWA-WHO FSO Methodology and key meetings: Key meetings included: 1. Lower Shabelle Governor Mr Abdukadir Sidi. 2. Deputy Governor,Social Affairs- Mr Omar Mohamud 3. Deputy Governor, Security & Politics-Hussein Jibril Ali 4. District Commissioner- Mr Haji Gabo Osman 5. Deputy DC Social Affairs Mr Ismail Aden 6. Women Affairs - Duniya Hassan 7. Revenue Collection- Mr Ahmed 8. District Head of Relief and Humanitarian- Abdullahi Mohamud 9. Head of Regional Police-Abdi Ibrahim 10. Head of Police Station in Afgooye-Mr Amin Mohamed Osman 11. Deputy Head of Police in Afgooye-Mr Nur Haile 12. Head of Emergency for the Police- Mr Ali Muse Hamoud 13. Community Elders 14. Local Community 15. Local NGOs Drivers of the crisis and underlying factors: Afgooye town, located in Lower Shabelle region is rich in agriculture. The population largely depends on farming as their main source of income especially river watering farms. Following the recovery of Qoryooley by AMISOM/SNAF, compounded by delayed GU rains and other conflict in the region, there has been continuous displacement of people from several locations in Lower Shabelle region as well as other places in neighboring regions. Although the figures need to be verified, local authorities and community elders reported that 8,700 families (52,200 people) had arrived in Afgooye during the last two months with more arrivals being recorded daily. Most of the IDPs who arrived in Afgooye left behind their food stocks, assets and livestock in fear of the fighting in Lower Shabelle region. Lack of canal rehabilitation, agricultural inputs including tools and seeds and delayed GU rains have disrupted the planting season. This has affected labour opportunities in agriculture which is the main source of income. Most of the people especially newly arrivals have no access to clean water thus the risk of diseases. Community elders reported that a household with more than 12 people use one toilet, most of the IDPs defecate along the river which is the main cause of Acute Watery Diarrhoea. There are no enough latrines to prevent communicable disease like diarrhea or cholera and other face oral diseases, Scope of the crisis and humanitarian profile: Local authorities reported that there are four IDP settlements in Afgooye town apart from those long the corridor. One IDP representative reported that 550 households had arrived in the town during the previous week. As a result of poor hygiene and lack of clean water, some IDPs buy the water from very far distance at high price of ,000 Somali shilling for a 20 liter jerry can. There are no enough latrines to prevent communicable disease like diarrhea or cholera and other face oral diseases. Acute Watery Diarrhoea is common in the town. EPI services are also limited which is contributing to the outbreak of preventable diseases. Community leaders reported high levels of malnutrition and most of the children with severe malnutrition are from families of new IDP arrivals children with OTP problems are attended every week while children under-five and lactating mothers with TSFP problems are attended every month. Food and nutrition services, health, WASH and Shelter/NFIs remain the urgent particularly among the IDP population..

5 Mission Report 5 How many people are affected? Most of the new IDP arrivals are in urgent need of food, WASH, health and Shelter especially during the rainy season. 20 per cent of agro-pastoralists and 40 per cent of riverine households population may need support if the harvest is poor. Response capacity: There are a number of NGOs with capacity to implement projects. These include Qatar Red Crescent, ANPPCAN, Swiss Kalmo, Community Concern Somali, Community Development Initiative, Muslim Aid, Islamic Relief; NGOs operating in Mogadishu can also access Afgooye. Humanitarian access: Although Afgooye is accessible from Mogadishu, security remains primary challenges to deliver humanitarian assistance. Strategic humanitarian priorities: Advocate with FGS for removal of gatekeepers who deprive IDPs of their rights to access basic needs Continue to advocate for humanitarian actors operational independence: Resource mobilization to enable response to the prioritized needs. Report prepared by: OCHA 24 May, 2014