Initial Rapid Needs Assessment Report for Internally Displaced population in Lafon County Eastern Equatoria state, South Sudan 16 January 2014 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Interagency Rapid assessment was conducted by UNMISS- sections (RRP, CAD, HR, UNPOL, MLO, Gender) State Crisis management Committee, NCA, CARITAS-Switzerland, CARITAS-Torit, UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR, OCHA and Lafon County Administration officials. Transportation for the assessment team was supported by helicopter from UNMISS-Torit The assessment team confirmed presence of approximately 395 households (1,472 individuals) displaced by the fighting in Juba, Mogiri, Jabor and Bor. Displacement started on 16 December and they IDPs started arriving Lafon on 18th -12-2014. Up to date small number are still coming, but the rate arrival has reduced. The IDPs are mostly wives and children of SPLA soldiers who originate from Lafon County, but living in Central Equatoria and Bor where the Soldiers were stationed. The sudden and violent manner, in which the conflict erupted, left no opportunity for the fleeing women, children and youth to carry any their belongings. They there came to Lafon empty handed and are now sharing whatever resources the residents of Lafon own. This additional population is exerting extra strain on the limited resources of host families of relatives and friends The team recommends immediate provisions food ration, NFIs, additional water points and supply of medical drugs to Lafon PHCC. Other medium term response in the coming months will include: Promotion of sanitation and support to education of the children Given the current large impact of the crisis, the team recommends that the assistance be provided to the IDPs within the community, but not create any IDP camp for this group. The county may allocate land for cultivation and settlement using their own resources and at their time and initiative Important: - IRNA Report should include secondary data collected by all stakeholders and jointly analyzed - IRNA Report should also include community level assessment analysis by clusters and then jointly analyzed by all stakeholders - Report should adequately cover the de-briefing analysis of assessment team leaders - This report should be produced within two days after the IRNA taking place 1
Situation Overview (Use the secondary information as well as the information gathered under the Generalist section of the IRNA questionnaire. Scope of crisis and humanitarian profile Fighting which erupted in Juba on 15 December 2013, between progovernment and anti-government SPLA forces has displaced tens of thousands s of civilians from Central Equatoria and Jonglei States. Many of the fleeing populations went to safer places in their counties and rural areas, while others have gone as far as neighboring countries of Uganda and Kenya. The IDPs assessed in LafonCounty are mainly from the Pari tribe who originate from Lafon County. Over 70% of them children, about 20 % are Women and youth and most of them are family members of soldiers who who were stationed in Mogiri, Jabor, Mangala and very few from Bor areas.these areas all border Lafon County and thus the IDPs were able to walk in about 4 days time through the bush from Mangala, Mogiri and Jabor. Those from Juba urban area, travelled by vehicles via Torit and others first travelled northwards to Mogirii and then by food to Lafon. The families are separated from the soldiers who are engaged in fighting and others have beenreported killed in the fighting. Map Place map of affected area if available Affected population: (approx. Male/female and boys/girls) N/A Displaced population: individuals breakdown into Male/female and boys/girls yet to be acquired through verification exercise The situation in Mogiri, Jabor, Mangala and Bor became unbearable due to the continued fighting, looting and underlyingtribal tensions that got magnified during the fighting, leading to killing of unarmed civilians by both sides in the conflict. The sudden and violent onset of the conflictmade it difficult for the IDPs to carry along any of their food and non-food belongings. As a result, IDPs are completely dependent on their relatives and friends in Lafon for survival. Key Priorities Provide bullet points summary of key priorities Trends and scenarios IDPs are currently hosted with their relatives they are Spread all over the Bomas and villages of Lafon administrative area. By the time of the assessment, the RRC had registered 394 HHs/1,472 individuals, inburgilo, Marguna and Kurumi Payams, but IDPs in Pachidi payam were not yet registered. Additionally, a small number that arrived in the period 12 th 16 th January 2014 were not yet included in the list that the RRC County coordinator presented; thus, Registration was still ongoing, and more new arrivals are still expected different areas especially via Torit etc. The larger part of the IDPs population arrived in the period 18 th to 24 December 2013first group arrived on the 18 th December 013.They have been given adequate Land for settlement as well as for Cultivation by the local authorities, but they have not yet settled on it Sustainability of the current copying mechanisms: Ever since the arrival of the IDPs in Juba, about a week ago, they have 2
depended on their relatives and friends who are now straining their limited resources to accommodate he IDPs and share with them basic necessities like food, water and shelter. Humanitarian Access Access and permissions: There is no restriction against humanitarians visiting the IDPs. The dry weather soil surface road is currently in memorable condition but will become more difficult in the rain season require land cruisers during the become difficult to pass during the rainy season. Findings (use the information gathered under the cluster specific sections of the IRNA questionnaire) Food Security and Livelihoods The IDPs do not own any food stocks as they left their belongings in the places from which they fled, due to the sudden and violent onset of the conflict that displaced them and were thus not able to carry their own food stocks. Moreover they travelled over long distances, to reach Lafon and cannot access whatever they left behind. There is need for immediate food distribution for all the IDPs in Lafon According to the interview conducted, the IDPs reported that they ran bare handed, leaving behind them their livelihood sources, According to the key informant the general community is already experiencing food insecurity due to IDPs sharing of the limited food available in addition to the poor harvest attributed to crops failure as a result of heavy rainfall and pests. Condition of food in Lafon WFP Warehouse As part of the mission objectives, two warehouses were also inspected where WFP food was stored, although food counting could not be conducted thoroughly due to time factor as the mission time was limited to two hours only on ground. Following were the updates on the food condition: Food balances were stored in one rub hall and in the community storage, while another rub hall was empty only with few pallets. Generally, food condition was found good. However few weevils were observed in the grains i.e. Sorghums and lentils particularly the yellow Pease were mostly infested with weevils. Food items were well stack, and the inner surrounding of the stores was clean, but it requires slight cleaning.vegetables oil is expiring in the coming Month of March 2014. The assessment team recommends that: Verification of the IDPs using Tokens by the concerned partners (ARD/RRC & WFP) is mandatory for identifications purpose, IDPs lists must be submitted to the CPs concerned once registration of other areas such as Pachidi is finished by RRC staff on ground before verification is done, There is urgent need to approve a three months General food distribution full ration to the 3 Photos
affected population as the first priority to the vulnerable IDPs who are entirely relying on their relatives to survive as they ran without carrying anything with them. WFP Logistics should confirm the accurate food quantity on ground in a separate mission to established the accurate figure given by CDOT staff during the mission Health Lafon as a PHCC is operational, but has insufficient stock of drugs and there is shortage qualified personnel. The cold chain is notr working and some vaccines are now expired More drugs should be supplied and more personnel deployed to the PHCC NFI & ES Currently the IDPsare sharing everything, from shelter, sleeping materials, water containers to cooking utensils, with the host households. This is causing strain on the hoist community, so there is need to provide NFIs to the these IDPs Nutrition Basic observation, the children Appear to healthy so far. However there need to monitor and depending on monitoring results, a thoroughscreening be done. WASH There are 5 boreholes around Lafon, but shortages of water are reported in other villages hosting the IDPs. There is need to map the water points and provide additional water pints to meet needs of the additional population. The sanitation situation requires improvement especially in promoting construction of latrines by the individual households, promotion of hygiene within Lafon and worse in the other villages as most people do not have latrines Protection There are no severe protection concerns except for the general insecurity in the country. Education There are many school age children, but schools are currently closed. Should the IDPs stay longer, their children will need school spaces in existing schools or in new schools if the population is relocated to new area Other: 4
NEXT STEPS Agreed initial response:who will do what and by when? Cluster Priority Actions Human And Material Resources Required Food Security Distribution of food Health Supply drugs and additional qualified medical staff Shelter/NFIs Distribute NFIs Water & Sanitation Nutrition Education Provision of additional water source (after identifying areas of IDP concentration in Lafon Monitor the nutritional status of children Conduct assessment in Lafon when schools open and provide scholastic materials Protection Continue monitoring the livelihoods situation and general safety of IDPs and host community Education Others Assesse education needs among IDPs children Report of assessment, personnel for Verification and distribution Personnel, Medical supplies, transport Personnel, NFIs, transport Personnel, Water and sanitation materials and equipment, transport Personnel, Transport Educations assessment, Scholastic materials, transport Existing county structures Responsible Entity WFP/ Caritas- Torit State Ministry of health / UNICEF NCA, UNHCR State department for Rural Water/ UNICEF State ministry of health / UNICEF County Education, SMoE, Education cluster County Authority UNICEF/UNHCR/ UNMISS By When Medium term Medium term Medium term 5 Cluster specific assessments recommended.who will do what by when? 1. County Education and Education cluster to assess the education needs of children among the IDPs when Schools open Assessment information Assessment Teams details See attached table next page Geographical area visited (incl. GPS) Lafon Centre (if needed, GPS coordinates can be acquired from MOVCON-Torit) Assessment itinerary (incl. GPS) The team travelled by UNMISS helicopter Departure from Torit: 9:00 hrs, arrival at Lafon at 9:45 hrs. Departure from Lafon: 12: 30 hrs arrival at Torit: 13:15 hrs Type of key informants interviewed (male/female, boys/girls) Women and youth were interviewed and Briefing was received from RRC and the County Chief Administrator
ANNEX: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS NAME DESIGNATION ORGANISATION EMAIL ADDRESS PHONE CONTACT Mathew Ugwak Chief Administrator Lafon County mugwakidi@yahoo.com 0956083141 Cyprian okuye Program director CARITAS-Torit Cyprianokuye2002@yahoo.com 0955032534 Mikelina emilio Gender Affairs Officer UNMISS- Gender Emilio@un.org 0955326009 Gideon Kenyi Field Associate UNHCR patrickg@unhcr.org 0955163844 Eric Mowa MLO UNMISS Mowa.eric@gmail.com 2801 Evelyn Rudo Dzvova UNPOL UNMISS rudoevelyndzvova@gmail.com Boloch john Kumen OIC/Specialist UNICEF bjkumen@unicef.org 0955176362 UNMISS-RRP/RCO nankaayi@un.org 0926881412/ 0955294427 Jane Frances Nankayi Deputy Team- Leader/OIC UNMISS- RRP-RCO Peter. B. Farajallah Program Officer UNMISS-RRP/RCO farajallahp@un.org 0955205051 Maduok Akot HoSO WFP Maduok.Akot@wfp.org 0922465449 Patrice Bafura paul Member CMC patricebafura@yahoo.com 0955015408 Luka George Kidi Member C.S.N Lukakidi@yahoo.com 0955294589 Collins Omondi Omundu Member CARITAS- Switzerland comondi@caritas.ch 0954747320 Julia kiden Nicanora Field monitor Assistant WFP Julia.kiden@wfp.org 0956929976 Tombe Stephen Program Officer NCA Tombe_stephen@yahoo.com 0955101871 Nyero Anthony Kay CAO CAD/UNMISS anthonykenyi@un.org 0955036695 Rinat Galimov SCO/UNMISS SOC galimov@un.org 0956740705 Hiroko Moso State Coordinator UNMISS mosko@un.org 0912179345 6