Period covered by this final report: 27 April 2012 to 31 January 2013.

Appeal target (current): CHF 1,100,051

Appeal coverage: 65% covered in cash and kind

Appeal history:

• The Emergency Appeal was launched on 27 April 2012 for CHF 1,859,746 in cash, kind, or services to support Gambia Red Cross Society (GRCS) to assist 8,500 households (51,000 beneficiaries) for 8 months and to be completed by the end of December 2012. As a start up of the operation CHF 185,974 was allocated from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF).

• The Revised Emergency Appeal launched on 2 July 2012 had a reduced budget to CHF 1,100,051 and number of beneficiaries to 34,668 people (5,778 households).

• The Six Months Update was issued on 11 December 2012 informing of a one month timeframe extension to complete the operations by the end of January 2013, bringing the total operations to 9 months. The extension was needed to finalise the implementation of four women-led community vegetable gardens and the rehabilitation of the GRCS warehouse.

Summary:

Despite a slight delay in starting the operations due to late funding that arrived at the end of May, the most pressing activity started on time with the training of 48 Gambia Red Cross (GRCS) volunteers on data collection, beneficiary registration and relief distributions. During the first distributions 15 local community members also received the training. The IFRC applied the twin track approach of saving lives and protecting livelihoods whilst strengthening communities to recover from disaster and crises. The operation provided simultaneous emergency food assistance as well as building longer term resilience with the provision of improved rice seeds and fertilizer on time for the main planting season from July to October 2012 and off-season vegetal market garden support between November 2012 to January 2013 with the rehabilitation four community vegetable gardens run by women. The vegetable gardens provided the community with healthier nutritional intake and women with income generation with market produce to sell.

The overall objective was reached with 34,668 beneficiaries (5,778 households) that received rice seeds and fertilizer vouchers in the North Bank and Lower River regions in July, on time for planting at the start of the main rain season. However, an additional 8,191 beneficiaries also received this support, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 42,859 because some households were actually much larger than the six person average head count that was estimated per family in Gambia; some beneficiary households included children from religious schools and some beneficiaries that had been accidentally left out or that were absent during the identification process.

To address the emergency health needs, 120 volunteers received training on hygiene promotion and on screening of children under the age of five, as well as pregnant and lactating mothers suffering from malnutrition, using the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement methodology. A total of 12,537 households were visited and 25,918 children were screened for malnutrition. Suspected malnourished cases were referred to the community health nurses (CHN) and health centres. The affected communities were sensitized on hygiene promotion, and women received training on improved nutritional intake for both malnourished children under 5 and lactating mothers. A total of 26 volunteers community based were trained and attached to 26 health facilities to focus on the malnourished children referred and continued to monitor the children discharged from the health facilities and encouraged the community members to take over the monitoring themselves.

The final phase of the operations concentrated on the recovery period and on longer term impact to support women run community vegetable gardens. Consultation meetings took place with the partners at national level (FAO, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Community Development and at the Department of Water Resource and the Women Bureau) as well as with the regional partners.
In November, a joint need assessment mission took place in nine communities to determine the actual needs of vegetable gardens and select the most qualified communities for the intervention. Out of the nine communities visited four were selected: two communities from the North Bank region (NBR), in the villages of Suwareh Kunda and Gunjur and two in the Lower River region (LRR), in the villages of Sukuta and Barrow Kunda. The selection criteria were based on that of existing community gardens and community participation; the level of vulnerability of the community and the availability and texture of the soil; the management structures and the preparedness capacities of the community members.
Supporting the vegetable gardens has allowed diversifying and increasing the nutritional intake of families and has provided women with an opportunity to earn some income and contribute to their household resilience.

Out of the total revised appeal budget of CHF 1,100,051 and total of CHF 720,436 was received. All the expenditures were spent according to the appeal budget except for over-expenditure of the “international staff” budget line as the total costs of the delegate had been under-estimated. As per the financial report attached, this operation closed with a balance of CHF 5,346. The International Federation seeks approval from its donors to reallocate this balance to the Regional Representation to support the National Societies development plans.

Study Suggests 258,000 Somalis died due to severe food insecurity and famine

Half of deaths were children under 5

NAIROBI/WASHINGTON May 2, 2013 — A new study estimates that famine and severe food insecurity in Somalia claimed the lives of about 258,000 people between October 2010 and April 2012, including 133,000 children under 5.

Jointly funded and commissioned by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia (FSNAU) and the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), the study is the first scientific estimate of the death toll from the food security emergency. The study suggests:

• An estimated 4.6 percent of the total population and 10 percent of children under 5 died in Southern and Central Somalia.

• Lower Shabelle, Mogadishu, and Bay were hardest hit, with the proportion of children under 5 who died in these areas estimated to be about 18 percent, 17 percent, and 13 percent, respectively.

• Mortality peaked at about 30,000 excess deaths per month between May and August 2011 (see figure).

“With the expertise of two renowned institutions, we now have a picture of the true enormity of this human tragedy,’’ said Mark Smulders, Senior Economist for FAO. “Lessons drawn from this experience will help the international community, together with the people of the region, build a stronger and more resilient future.”

Lead authors of the study were Francesco Checchi, an epidemiologist and senior lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Courtland Robinson, a demographer and Assistant Professor at the Center for Refugee and Disaster Response at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland.

“By nature, estimating mortality in emergencies is an imprecise science, but given the quantity and quality of data that were available, we are confident in the strength of the study,” said Chris Hillbruner, Decision Support Advisor for FEWS NET. “It suggests that what occurred in Somalia was one of the worst famines in the last 25 years.” The study set out to quantify mortality attributable to severe food insecurity and famine, as well as when and where most deaths occurred. Other issues, such as the humanitarian response, were not evaluated. The study covered all of southern and central Somalia, the areas most affected by the 2010-11 drought, subsequent spikes in staple food prices, and constraints on humanitarian access. Mortality among new refugees arriving to camps at Dadaab, Kenya and Dollo Ado, Ethiopia was also assessed. To capture the full scope of the emergency, the study considered a 28-month time period, from April 2010 to July 2012. However, the mortality estimates relate specifically to October 2010 to April 2012. The figures are in addition to the 290,000 “baseline” deaths estimated to have occurred in the same area during the same period. That baseline, which includes conflict-related deaths, represents a mortality rate that is twice as high as the sub-Saharan average.

Compared to the 1992 Somalia famine, in which an estimated 220,000 people died over 12 months, the death toll for the recent event was higher. But the earlier famine is considered more severe because a larger percentage of the population died.

Availability of Data Underpins a Credible Analysis

The quantity and quality of available data were considerably better than for past studies of famine mortality in Africa. Researchers drew on 200 mortality surveys conducted by FSNAU and partners in Somalia since 2007—including 61 from the emergency period—as well as data on food prices, wages, epidemics, conflict, and humanitarian assistance. Using these data, the researchers developed a statistical model to estimate mortality for areas and time periods where information was unavailable. Demographic analysis of population movement was used to refine population and mortality estimates. For the refugee camps, where data were more limited, the study offers plausible ranges of mortality, rather than a single estimate.

The study, along with source data and statistical code, can be downloaded from www.fsnau.org or www.fews.net.

Several Factors Led to Famine

In July 2011, the UN declared famine in two regions based on FSNAU and FEWS NET analysis. In August and September, the declaration was extended to other regions. After a substantial increase in emergency assistance in September and October, a sharp decline in local cereal prices, and an excellent October to December 2011 rainy season, food security improved. The UN declared the famine’s end in February 2012.

A combination of events triggered the famine. First, the year before the famine declaration (July 2010-June 2011) was the driest in the eastern Horn of Africa in 60 years. The result was widespread livestock deaths, the smallest cereal harvest since the 1991-94 civil war, and a major drop in labor demand, which reduced household income. Second, the level of humanitarian assistance delivered in southern Somalia in 2010 and much of 2011 was very low, especially compared to 2008/09 when food aid accounted for a significant proportion of national cereal supply. In many areas, conflict and insecurity impeded humanitarian assistance and access.

As a result, at a time when drought made poor households more market dependent, reduced supplies drove staple food prices to extreme levels. In Bay region, for example, the price of red sorghum rose 240 percent between June 2010 and June 2011. For millions of Somalis, already weakened by chronic food insecurity and persistently high levels of acute malnutrition, the shocks were catastrophic.

As the drought unfolded, FEWS NET and FSNAU issued a series of 16 increasingly dire warnings, in addition to their regular reporting. The first warning of drought was issued in an August 2010 FEWS NET special report. A March 2011 multi-agency alert warned that famine was likely if the April-June rains failed.

FSNAU and FEWS NET began working collaboratively in 1995.

Datasets and statistical codes used for the study on Mortality among populations of southern and central Somalia affected by severe food insecurity and famine during 2010-2012

The attached notes and accompanying datasets and statistical codes should allow for independent replication of the study analysis. Please refer to the study report and its statistical annex for details on how the analysis was implemented. All datasets included here are already in the public domain, are anonymous and aggregate, and/or do not include any information on human subjects.

Download Datasets and Statistical Codes (ZIP, 953KB

Overview

During the reporting period, the Red Cross of Chad and the IFRC country office have been providing humanitarian assistance to populations affected by food insecurity, floods, and cholera. They have also been providing support to refugees in eastern Chad with a community resilience project as well as a health project on communicable diseases. These activities:

• Continuation of the humanitarian assistance to the 54,874 Sudanese refugees hosted in eastern Chad through the delivery of basic needs (food distribution, water and sanitation and shelter) in bilateral partnership between the National Society (NS) and UNHCR. A community resilience project was implemented in both camps and provided 730 families with agricultural materials, livestock distribution, support in shelter construction and support to the water and sanitation sector. The project was funded by the Finnish and the Swedish Red Cross Societies. A financial contribution from the Japanese Red Cross contributed to train volunteers and disseminate awareness raising campaigns about HIV/AID and its consequences.

• Extension of cholera emergency appeal launched in 2011 for two months. The timeframe extension enabled the construction of 40 latrines in the targets areas and 10 water points.

• Response to the recurrent food crisis in the Sahel part of the country. The emergency appeal launched in February 2012 enabled to provide food to 581,165 beneficiaries (through blanket feeding project and general food distribution) in the region of Hadjar Lamis, Lac and Kanem. Improved seeds, agricultural materials and water irrigation material and material for income generating activities were distributed to some 80 local initiatives in the field. The emergency appeal was extended for 45 days to enable staff monitor the implementation of water points in different marshland areas.

• Response to one of the most severe flooding in the country through an emergency appeal. The emergency appeal aims at providing 4,400 families with NFIs, training of volunteers, and dissemination of hygiene promotion campaigns as well distribution of sanitation kits.

The eastern part of the country that has been for the last five years a hot spot has been experiencing a relative calm. This was the result of peace agreement brokered between Chad and Sudan followed by a joint military force to secure the common border. In all the intervention areas, no major security incident was recorded during the reporting period. The whole RCC intervention area was stable. The main challenges encountered included difficult access to beneficiaries due to bad roads and flooding.

The community resilience project for both refugees and host populations was delayed and started in May. Negotiations with WFP to secure food for drought affected victims took longer than expected and started only in late June.

Jeudi, 02 Mai 2013 13:22

La société minière Rangold Ressources a officiellement remis jeudi un don de 60 tonnes de riz à la Croix-Rouge malienne en faveur des populations du Nord du Mali. C’est la deuxième fois depuis le début de la crise que la société minière britannique manifeste sa solidarité en faveur des populations affectées par ce conflit armé.

L’acheminement de ces vivres aura lieu la semaine prochaine avec une clé de répartition 20 tonnes pour la région de Tombouctou, 20 tonnes pour celle de Gao et 20 tonnes pour la région de Kidal. En avril 2012, la Croix-Rouge malienne a ouvert le corridor humanitaire sur la région de Tombouctou à l’époque sous occupation des groupes armés. Elle avait également participé au convoi humanitaire dans les 3 régions entre le 12 et 19 mai de l’année dernière.

Par Nènè Traoré

Au menu:

· Tchad: au moins trois morts dans un présumé complot déjoué (AFP, 2 mai)

· MSF is calling for refugees to receive humanitarian assistance in Chad following clashes in Darfur (MSF, 26 April)

· Tchad : aider les réfugiés soudanais et les déplacés centrafricains (ONU, 26 avril)

· Wet Season Threatens Migrant Returnees, Refugees in Chad (IOM, 30 April)

· Le lait maternel réduit la résistance microbienne aux antibiotiques (tchadinfos.com, 1er mai)

· A Bridge Built With WFP Food Enables Farmers To Reach Fields In Chad (WFP, 28 April)

· Le Drian au Tchad: "il ne faut pas laisser de vide sécuritaire" au Mali (AFP, 27 avril)

· Le HCR recommande aux États de suspendre les retours vers la RCA (HCR, 26 avril)

It is hot and the midday sun scorches the sand. Mile after mile of travel and there is not a body of water to be seen. Animal carcasses rot on the side of the road. Yet amid this harsh desert climate, among a cluster of communities, tomatoes, onions and watermelon grow.

This is Mauritania, a west African country home to three million people, more than one third of whom are hungry. The Brakna region, in the south, has the highest malnutrition rates in the country, particularly among children under the age of five.

When last year’s drought wiped out crops and sent food prices soaring, the Mauritanian Red Crescent Society and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) responded by adopting a twin track approach, delivering emergency food aid while working with communities to plan for long-term resilience.

“This approach is successful because we got communities involved from the start,” says Dennis Bariyanga, IFRC Food Security Operations Manager. “We developed a plan together, tapping into local knowledge. Then we brought in the technical expertise to help achieve our goals.”

Results include the formation of 28 women’s cooperatives, which received vegetable seeds and training on how to grow produce that can withstand the extremes of the desert climate. Three wells were rehabilitated and equipped with solar panels, making it easier to meet the water needs of people, gardens and livestock. Gardens are now flourishing, women are selling produce in the market, and generating income for their families which last year had none. And farmers, after using improved seeds, tools and farming techniques have this year harvested 90 tons of sorghum compared to just 14 tons last year.

During a visit to the area of Maghta Lahjar, IFRC President Tadateru Konoé helped distribute goats to families whose young children are suffering from malnutrition. Female goats are provided as they can produce much needed vitamin-rich milk for children. Since the programme was introduced, the malnutrition rate has dropped, down nine per cent over the past year. “I am very impressed by what I am seeing,” said President Konoé. “These combined efforts are producing healthier communities, healthier children. However, there is still more to do. The needs remain immense.”

Red Cross Red Crescent food security programming across the Sahel has assisted almost 700,000 people. A modest achievement when millions are still suffering from lack of food, but it is not an issue the Movement can tackle alone. “Our role is to assist and to complement. Real change will come from the communities themselves,” said President Konoé. “We will promote flexible use of funding and new partnerships with the public and private sector. And governments must also be held accountable. I call on the political leadership in the Sahel region to increase investment in community infrastructure and social services, and to further support their National Societies so they can fulfil their role as auxiliary to government.”

For those who have already received assistance, the results are more than theoretical. In Mauritania, one woman put her calloused hands under running water for the first time, “This water will make my life easier, my hands softer. You are helping me become a woman again,” she said.

Despite early warnings, the Somalia famine was allowed to happen. Why? Because of politics, al-Shabaab and donor fears

The 2011 famine in Somalia, which the famine early warning systems network (Fewsnet) and the food security nutrition and analysis unit (FSNAU) estimate in a report published on Thursday to have killed almost 260,000 people, was avoidable.

Read the blog post by Rob Bailey in the Guardian's Poverty Matters Blog.

Rob Bailey is a senior research fellow at Chatham House specialising in food security. His research on the causes of the Somalia famine is included in the recent report Managing famine risk: linking early warning to early action

This document provides complex coverage of global events from 23 – 29 April 2013 with hyperlinks to source material highlighted in blue and underlined in the text. For more information on the topics below or other issues pertaining to events in the region, contact the members of the Complex Coverage Team or visit our website at www.cimicweb.org.

Iraq 1
Mali 2
Syria 3
IED/Demining 5

Il fait chaud et le soleil de midi brûle ardemment le sable. Kilomètre après kilomètre, pas un seul plan d’eau en vue. Seules quelques carcasses d’animaux pourrissent sur le côté latéral de la route. Pourtant, au milieu de cette rudesse du climat désertique, au sein d'un groupe de communautés, poussent des tomates, des oignons et de la pastèque.

C'est en Mauritanie, un pays de l’Afrique de l’Ouest avec quelque trois millions d’habitants, dont plus d’un tiers souffrent de pénuries alimentaires. La région du Brakna, dans le sud, a les taux de malnutrition les plus élevés dans le pays, en particulier chez les enfants de moins de cinq ans.

Quand la sécheresse de l’année dernière a détruit les cultures et entrainé la flambée des prix des denrées alimentaires, le Croissant-Rouge Mauritanien (CRM) et la Fédération internationale des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge (FICR) ont réagi en adoptant une double approche, dans laquelle les secours d’urgence sont associés à des stratégies à long terme visant à réduire les risques futurs et à renforcer la résilience.

«Cette approche a réussi parce que nous avons impliqué dès le début les communautés», explique Dennis Bariyanga, Gestionnaire des opérations de sécurité alimentaire à la FICR «Nous avons développé ensemble un plan, puisant dans les connaissances locales. Ensuite, nous avons apporté l’expertise technique pour aider à atteindre nos objectifs »

Les résultats comprennent la mise en place de 28 coopératives de femmes, qui ont reçu des semences et des légumes ainsi que de la formation sur la façon de cultiver des produits qui peuvent résister aux conditions extrêmes du climat désertique. Trois puits ont été réhabilités et équipés de panneaux solaires, ce qui permet de répondre plus facilement aux besoins en eau des personnes, des jardins et du bétail. Les jardins sont aujourd'hui florissants, les femmes vendent des produits sur le marché, et générent des revenus pour leurs familles qui l'année dernière n’en tiraient aucun profit. Et les agriculteurs, après l’utilisation des semences améliorées, des outils et des techniques agricoles, ont cette année récolté 90 tonnes de sorgho par rapport aux 14 tonnes de l’année dernière.

Lors d’une visite dans la région de Maghta Lahjar, le Président de la FICR, Tadateru Konoé a aidé à distribuer des chèvres à des familles dont les jeunes enfants souffrent de malnutrition. Des chèvres femelles sont remises, car elles peuvent produire beaucoup de lait riches en vitamines pour les enfants. Depuis le lancement du programme, le taux de malnutrition a diminué, a baissé de 9 pour cent au cours de l’année écoulée. «Je suis très impressionné par ce que je vois», a déclaré le Président Konoé. "Ces efforts combinés produisent des communautés plus saines et des enfants sains. Cependant, il y a encore beaucoup à faire. Les besoins restent immenses. "

Les programmes de sécurité alimentaire de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge dans le Sahel ont aidé près de 700’000 personnes. Une réalisation qui semble modeste quand des millions de personnes souffrent encore du manque de nourriture. Ce n'est pas une question à laquelle la Croix-Rouge Croissant-Rouge peut s'attaquer à elle toute seule. «Notre rôle est d’aider et de compléter. Le vrai changement viendra des communautés elles-mêmes », a déclaré le Président Konoé. «Nous allons promouvoir une utilisation flexible du financement et de nouveaux partenariats avec les secteurs public et privé. Et les gouvernements doivent aussi être tenus responsables. J’appelle les dirigeants politiques de la région du Sahel à accroître les investissements dans l’infrastructure communautaire et des services sociaux et de soutenir davantage leurs Sociétés nationales afin qu’elles puissent remplir leur rôle d’auxiliaire des pouvoirs publics ».

Pour ceux qui ont déjà reçu de l‘aide, les résultats sont plus que tangibles. En Mauritanie, une femme a mis ses mains rugueuses sous l’eau courante pour la première fois, «Cette eau va faciliter ma vie et adoucir mes mains. Vous m’aidez à redevenir une femme »

The Desert Locust situation remained serious during April in northern Sudan where hopper bands were present near crops along a 1,000 km strech of the Nile River. Swarms could form in May and threaten crops, and a second generation of breeding could take place before the summer or, if early rains fall, adults could move to the summer breeding areas in Sudan. There is also concern in Saudi Arabia where new generation adults could move from the northwest Penninsula, including Yemen, and breed in areas of recent heavy rains. In Northwestern Africa, breeding occurred south of the Atlas Mountains, causing locust numbers to increase and small hopper bands to form. As vegetation dries out, adults and perhaps a few groups and small swarms will move south towards the summer breeding areas in the northern Sahel where early rains have fallen so far in northern Niger.

Overview

In line with the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) strategic plan 2010-2014 which is guided by the IFRC Strategy 2020, the SRCS programmes focused on integrating health activities, institutional capacity building, strengthening volunteer base, enhancing community-based activities and enhancing human resource capacities to respond to emergencies.

The primary objective of the SRCS Integrated Health Care Programme (IHCP) is to improve the health status of the vulnerable Somali communities through developing, promoting and strengthening the community based health and care services focusing on preventive, curative, and health promotion aspects with particular emphasis on mothers and children. The Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS), through its Integrated Health Care Programme (IHCP) is considered one of the leading health service providers in Somalia. With the support of Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and other external partners, SRCS runs 73 MCH/OPD clinics, one health post and 15 mobile clinics in the 19 regions of Somalia. The programme provided preventive, promotive and curative health services to an estimated population of 600,000 persons.

The SRCS IHCP provides a basic package services that includes, safe motherhood (ante-natal, delivery and postnatal care, provision of micronutrients, clean delivery kits and referral for complicated cases), Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), growth monitoring, case management of childhood and common diseases, Oral Re-hydration Therapy (ORT) corner for the management of diarrhoea, provision of plumpy nuts (nutritional supplement for malnutrition without complications), health education and basic laboratory services. These services are implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of health, UNICEF, the WFP and WHO.

Overview

Daily life in the Sahel region is filled with challenges posed by small and large disasters. The Sahel region has been suffering from alternating droughts that have been so persistent with millions of people deprived of basic food necessities. Indeed, over 18 million people in Chad, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal face severe food shortages. Erratic rainfall, droughts and insect infestations have led to poor harvests and have caused malnutrition particularly among women and children. More than one million children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition and three million children are at risk of moderate acute malnutrition. It is not just climate related factors that have contributing to this food insecurity. Food and petrol prices have increased sharply; in December 2011 corn prices in the Sahel were 60% to 85% above the five-year average. Remittance sent home from those working abroad have at the same time sharply dropped, in part due to the political crises in North Africa and economic crises in the West.

The conflict in northern Mali in early 2012 has contributed to increase the hardship on both refugees from Mali and the host communities of the neighbouring countries. Seven food insecurity emergency appeals were launched for these affected countries applying a twin-track approach that provides emergency food or cash vouchers and treating acutely malnourished children while helping communities and families improve their income through appropriate farming practices, improved seed distribution, through the promotion of nutritional and hygiene practices and the development of small business schemes. The food crisis situation has been sometimes compounded by flooding (in Niger, Senegal and Chad) or other types of disasters: population movement in Burkina Faso and Mauritania, civil unrest in Senegal.

However many of these disasters are of the recurring type and can be predicted and mitigated if anticipated and adequately addressed; hence the training program which resulted from a cooperation between the IFRC and Irish Aid. Indeed, the Sahel Region Representation in partnership with Irish Aid supported Guinea Bissau and the Gambia National Societies in training their volunteers in preparedness to response to disasters. This capacity building program aims at establishing/strengthening capacities of national and local Red Cross and Red Crescent teams in disaster management within the communities often let by their own, during emergency with disastrous human and material consequences.

Overview

Across the East Africa region, consecutive good seasons transformed food security conditions from the initial low point in 2011, which was a great relief coming out of a severe drought. However, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) continued working with other players including government and regional bodies such as the Inter-Governmental Climate Information, Prediction,

Early Warning and Application for Sustainable development (ICPAC) in resilience building attempts, to avert serious impacts during the next drought emergency. The Indian Ocean Islands (Madagascar RC, Seychelles RC, Comoros RC and Mauritius RC) National Societies were placed under the support of the IFRC EARR with effect from January 2013 after previously being under the IFRC Africa Zone. This meant that the EA regional office needed to strategize its resources including personnel and finances to extend this important support The East Africa regional Representation, in 2012, targeted its advocacy work towards stakeholders who increasingly played a significant role in supporting EA NS. These included the African Union, IGAD and East Africa Community (EAC). The EARR Office continued to co‐chair the Regional Inter‐agency Working Group (IAWG), the Regional Humanitarian Partnership Team (RHPT) and the Inter‐agency Sub Groups (DRR/CC, FSNWG, Security, Quality, and Accountability) these are coordination and influencing bodies that involved humanitarian actors, such as INGOs, UN, and IGAD within East Africa region. A new partnership with IGAD on resilience, aiming at establishing a 5-year resilience program funded at national and regional levels was developed. This is part of a wider strategy looking at how to better address resilience policy and funding opportunities in the region. A joint call for action between IGAD and IFRC was published in June and discussions are on its way with the EU and the US on their own resilience initiatives.

In the reporting period, the IFRC Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (PMER) department supported the National Societies in planning; Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) capacity assessments;
Evaluation processes; PMER trainings; quality assurance and submission of reports to relevant stakeholders as well as support in Resource Mobilization (RM). M & E support aimed at ensuring well functioning M&E systems and tools to support delivery timely and reliable reports from program and projects implementation; contribute to organizational learning; and knowledge sharing by reflecting upon experiences and lessons learnt. The department also supported NS in organizing high-level meetings, learning and communications support.

FAITS SAILLANTS

• Les victimes des inondations d’Agadez et Tahoua attendent les premiers secour

• Les réfugiés et retournés de Midal et Mentes doivent être relocalisés avant le début de la saison des pluies

• Situation critique dans le district sanitaire de Ouallam suite au départ de l’ONG Help

Three days have passed and Abdou Dicko and his family are still waiting at the port of Mopti, by the Niger River, in central Mali. Abdou, his wife Fatoumata, his second wife, their six children, his six brothers and three nieces are waiting; all are anxious for the boat to take them home to Timbuktu in the north.

Read the full story

Highlights

• According to government and partner data, nearly 3,000 new SAM cases have been treated in Senegal in the first quarter of 2013, adding up to 16,310 admissions since the beginning of the response. Sixteen per cent of children treated so far this year suffered from complications.

• In April the number of nutrition facilities increased from 605 to 817, that is 87% of the UNICEF target (June 2012 to June 2013). At least half of these also have the WASH minimum package.

• After months of advocacy, free basic healthcare for children under five suffering of severe acute malnutrition has been approved in a cabinet meeting last month in an unprecedented show of commitment.

• The education section has purchased forty tents this month for prepositioning for the flood season. 150 schools were affected by floods in 2013. WASH supplies for 10,000 households are already prepositioned with government partners.

• No additional funding has been received since February. The funding status for the 2013 emergency response needs is therefore 19% funded.

Highlights

· The armed clashes in Central African Republic had an impact on the refugees coming into the East region. As of April 23 a total of 1,889 refugees arrived to Cameroon, mainly East - 800 asked for asylum in Yaounde and Douala and 490 Refugees have been relocated in Nandoungue Camp( East). UNICEF is active in the development of an Inter-Agency contingency plan both at regional and county level for the CAR refugees.

· A joint regional inter agency mission (FAO, UNICEF, WFP, WHO) was organized from 8th to 12th April along with MoH and national program of Food Security in order to raise awareness and advocate amongst government and partners about the high rates of wasting and stunting in Cameroon.

· UNICEF and WFP assisted the MoH in the revision of national protocol of management of acute malnutrition and provided expertise in training for 43 staff from universities, hospitals, regions, health districts and main partners.

· Given the cholera risks in the North and Far North regions, the upcoming rainy season in May-June 2013 can worsen the humanitarian situation. Many families affected by floods in 2012 have not yet been relocated.

· In collaboration with WHO and Ministry of Health, a preventive campaign for measles was conducted in the five health districts in the North and Far North regions.

· Crops and Food Security Assessment by FAO/WFP and MINADER in the flood affected areas of the two regions show that though the cereal balance was positive at the end of harvest the grain prices rose in the major markets during the harvest period (October-November-December 2012) compared to the same period in 2010 and 2011. The demand from southern Cameroon and neighbouring countries can cause the early shortage in the coming months in these areas and increase the vulnerability to food insecurity of households especially during the lean season from April/May to September.

Hausse de l’insécurité alimentaire suite à un fonctionnement atypique du marché

MESSAGES CLÉS

• Dans les zones fortement touchées par l’insécurité civile notamment au nord du Mali, au nord-est du Nigeria et en République Centrafricaine, le mauvais fonctionnement du marché, conjugué avec le faible pouvoir d’achat des ménages et à la faiblesse des stocks, engendrent une insécurité alimentaire de type crise (IPC Phase 3).

• La faiblesse des flux commerciaux et le niveau atypiquement élevés des prix de céréales entretiennent une insécurité alimentaire de type Stress (IPC Phase 2) au centre du Nigeria, au nord-ouest du Niger, et au nord de la Mauritanie. Dans le reste de la région, l’insécurité alimentaire reste Minimale (IPC Phase 1).

• Le marché qui présente actuellement une situation précaire à cause en dessous de leur niveau habituel, deviendra les mois prochains, la principale source d’approvisionnement des ménages. A cet effet, le suivi des stocks et des flux marchands jusqu’en septembre 2013, s’avère indispensable pour détecter des anomalies de prix qui peuvent limiter l'accès alimentaires des ménages au cours de la saison de soudure.

KEY MESSAGES

Context

• Flood‐related crop damage during 2012/2013 resulted in below‐average crop production in Nigeria. These deficits have substantially offset production surpluses seen elsewhere in the region and have contributed to atypically low market food supply and high consumer demand within Nigeria. Boko Haram‐related conflict in northern Nigeria has also reducedmarket activity and trade flowsin affected regions, and in southeasternNiger and west central Chad.

• These market disruptions have had regional impact, resulting in atypical market supply and demand behavior. The marketing system currently relies less on trade flows from surplus maize and millet producing areas of Nigeria and more on atypical trade flows from Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

• Above‐average income from cash crop (cotton and cow pea) sales over the last year has also contributed to below‐ normal trader cereal stocks as many households focused on marketing cash crops,rather than cereals, during the post‐ harvest period.

• National Security Stocks held by most West Africa governments were depleted over the 2011/12 consumption and marketing year. To date, SSNs in most countries are less than 50 percent replenished due to inadequate financing and poor SSN management. These stock levels are very atypical for this late in the marketing year.