07/15/2013 18:57 GMT

BAMAKO, 15 juillet 2013 (AFP) - L'un des principaux candidats au premier tour de la présidentielle du 28 juillet au Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, s'est rendu lundi à Kidal (nord-est) pour une visite de quelques heures, a appris l'AFP de sources concordantes.

La visite de ce candidat est intervenue le jour mêmle du retour du gouverneur de Kidal qui s'y était déjà rendu brièvement le 11 juillet, selon l'entourage du gouverneur et une source militaire africaine.

"Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, candidat à la présidentielle, est arrivé lundi à Kidal dans le cadre de la campagne électorale", a affirmé à l'AFP une source militaire africaine de la force de l'ONU au Mali, la Minusma, information confirmée par l'état-major de campagne du candidat qui a parlé d'une visite de "quelques heures".

Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta dit IBK, 68 ans, ancien Premier ministre et ex-président de l'Assemblée nationale, est l'un des favoris à la présidentielle malienne.

Autre favori, Soumaïla Cissé, 63 ans, ancien ministre et ex-président de la Commission de l'Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine (Uémoa) doit également se rendre à Kidal "tout prochainement", selon son état-major de campagne.

Les autorités maliennes et les rebelles touareg occupant Kidal, à 1.500 km au nord-est de Bamako, ont signé le 18 juin à Ouagadougou un accord prévoyant un cessez-le-feu, un déploiement progressif de l'armée malienne, et un cantonnement des combattants touareg sur des sites de regroupement.

L'accord a été respecté, mais la situation reste tendue sur place, où des manifestations dénonçant le retour de quelque 150 soldats maliens et d'autres l'approuvant, ont eu lieu la semaine dernière.

Déjà mauvaises avant le début du conflit au Mali dont toute la partie nord a été occupée en 2012 par des rebelles touareg, puis des groupes jihadistes chassés par une intervention militaire franco-africaine, les relations entre communautés noires majoritaires et les communautés arabe et touareg se sont depuis considérablement dégradées.

Le premier tour de la présidentielle, censée amorcer la réconciliation et rétablir l'ordre constitutionnel interrompu par un coup d'Etat en mars 2012, doit en principe se tenir à Kidal à la fin du mois comme dans le reste du Mali.

Mais les tensions actuelles et l'impréparation du scrutin dans la ville font craindre qu'il ne puisse avoir lieu comme prévu.

C'est pour faire en sorte que le scrutin puisse s'y tenir que le gouverneur de Kidal, le colonel Adama Kamissoko, y est revenu lundi après une brève première visite de quelques heures le 11 juillet, marquée alors par des tensions.

Le gouverneur lui-même avait déclaré que lorsqu'il avait voulu s'y installer, ses bureaux étaient occupés par des "groupes armés" qu'il n'avait pas nommés. Cette fois-ci, il s'est installé à la mairie de la ville, selon une source africaine de la Minusma et son entourage.

sd/stb/cs/jmc

© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse

Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of food insecurity persist in northern Mali, northeastern Nigeria, and the Central African Republic

KEY MESSAGES

• Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of food insecurity continue in northern Mali, northeastern Nigeria, and the Central African Republic due to the effects of insecurity and market disruptions.

• In southeastern Niger, west-central Chad, and central Nigeria, Stressed (IPC Phase 2) levels of food insecurity have been observed due to atypically high grain prices, civil insecurity, and/or 2012 crop production shortfalls relating to flooding. Other areas of the region are facing Minimal/None (IPC Phase 1) acute food insecurity.

• Grain prices on certain markets in the eastern marketing basin 1 (particularly in central and eastern Niger, northern Nigeria, and Benin) are unusually high this year compared to average due to the effects of market disruptions in Nigeria. On the other hand, prices in the central marketing basin2 are similar to or slightly above the seasonal average.

•Barakolombougou – Mieux produire pour mieux vivre – World Vision

•Mopti – Des tentes pour les sans-abris – SOS-Attitude

•Tombouctou, Gao, Kidal – Renforcer les ONG au nord du Mali – ARAW

1. Resume

Le Mali est affecté par une crise politique, sécuritaire et humanitaire d’une ampleur et d’une complexité sans précédent. Le conflit armé affectant les 3 régions nord du Mali depuis 2012 a connu une escalade en janvier 2013, lors de la prise de Konna, ville située à environ 70 km de Mopti, par les groupes armés. Cet événement a déclenché l’offensive de l’armée malienne soutenue par la France et la MISMA (Mission internationale de soutien au Mali) qui a permis de rétablir progressivement la sécurité dans les grands centres urbains du Nord. La situation sécuritaire restant toutefois critique et volatile, le Conseil de sécurité a décidé, le 25 avril 2013 via la Résolution 2100 et en vertu du Chapitre VII de la Charte des Nations Unies, de créer une Mission multidimensionnelle intégrée des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation au Mali (MINUSMA) qui comprendra un effectif total allant jusqu’à 12 640 Casques bleus et policiers.

Ce conflit a généré, à la date du 1er mai, 300 783 personnes déplacées internes (PDI) et provoqué un mouvement de 174 129 réfugiés en Mauritanie, au Burkina Faso et au Niger, exerçant une pression lourde et croissante sur les ressources économiques des ménages qui les ont accueillis, sur les structures de santé, d’éducation, les infrastructures d’eau et d’assainissement. Les besoins humanitaires liés au conflit armé sont importants et s’ajoutent aux besoins préexistants et générés par les crises alimentaires et nutritionnelles de 2012. Selon les dernières évaluations des besoins, 1 396 355 personnes auront besoin d’une assistance alimentaire immédiate d’ici la fin de l’année 2013 et 2 073 162 personnes seront sous pression d’insécurité alimentaire. Bien que la saison agricole 2012-2013 ait été globalement bonne, la seule production agricole ne suffira pas à assurer la sécurité alimentaire des ménages. De plus, la hausse des prix (toujours au-dessus de la moyenne 2009-2012 dans plusieurs régions) a affecté le pouvoir d’achat des ménages les plus pauvres. En outre, l’insécurité a conduit à des dysfonctionnements majeurs des marchés céréaliers et animaliers, et même à la fermeture de marchés et de certaines frontières internationales, ce qui a impacté à la fois sur les prix et sur la disponibilité des denrées de base sur les marchés. Les acteurs de la nutrition estiment, quant à eux, qu’en 2013, 660 000 enfants de moins de cinq ans souffriront de malnutrition aiguë globale (MAG), parmi lesquels 210 000 souffriront de malnutrition aiguë sévère (MAS) et 450 000 de malnutrition aiguë modérée (MAM). Le conflit au Nord-Mali ainsi que les crises alimentaires et nutritionnelles ont eu un impact non négligeable sur les besoins en eau, hygiène et assainissement.
En effet, 41% des forages équipés de pompes manuelles et 18% des 1 653 puits au nord étaient non fonctionnels en mars 2013, poussant davantage les ménages à consommer de l’eau provenant de sources non améliorées. Les problématiques d’accès à l’eau potable et à des structures d’assainissement constituent un risque majeur de propagation d’épidémies et autres maladies vectorielles, et représentent ainsi un frein structurel à l’amélioration de l’état nutritionnel et sanitaire des populations, particulièrement des enfants.

Le secteur éducatif est également fragile. En effet, plus de 2 500 écoles ont un besoin de renforcement des capacités d’accueil et des équipements ou de mise en place de cantines scolaires.

La révision à mi-parcours du Processus d’Appel Consolidé (Consolidated Appeal Process / CAP) se base sur un scénario de planification révisé prenant notamment en considération la persistance de violences armées, le déploiement de la MINUSMA, le processus électoral qui devrait se matérialiser lors du second semestre 2013, la persistance de la crise alimentaire et nutritionnelle, le risque de recrudescence d’épidémies et la prévalence de catastrophes naturelles. La communauté humanitaire au Mali se fixe, d’ici la fin 2013, quatre objectifs stratégiques:

• Réduire la mortalité et la morbidité des personnes vulnérables et des communautés affectées par la situation politique, socio-économique, alimentaire, sanitaire et nutritionnelle.

• Contribuer à la protection des personnes et des communautés affectées par les crises, notamment par les violences basées sur le Genre, les violations des droits de l’homme, l’enrôlement des enfants dans des groupes armés et les restes d’explosifs de guerre abandonnés et non explosés.

• Contribuer à renforcer les capacités de résilience et les moyens de subsistance des personnes et des communautés affectées en mettant l’accent sur la prévention des risques et la préparation aux crises.

• Renforcer et élargir l’espace humanitaire, fournir une assistance impartiale et adéquate en améliorant la préparation de l’assistance humanitaire et sa coordination.

Pour atteindre ces objectifs, 72 partenaires humanitaires (organisations non-gouvermentales / ONGs et agences des Nations Unies) ont soumis 175 projets qui ont été approuvés pour une valeur totale de US$475 851 924

DEC 50th: Saleh Saeed, CEO of the DEC, looks back at the East Africa Crisis Appeal and the history of famine in Ethiopia.

It was the premonition of a disaster, a nightmare vision that foretold the suffering of millions: desiccated carcases of cows and goats littered the plain on the outskirts of Wajir, a small town in arid north eastern Kenya.

“For the people of that region, those animals were everything: their work, their income, their savings, their asset base. It was clear there was a problem,” said Andrew Wander of Save the Children, who visited East Africa in May 2011.

By then the rains had already failed and an exceptionally severe drought was forecast. The early warning systems had been signalling an impending food crisis in neighbouring Somalia since the previous November. But those in a position to act did little to halt the crisis spreading across the Horn of Africa. Even the aid agencies which were raising the alarm were slow to scale up their response.

“In an earthquake or flood the worst is over by the time you get there,” said Wander. “With this the worst wasn’t even close. It was happening in slow motion in front of your eyes.”

In late June 2011 Wander returned, this time to the Dadaab refugee camp near the border between Kenya and Somalia. Refugees were flowing out of Somalia, walking for weeks through a war zone, their clothing in rags and their feet cut to pieces, preyed upon by militia and bandits. Many starved to death.

“There was a sense of overwhelming numbers of people arriving and not being served by the system,” said Wander. “They were setting up outside the formal camp because there just wasn’t enough room, making shelters with bits of sticks.”

In total over 13 million people were affected across Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan. In Somalia, the epicentre of the crisis, the UN estimated that nearly 260,000 people died in the famine. Half of those were under five. I visited Mogadishu in August 2011, where I saw what those statistics mean on the ground: tiny children, barely able to eat or drink, battling measles, fever, diarrhoea and malnourishment. Many children were too weak to be vaccinated against the very diseases that were killing them. It remains the worst example of human suffering I’ve experienced in 20 years of humanitarian work.

The causes were complex. The DEC’s independent assessment spoke of five distinct crises in the region, each with its own history. Nevertheless there are some common threads, the main one being the drought, caused by the failure of two rainy seasons, which was the worst in 60 years in some parts of the region. This came on the back of several years of poor rains and food price inflation which had left millions of people very vulnerable. Crops failed, animals died and desperate people went on the move.

But these alone weren’t enough to cause a famine. Politics played a key role. Mark Malloch-Brown, a former UK minister for Africa, said: “It is no coincidence that famine has taken hold where governance remains weakest in the region.”

Somalia was not ruled by a central government but rather by militia groups. In northern Kenya the pastoralists are neglected and seen as an embarrassing relic of the past by the central government. The Ogaden region of Ethiopia is also politically marginalised.

After months of inadequate action the crisis became headline news in July 2011. On 5 July, two weeks before the UN officially declared a famine in parts of Somalia, the DEC launched the East Africa Crisis Appeal, which went on to raise £79m. The organisation’s member agencies began to rapidly scale up their work, providing food, water and medical care to 2.3m people, and moving on to long-term projects to help prevent a repeat of the crisis in future.

Some people said the 2011 disaster was itself a repeat – a re-run of the infamous famine which hit Ethiopia in 1984. There were striking similarities: the world had taken little attention of the unfolding crisis, and aid only began to flow after the BBC journalist Michael Buerk made a series of reports describing a “biblical famine”. The DEC ran an appeal and Bob Geldof’s BandAid and LiveAid followed.

But the “nothing changes in Africa” brigade missed much that made the 2011 famine very different. The drought itself was much worse in 2011, yet there were far fewer deaths than in 1984, when over a million people died. Although parts of Ethiopia suffered great hunger in 2011, the government’s relatively good early warning systems meant their response to the crisis was reasonably effective, despite some bureaucratic delays.

The political situation surrounding the famine was very different in 1984. The Ethiopian government of the time, supported by the Soviet Union, was fighting a long-running insurgency and ran a centralised, planned economic system, a combination which left millions of people without a secure source of food. They were already hungry when the drought hit.

The complexities of the 1984 famine forced aid agencies to learn and hone many strategies which are now commonplace, such as working on both sides of a civil war by running programmes remotely through local partner organisations. Recently they have faced accusations that humanitarian aid was fuelling the conflict rather than feeding the hungry, a charge the DEC’s former chief executive Brendan Gormley denies.

“We weren’t naively fuelling the war,” he said. “It was taking a controlled risk to reach the peasant countryside that we couldn’t reach from the government side. Some ex-rebels, who had fallen out with their former comrades, later claimed they siphoned some of the money to buy arms, but we never saw any evidence of that.”

Many aid agencies and journalists glossed over the political situation in 1984 for fear it would affect the humanitarian response. In 2011, journalists were forthright in reporting the effects of the conflict. Aid agencies, with concerns over staff safety and maintaining humanitarian access, had to be careful discussing political failures in host countries, and in a three minute TV appeal it was impossible to discuss the subtleties of the crisis. But they showed a much greater willingness to publicly engage in discussions about the political complexities affecting their work.

This matters because famines are man-made. They are predictable and so can be averted. This isn’t just good humanitarianism, it’s good economics too. In the food crisis in Niger in 2005, the cost of helping at an early stage was estimated at US$7 per person. But the big donors didn’t give the money and the crisis ended up costing US$23 per person.

Recent Oxfam and Save the Children research found that decision makers want to act on definite figures, not uncertain forecasts. That leads to a terrible Catch-22. It’s hard to get money to fight famine without showing extreme need, but if people are that desperate, the work is being done too late. We need to get beyond needing emotive television images to push us to action - respond when cows are dying, not children.

Saleh Saeed
DEC CEO

The complexity of emerging crises in West Africa, such as in Mali and Guinea Bissau, requires the re-examination of regional response mechanisms for effective tackling of the structural causes of instability in the region and their ramifications, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo has urged.

“We must re-interrogate the structure of regional peace and security in relation to preventive diplomacy, sanction regime, and the response capacities and the transport strategies,” the president said at the opening of the 30th Ordinary session of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council (MSC) in Abuja on Monday 15th July 2013.

He highlighted the progress made in Mali, the most recent being the July 2013 the transformation of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) into the UN Multi-dimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSM, following tireless efforts and decisions by the Council and regional leaders in collaboration with the African Union and the UN.

President Ouédraogo equally recalled the protracted and difficult process of negotiations that followed the mobilization and deployment of AFISMA and expressed gratitude to the Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire, the Regional Mediator on Mali, President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso and the deputy Mediator, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of Nigeria.

On Guinea Bissau, he said the presidential election fixed for 24th November 2013 marks the end of the first phase of the transition process being facilitated by ECOWAS in that country.

The resolution of these crises, said the president, have also made it possible to focus on the issues of extremism and terrorism, piracy and other maritime crimes, as well as drugs, arms and human trafficking in the region.

To this end, he recalled that the Council had adopted the ECOWAS Anti-terrorism Strategy at its meeting in Yamoussoukro last February, followed in June 2013 with the adoption of important strategic documents against piracy and other transnational crimes in the Gulf of Guinea by the leaders of ECOWAS and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in Yaoundé,
Cameroun.

In addition to addressing these issues, the president also urged the Council to deliberate on the legislative elections planned for 25 July 2013 in Togo and September 2013 in Guinea following difficult processes of dialogue in both countries.

He reminded the Council, made up of Foreign Ministers, that the region has a responsibility to provide necessary support for peaceful, free, fair and transparent elections and the restoration of constitutional order in the two ECOWAS Member States.

While opening the meeting, the Council chairman and Cote d’Ivoire’s Foreign Minister Honorable Charles Koffi Diby, urged the session to come up with concrete recommendations for the consolidation of the successes achieved towards the restoration of constitutional rule and democracy in Mali and Guinea Bissau.

He commended the international community, particularly the African Union, UN, Chad, France and others, for supporting ECOWAS in finding solutions to the regional crises, noting that the 13 July entry of Malian troops into the country’s northern city of Kidal, previously held by the rebels, should pave way for free, fair and transparent elections on 28 July.

The minister also paid tribute to the memory of soldiers who lost their lives in the course of restoring peace to Mali.

While political tension might have eased in Guinea Bissau, he stressed the need for continued international engagement for the successful implementation of the regional transition roadmap.

The Minister also called for an effective mechanism to be put in place to eliminate piracy, drug, arms and human trafficking, and other organized international crimes in the Gulf of Guinea.

Also present at the opening of the Council meeting, which will feed into a two-day ECOWAS mid-year Summit beginning Wednesday, 17th July 2013 also in Abuja, were the Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs. Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman, her counterpart for Administration and Finance, Mrs. Khadi Ramatu Saccoh, as well as those for Human Development and Gender, Dr. Adrienne Diop and Macroeconomic policy, Dr. Ibrahim Bocar Ba respectively.

16th July 2013

Dryness over the bi-modal zone will adversely affect maize harvest in July

KEY MESSAGES

• In much of the bi-modal zone, rainfall levels in mid-June ranged from approximately 10 to 100+ mm below-average (Figures 1 and 2). These recent deficits are in addition to significant rainfall deficits that occurred in much of this zone in late April. As a result, a significant decline in maize yields is expected for the first season harvest in July.

• Parts of eastern Senegal, western Mali, and eastern Nigeria experienced below-average total rainfall levels and poor temporal rainfall distribution during May and June. According to ground reports, this caused planting activities to be delayed. However improved precipitation levels in early July have partially mitigated the effects of earlier deficits and a normal harvest is still anticipated for October.

• In the Guinean-Sudanian zone, rainfall levels have varied from above-average over Sierra Leone and Guinea to slightly below-average in eastern areas. However throughout this zone, crops are developing normally.

SC/11064

Security Council
7001st Meeting (PM)

Reaffirming its concern at the alarming situation in Africa’s Sahel region, the Security Council today strongly condemned human rights abuses and violence committed against civilians there by terrorist and other extremist groups, vowing to address the complex security and political challenges that were linked to humanitarian and developmental issues as well as to climatic and ecological changes.

In a statement read out by Rosemary DiCarlo (United States), its President for July, the Council reiterated its strong condemnation of recent terrorist attacks in the region, saying it remained gravely concerned about the activities of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa. It also expressed its continued concern over the serious threats to peace and security posed by armed conflict, weapons proliferation and transnational organized crime, including drug trafficking and its increasing links with terrorism.

In that context, the Council welcomed the deployment of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) following the transfer of authority from the African-led International Support Mission in Mali on 1 July. It also welcomed the development of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel, as requested by its resolution 2056 (2012), and its three defining strategic goals.

Recognizing the necessity of strengthening State institutions, inclusive economic and social development, respect for human rights and the rule of law to ensure the region’s long-term security, development and stability, the Council called on Sahel, West African and Maghreb States to enhance interregional cooperation and coordination in order to develop effective anti-terrorism strategies, while preventing the proliferation of arms and curbing transnational organized crime.

Further by its wide-ranging text, the Council underscored the value of a coherent, comprehensive and coordinated approach encompassing governance, security, humanitarian, human rights and developmental aspects to resolve the peace and security threats, and to address the root causes.

In the humanitarian sphere, the Council commended efforts by Sahel States and relevant regional organizations in meeting challenges and strengthening resilience, and those of the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel and related actors in calling attention to the scale of the challenges and providing assistance to help the affected populations offset them.

Finally, the Council welcomed the Secretary-General’s intention to hold, on the margins of the sixty-eighth General Assembly session, a high-level meeting on the Sahel, as well as his intention to visit the region later this year, with the President of the World Bank Group.

For their consideration, Council members had before them the Secretary-General’s latest report on the Sahel (document S/2013/354), to which was attached the text of the Integrated Strategy.

The meeting began at 3:03 p.m. and ended at 3:14 p.m.

Presidential Statement

The full text of presidential statement S/PRST/2013/10 reads as follows:

“The Security Council reaffirms its concern about the alarming situation in the Sahel region and its commitment to address the complex security and political challenges in this region that are inter-related with humanitarian and developmental issues as well as adverse effects of climate and ecological changes. The Security Council welcomes, in this context, the deployment of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) following the transfer of authority from the African-led International Support Mission in Mali to MINUSMA on 1 July 2013.

“The Security Council reaffirms its strong commitment to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and unity of countries of the Sahel region.

“The Security Council continues to be gravely concerned about the activities in the Sahel region of terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, and reiterates its strong condemnation of the recent terrorist attacks perpetrated in the region. The Security Council considers sanctions an important tool in countering terrorism, and underlines the importance of prompt and effective implementation of its relevant resolutions, in particular, Security Council resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011), as key instruments in the fight against terrorism. The Security Council also expresses its continued concern over the serious threats to peace and security posed by armed conflict, proliferation of arms, transnational organized crime including illicit activities such as drug trafficking in the Sahel region and its increasing links, in some cases, with terrorism. In this regard, the Security Council reiterates its call for a full implementation of its resolution 2017(2011).

“The Security Council strongly condemns the abuses of human rights and violence against civilians, notably women and children, committed in the region by terrorist and other extremist groups.

“The Security Council recognizes that the strengthening of State institutions, inclusive economic and social development, respect for human rights and the rule of law are necessary to ensure long-term security, development and stability in the Sahel region.

“The Security Council underscores the importance of a coherent, comprehensive and coordinated approach encompassing governance, security, humanitarian, human rights and developmental aspects to resolve the threats to peace and security across the Sahel region as well as to address the root causes of these challenges and welcomes, in this regard, the development of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel as requested by its resolution 2056 (2012) and the three strategic goals defining the strategy.

“The Security Council welcomes the efforts of the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Sahel region in the development of the United Nations Strategy and in drawing attention on the situation in the Sahel region as well as in mobilizing resources and support for the Sahel region’s immediate and long term needs. The Security Council also welcomes the Special Envoy’s proposal to partner with relevant international and regional financial institutions to promote innovative approaches and initiatives for the Sahel region and, in this regard, encourages the Special Envoy to foster more coherent and coordinated United Nations support for the Sahel region. The Security Council also encourages the Special Envoy to pursue his efforts and good offices in order to enhance trans-regional and interregional cooperation and international assistance toward the Sahel region.

“The Security Council also welcomes the efforts undertaken by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) in support of States of the Sahel region.

“The Security Council stresses the importance of a coordinated approach by all concerned United Nations entities involved in the implementation of the United Nations Strategy for enhanced cooperation with a view of maximizing synergies. The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to ensure effective implementation of the United Nations Strategy through close collaboration between the Office of the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Sahel region, UNOWA and relevant United Nations entities working in the Sahel region, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The Security Council further requests UNOWA to establish an effective and detailed coordination mechanism to prioritize activities and to ensure coordinated implementation by the United Nations system of the United Nations Strategy.

“The Security Council stresses the importance of national and regional ownership of the United Nations strategy and recognizes the importance for the United Nations Strategy to be implemented in close consultation with States of the Sahel, West Africa and the Maghreb as well as with the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States (CENSAD), the European Union (EU), regional financial institutions, including the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), and other bilateral donors and partners. The Security Council stresses further the importance of avoiding duplication of efforts and the need for strengthening collective engagement across the Sahel region.

“The Security Council calls on Sahel, West African and Maghreb States to enhance interregional cooperation and coordination in order to develop inclusive and effective strategies to combat in a comprehensive and integrated manner the activities of terrorist groups, to prevent the proliferation of all arms and to curb transnational organized crime including illicit activities such as drug trafficking. The Security Council encourages, in this regard, the holding of follow-up activities building on the conclusions of the United Nations Conference on Border Control and Cooperation in the Sahel and the Maghreb organized in Rabat. The Security Council emphasizes the importance of regional and international coordination in addressing the threat of terrorism in the Sahel region, including information sharing and close cooperation between the United Nations, the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum, the African Union and other relevant organizations and initiatives.

“The Security Council commends the efforts undertaken by Sahel States and relevant regional organizations in addressing the humanitarian challenges in the region as well as in strengthening resilience. The Security Council also commends the support provided by countries in the region and by other donors and calls for their continued assistance to Sahel States to this end. The Security Council applauds the efforts of the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, with the support of the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, other humanitarian actors and agencies, to draw attention to the scale of the challenges facing the Sahel region, provide humanitarian assistance to the affected populations and build and strengthen resilience at local, national, and regional levels with the aim of reducing the impact of disasters.

“The Security Council welcomes the intention of the Secretary-General to hold a High-level Meeting on the Sahel on the margins of the sixty-eighth General Assembly of the United Nations. The Security Council welcomes the intention of the Secretary-General to visit the Sahel region, later this year, with the President of the World Bank Group and looks forward to a briefing to the Security Council following this visit.

“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to keep it informed of the progress towards the implementation of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel no later than 31 December 2013, and to present a written report no later than 30 June 2014.”

For information media • not an official record

The two-day 43rd Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government opening in Abuja on Wednesday 17th July 2013, will discuss among others, the political and security situations in Mali and Guinea Bissau, which are preparing for crucial post-crisis elections.

Presidential polls have been fixed for 28 July and 24 November 2013, respectively in Mali and Guinea Bissau, following military coups in both countries last year and the armed insurrection in northern Mali.

ECOWAS, working with the international community mobilized resources and troops for the African-led International Support Mission (AFISMA), which transformed into a UN mission, MINUSMA on 1st July to help stabilize the situation. France had also intervened in January to halt the advance of the rebels from the north of Mali and contribute to the restoration of the country’s territorial integrity.

In the case of Guinea Bissau, the ECOWAS Mission, ECOMIB, has since replaced the Portuguese military contingent in that country, where political transition is moving in tandem with a Defence and Security Sector Reform Programme also supported by ECOWAS.

The Abuja Summit will consider a Memorandum on Mali to be presented by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo and be briefed by the ECOWAS Mediator on Mali, President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso and his co-mediator, President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria.

The regional leaders will also listen to separate presentations by the Commission’s president and the Chairman of the regional Contact Group on the situation in Guinea Bissau.

Other items on the mid-year summit agenda include consideration of the memorandum on the expansion of the membership of the Commission from seven to 15 and the allocation of statutory positions to Member States. The session will also consider the Interim Report of the President of the Commission, Report of the 70th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and the Report of the 30th Meeting of the Mediation and Security Council held on Tuesday 15th July in Abuja.

The Authority holds two ordinary meetings annually to consider various issues affecting the 15-nation Organization set up in May 1975, now with a combined population of more than 300 million people, to facilitate regional integration and promote socio-economic development.

• La cita del ECOSOC, que tiene lugar hoy en Ginebra, reúne a más de 300 embajadores ante las Naciones Unidas y representantes de organismos internacionales

• El Director General de Acción contra el Hambre-España centrará su intervención en la situación en Sahel, donde 11,6 millones de personas están amenazados hoy por el hambre, y en la crisis siria

Madrid, 17 de julio de 2013

Más de 300 representantes de alto nivel revisan hoy en Ginebra, en el seno de un encuentro del Consejo Económico y Social de las Naciones Unidas (ECOSOC) los principales retos humanitarios que la comunidad internacional debe afrontar para el segundo semestre del año.

El Director General de Acción contra el Hambre-España, Olivier Longué, liderará esta revisión junto a la sub-secretaria para Coordinación de Asuntos Humanitarios y Respuesta a Emergencia, Valérie Amos.

Longué centrará su intervención en la zona del Sahel, que califica como “el epicentro del hambre”: “incluso en un año normal como este, en el que las cosechas han sido relativamente buenas, nos encontramos a más de 11 millones de personas amenazadas por el hambre y un escenario de desnutrición aguda infantil similar al de un año de crisis, lo que refleja la extrema fragilidad alimentaria de esta región del planeta y la necesidad de respuestas a medio y largo plazo que miren más allá de la emergencia y creen resiliencia entre la población”, asegura.

“La región de Sahel sigue siendo el epicentro del hambre. Los países que la conforman están en el pelotón de cola de la lista de Desarrollo Humano y la población vive en un continuo equilibrio que les puede hacer caer del lado de la crisis aguda al menor incidente político, socioeconómico o meteorológico”, explica el Director General de Acción contra el Hambre, Olivier Longué.

En este sentido Longué pretende mantener el impulso de movilización, tanto de gobiernos de la región como de donantes, logrado en la crisis de 2012, año en el que se logró una respuesta humanitaria sin precedentes en la zona: “las soluciones hoy, más que nunca, están a nuestros alcance y es crucial mantener el esfuerzo logrado en las emergencias para lograr alejar la sombra del hambre en el largo plazo”. Proyectos como sistemas de regadío con paneles solares, seguimiento de la biomasa y pastos disponibles con imágenes satelitales y promoción de cuidados nutricionales básicos se han revelado como tres experiencias exitosas que han logrado erradicar completamente la desnutrición en las comunidades en las que se han aplicado.

Crisis siria, la mayor emergencia humanitaria

Longué alertará también de las consecuencias humanitarias del conflicto sirio, que ya ha provocado más de 4 millones de desplazamientos y la existencia de casi 7 millones de personas en situación sin cubrir sus necesidades básicas, y que se afianza por momentos como una de las emergencia humanitaria más importantes de los últimos años.

Para Acción contra el Hambre en particular y para la comunidad humanitaria en general, “es muy positivo que el sistema de las Naciones Unidas se apoye en organizaciones como la nuestra a la hora de marcar las prioridades humanitarias, ya que pone en valor nuestra experiencia directa en el terreno y asegura que estas prioridades están en línea con las necesidades reales de la población”, ha asegurado el Director de Operaciones de Acción contra el Hambre, Vincent Stehli.

Acción contra el Hambre es una organización humanitaria internacional e independiente que combate la desnutrición infantil a la vez que garantiza agua y medios de vida seguros a las poblaciones más vulnerables. Intervenimos en más de 45 países apoyando a más de siete millones de personas. Nuestra visión es un mundo sin desnutrición; nuestro primer objetivo, devolver la dignidad a quienes hoy viven amenazados por el hambre.

Más Información y entrevistas con portavoces:

Acción contra el Hambre

Alicia García/Carlos Riaza – 91 3915306, 91 771 1672, 609 018 735

www.accioncontraelhambre.org

Síguenos en Twitter: @acfspain

Video institucional

ETC is deploying to provide secure telecommunications to aid organizations Humanitarian presence in Timbuktu has been restricted since fighting broke out in Mali over a year ago. But following military intervention in January, security is slowly returning to the ancient Malian city; and with it, the humanitarian community.

Hot on their heels is the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC), which, following two earlier assessment missions, is deploying to provide radio and planned data and telecommunications services to the humanitarian community.

“In the last three months a number of organizations have moved in, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as some clusters,” says ETC Coordinator Nyanaprakash Muniandy. “But they’re operating without secure communications. The ETC is going to change that.”

The deployment will be conducted in two phases: in phase one, a 36 metre radio tower and two repeaters will be installed to provide basic security communications. Phase two is dependent on the security situation, and is planned to be a full rollout, including a fully-equipped radio room and data connectivity.

While Timbuktu is considered safe enough for humanitarian operations to commence, the town is still not entirely secure. Consequently, all humanitarian organizations will be restricted to one compound and movement around the town will be severely limited. Security guards will be deployed to protect the communications equipment. “Life is slowly coming back to Timbuktu,” says Nyanaprakash. “But the humanitarian community’s presence there will speed up the return to normality and encourage people to return. The ETC needs to help the humanitarian community deal with that process.”

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Suite à la crise alimentaire en 2012, le PAM au Burkina Faso a lancé un nouveau projet pour aider les populations à se remettre de la crise, réduire les taux de malnutrition et renforcer la résilience des communautés pour faire face aux futurs chocs.

Par Célestine Ouedraogo

OUAGADOUGOU – L’année dernière, le Burkina Faso, comme les autres pays du Sahel, s’est trouvé confronté à une grave crise alimentaire en raison de la sécheresse, de la hausse des prix alimentaires et du conflit au Mali. Aujourd’hui, en dépit de la hausse de la production céréalière de 33,0 % enregistrée en 2013 par rapport à la campagne précédente, la production céréalière de 2012 reste tout de même déficitaire.

Situation alimentaire encore fragile

Les résultats d’une étude d’évaluation de la sécurité alimentaire en situation d’urgence menée par le PAM et d’autres acteurs en septembre 2012 indiquent que la situation alimentaire d’environ 1,8 million de personnes reste encore fragile, particulièrement dans les régions du Nord, de l’Est et du Sahel. Selon cette même étude, les dépenses de nourriture représenteraient 71 % des dépenses totales des ménages. L’endettement important des ménages constitue également une autre préoccupation importante dans la mesure où il contribue à fragiliser davantage le pouvoir d’achat des ménages.

C’est dans ce contexte qu’en plus des activités de son programme de pays 2011-2015 et de son programme d’assistance auprès des réfugiés maliens, le PAM au Burkina Faso met en œuvre une opération visant le relèvement post crise et le renforcement de capacités pour accroître la résilience des populations vulnérables.

Renforcer les modes de subsistance

Des activités de lutte contre la malnutrition qui seront mises en œuvre dans dix des 13 régions du pays (Sahel, Nord, Centre-Nord, Est, Centre-Est, Centre-Ouest, Boucle du Mouhoun, Centre, Plateau Central et Sud-Ouest) pour non seulement traiter les enfants de 6 à 59 mois atteints de malnutrition aigue modérée et les femmes enceintes et allaitantes malnutries, mais également de prévenir la malnutrition aigue des enfants de 6 à 23 mois à travers une activité de couverture générale (blanket feeding) durant la période de soudure.

S’agissant des activités visant l’amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire sous forme de «argent pour la création d’actifs» et «argent contre travail» dans six régions (Sahel, Nord, Nord-Ouest, Est, Centre-Est et Centre-Ouest), elles permettront aux ménages vulnérables de satisfaire leurs besoins immédiats et de renforcer leurs capacités à faire face aux futurs chocs.

«Cette opération qui sera mise en œuvre en 2013 et 2014 contribuera d’une part à réduire les niveaux de malnutrition chronique dans le pays, et d’autre part à améliorer le niveau de sécurité alimentaire des ménages vulnérables et renforcer leurs moyens de subsistance», a déclaré Angelline Rudakubana, Directrice-Représentante du PAM au Burkina Faso.

Au total, le PAM a besoin de 50 millions de dollars pour mettre en œuvre cette opération pour plus de 1,4 million de bénéficiaires, durant 21 mois.

MOPTI [ACTED News] – The health and sanitation situation in Mali is worrying, as health services are waning in the country, which has the third worst rates in terms of under-5 child mortality. ACTED conducted water, sanitation and hygiene activities in six community health centres in the Mopti Circle. Now, each one of those centres has access to safe water, latrines, showers and handwashing facilities, as well as waste collection units. The intervention will help improve hygiene and sanitation conditions in the health centres, to continue waterborne disease prevention and to break the cycle of malnutrition. This project was supported by UNICEF.

Kenyans for Kenya Turkana Project Commissioned

The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and the Kenyans for Kenya Steering Committee on Tuesday 16th July; 2013 commissioned an irrigation project in Kaikor area of Turkana County. The project is aimed at providing a permanent solution to the perennial drought experienced in the region through building community resilience and enhancing food security.

KRCS through the Kenyans for Kenya Drought Initiative of 2011 identified parts of the Turkana County as one of the Regions that were going to gain from early recovery initiatives. These initiatives were aimed at opening up land to irrigation in Kaikor location, Turkana North District, targeting three villages with a total population of 15,398 people. The project started in January 2012 with a project life of 12 months through funding from the Kenyans for Kenya Drought Initiative, where Kenyans came together to contribute through mobile telephony and other means, to reverse the fate of other Kenyans who were threatened by death through starvation.

Other projects put up by KRCS under this initiative include four boreholes that have been drilled and equipped, seeds and seedlings bought. Currently, results of the initiative in the dry area, that had never been thought to produce farm products, can be seen as farmers are reaping from the project after growing assorted vegetables that include kales and maize, among other products. The community has also been mobilised into enterprise agriculture/common interest groups with the aim of selling the surplus for sustainability. The farmers have also been trained on kitchen gardens and basic farming skills.

During the 2011 drought, Turkana North was one of the hardest hit areas with malnutrition rates as high as 35%.

Global humanitarian action at mid-2013 has entered uncharted territory in terms of the number of people needing help and resources still to be secured, mainly because of the Syria crisis. The Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan aims to help 6.8 million people inside Syria in 2013, and the Syria Regional Response Plan for refugees and affected host communities intends to help another 5.3 million people.

Their combined resource requirements have added $4.4 billion to the amount needed for humanitarian action in major crises this year, which now totals an unprecedented $12.9 billion to help 73 million people.
Funding response has been impressive, especially considering the continuing climate of slow economic growth – $5.1 billion to date (the largest total ever recorded at mid-year). However this is fast approaching the fullyear amount that donors directed to appeals for major crises in 2011 and 2012.

It is clear that relying on humanitarian aid budgets that are similar in scale to last year’s will leave an enormous gap this year for the many more millions of people in need. Donors have a heavy burden in the second half of this year, to make available further resources commensurate with the new scale of needs.
However, they have done it before: special appropriations greatly boosted humanitarian aid in response to the post-war humanitarian needs in Iraq in 2003, the Tsunami of 2004, the global food price crisis in 2008 and 2009, and the disasters in Haiti and Pakistan in 2010.

This review of global humanitarian action at mid-year, and the country-specific reviews of each humanitarian action plan and appeal, demonstrate the effectiveness and accountability of coordinated humanitarian action and the fact that it can do the necessary job if given the resources.

Apart from the Syria crisis, another humanitarian situation that shows worsening at midyear is that of the Central African Republic. A rebellion earlier this year ended with rebel capture of the capital and instatement of an interim government. Insecurity and weakening of government services have exacerbated the humanitarian needs that already prevailed in much of the country.

In Mali, the Humanitarian Country Team is presenting an expanded appeal that intensifies actions in the north, scene of fighting between insurgents and international plus Malian forces earlier in 2013, and now more open to aid operations (though still not completely safe).

The Humanitarian Country Teams for Kenya, Mauritania, South Sudan and Somalia are reducing their appeals’ requirements following the mid-year review, as the scale and severity of needs have eased slightly, though remaining large-scale.

The Transformative Agenda – an initiative to bring the quality and speed of international humanitarian response fully up to the necessary standard – emphasizes leadership, coordination and accountability. These mid-year reviews have thus been engineered to measure whether the humanitarian teams in country are managing to implement what they said they would implement and whether it is having the necessary effect for people in need, andto take any corrective action that these findings show to be needed. They are thus essential monitoring exercises. In each mid-year review, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) reports and reflects on progress towards their strategic objectives for collective humanitarian action in 2013. The Yemen HCT, for example, reports that they are on target with part of their strategic objective of preventing further increases in mortality, as indicated by having held the severe acute malnutrition rate among children under five years old below the emergency threshold of 5%; the measurement at mid-year indicates 4.6%. Clusters, similarly, report on progress towards their collective output targets. In South Sudan for example, the WASH Cluster reports that they have provided 449,000 people with access to safe water based on SPHERE standards, out of a target for 2013 of 2.5 million. (The South Sudan WASH Cluster’s planned actions are 38% funded.) There are updates on the situations and the needs, analyses of funding to date, and any necessary revisions of objectives, targets and budgets.

For comprehensive, equitable humanitarian action, reaching as many people as humanly possible in 24 countries in the second half of 2013, a further $7.8 billion will have to be donated. Private donations are important and can reach a significant scale, but are not likely to close a resource gap of this magnitude. We are coming up against the question, more starkly than ever, of whether the world’s governments can supply humanitarian resources to the scale required to help all the world’s people in crisis. Governments are encouraged to appropriate significant additional humanitarian funds, and/or to flexibly use other, larger budget lines as much as possible to support humanitarian goals.

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(Geneva, 17 July 2013) Seventy-three million people around the world need humanitarian assistance this year, said Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos today in Geneva as she presented the mid-year review of global humanitarian action.

“Halfway through the year donors have generously provided US$5.1 billion for humanitarian organizations to deliver critical aid to people in 24 countries,” noted Valerie Amos. “For example, in South Sudan the money has been used to provide nearly 450,000 people with safe drinking water while in Mali, nutrition agencies have been able to treat around 77,000 children suffering from life-threatening or acute malnutrition.”

The deteriorating situation in Syria and neighbouring countries has recently added US$4.4 billion to the original amount needed to help people coping with the world’s major crises. People in Central African Republic, Niger, Afghanistan, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, and Chad, among many others, need help feeding their families, treating malnourished children, and getting safe drinking water and other essential supplies.

While the situation has become much worse in some countries, the review also shows that the scale and severity of needs in others, such as Kenya, South Sudan and Mauritania have eased a little, so funding plans have also been revised accordingly.

Some 620 humanitarian aid organizations – NGOs and UN agencies – are using the consolidated appeals to plan their response to crises and monitor the situation and impact of their work.

“This is an extraordinary year. We need US$13 billion if we are to help 73 million people. That’s an extra $8.6 billion to raise by the end of the year. Millions of people are in desperate need. We need to support them,” said USG Amos.

For further information, please call:
Amanda Pitt, OCHA New York, pitta@un.org , Tel +1 212 963 4129, Cell +1 917 442 1810
Vanessa Huguenin, OCHA Geneva, huguenin@un.org, Tel. +41 22 917 1891, Cell +41 79 444 4065

 Rains continue to recover across the Sahel of West Africa, while rainfall deficits develop along the Gulf of Guinea.

 Seasonal rainfall deficits grow and expand into eastern/central Sudan.

1) During much of May and the beginning of June, intermittent and insufficient rains had increased rainfall deficits over parts of northeastern Nigeria, resulting in poor NDVI values and delayed planting. However, recent moderate to heavy rains have decreased seasonal rainfall deficits and expected rains should be enough to satisfy cropping requirements.

2) A migratory locust outbreak in October-November was accelerated with the landfall of Tropical Cyclone Haruna in February, which provided favorable conditions for locust breeding throughout western Madagascar. This large-scale outbreak should subside with cooler weather in July-August.

3) A poor start of season across northwest Ethiopia, southern Eritrea and bordering areas in Sudan has begun to negatively impact cropping activities, including delaying planting. For the next week, below-average rains are expected to continue, further increasing seasonal rainfall deficits.

Heather Murdock July 17, 2013

ABUJA, NIGERIA — West African leaders have called for $25 million in international aid to help secure the upcoming elections in Mali. As Guinea-Bissau also prepares for elections, leaders want an end to international sanctions on that country.

Heads of state from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, are meeting this week in the Nigerian capital ahead of elections in Mali and Guinea-Bissau, two countries in turmoil.

After the French-led invasion of northern Mali in January that wrested territories away from Islamist militant groups, nationwide presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for July 28.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said Wednesday that ECOWAS will need the support of countries outside Africa to help Mali have elections that are free, fair and non-violent.

“We should use this opportunity to appeal to the international community to intensify their assistance to bridge the financial gap of $25 million for the provision of critical logistical support, in particular air access, deployment of as many international and national observers for the 28th of July elections in Mali," he said.

Jonathan also called on the African Union and the European Union to lift sanctions against Guinea-Bissau and recognize that country's transitional government ahead of elections scheduled for November this year.

After a 2012 military coup, the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Guinea-Bissau, saying it had “grave concerns” that the coup, among other things, was increasing the amount of drugs trafficked through Guinea-Bissau, a country well-known for being a transit point for cocaine coming from Latin America to Europe.

Military leaders in Guinea-Bissau have also been accused of drug trafficking.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said drug trafficking and terrorism are problems in West Africa, despite security gains in Mali this year. He also called on other West African leaders to strengthen economic ties in order to increase security and desperately needed development projects, particularly in the areas of electricity and transportation.

Mali's government recently affirmed the July 28 date for elections, despite reports of logistical problems in setting up the polls for the still-fractured country.

0 . MAJOR CHANGES SINCE LAST VERSION OF HIP

As of 6 May

This year, despite unusually good harvest in autumn 2012 (124% increase at national level compared to 2011, and 226% for the Sahel) and reassuring projections of the Government in terms of agricultural production in 2013, a significant proportion of the Sahelian population continues to suffer the effects of the crisis of 2011/2012, and remains in a situation of severe food insecurity. The poorest households, whose only income comes from their daily work, depend mainly on the markets to meet their food needs. With food prices below the fiveyear average, access to adequate and balanced diet remains illusory. For the poorest segments of the population, the lean season will start soon or has already begun.
Field observations indicate that many people who have been affected by the food crisis in 2011/2012 will require assistance in 2013. Therefore, projections of 500,000 beneficiaries in 2013 by WFP appear underestimated. Given these needs and the opportunity to accelerate the delivery of grain stocks in the country before the rainy season and to support other complementary interventions in food and nutrition security, it was decided to strengthen immediately HIP Chad in 2013 with an amount of EUR 6 million, thus increasing the total envelope in 2013 to EUR 29 million. The implementation of this additional funding will be made by changing current actions or, if necessary, through new actions.

As of 18 June

More than 50,000 refugees and returnees have fled from Darfur into Chad (Tissi district, at the South-Eastern border with Sudan and CAR) over the past few months, due to intensified inter-communal conflicts in Sudan. The needs of newly displaced populations are significant, given the very limited access to basic services and minimal assistance available in host areas. In order to address this new humanitarian situation, and to reinforce ECHO response to the increasing food and nutrition needs in the Sahel belt of Chad linked to an overall deteriorating food security situation in the Sahel region, an additional EUR 8 million have been made available for humanitarian actions in Chad, bringing the total envelope to EUR 37 million.

The additional funding will help address food, protection, WASH, shelter, health and nutrition needs of both local and displaced populations, allowing partners who are present in the affected areas to provide basic services to those in need.

Access will be a major constraint due to the rainy season that has just started.

The implementation of this additional funding will be made by changing current actions or, if relevant and appropriate, through new actions taking into account the resources available.

0 . CHANGEMENT MAJEUR DEPUIS LA VERSION PRÉCÉDENTE DU HIP

As of 6 May

Cette année, malgré des récoltes inhabituellement bonnes en automne 2012 (augmentation de 124% par rapport à 2011 sur le plan national, et de 226% pour la bande sahélienne) et des projections rassurantes du Gouvernement en termes de production agricole 2013, une proportion importante de la population sahélienne continue de subir les effets de la crise de 2011/2012, et demeure dans une situation d’insécurité alimentaire sévère. Les ménages les plus pauvres, dont la seule source de revenus disponibles provient de leur travail journalier, dépendent essentiellement des marchés pour satisfaire leurs besoins en alimentation. Avec les prix des denrées alimentaires au-dessous de la moyenne quinquennal, l’accès à un régime alimentaire suffisant et équilibré reste illusoire. Pour les couches les plus démunies de la population, la période de soudure va débuter prochainement voire a déjà commencé.

Les observations de terrain indiquent qu'un grand nombre de personnes ayant été affectées par la crise alimentaire 2011/2012 aura besoin d'assistance en 2013. Par conséquent, les projections de 500.000 bénéficiaires en 2013 selon le PAM apparaissent sous-estimées. Compte tenu de ces besoins, de l’opportunité d’accélérer l'acheminement des stocks de céréales dans le pays avant la saison des pluies et de soutenir d'autres interventions complémentaires en matière de sécurité alimentaire et nutrition, il a été décidé de renforcer immédiatement le HIP Tchad 2013 avec un montant de EUR 6 millions, et ainsi augmenter l'enveloppe totale 2013 à EUR 29 millions. La mise en œuvre de ce financement additionnel se fera par la modification d'actions en cours, voir par le biais des nouvelles actions le cas échéant.

As of 18 June

Plus de 50.000 réfugiés et rapatriés ont fui le Darfour vers le Tchad (district de Tissi, à la frontière du Sud-Est avec le Soudan et la RCA) au cours des derniers mois, en raison de l'intensification des conflits intercommunautaires au Soudan. Les besoins des populations nouvellement déplacées sont importants, compte tenu de l'accès limité aux services de base et un minimum d'assistance disponible dans les zones d'accueil. Afin de répondre à cette nouvelle situation humanitaire et de renforcer la réponse d'ECHO aux besoins nutritionnels croissants dans la ceinture sahélienne du Tchad liée à une détérioration de la situation globale de la sécurité alimentaire dans la région du Sahel, un montant supplémentaire de 8 millions ont été mis à disposition pour actions humanitaires au Tchad, ce qui porte l'enveloppe totale de 37 millions d'euros.

Le financement supplémentaire permettra de répondre aux besoins alimentaires, de protection, WASH, de logement, de santé et de nutrition des populations locales et déplacées en permettant aux partenaires qui sont présents dans les zones touchées de fournir des services de base à ceux qui en ont besoin.
L'accès sera une contrainte majeure en raison de la saison des pluies qui vient de commencer.

La mise en œuvre de ce financement supplémentaire sera effectuée en changeant les actions en cours ou, si pertinent et approprié, par des nouvelles actions en tenant compte des ressources disponibles.