Source: Reuters - Fri, 9 May 2014 06:06 PM
NIAMEY, May 9 (Reuters) - At least 13 of the dozens of migrants from Niger abandoned by smugglers in the Sahara desert last week have been found dead in southern Algeria, a local official and a military source in Niger said on Friday.
Read the full article on Reuters - AlertNet
At the invitation of Mr. Said Djinnit, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA), the Heads of the United Nations Peace Missions in West Africa held their Twenty-sixth high-level consultation meeting on 9 May 2014 in Dakar.
The objective of this regular meeting is to review progress in the implementation of the respective UN mandates in the region, to strengthen coordination in order to address common challenges in the areas of governance, decentralization, organized crime, and to examine the prospects of democratic transitions in the West Africa region.
The Heads of peace missions noted the paramount importance of investing in youth, respect for human rights, and fostering a culture of tolerance, inclusion and confidence-building mechanisms for political reconciliation and dialogue, and reiterated the need for respect of constitutional arrangements and the conduct of free and fair elections.
The meeting also emphasized the necessary role of the UN in support of peacebuilding, including through effective security sector reforms. On reforms in Guinea-Bissau, as an example, partners support should focus on integrating aspects that would ensure national stakeholders buy-in, including through incentive packages for reformed military and a transversal reform aimed at state-building. With regard to Cote d’Ivoire, the participants appealed to the international community for financial support to the existing Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration plan.
DJIBO, 11 mai 2014 (IRIN) - Plus d'un an après l'intervention de l'armée française qui a mis en fuite les groupes islamistes, le nord du Mali semble avoir retrouvé une certaine stabilité. Mais les réfugiés maliens du camp de Mentao, situé au Burkina Faso voisin, hésitent à rentrer à chez eux, en raison des inquiétudes en matière de sécurité et des problèmes politiques non résolus.
Mais les réfugiés se plaignent que les conditions de vie se détériorent dans le camp, ce qui conduit certains d'entre eux à rentrer.
« En ce qui concerne la nourriture, l'eau et la santé, nous sommes dans une situation très difficile », a dit Almahi Ag Almouhak, qui dirige le comité du secteur Sud du camp de Mentao, situé non loin de la ville de Djibo, au nord du Burkina Faso.
Le camp héberge environ 12 000 réfugiés maliens. Depuis le début des années 1990 et les insurrections qui ont entraîné une longue période d'instabilité et de violence dans le nord du Mali, la ville de Djibo est devenue un véritable sanctuaire pour les Maliens. Une nouvelle vague de migrations a débuté en janvier 2012, lorsqu'un conflit a éclaté au Mali. Le camp de Mentao a été rapidement rénové et a rouvert ses portes pour accueillir une première vague d'arrivants en février 2012.
« Autrefois, lorsque les plus pauvres d'entre nous n'avaient plus de nourriture, nous organisions des contributions pour leur venir en aide. Mais aujourd'hui, tout le monde est dans la même situation. Nous n'avons pas de marge de manouvre. Avant, les réfugiés allaient au marché de Djibo pour faire des achats. Mais aujourd'hui, plus personne n'a d'argent », a dit M. Almouhak.
Disputes liées aux rations alimentaires
Les réfugiés évoquent d'autres problèmes : la qualité des soins de santé, la présence parfois envahissante des forces de sécurité, le manque d'occupation pour les jeunes gens. Mais la plupart des réfugiés se plaignent des rations alimentaires et affirment que les rations de riz, d'huile, de mélange de maïs et de soja, et de sel distribuées chaque mois ainsi que les paiements « complémentaires » en espèces sont insuffisants et mal planifiés.
En janvier 2014, suite à une consultation des réfugiés, le Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés (HCR) et le Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) ont mis en place un programme de distributions de rations alimentaires et d'espèces. Les réfugiés reçoivent une allocation mensuelle d'un montant de 3 500 francs CFA (7 dollars) pour acheter des produits très demandés comme le lait, les condiments et la viande afin de compléter les rations de riz et d'autres produits reçues du PAM.
Cependant, les réfugiés du camp de Mentao (et d'autres camps) disent que le programme ne fonctionne pas et expliquent que l'argent versé pour compenser la réduction de moitié des rations de 12 kilos de riz distribuées chaque mois ne suffit pas. « Ce que nous recevons est loin d'être suffisant », a dit M. Almouhak.
« Lorsque l'on entend dire que des réfugiés repartent au Mali, ce n'est pas parce qu'ils se sentent suffisamment en sécurité pour rentrer, c'est parce qu'ils ont faim », a dit Mohamed Ag Mohamed Ibrahim, responsable du comité du secteur Sud du camp de Mentao.
Inquiétudes liées à l'insécurité
Les résidents du camp de Mentao restent méfiants malgré la tenue des élections de 2013, la démission du gouvernement de transition mis en place au Mali après le coup d'Etat, l'élection d'un nouveau président et la formation d'un nouveau parlement. Des attaques sporadiques se produisent encore dans les principales villes du nord du pays comme Tombouctou, Gao et Kidal. Les réfugiés émettent également des critiques à l'égard d'un processus de paix en apparence paralysé, sans réel dialogue entre le gouvernement et les séparatistes touaregs du Mouvement national pour la libération de l'Azawad (MNLA).
« Rien ne va », a dit Daouad Ag Ghali, résident du camp de Mentao. « Pas une seule réunion entre les différentes parties [gouvernement et mouvements rebelles] n'a abouti ».
Malgré tout, des personnes déplacées à l'intérieur de leur propre pays (PDIP) et des réfugiés sont rentrés chez eux ; ils se sont donné le défi de recommencer une nouvelle vie, avec le soutien du gouvernement malien.
D'autres à Mentao disent que le camp sera déserté d'ici un mois si les conditions de vie ne s'améliorent pas en dépit des inquiétudes liées à la sécurité au Mali.
« Certains organisent des collectes », a dit M. Almouhak. « Ils récupèreront suffisamment d'argent ensemble pour trouver un camion et partir. Bon nombre d'entre eux veulent simplement retrouver les animaux qu'ils ont confiés à leurs amis ».
« La situation est telle que certains vendent les matelas sur lesquels ils dorment pour avoir un peu plus d'argent », a souligné M. Ibrahim. « Nous sommes éleveurs, mais nous n'avons pas nos animaux. C'est la pauvreté ».
Le HCR souligne que le retour spontané est un droit élémentaire pour les réfugiés et un droit auquel l'agence ne s'oppose pas, mais elle veut suivre les rapatriés et savoir comment ils s'en sortent. Les responsables des secours d'urgence et les réfugiés indiquent que des Maliens traversent la frontière avant de revenir un peu plus tard.
Le rapatriement de masse pas à l'ordre du jour
Quelles que soient les améliorations survenues dans le nord du Mali - baisse du nombre d'incidents de sécurité, implication étendue des Nations Unies, restauration graduelle de l'administration publique - le HCR a clairement indiqué que le rapatriement de masse des réfugiés n'était pas prévu pour 2014. « La situation au Mali restera fragile et ne permettra pas le rapatriement à grande échelle des réfugiés », a indiqué l'agence.
Selon le HCR et la Commission nationale burkinabé pour les réfugiés (CONAREF), le nombre de réfugiés a baissé de manière significative, passant du chiffre record de près de 50 000 réfugiés en 2012 à un peu moins de 34 000 réfugiés en février 2014. Selon les projections du HCR, il devrait y avoir environ 14 300 réfugiés maliens sur le territoire du Burkina Faso à la fin de l'année 2015.
Angèle Djohossou, représentante adjointe du HCR au Burkina Faso, a indiqué qu'un accord tripartite doit être signé par les gouvernements du Burkina Faso et du Mali et par le HCR avant qu'un programme de rapatriement ne soit mis en ouvre.
Le HCR et ses partenaires ont admis avec tristesse que le niveau de services à Mentao et dans d'autres camps est menacé en raison des coupes budgétaires et d'un manque perçu d'intérêt de la part des bailleurs de fonds, ce qui renforce le sentiment d'abandon ressenti par les réfugiés.
Mme Djohossou prévient que « la situation au Mali n'a pas reçu le niveau de financement qu'elle mérite », l'attention des bailleurs de fonds s'étant portée sur d'autres priorités, par exemple en République centrafricaine, au Soudan du Sud et en Syrie.
Le budget consacré par le HCR aux opérations relatives aux réfugiés au Burkina Faso en 2014 s'élève à 25,7 millions de dollars contre 32,8 millions de dollars en 2013 ; cette baisse est due au retour attendu de 5 000 réfugiés. Mme Djohossou indique que les fonds alloués pour le Mali en 2013 étaient inférieurs de 50 pour cent à ce qu'ils auraient dû être, et le HCR est confronté à des contraintes similaires en 2014.
Le budget est ventilé entre 30 différentes catégories, couvrant la totalité des opérations, de la fourniture de l'eau à la mobilisation des bailleurs de fonds.
Certains domaines tels la protection des enfants et l'éducation sont prioritaires en matière d'allocation budgétaire, mais des manques sont prévus dans d'autres domaines. Par exemple, Mme Djohossou indique que l'agence n'a pas pu suivre les 25 pour cent de réfugiés installés à l'extérieur des principaux camps consolidés avec l'efficacité souhaitée, en raison des contraintes budgétaires.
« Les bailleurs de fonds ont besoin de comprendre le message », a dit un haut représentant d'une organisation non gouvernementale (ONG) présent à Mentao, sous couvert d'anonymat. « Nous avons beaucoup de missions ici, ce qui est encourageant pour nous et pour les réfugiés, mais les bailleurs de fonds doivent comprendre que rien n'a changé ici. Si les fonds ne sont pas là, que vont manger les réfugiés ? ».
« Si un réfugié doit payer ses frais d'hôpital, comment va-t-il faire ? S'ils veulent de l'eau, comment s'approvisionneront-ils ? ».
cs/ob/cb-mg/amz
05/11/2014 12:39 GMT
ALGIERS, May 11, 2014 (AFP) - Security forces from Algeria and Niger are searching for dozens of illegal migrants who went missing in the vast desert between the two countries, an Algerian lawmaker told AFP Sunday.
"Some people, Africans, are lost in the desert and the security services of both countries, Algeria and Niger, are searching for them," said Mohamed Guemama, an MP with the ruling National Liberation Front.
Guemama represents the prefecture of Tamanrasset, in the far south of Algeria, where part of the search was underway.
Algerian press on Sunday quoted a Nigerien military source as saying 13 bodies had been found Sunday in the scorching desert, and that another 33 people, mostly women and children, were still missing.
The Sahel-Sahara region has been plagued by jihadist violence and severe food shortages.
Countries in the Sahel include land-locked Chad, Mali and Niger, and are among the most isolated areas of the world.
People there survive on desperately-needed food aid and a drought in the Sahel region has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis.
Over the past few months tens of thousands of refugees from Mali and Nigeria have fled to Niger, mostly looking for food and a better life.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA warned almost two weeks ago that five million children face the prospect of acute malnutrition in the Sahel region, stressing aid operations urgently needed funding.
amb/ao/hkb/tl
As families across the US give thanks to the role mums play in their lives this Sunday, Mary’s Meals has paid tribute to the thousands of mothers around the world who help us make our work possible.
In Malawi, for example, we have over 65,000 volunteers – many of whom are mothers – who help us prepare, cook and serve the daily meal to 686,451 children in school every day.
Rose Kadabwa, a single mother of five, is one of those volunteers.
She was forced to bring up her children alone after her husband left her because he wanted two lives. “My children were suffering all the time,” she says. “I ran a small business making bread to try to make money, but there were days they’d go without a meal.” She explains there were times she thought her children would die because they were so malnourished.
Her son Issac, had to be admitted to hospital when he was seven-‐years-‐old because he was so emaciated.
He spent three months on a drip being constantly monitored by the doctors. “I feared he wouldn’t make it,” she says.
But life changed significantly for Rose and her family when Mary’s Meals came along.
The promise of a hot school meal each day means that she no longer has to struggle to feed her children.
She could send them to school knowing they’d be fed and be receiving an education at the same time.
She explains that Issac, who is now 13, is a different boy from the frail seven-‐ year-‐old. “His body is changing every day, he can concentrate at school and he wants to come in everyday to learn.” Rose now volunteers at the Khola school just outside of Malawi’s commercial capital Blantrye.
She gets up every morning at 5am to make the school meals for more than 1,016 children who attend the primary school. “I’m so happy to be a volunteer, to know my children are coming to school and getting fed.” “I will remain a volunteer forever,” she laughs. “Even when my children have left school I will stay to help feed these children.
I encourage other mothers to get involved with the Mary’s Meals school feeding programme.” The endless love and support from mothers like Rose is helping to educate Malawi’s next generation and provide them with a ladder out of poverty.
For more information about Mary’s Meals work visit our website marysmeals.org, follow us on Twitter @marysmeals, or like us on Facebook.
NACE “GENERATION NUTRITION” PARA ACABAR CON LAS MUERTES DE NIÑOS POR DESNUTRICIÓN EN EL PLAZO DE UNA GENERACIÓN
Las muertes infantiles por desnutrición aguda podrían acabar en una generación, según la nueva campaña global lanzada hoy por Acción contra el Hambre y una coalición de organizaciones no gubernamentales.
La campaña incluye una recogida de firmas para presionar a los líderes políticos que definirán en septiembre el marco de desarrollo post-2015: es necesario establecer como prioridad un objetivo cuantificable de reducción de la desnutrición aguda infantil.
Madrid, 12 de mayo de 2014
La campaña Generation Nutrition pone el foco en los 52 millones de niños que sufren desnutrición aguda, 1 de cada 12 niños en el mundo. El informe que acompaña el lanzamiento de la campaña, señala que 1 millón de niños muere cada año como consecuencia directa de una inadecuada nutrición y que millones más ven sus perspectivas de futuro irreversiblemente dañadas por los efectos devastadores de la desnutrición.
Las organizaciones impulsoras de la campaña subrayan que no tiene por qué ser así y realizan un llamamiento a los líderes mundiales para el establecimiento de un objetivo global de reducción en el número de niños afectados por la desnutrición aguda y la puesta en marcha de medidas urgentes para acabar con las muertes infantiles que causa el hambre.
“El hecho de que hoy en día se permita la muerte por desnutrición aguda de un millón de niños cada año es un escándalo que debería mover a los gobiernos a actuar. Por primera vez en la historia tenemos el conocimiento y los medios para evitar esta pérdida de vidas. La campaña Generation Nutrition hace un llamamiento urgente a los gobiernos para priorizar la lucha contra la desnutrición infantil y hacer realidad una nutrición para todos, algo que es posible. Si actuamos ahora, podemos acabar con las muertes de niños por desnutrición aguda en el plazo de una generación”, remarca Glen Tarman, Director Internacional de Advocacy de Acción contra el Hambre, una de las organizaciones impulsoras de la coalición.
Por su parte, Caroline Abla, Directora de Nutrición y Seguridad Alimentaria de International Medical Corps, destaca: “la desnutrición aguda es una tragedia que podemos evitar. Sabemos cómo tratar a los niños afectados para que sobrevivan y se recuperen y sabemos además cómo prevenirla. En apenas seis semanas, un niño puede estar totalmente recuperado, con toda su vida por delante. Es el momento de movilizarse y poner fin a esta vergonzosa situación”.
Desnutrición aguda: una emergencia constante para 52 millones
52 millones de menores de cinco años viven en situación de emergencia nutricional, pero esta situación no está reconocida en ninguna de las listas de emergencias mundiales. El informe de lanzamiento de la campaña proporciona por primera vez un análisis detallado del hecho de que la desnutrición aguda es una enfermedad letal para miles de niños no solo en situaciones reconocidas como grandes emergencias, sino también fuera de ellas. Por ello es necesario dar respuestas inmediatas que vayan más allá de las acciones “emergencistas”, creando capacidades a nivel local/nacional, incorporando su tratamiento en la oferta básica de salud, fortaleciendo las capacidades y recursos ministeriales y situando la desnutrición aguda como una prioridad de salud pública prioritaria para reducir la mortalidad infantil”, explica Amador Gómez, Director Técnico de Acción contra el Hambre-España.
Un llamamiento a los líderes mundiales
Generation Nutrition lanza hoy una petición global pidiendo a los líderes mundiales que prioricen la lucha contra la desnutrición infantil y que esta prioridad se refleje en el marco de desarrollo post-2015, que sustituirá a los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio (ODM). La coalición trasladará esta petición a los líderes mundiales en la reunión de las Naciones Unidas el próximo mes de septiembre, cuando arranquen las negociaciones de este nuevo marco en las que participarán todos los países del mundo.
Las firmas de apoyo a esta petición se recogen desde hoy en la web de la campaña: www.generation-nutrition.org.
Sobre la campaña Generation Nutrition
Tras la campaña está un grupo de organizaciones de la sociedad civil que buscan acabar con las muertes infantiles por desnutrición aguda. Generation Nutrition en una campaña global que reclama a gobiernos y comunidad internacional la adopción de medidas urgentes para priorizar la lucha contra la desnutrición aguda y salvar así las vidas de millones de niños menores de cinco años. Entre sus miembros están la Red Internacional de Acción contra el Hambre, AMREF FLYING DOCTORS, CARE France, CMAM Forum, End Water Poverty, ENN, Global Health Advocates, GRACE Africa, International Medical Corps, Islamic Relief Kenya, KAIN. KANCO, Malaria Consortium, Mercy USA Kenya, Population Services Kenya, Première Urgence-Aide Médicale Internationale (PU-AMI), Results UK, Secours Islamique France, Solidarités International, TargetTB, y WaterAid.
Más información y entrevistas con portavoces: Acción contra el Hambre España Alicia García | Nuria Berro: 609 018 735 | 699 213 617 www.accioncontraelhambre.org
Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos drew attention to the humanitarian situation in Chad during a visit to the country last week, when she met people directly affected by displacement and food insecurity.
Read the full story on OCHA
Dans le cadre de son aide humanitaire d’urgence le Gouvernement Princier, au travers du Consulat de Monaco au Mali, a renouvelé son appui aux populations du Nord Mali.
L’aide d’urgence du Gouvernement, d’un montant de 50.000 euros, a permis de distribuer des kits alimentaires auprès de 483 familles déplacées, d’approvisionner en intrants agricoles 117 unités de production dans les régions de Tombouctou et de Gao au Nord du pays et d’accompagner le retour de 45 familles.
Réalisée en partenariat avec deux associations locales, Amassa Afrique Verte et ADDA, cette opération d’urgence a été mise en œuvre entre la fin de l’année 2013 et le début de l’année 2014.
Ce projet, conçu par le Coordinateur Technique National de la Direction de la coopération Internationale au Mali, est une formule innovante et efficace qui permet d’acheter les aliments et les intrants directement auprès des commerçants des régions concernées, réamorçant ainsi l'économie locale.
L’appui de Monaco est comptabilisé dans les aides qui ont permis de faire passer le taux de couverture des besoins en assistance alimentaire de 35% en juillet 2013 à 55% au 31 décembre 2013.
Rappelons qu’en 2013, le Gouvernement Princier avait déjà alloué une aide de 40.000 euros pour distribuer des kits alimentaires en faveur de 10.000 personnes déplacées à Bamako, la capitale, et ses environs.
GENEVA, May 13 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Tuesday said it was deeply saddened at a rising death toll from boat accidents in the Mediterranean Sea this year as increasing numbers of asylum-seekers and refugees make the journey on unseaworthy boats, often at the hands of ruthless smugglers.
UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva that at least 17 people drowned after a boat sank on Monday in international waters, some 160 kilometres south of the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa and around 80 km north-west of Tripoli, Libya. The dead included 12 women, three children and two men.
Edwards added that two merchant ships from France and Vanuatu rescued 226 people who later received medical checks from Italian doctors. The French vessel, Bourbon Arcadia, rescued 158 people and the Kehoe Tide from Vanuatu rescued 68 people.
Yesterday's tragedy follows several shipwrecks off the Libyan coast over the past fortnight in which 121 people are believed to have died in three separate boat accidents. The Libyan coast guard has rescued 134 people, the UNHCR spokesman said. The survivors receive medical assistance from UNHCR, the International Medical Corps and the Libyan coast guard. UNHCR also provides clothing, mattresses and other relief items.
"The other shipwrecks we know of, include one that took place off Libya around May 6 when a boat carrying 130 people capsized some 30 minutes into the journey, just a few miles from the coast," Edwards said. Some of the 53 survivors told UNHCR that the smugglers set off even though the boat was damaged.
As of Monday, the coast guard had recovered 44 bodies believed to be from the same shipwreck, with a further 33 missing and believed dead. The people on board were from Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan.
On May 2, the Libyan coast guard rescued 80 people from Eritrean, Ethiopia and Somalia after their boat started leaking. Another four people drowned in the incident. Two days earlier, the Libyan coast guard found the wreckage of another boat off the coast of Tripoli. The sole survivor, in a critical condition, was treated at a government hospital; the remaining 40 passengers – all from Somalia – had drowned.
Shipwreck victims and survivors include people fleeing violence or persecution in their homelands and the risks they take on these sea journeys reflect the limited safe options available in Libya and other contexts. UNHCR has launched an information campaign in association with the Libyan coast guard, NGOs, UN partners and asylum-seekers to inform people of the risks involved with unscheduled voyages by sea.
"UNHCR welcomes the rescue operations by Italian and Libyan authorities and the cooperation of private vessels, without which the death toll would have been undoubtedly higher, but asks that search and rescue operations are further strengthened, especially in waters that have a high number of incidents," Edwards stressed.
"We also urge governments around the world to provide legal alternatives to dangerous sea journeys, ensuring desperate people in need of refuge can seek and find protection and asylum," he added. These alternatives could include resettlement, humanitarian admission, and facilitated access to family reunification. Governments are also asked to resist punitive or deterrent measures such as detention for people seeking safety.
UNHCR estimates that more than 170 people have died at sea trying to reach Europe so far this year, including those who lost their lives off Greece, Libya and Italy and in international waters.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CAR)
12 PER CENT DECREASE IN IDPs AND INCREASE IN REFUGEES
IDP figures drop for the fourth consecutive week, with 567,635 IDPs currently in CAR-- a 12 per cent decline since last month. Refugee figures have increased by 12 per cent in the past month, with 114,271 refugees displaced to CAR, DRC, RoC, and Cameroon since December.
UNSC IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON CAR REBEL LEADERS
The UN Security Council has imposed asset freezes and travel bans on former CAR President, Francois Bozize, Seleka leader Nourredine Adam and anti-Balaka political coordinator Levy Yakete for undermining peace and fuelling violence in CAR.
2/3 OF SCHOOLS REMAIN CLOSED IN CAR
UNICEF reports that more than half way through the school year, almost two-thirds of schools in CAR remain closed. The CAR crisis has disrupted two school years since the end of 2012.
CHAD
CAR/CHAD BORDER CLOSED INDEFINITELY
On 12 May, Chad’s President announced closure of its southern border with CAR until the crisis in CAR is resolved, permitting only Chadian citizens to cross. The border closure follows accusations that the gunmen responsible for the 2 May attack of Markounda (northern CAR) were Chadians.
MALI
AGREEMENT TO REPATRIATE MALIAN REFUGEES IS SIGNED
On 3 May, UNHCR, Mali and Niger signed a tripartite agreement to support spontaneous returns of Malian refugees and ensure the voluntary nature of these returns.
NIGER
1,000 NEW ARRIVALS FROM NORTHEAST NIGERIA TO NIGER EVERY WEEK
UNHCR announced that between 700-1,000 people are fleeing northeast Nigeria´s violence every week into Niger’s Diffa region, bringing the total number of new arrivals to 50,000. At current levels, 100,000 new arrivals are expected in Diffa by the end of the year.
NIGERIA
LAND MINES, BRIDGE EXPLOSIONS CHALLENGE HUNT FOR MISSING SCHOOLGIRLS
International expert groups from the US, France, and UK, inter alia, have arrived to assist in the search for the remaining 223 missing schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month. Rescue efforts have been compromised following the destruction of two strategic bridges by the group and the reported laying of land mines to obstruct rescue missions in the northeast.
REPUBLIC OF CONGO
80,000 DRC CITIZENS EXPELLED, HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS GROW IN DRC
More than 80,000 citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been expelled from Republic of Congo over the past month. Many forced returnees reportedly have little attachment to DRC and lack access to basic services.
SAHEL
LOWER RAINFALL EXPECTED IN 2014, SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN THE WEST
ACMAD reports that below average precipitation is very likely in Guinea, Senegal, The Gambia and parts of Mali and Mauritania from June to September 2014.
SENEGAL
SENEGAL RE-OPENS BORDER WITH GUINEA
Senegal reopened its border with Guinea this week after having closed the border last month to contain the Ebola outbreak.
South Sudan: Peace negotiations in Addis Ababa have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between South Sudan’s president and the head of the opposition. The number of IDPs in South Sudan stands at 983,000. Following fighting in Upper Nile state, at least 11,000 new South Sudanese refugees have crossed into Ethiopia, bringing the total to 120,000. Altogether, 341,000 South Sudanese refugees are in neighbouring countries.
Syria: Civilians began returning to the Old City of Homs in the wake of a truce that saw armed opposition fighters leave the area. Mass displacement grew in Deir-ez-Zor as infighting between opposition groups intensified, while the battle in Aleppo between government troops and opposition fighters shows no signs of abating.
Afghanistan: The number of flood-affected has risen to over 120,000 people in 85 districts of 16 provinces. Jawzjan, Faryab, Sar-e-Pul, and Balkh provinces are the worst affected. In the 48 hours preceding 11 May, 17 districts in four provinces were newly flooded. Access to some districts has been hampered by damaged roads and insecurity.
Updated: 13/05/2014 Next Update: 20/05/2014
Guatemala, 12 may (AGN).- La Agencia para el Desarrollo Internacional de Estados Unidos (USAID) donará un total de 3,4 millones de dosis alimenticias que beneficiarán durante el 2014 a 12.700 niños guatemaltecos incluidos en el Pacto Hambre Cero con el que el Gobierno del presidente Otto Pérez Molina busca reducir en un 10 por ciento la desnutrición en el país.
Las primeras 270.000 dosis fueron entregadas este lunes al Secretario de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional (Sesan ), Luis Monterroso y a la titular de la Secretaría de Obras Sociales de la Esposa del Presidente (Sosep), Patricia Obando.
El representante de la USAID, Guillermo Sánchez, informó que la donación consiste en un suplemento alimenticio para menores de 6 a 21 meses de edad para evitar la desnutrición crónica infantil y el costo es de unos 500.000 dólares (3.7 millones de quetzales).
El suplemento denominado “Nutrimantequilla” se entregará inicialmente a la madre o padre del niño con una cantidad de 30 sobres por mes en los municipios de Olopa (Chiquimula) y Tacaná (San Marcos) durante un periodo de nueve meses, explicó Monterroso.
En total la USAID donará 3,4 millones de dosis durante el 2014 y se distribuirá en 23 municipios de Guatemala para beneficiar a 12.700 niños, puntualizó el funcionario.
En este país centroamericano el proyecto lo ejecutará el Club Rotario Guatemala del Este.
El suplemento alimenticio:
Este nuevo suplemento cuenta con maní, aceite y leche que contiene ácidos grasos esenciales, vitaminas y minerales que promoverán el crecimiento y desarrollo motriz en los niños, detalló Patricia Obando de Sosep.
Monterroso detalló que este suplemento será entregado este año en los departamentos del Progreso, Santa Rosa, Jalapa y Chiquimula.
Cada mes los padres de familia deberán llevar al niño a un chequeo médico para que ambas instituciones de Gobierno, SESAN y Sosep, lleven un control del peso de cada menor.
Summary
The Desert Locust (SGR1 ) situation remained calm along the Red Sea coasts during April.
Several swarms migrated from northwestern Somalia to eastern Ethiopia where aerial and ground control treated 2,585 ha from 8-30 April. An unconfirmed report of hoppers in Aysha, eastern Ethiopia suggested breeding has begun in those areas (DLCO-EA).
In Sudan, locusts were controlled on 3,620 ha by ground means during the 1st fortnight of April. In Yemen, the situation remained calm along the Red Sea coast and Gulf of Aden and only a few numbers of solitary adults were reported East and South of Hodeida, near Midi and northwest of Aden during this month. Adult locust moved from the Red Sea coasts of Saudi Arabia to the interior of the country and control operations treated close to 20,000 ha during April. Small-scale breeding is in progress in northern Oman and southeast Iran where hopper groups were controlled on 730 ha total during April. The situation remained relatively calm in spring breeding areas in northwest Africa and no locusts were reported in Sahel West Africa (CNLA/Chad, CNLA/Mauritania, CNLAA/Tunisia, CNLAA/Morocco, DLCO-EA2 , DLMCC/Yemen, DPPQS/India, FAO-DLIS,LCC/Oman, NCLC/Libya, PPD/Sudan).
As of February 2014, there were nearly 200,000 internally displaced people (IDPs), with nearly half left behind in Mali’s southern cities.
HIGHLIGHTS
Funding still limited for the May agricultural campaign .
The spontaneous return of more than 1,600 Malian refugees from Niger confirms the tendency for people’s return.
OCHA has trained more than 1,500 people in civil-military coordination since the start of the year.
The Central Emergency Response Fund has allocated US$11.4 million to Mali to support the underfunded projects of the Strategic Response Plan.
HIGHLIGHTS
560,050 IDPs in CAR, down 68,450 since last month. Conversely, refugees have increased by 36,000 during this period.
Food prices soar in CAR by upwards of 70 per cent for meat and fish. Malnutrition treatment increases three-fold in Bangui.
Voluntary relocations of at-risk populations begin this month in CAR, relocating some 1,400 Muslims.
Meningitis outbreak in Guinea Infects 379 and kills 40; 133 confirmed cases of Ebola present in country killing 83.
Nearly 100 killed in two bombings in Abuja; over 200 girls kidnapped in Borno and still missing. Both incidences attributed to Boko Haram.
Annual Report for 2013: A strong response to complex crises
14-05-2014 News Release 14/81
Geneva (ICRC) – The devastating effects of acute crises that emerged at the end of 2013 in South Sudan and the Central African Republic are still being felt. The conflict in Syria has assumed the proportions of a catastrophe, with serious implications for the entire region. In Afghanistan, Israel and the occupied territories, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and other countries, large numbers of civilians continue to suffer the effects of protracted armed conflicts. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) strove throughout 2013 to mount an effective response to these and other complex situations, and to reach people in need, in greater numbers than ever.
"Throughout the year, we faced the increasing complexity of armed conflicts, the often disastrous human cost of violence, compounded by natural disasters and underlying socio-economic crises, and the difficulties in addressing the multiple needs of the people affected," said ICRC President Peter Maurer, speaking at a press conference in Geneva on the occasion of the presentation of the organization's annual report. "The ICRC focused its efforts on expanding access to people in need and on finding new ways of overcoming impediments to neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian action."
Despite numerous constraints in Syria, the ICRC together with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent distributed food and household essentials to millions of people, most of whom had fled their homes. An estimated 80 per cent of the population had safe drinking water because their local water boards had been equipped by the ICRC with water-treatment supplies, spare parts, pumps and generators.
Northern Mali and Somalia continued to provide striking examples of the heavy humanitarian consequences of food crisis combined with chronically precarious security conditions, and of restrictions on humanitarian access. "ICRC staff in the field maintained as much as possible their proximity to some needy people and gained access to others. Sometimes they were among the few humanitarian workers on the ground," said Mr Maurer.
Building trust and securing acceptance among all parties of interest – primarily through bilateral, confidential dialogue – remained crucial. "For example, it was in this way that the ICRC was able in 2013 to resume visits to people detained in Myanmar and obtain greater access to detainees in Bahrain, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Somalia," Mr Maurer said.
Nevertheless, the challenges inherent in this approach were ever-present, not least in terms of the security risks. The attack on the ICRC's Jalalabad sub-delegation in Afghanistan in May, which resulted in the death of one staff member and in injuries to another, was one example. Another was the killing of yet more volunteers of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent – a key partner of the ICRC. At the end of 2013, the number of volunteers who had been killed since the beginning of the conflict in Syria stood at 33. The threat of abduction loomed ever larger for humanitarian workers: three ICRC staff members held in Syria have not yet been released.
Cooperation with the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, notably operational partnerships in which thousands of Red Cross or Red Crescent volunteers worked alongside ICRC teams, played a vital role in the ICRC’s activities. Such cooperation enabled the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to mount a strong response – in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic and Myanmar, for example; in some cases, National Society medical teams were deployed to reinforce ICRC operations, as in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan.
Health-related activities continued to be of central importance to the ICRC. Some 8.2 million people benefited from these activities in 2013. In Jonglei, South Sudan, three ICRC surgical teams were deployed on various occasions to help treat the hundreds of people who were wounded in violence; and in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, the ICRC continued to provide support for Mirwais Hospital, the only large-scale surgical facility in the region, serving over five million people.
The ICRC also continued to address, at all levels, the serious yet under-reported problem of violence against people providing or receiving health care, with many delegations collecting information on incidents and making representations to alleged perpetrators. Between January 2012 and July 2013, more than 1,400 such incidents were reported in at least 23 countries; over 90 per cent of these directly affected local health-care providers (private and public) and 14 per cent had a bearing on National Societies. Workshops and consultations were organized at which experts, health-care personnel and members of armed forces discussed various matters relating to the issue.
The ICRC reinforced its commitment to address both the causes and the effects of sexual violence in armed conflicts. "Sexual violence is a particularly brutal crime that has devastating consequences for the victims and their families, and for entire communities," said Mr Maurer. Over the next four years, the ICRC will enhance and expand the health-care, awareness-raising, assistance and other activities it carries out in connection with this violence.
The ICRC delivered strong responses as set out in its initial budget of 988.7 million Swiss francs for the 2013 Emergency Appeals and in eight budget extensions during the year, bringing the total expenditure to 1.045 billion francs (approximately 1.128 billion US dollars). It distributed food to 6.8 million people and over 28.7 million people benefited from ICRC water, sanitation and construction projects.
See more;
Live WebcastKey facts and figures for 2013
Interactive map - expenditure by country
Graphs illustrating trends for 2013
For further information, please contact: Anastasia Isyuk, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 30 23 or +41 79 251 93 02; Twitter @AIsyukICRC Dorothea Krimitsas, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 25 90 or +41 79 251 93 18
This series of briefings – entitled Scaling Up Nutrition in Practice - presents the experiences of SUN country governments, and other national stakeholders, as they scale up their efforts to ensure all people enjoy good nutrition. Each briefing in the series focuses on a theme selected by SUN country government focal points as a focus for sharing their experience during the meetings of the focal points and country teams that take place every two months by teleconference.
The first briefing focuses on ways to bring people together so that they work effectively through functioning multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs). This is the first of four strategic processes that underpin the SUN approach.
Six stakeholders from SUN countries have contributed accounts of how MSPs are being established in their countries and how different stakeholders are working together to achieve results. Key lessons have been identified in each of the country articles. These, together with extensive information drawn from teleconference calls with SUN country government focal points and their teams, form the basis of the observations in the final article.
