Highlights:

• The nutritional situation in Chad remains worrying. 112,230 children under five with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) were admitted into therapeutic care from January to July 2016, reaching 63% of the revised annual target (193,943). This is 21% more cases of SAM than in the same period in 2015 (87,860). Kanem and Bahr El Gazal Regions are particularly affected as by July they have surpassed their annual target by 106% and 118% respectively.

• Displacement in the Lake region has reached 126,586, with 121,160 internally displaced persons living in 50 sites and 76 host villages, and 5,426 refugees in the Dar Es Salam refugee camp. Although most of the Lake region is generally calm, a growing number of incidents increasingly constrains humanitarian access.

• A first polio vaccination campaign was organized in the Lake region in response to the confirmation of two cases of Wild Polio Virus in Borno State in Nigeria. 1.4 million children under five years old in 28 health districts in the Chad were vaccinated. The next round of vaccination is to begin in September and will cover 79 health districts and 3,348,000 children under five.

• UNICEF’s HAC is 44% funded with almost $25.4 million in new funding received of the $64.6 million needed. The least funded sectors have been Health and HIV (86% funding gap), Child Protection (82% gap) and WASH (60% gap).

SITUATION IN NUMBERS

2,200,000 Children affected (UNICEF HAC 2016)

193,943 Children under 5 with Severe Acute Malnutrition in 2016 (Nutrition Cluster mid-year revision)

126,586 People displaced (IDPs, returnees, TCN, refugees) in the Lake Region (DTM, 01/09/2016; UNHCR refugee statistics, 31/08/2016)

Revised UNICEF Humanitarian funding needs in 2016
US$ 62.4 million

Available in 2016*
US$ 28.2 million

Summary

The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/134 on assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa. It updates information contained in the report of the Secretary-General submitted to the Assembly at its seventieth session (A/70/337) and covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. The report has been coordinated by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and includes information provided by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat, the International Labour Organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Children’s Fund. It also includes information drawn from publicly available reports by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

I. Introduction

1. New and ongoing conflicts have generated further displacement in the Africa region1 over the past year. Violence in Burundi, the Central African Republic, Nigeria and South Sudan displaced hundreds of thousands of people internally and across borders, while the deteriorating situation in Yemen caused significant numbers to flee across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and seek safety in different countries in the region. Meanwhile, protracted conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Somalia and the Sudan prevented millions from returning home.

2. As at the end of 2015, there were around 12 million internally displaced persons in Africa.2 Their largest numbers were concentrated in the Sudan (3.2 million), Nigeria (2.1 million), South Sudan (1.7 million), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1.5 million) and Somalia (1.2 million). Sub-Saharan Africa was home to the largest number of refugees in the world (an estimated 4.4 million). Refugees originating from the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and the Sudan accounted for 80 per cent of that figure.

3. The majority of countries in Africa continued to uphold their long-standing tradition of hospitality towards and solidarity with refugees. Five African countries were among the world’s top 10 refugee-hosting countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad. Despite this generosity, the economic, political and security challenges associated with hosting large numbers of refugees for an extended period cannot be underestimated.

4. The failure to address the root causes of conflict, together with insecurity and widespread human rights violations, were the main reasons behind the chronic nature of displacement in the region and the insufficient progress made with regard to the securing of solutions for displaced people. Meanwhile, food insecurity affected many refugees and internally displaced persons, with levels of acute malnutrition, stunting and anaemia on the rise. Aid agencies faced obstacles to gaining access to affected populations, which further exacerbated the humanitarian situation in some operations. In some of the most affected areas, food insecurity prompted negative coping strategies, including survival sex. Other challenges included the failure to ensure the civilian nature of asylum and of refugee camps, incidents of sexual and gender-based violence and insufficient funding for humanitarian operations.

Résumé

Le présent rapport est présenté en application de la résolution 70/134 de l’Assemblée générale sur l’aide aux réfugiés, aux rapatriés et aux déplacés d’Afrique. Il actualise les informations contenues dans le rapport présenté par le Secrétaire général à l’Assemblée à sa soixante-dixième session (A/70/337) et couvre la période allant du 1er juillet 2015 au 30 juin 2016. Il a été élaboré sous la coordination du Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés et se fonde sur les informations reçues du Bureau de la coordination des affaires humanitaires du Secrétariat, de l’Organisation internationale du Travail, du Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme, de l’Entité des Nations Unies pour l’égalité des sexes et l’autonomisation des femmes, du Programme alimentaire mondial, de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé, du Programme des Nations Unies pour le développement, du Fonds des Nations Unies pour la population et du Fonds des Nations Unies pour l’enfance, ainsi que sur des rapports rendus publics par l’Observatoire des situations de déplacement interne.

I. Introduction

1. Des conflits nouveaux et en cours ont provoqué de nouvelles vagues de déplacement dans la région de l’Afrique1 au cours de l’année passée. La violence au Burundi, en République centrafricaine, au Nigéria et au Soudan du Sud a déplacé des centaines de milliers de personnes dans leurs propres pays et à travers les frontières, alors que la dégradation de la situation au Yémen a poussé un grand nombre de personnes à fuir à travers la mer Rouge et le Golfe d’Aden pour chercher refuge dans différents pays de la région. Entre-temps, les conflits prolongés en République démocratique du Congo, au Mali, en Somalie et au Soudan ont empêché des millions de personnes de rentrer chez elles.

2. À la fin de 2015, environ 12millions de personnes étaient en situation de déplacement interne en Afrique2. Les nombres les plus élevés étaient concentrés au Soudan (3,2 millions), au Nigéria (2,1 millions), au Soudan du Sud (1,7 million), en République démocratique du Congo (1,5 million) et en Somalie (1,2 million). L’Afrique subsaharienne comptait le plus grand nombre de réfugiés au monde (estimé à 4,4 millions). Les réfugiés provenant de la République centrafricaine, de la République démocratique du Congo, de la Somalie, du Soudan et du Soudan du Sud représentaient 80 % de ce chiffre.

3. La majorité des pays en Afrique ont perpétué leur longue tradition d’hospitalité et de solidarité envers les réfugiés. Cinq pays africains figuraient parmi les 10 premiers pays d’accueil des réfugiés au monde, à savoir, l’Éthiopie, le Kenya, l’Ouganda, la République démocratique du Congo et le Tchad. Malgré cette générosité, on ne saurait sous-estimer les difficultés d’ordre économique, politique et en matière de sécurité liées à l’accueil d’un grand nombre de réfugiés pendant une longue période.

4. Le fait de ne pas s’attaquer aux causes profondes du conflit, ainsi que l’insécurité et les violations généralisées des droits de l’homme expliquent pour l’essentiel le caractère chronique des déplacements dans la région et les progrès insuffisants enregistrés dans la recherche de solutions au problème des personnes déplacées. Entre-temps, l’insécurité alimentaire a touché de nombreux réfugiés et personnes déplacées dans leurs propres pays, entraînant une augmentation des cas de malnutrition aiguë, de retards de croissance et d’anémies. Les organismes d’aide avaient du mal à accéder aux populations touchées, ce qui a aggravé la situation humanitaire dans certaines opérations. Dans certaines des zones les plus touchées, l’insécurité alimentaire a entraîné le recours à des stratégies d’adaptation néfastes, notamment la prostitution de survie. D’autres difficultés étaient liées à l’incapacité de garantir le caractère civil de l’asile et des camps de réfugiés, aux cas de violence sexuelle et sexiste et au financement insuffisant pour les opérations humanitaires.

Bamako, Mali | AFP | mardi 27/09/2016 - 02:18 GMT | 281 mots

Un militaire et un civil maliens ont été tués à Tombouctou (nord-ouest du Mali) par des jihadistes présumés, a appris lundi l'AFP de sources militaires.

"Un garde national (composante de l'armée malienne) et un de ses cousins ont été tués dimanche à Tombouctou par de présumés terroristes. C'est une attaque ciblée", a déclaré à l'AFP un officier de l'armée malienne.

Les meurtriers sont arrivés dans la ville en véhicule et ont tourné un bon moment autour du domicile du militaire malien et de son cousin avant de les assassiner, selon la même source.

Selon une autre source militaire malienne, ils ont été assassinés au pistolet automatique, le militaire en premier, puis le civil.

Au cours des derniers mois, trois personnes, dont un officier malien accusé d'informer l'armée et ses alliés sur les mouvements des groupes jihadistes dans la région de Tombouctou ont été assassinés.

Par ailleurs, un colonel des douanes, membre d'un groupe armé pro-gouvernemental a échappé à une tentative d'assassinat samedi à Bamako, selon un de ses proches.

"Un individu s'est rendu chez le colonel Moulaye Ahmed Haidara. Il a tiré sur lui, mais l'arme n'a pas fonctionné", a déclaré à l'AFP ce proche sous le couvert de l'anonymat.

Le nord du Mali était tombé en mars-avril 2012 sous la coupe de groupes jihadistes liés à Al-Qaïda. Ces groupes en ont été en grande partie chassés à la suite du lancement en 2013, à l'initiative de la France, d'une intervention militaire internationale, qui se poursuit actuellement.

Mais des zones entières échappent encore au contrôle des forces maliennes et étrangères, malgré la signature en mai-juin 2015 d'un accord de paix censé isoler définitivement les jihadistes, dont l'application accumule les retards.

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© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

Bamako, Mali | AFP | Tuesday 9/27/2016 - 05:29 GMT | 201 words

One soldier and a civilian were killed in Mali's ancient city of Timbuktu in a suspected jihadist attack, military sources told AFP Monday.

The killers arrived in the town in a vehicle and lay in wait for the victims outside their house before gunning them down with an automatic weapon, a Malian army officer told AFP.

Over the course of the last few months, three people, including an army officer accused of sharing the movements of jihadist groups in the Timbuktu region with Mali's army and its allies, have been killed.

Northern Mali has seen repeated violence since it fell under the control of Tuareg-led rebels who allied with jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012.

Attacks are now becoming more frequent further south, in the country's centre, close to its borders with Burkina Faso and Niger.

Ongoing international military intervention since January 2013 has driven Islamist fighters away from major urban centres which they had briefly controlled.

But despite a peace accord last year, large tracts of Mali are still not controlled by domestic or foreign troops, and jihadist groups have over the past year carried out attacks in central Mali as well as back in the long-troubled north.

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© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

Commentaires:

• La complétude du reportage au cours de la semaine 35 est de 79,6% pour les CRENI/AS et de 78,2% pour les CRENAM. Les données publiées dans ce bulletin correspondent aux données reçues avant le jour de la publication et des mises à jour pourraient avoir lieu dans les prochaines publications.

• Au cours de la semaine 35, les CREN ont admis 8 050 enfants souffrant de la malnutrition aiguë sévère (MAS) dont 1 102 avec des complications médicales et 8 805 enfants souffrant de la malnutrition aiguë modérée (MAM). Comparativement à la semaine 34, nous observons une baisse de 11% pour les CRENAS/CRENI et de 2% pour les CRENAM. Cette baisse dans les admissions pourrait s’expliquer par un taux de complétude des rapports faible au cours de cette semaine.

• A la date du 4 septembre 2016, au total 223 545 enfants de moins de cinq ans ont été admis dans les CREN pour cas sévères (MAS) dont 24 563 MAS avec des complications médicales et 267 756 souffrant de la malnutrition aiguë modérée (MAM). Ces chiffres représentent 55,8% et 37,8% de la cible de 2016 respectivement pour la prise en charge des enfants souffrant de la MAS et de la MAM.

• Comparativement à la semaine 35 en 2015, les admissions ont baissé de 10% (2 630 enfants) pour les CRENI et de 5% (13 139 enfants) pour les CRENAM tandis qu’elles ont légèrement augmenté de 1% (2 295 enfants) pour les CRENAS.

• Nous observons une hausse dans les admissions au cours de ce mois d’août (CRENAS/CRENI=40 490 et CRENAM=36 716) comparativement au mois de juillet (CRENAS/CRENI=25 462 et CRENAM=28 4523).

• Nous attirons l’attention des responsables des centres de surveillance (CSE, SPIS) sur une mise à jour continue des données afin que nous puissions avoir une appréciation plus proche de la réalité.

• Les données sont compilées et transmises par les DRSP.

Crisis Overview

Critical levels of malnutrition and food insecurity continue in Nigeria’s Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states. 4.5 million people are severely food insecure, and at least 65,000 people are experiencing Famine (IPC Phase 5) (FEWSNET 18/08/2016). The population in newly accessible areas who do not yet have access to services and aid are at a high risk of mortality. Over 398,000 children are estimated to be suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) (UNICEF 21/09/2016).

Health is emerging as a major need, as most health centres across Borno are either only partially functional or not functional at all and cases of communicable diseases are being reported, including polio, measles, and acute watery diarrhoea (AWD).

Despite improvements in access, at least 2.1 million people are still estimated to be trapped and inaccessible, being caught in conflict with no access to aid or essential services (OCHA 31/08/2016). Access at many areas in Borno state remains restricted.

The areas most affected by the conflict and with the highest concentration of population in need in Borno are near the Sambisa forest, including Bama, Damboa, Monguno, and Gwoza Local Government Areas (LGAs), Kaga and Konduga in east Borno. Additional areas of concern include greater Maiduguri and north and east Yobe LGAs in Adamawa.

Key Findings

Anticipated scope and scale - Extreme malnutrition and food insecurity have been reported in pockets of Borno and Yobe states. - A high risk of disease outbreaks has become more evident after polio cases were discovered in hard-to-reach areas of Borno. - The humanitarian situation is thought to be worse in the still inaccessible northern Borno. - In early August, Boko Haram split between those loyal to the previous leader, Abubakar Shekau and those loyal to new leader al Barnawi. Their mutual animosity and different tactics may contribute to a deteriorating security situation.

Priorities humanitarian intervention - Food: Famine (IPC Phase 5) is occurring in the worst affected and less accessible parts of Borno and Yobe states. - Nutrition: A large number of SAM cases have been reported in parts of Borno and Yobe states. - Health: Cases of measles, malaria, diarrhoea, and AWD have been reported. Three cases of polio were reported in Borno in August. - Protection: The blurring of the lines between civilian and insurgent, and between humanitarian intervention and security surveillance, has allowed abuse of civilians to go unreported.

Humanitarian constraints - Northern Borno: Abadam, Mobbar, and parts of of Bama, Chibok, Dikwa, Damboa, Guzamala, Gubio, Gwoza Kala/Balge, Kukawa, Mafa, Marte, Ngala, and Nganzai LGAs remain largely inaccessible. - BH attacks and battles between the military and BH are causing insecurity and disrupting aid convoys. Military escort is imposed for humanitarian actors seeking to reach certain areas. - Theft and looting of aid have been reported. Food distributions are restricted by the military in areas where conflict is ongoing.

BAMAKO – As schools resume next week in Mali, school meals for nearly 180,000 children in about 1,000 schools are in jeopardy due to financial constraints at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) – the main supporter of such initiatives. Unless US$3 million in funding is found urgently, WFP will have to suspend its school meals programme in Mali.

“This is critical. School meals are often the only nutritious meal a child receives a day, relieving families from further financial stress, motivating parents to send their children to school, and, ultimately, serving as a vehicle for education,” said Silvia Caruso, WFP Mali Country Director.

“Teachers tell us that if the meals are no longer provided, there is a significant risk that parents will stop sending their children to school; children find it difficult to walk long distances to school or stay in class for a full day on an empty stomach,” added Caruso.

Despite the high levels of insecurity–especially in northern and central Mali since 2012, WFP and its partners were able to provide school meals to an average of 170,000 children per year, half of which were girls.

WFP’s school meals were instrumental in in the Government’s 2015 back to school campaign, encouraging families to let their children resume their studies in regions such as Mopti, Timbuktu and Gao which had been bearing the brunt of the conflict, and where schools were closed between 2012 and 2015.

“We urge our supporters not to forget the children of Mali. They have been through a lot these past years. Going to school helps them regain their childhood, and school meals play an important role in keeping them in school,” says Caruso.

WFP works closely with the Ministry of Education to implement the school meals programme - a priority for the Government of Mali, which approved a national school feeding in 2009.

Since 2010, Mali has faced successive food security crises, brought on by irregular rainfall and prolonged insecurity in the North. More than a quarter of the population suffers from moderate and severe food insecurity; of this, almost half a million are severely food insecure.

Even in peaceful years, malnutrition rates in Mali are among the highest in the world. According to a 2014 national survey, the average prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM) in children under five stands at 13 percent. The World Health Organization rates a GAM prevalence between 10-14 percent as serious, and above 15 percent as a critical emergency.

WFP partners with small-scale farmers to buy locally grown, fresh food for its school meals programmes, boosting agricultural incomes and local economies as well as feeding hungry children.

For more information, please contact (firstname.secondname@wfp.org):
Laura Lee Morris, WFP/Bamako: +223 75 81 44 67
Adel Sarkozi, WFP/Dakar: +221 77 637 59 64

September 26, 2016 (YAMBIO) – Thousand of people in Ezo county of South Sudan’s newly created Gbudue are in dire need of humanitarian assistance after returning home from the bush, an official said.

Most of them fled to neighbouring Congo after the fighting between armed youth and government forces intensified.

The commissioner of Ezo county, Arkangelo Bakinde said thousands of citizens have returned and resumed their normal life, but still live in dire situation conditions without food, non-food items and medicines.

The local markets, according to Bakinde, are operating on a daily basis, but that only few traders have commodities in their shops, yet they sell them very expensively to locals who cannot even afford.

“A bar of soap is being sold at 130 SSP and packet of a salt is being sold at 90 SSP while prices of agricultural produce have also gone higher as local people cannot meet the demand to buy salt for the family,” he told Sudan Tribune in a phone interview.

Bakinde further disclosed that the hundreds of Congolese who fled the conflict in Ezo also have returned to the county together with Ezo residents with whom they share common values and ways of life.

“Most of the Congolese residing along the border with South Sudan were getting support from South Sudan as living conditions were not good for them along the border,” said the Ezo county commissioner.

“All shops and lodges in Ezo town were looted during the conflict between the SPLA and the armed youth which claimed over 10 lives in and displaced thousands to the bush and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo for safety,” he added.

(ST)

BAMAKO – Alors que les écoles ouvrent leurs portes la semaine prochaine au Mali, près de 180,000 enfants dans environ 1,000 écoles à travers le pays risquent de ne pas bénéficier de repas scolaires à cause des contraintes financières du Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM), l’artisan principal de cette initiative. Si un financement de 3 million USD n’est pas trouvé en urgence, le PAM va devoir susprendre son programme de repas scolaires au Mali.

«Cette situation est critique. Les repas scolaires sont souvent le seul repas nutritif que l’enfant reçoit pendant la journée, ce qui soulage financièrement les familles, motive les parents à envoyer leurs enfants à l’école et en fin de compte contribue à la bonne marche de l’éducation,» nous dit Silvia Caruso, Directrice Pays du PAM Mali.

«Les enseignants nous disent que si les repas scolaires ne sont plus fournis, il y a un risque significatif que les parents n’envoient plus leurs enfants à l’école; il est difficile pour les enfants de marcher de longues distances pour aller à l’école ou rester en classe toute une journée avec un estomac vide» ajoute Caruso.

Malgré les niveaux élevés d’insécurité, spécialement au nord et au centre du Mali depuis 2012, le PAM et ses partenaires ont pu fournir des repas scolaires à une moyenne de 170,000 enfants par année, dont la moitié étaient des filles.

Le programme des repas scolaires du PAM a joué un rôle important dans le soutien à la campagne «retour à l’école» initiée par le Gouvernement en 2015, encourageant ainsi les familles à permettre à leurs enfants de reprendre leurs études dans des régions telles que Mopti, Tombouctou, Gao qui ont payé un lourd tribut pendant le conflit, et dans lesquelles les écoles ont été fermées entre 2012 et 2015.

«Nous exhortons nos donateurs à ne pas oublier les enfants du Mali. Ils ont vécu beaucoup d’évènements douloureux au cours de ces dernières années. Le fait d’aller à l’école leur permet de profiter de leur enfance, et les repas scolaires jouent un rôle important dans la rétention de ces enfants à l’école», nous affirme Caruso.

Le PAM travaille en étroite collaboration avec le Ministère de l’Education afin de mettre en œuvre le programme des repas scolaires, une priorité pour le Gouvernement du Mali, qui a approuvé en 2009 une Politique Nationale d’Alimentation Scolaire.

Depuis 2010, le Mali a fait face à des crises alimentaires successives, causées par des précipations irrégulières ainsi que la situation d’insécurité prolongée dans le nord. Plus d’un quart de la population souffre d’insécurité alimentaire moderée et sevère, parmi celle-ci, près d’un demi million est en situation d’insécurité alimentaire sévère.

Même dans les années de paix, les taux de malnutrition au Mali étaient parmi les plus élevés dans le monde. Selon une étude nationale menée en 2014, le taux de prévalence moyen de malnutrition aigüe globale (MAG) chez les enfants de moins de 5 ans est de 13 pour cent. L’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé estime que la prévalence de la MAG est considérée comme sérieuse entre 10-14 pour cent et comme une urgence critique au dessus de 15 pour cent.

Le PAM est en partenariat avec de petits exploitants agricoles afin d’acheter des aliments frais produits localement pour ses programmes de repas scolaires, contribuant ainsi à la hause des revenus liés à l’agriculture, au développement des économies locales et à nourrir les enfants qui ont faim.

#

Le PAM est la plus grande agence humanitaire qui lutte contre la faim dans le monde en distribuant une assistance alimentaire dans les situations d'urgence et en travaillant avec les communautés pour améliorer leur état nutritionnel et renforcer leur résilience. Chaque année, le PAM apporte une assistance à quelque 80 millions de personnes dans près de 80 pays.

Suivez-nous sur Twitter : @WFP_WAfrica ; @Wfp_media

Pour plus d’informations, veuillez contacter (prenom.nom@wfp.org):

Laura Lee Morris, WFP/Bamako: +223 75 81 44 67

Adel Sarkozi, WFP/Dakar: +221 77 637 59 64

BAMAKO – Alors que les écoles ouvrent leurs portes la semaine prochaine au Mali, près de 180,000 enfants dans environ 1,000 écoles à travers le pays risquent de ne pas bénéficier de repas scolaires à cause des contraintes financières du Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM), l’artisan principal de cette initiative. Si un financement de 3 million USD n’est pas trouvé en urgence, le PAM va devoir susprendre son programme de repas scolaires au Mali.

«Cette situation est critique. Les repas scolaires sont souvent le seul repas nutritif que l’enfant reçoit pendant la journée, ce qui soulage financièrement les familles, motive les parents à envoyer leurs enfants à l’école et en fin de compte contribue à la bonne marche de l’éducation,» nous dit Silvia Caruso, Directrice Pays du PAM Mali.

«Les enseignants nous disent que si les repas scolaires ne sont plus fournis, il y a un risque significatif que les parents n’envoient plus leurs enfants à l’école; il est difficile pour les enfants de marcher de longues distances pour aller à l’école ou rester en classe toute une journée avec un estomac vide» ajoute Caruso.

Malgré les niveaux élevés d’insécurité, spécialement au nord et au centre du Mali depuis 2012, le PAM et ses partenaires ont pu fournir des repas scolaires à une moyenne de 170,000 enfants par année, dont la moitié étaient des filles.

Le programme des repas scolaires du PAM a joué un rôle important dans le soutien à la campagne «retour à l’école» initiée par le Gouvernement en 2015, encourageant ainsi les familles à permettre à leurs enfants de reprendre leurs études dans des régions telles que Mopti, Tombouctou, Gao qui ont payé un lourd tribut pendant le conflit, et dans lesquelles les écoles ont été fermées entre 2012 et 2015.

«Nous exhortons nos donateurs à ne pas oublier les enfants du Mali. Ils ont vécu beaucoup d’évènements douloureux au cours de ces dernières années. Le fait d’aller à l’école leur permet de profiter de leur enfance, et les repas scolaires jouent un rôle important dans la rétention de ces enfants à l’école», nous affirme Caruso.

Le PAM travaille en étroite collaboration avec le Ministère de l’Education afin de mettre en œuvre le programme des repas scolaires, une priorité pour le Gouvernement du Mali, qui a approuvé en 2009 une Politique Nationale d’Alimentation Scolaire.

Depuis 2010, le Mali a fait face à des crises alimentaires successives, causées par des précipations irrégulières ainsi que la situation d’insécurité prolongée dans le nord. Plus d’un quart de la population souffre d’insécurité alimentaire moderée et sevère, parmi celle-ci, près d’un demi million est en situation d’insécurité alimentaire sévère.

Même dans les années de paix, les taux de malnutrition au Mali étaient parmi les plus élevés dans le monde. Selon une étude nationale menée en 2014, le taux de prévalence moyen de malnutrition aigüe globale (MAG) chez les enfants de moins de 5 ans est de 13 pour cent. L’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé estime que la prévalence de la MAG est considérée comme sérieuse entre 10-14 pour cent et comme une urgence critique au dessus de 15 pour cent.

Le PAM est en partenariat avec de petits exploitants agricoles afin d’acheter des aliments frais produits localement pour ses programmes de repas scolaires, contribuant ainsi à la hause des revenus liés à l’agriculture, au développement des économies locales et à nourrir les enfants qui ont faim.

#

Le PAM est la plus grande agence humanitaire qui lutte contre la faim dans le monde en distribuant une assistance alimentaire dans les situations d'urgence et en travaillant avec les communautés pour améliorer leur état nutritionnel et renforcer leur résilience. Chaque année, le PAM apporte une assistance à quelque 80 millions de personnes dans près de 80 pays.

Suivez-nous sur Twitter : @WFP_WAfrica ; @Wfp_media

Pour plus d’informations, veuillez contacter (prenom.nom@wfp.org):

Laura Lee Morris, WFP/Bamako: +223 75 81 44 67

Adel Sarkozi, WFP/Dakar: +221 77 637 59 64

By Jonathan Rozen

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 28 2016 (IPS) - Nearly one month after UN Security Council members visited troubled South Sudan, disagreement reigns over even the limited outside measures proposed to try to bring the security situation in the world’s newest country under control.

“To fix South Sudan you will need 250,000 soldiers, you will need four or five billion dollars per year. Who is going to do that? Nobody.” Berouk Messfin, Senior Researcher with the Institute for Security Studies in Addis Ababa, told IPS.

While it is clear that neither an arms embargo nor an additional 4000 UN troops – two measures currently on the table – will be a panacea for troubled South Sudan, there is a slim hope that they may pressure the country’s leadership to act in the interests of its people.

As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told a high-level meeting on South Sudan’s humanitarian situation on September 22: “Time and again, (South Sudan’s) leaders have resorted to weapons and identity politics to resolve their differences.”

For three days in early September Security Council members traveled to South Sudan. At the end of the visit a ‘joint communiqué’ was issued that seemingly brokered an agreement with the interim Transitional Government of National Unity. It outlined the strengthening of the existing 12,000-troop UN peacekeeping mission (UNMISS) through an additional 4000-troop Regional Protection Force, and the removal of restrictions to humanitarian access. But in the days since the communiqué, South Sudanese officials have insisted that specifics of the additional force remain unresolved.

“We have agreed in principle … but the details of their deployment, the countries that will contribute … that is the work that is left now,” Hussein Mar Nyuot, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management for the South Sudan government told IPS. “I don’t see the difference that this [4000] will come and do.”

The proposed additional force would be under the command of UNMISS and was endorsed in July by the east African Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) body leading the South Sudan peace talks. Building on UNMISS’ existing mandate, which already calls for the “use all necessary means” to protect UN personnel and civilians from threats, the Security Council believes the additional troops would strengthen the security situation.

The force is to be deployed as soon as possible, Hervé Ladsous, Under Secretary General for UN Peacekeeping Operations, told reporters Friday. Though he also said they were trying to elucidate “contradictory statements” from the capital, Juba.

In this context, human rights advocacy groups, along with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, have continued their calls for the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo to stop both sides’ continued militarization.

“It’s going to be more difficult for parties to the conflict to get access to ammunition and supplies,” Louis Charbonneau, UN Director for Human Rights Watch, told IPS. “Combine it with the boosting of UNMISS … [and] it’s going to make a difference for civilians.”

However, the South Sudanese government, whose soldiers have been implicated in ethnically motivated killings, rape, and looting, disagrees on the value of an embargo.

“[The] issue is not actually the arms that are coming … even if you have an arms embargo there are already arms in the hands of the local people … the arms that are coming in are not actually the ones causing any problems,” Hussein Mar Nyuot told IPS.

If they say they want to have [an] arms embargo, ok, but what will you do with the arms that are in the hands of the people?” he continued. “We should encourage the government to disarm the civilian population.”

As a party to the conflict, South Sudan’s government is not impartial in their position, however they are also not entirely alone in their hesitance. “[An embargo] has to be a last course … we are not there yet,” Mahboub Maalim, Executive Secretary of IGAD, told IPS.

Despite the existing arms in the country and the potential for continued illicit inflows, targeted sanctions by the Security Council may signal deeper commitment to ending the violence and protecting civilians. Nevertheless, neither an embargo nor 4000 additional troops will cure the political divisions among South Sudan’s leadership, which lie at the heart of the conflict.

Paths forward

“The South Sudanese have a string to hang on now … and that is the implementation of the [August 2015] agreement,” Maalim said. “It has had some problems because of the July incident, but it’s going to come on track,” he added referring to violent clashes which took place in South Sudan in July, bringing the country to the brink of all-out war.

However, not everyone agrees on the viability of the previous agreement.

“You have two sides that are not negotiating in good faith … who do not understand how to implement peace agreements they have signed,” said Messfin.

So what is to be done? Beyond the intended value for the protection of civilians, additional troops and restrictions will only go so far without political commitment from the country’s leadership.

Conflict prevention in South Sudan is about strategically applied political leverage, Cedric de Conning, Senior Researcher at the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, explained to IPS.

A protection force like a reinforced peacekeeping mission can only implement what is agreed to politically, and the warring parties are not committed and remain mistrustful. While immediate action is necessary to save lives, there will eventually need to be a “reset” and a new administration, he continued.

Meanwhile, civil society groups have also reported increased repression of their activities, indicating a further weakening of South Sudan’s social resilience.

“There has been a steady uptick in press freedom violations in South Sudan in recent months,” Murithi Mutiga, East Africa correspondent for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), told IPS. “We have seen a number of cases of newspaper outlets being arbitrarily closed down, the most prominent cases being the Nation Mirror and the Juba Monitor.”

Press freedom can support the pursuit of a sustained cessation of hostilities, urged CPJ, because accurate and accessible public information allows citizens to better understand how to react to crises without turning to violence. A well-informed population may also be better positioned to define a peaceful future for their country.

The importance of uninhibited civil society for conflict prevention also matches the priorities outlined in two identical resolutions passed by the UN Security Council and General Assembly in April, which recognize pathways to “sustaining peace.” Notably, this includes the development and maintenance of social, political and economic conditions necessary for conflict to be prevented.

South Sudan has experienced persistent violence since 2013, when armed conflict broke out between groups loyal to president Salva Kiir and opposition leader in exile Riek Machar. Fighting escalated along ethnic lines, pitting Dinka against Nuer, until a peace agreement was signed in August 2015. But fighting continued and escalated in July 2016 with a series of clashes in Juba, which left approximately 300 dead. Over the last three years thousands have been killed, over 1.6 million people remain internally displaced, and roughly 4.8 million currently suffer from food insecurity, according to the UN.

While the implementation of September’s joint communiqué will be reviewed with next steps considered at the end of the month, South Sudan’s Humanitarian Response Plan is severely under-funded at just over 50 percent; despite there being no doubt that South Sudan needs immediate assistance.

But this will only serve as a stop-gap against man-made famine. While the Security Council may still unite for the application of an embargo, the fate of South Sudan ultimately lies with its leadership. Their ability to find a lasting agreement, with support from the UN, the African Union, and IGAD, hinges on their willingness to stop the conflict.

“The lives and future of an entire generation hang in the balance,” Tony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF, said Thursday. “Literally the future of South Sudan.”

Refugees in the southeastern region of Niger say they no longer fear Boko Haram, but their problems are far from over.

Diffa, Niger - As Nigerian forces have progressed against Boko Haram, the cornered terror group has been carrying out more attacks in neighbouring countries. In Niger's Diffa region on the northeastern border of Nigeria, more than 280,000 people have been displaced.

Read the full article on Al Jazeera

In Numbers

6.3 million people severely food insecure in areas affected by Boko Haram

4 countries affected

2.6 million people displaced, with 1.9 mil-lion IDPs in Nigeria alone

9.2 million people in need of assistance

Highlights

• WFP is scaling up its assistance to provide life-saving assistance to more than 1.6 million people in desperate need in the Lake Chad Basin.

• WFP provided food and nutrition support to more than 600,000 people in Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

• WFP completed food distributions to the targeted 56,000 Nigerian refugees in Minawao camp, Cameroon.

Situation Update

In Nigeria, the security situation remains of major concern and attempts to scale up opera-tions require a compartmentalized approach to enabling operations. Field operations priorities are to find feasible means to safely deliver life-saving assistance in a complex threat context.

• Boko Haram continue suicide bombings and attacks in Cameroon, along the border, with fre-quently reported abductions of citizens in Mayo Sava district. The deteriorating security situa-tion resulted in increased population displace-ments to Mémé, Djounde and Mora. A large number of displaced persons are located in Kolofata, where WFP was unable to open a dis-tribution site in the area despite several at-tempts, due to the frequency of attacks.

• Despite strengthened security measures along the border between Chad and Niger, Boko Haram insurgents continue incursions into Chad territory. 8,000 newly displaced people and 800 refugees are likely to be left without assistance.

• Chad is currently hosting approximately 6, 500 Nigerian refugees in the Dar-es-Salam camp and over 120,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) settled in 45 sites. Among them, around 45,000 people arrived in the north of Baga Sola, Liwa and Daboua and are in urgent need of life-saving food assistance.

• In August, several attacks were led by Boko Haram in Diffa, Niger. On 22 August, a total of 21,244 refugees were in both Sayam Forage and Kablewa camps. These figures exceed the 15,000 refugees planned for August.

• Insecurity, displacement, disrupted agricultural activi-ties and cross-border trade continue to undermine com-munities’ livelihoods and have resulted in a sharp rise in food insecurity. In the areas affected by Boko Haram violence, more than 6.3 million people face hunger. In Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, northeastern Nigeria, 4.4 million people are food insecure. In areas affected by violence in neighboring countries, there are 1.4 million food insecure people in Cameroon, 399,000 in Niger and 133,000 in Chad.

London/Abuja, Nigeria, 28 September 2016 – The humanitarian emergency in northeastern Nigeria is reaching catastrophic levels. A massive relief effort is needed immediately in remote areas as well as in the state capital, the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said today.

The desperate living conditions in Borno state show the devastating impact of the ongoing conflict between Boko Haram and the Nigerian military. In several locations, people have sought refuge in towns or camps controlled by the military, and are entirely reliant on outside aid that does not reach them. “Although a nutrition emergency was declared three months ago, there has been a serious failure to help the people of Borno,” said Hugues Robert, head of MSF’s emergency response. “And we are again calling for a massive relief effort to be deployed now.”

On 19 September, MSF teams managed to reach the town of Ngala, where 80,000 displaced people are living in a camp cut off from the outside world. They desperately lack food and healthcare. People are effectively stranded in the camp and cannot leave. A rapid nutritional screening of more than 2,000 children under the age of five found that one in 10 was suffering from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition. People in the camp reported having less than half a litre of water per person per day. MSF teams provided food and medical care and are scaling up assistance.

In nearby Gambaru, MSF teams found more than one in seven children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. The town’s 123,000 residents lack basic food supplies and have no access to healthcare after the town’s only clinic was burnt down. Roads are too dangerous for people to go elsewhere for medical care.

The desperate situation in Ngala and Gamburu matches that in Bama, Banki and Gwoza – all towns which were inaccessible until very recently due to insecurity, and where MSF has since been providing food and medical assistance. But most worryingly, in Maiduguri, where there is no conflict and aid organisations have been able to access the population for the last two years, MSF recorded malnutrition rates in some locations as high as those seen in the conflict zones. More than half of the 2.5 million people living in the state capital have been displaced from other areas of Borno. MSF teams screening children in the Custom House camp found that one in five children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. The mortality rate is five times higher than what is considered an emergency, with the main cause being hunger.

“So far the aid response has been massively insufficient, uncoordinated and ill-adapted to the needs of people who are suffering the consequences of this crisis,” said Natalie Roberts, MSF emergency programme manager. “To avert an even greater humanitarian disaster, food and medical care must be delivered now to remote and accessible areas in Borno state. Nigerian authorities have a responsibility to make sure this happens for the sake of thousands who are at risk of imminent death.”

Notes for the editor: MSF has been providing healthcare to people displaced by violence, as well the host community, in northeastern Nigeria since mid-2014. Elsewhere in the country, in places like Zamfara, Port Harcourt and Jahun, MSF continues to run extensive projects on child health and sexual and reproductive health, and also responds to medical emergencies such as meningitis and measles outbreaks. In 2015, MSF teams performed 33,500 outpatient consultations, treated 18,100 patients for malaria, assisted 9,200 births and conducted 2,400 surgical interventions.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) respond to environmental emergencies through the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit (JEU). JEU combines UNEP's environmental expertise with the OCHA-coordinated humanitarian network. This helps to ensure an integrated approach by coordinating international efforts and mobilizing partners.

The conflict in Borno State started in 2009 when Boko Haram launched attacks in Bauchi, Borno, Yobe and Kano. By 2014, Boko Haram controlled large swathes of territory in Borno State.

In 2015, Nigeria elected a new President who vowed to take back control of territory from Boko Haram and also stamp out corruption in the country. Since then the Nigerian army has been engaged in fighting with Boko Haram, including by launching airstrikes that began in 2016, in areas under Boko Haram control. The army has now taken back many cities and villages and is securing them.

The nature of the conflict between the Nigerian army and Boko Haram has changed to include military assistance from the neighbouring countries of Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

MSF Projects

Maiduguri

MSF has been present in Maiduguri on a permanent basis since April 2014 working on paediatric and maternal health and nutrition and previously controlled cholera epidemics on several occasions.

Today more than 1.1 million internally displaced people (IDPs) are living in Maiduguri (according to the International Organization for Migration), most of them within the host community, while the others are accommodated in camps (two informal camps and 11 official camps).

The camps

The population in most camps remained stable in August. However, there was an influx of IDPs in Muna Garage camp. In the meantime, IDPs returned back from Maiduguri with the army’s assistance on a voluntary basis, though many of them came back to Maiduguri because they did not find proper living conditions. In Maiduguri, MSF is conducting a health surveillance activity now covering all official camps and the two unofficial camps of Muna and Customs House, where high rates of mortality for children under five have been recorded.

On 6 and 7 September, MSF launched an operation in Custom House Camp. 1,136 children were screened for malnutrition. The severe acute malnutrition rate and moderate acute malnutrition rate were 20.8 per cent and 37.3 per cent, respectively. The team distributed to 1,500 families food rations for one month and relief kits including mosquito nets, jerry cans, soap, mats, and blankets. They also provided seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis to 1,057 children and 109 medical consultations. In mid-September, MSF ran a similar operation in Muna Garage Camp. Food rations and relief kits were distributed to 2,500 families.

Maimusari and Bolori health centres

In Maiduguri, we run two heath centres, Maimusari and Bolori, where we run outpatient departments providing more than 2,100 consultations/week in each location with 45 per cent of consultations for children under five in Maimusari and as much as 71 per cent in Bolori. The centres also include ambulatory therapeutic feeding centres (ATFC) that provided treatment for an average of 318 patients per week in August in the two sites. In August, the screening of 4,918 children for malnutrition in Maimusari showed a severe acute malnutrition rate of 18.7 per cent and a moderate acute malnutrition rate of 41.2 per cent. In Bolori, the screening of 6,033 children showed a severe acute malnutrition rate of 8.9 per cent and a moderate acute malnutrition rate of 28.4 per cent.

MSF also provides maternity services in the health centres (simple deliveries, antenatal care and postnatal consultations). 6,393 consultations took place in Maimusari and Bolori combined in August, and an average of 100 deliveries per week were assisted in Maimusari. In early August in Maimusari, we opened an inpatient department with 50 beds for paediatric patients and a paediatric intensive care unit. 153 patients were admitted in the paediatric IPD in August, with malaria being the most common illness treated.

Gwange ITFC

In Gwange, a district in Maiduguri, MSF runs an inpatient therapeutic feeding centre (ITFC) with a 110-bed capacity. The ITFC is under tents, in the compound of the Ministry of Health-run health centre. 387 patients were admitted in August, 21 of whom were children under the age of 6 months. To compensate for the lack of food, we started in late September to provide family food rations to each child admitted in the ITFC.

Bama

After Nigerian authorities and a local NGO organised the evacuation of 1,192 people requiring medical care from Bama area to Maiduguri in mid-June, an MSF team visited Bama with a military escort on 21 June and found a population in a catastrophic situation. Of the 800 children MSF screened, 19 per cent were suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Estimated mortality at that time was very high. Medical data from the health centre reported 188 deaths from 23 May 23 to 21 June, mainly from diarrhoea and malnutrition; counting of the graves in the cemetery behind the camp showed more than 1,200 graves dug since the IDPs had been gathered in the hospital compound. Five children died during the assessment.

Bama is a ghost town held by the army, where the IDP camp is located inside the compound of the hospital, under military control. An estimated 15,000 people are living in the camp, mostly women and children under the age of five. They live in makeshift shelters made of iron sheeting taken from houses and are totally dependent on outside help for food.

A team returned to Bama on 19 July with a military escort to provide medical and nutritional support via ATFC and medical consultations, as well as water and sanitation improvements. A referral system to Maiduguri was organised with State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) ambulances and school buses.

The team returned in mid-August and mid-September for four days. The visits aimed at rapidly reducing morbidity and mortality among children under the age of five by providing therapeutic food to malnourished children (PlumpyNut®) as well as food rations for one month (beans, oil and BP5: fortified biscuits) for 2,500 families. During the last visit, 153 children were diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition and 360 with moderate acute malnutrition. Complicated cases were referred to Maiduguri. To improve the very poor sanitary conditions, 40 latrines were built in the camp.

Monguno

According to the SEMA, an estimated 73,400 IDPs are living in nine camps in Monguno, where there was almost no access to healthcare since January 2015 for the residents and IDPs. The UNICEF clinic and the ALIMA clinic are overwhelmed. Considering the lack of secondary healthcare, MSF opened an inpatient department on 1 September. We set up a paediatric inpatient services, an ITFC and an emergency room under tents, with an overall capacity of 50 beds. A total of 27 patients were admitted during the first week.

Damboa

The population of Damboa, southern Borno, is estimated to be between 60,000 and 75,000, with the majority of people displaced from the surrounding area and living in satellite camps in the town as well as in three makeshift camps in schools and the general hospital. More than half of the town is destroyed. While the situation in the town of Damboa has started to stabilise, and displaced people continue to arrive regularly, there is still insecurity in the direct surroundings.

An MSF team has been on the ground treating patients in Damboa since 17 July and now runs three clinics providing primarily healthcare and nutrition services, including an inpatient facility. The majority of patients seen have presented with malnutrition, malaria, respiratory tract infections, diarrhoea and/or skin infections due to the lack of hygiene. MSF is also running an outreach programme with health promotion, active case finding and surveillance. MSF also runs a water and sanitation programme to ensure increased water quantities in the camps. Existing latrines were emptied and are regularly being cleaned; additional new latrines were built. A distribution of non-food items to 15,000 families is taking place, aimed at the entire affected population. The team distributes two mosquito nets, two buckets, soap, two blankets, a potty, cups and a kettle per family. MSF has also responded to a measles outbreak and conducted a measles vaccination campaign for 28,000 children between six months and 15 years of age. Mortality rates remain above the emergency threshold. Since the start of the intervention, more than 15,000 patients have been treated including 500 children for severe acute malnutrition. As of next week, seven malaria treatment points will be opened in the community and the ITFC will be operational.

Kaga LGA

In Kaga local government area (LGA), located in western Borno state, MSF is currently running three ATFCs located in Beni Sheikh, the capital town of the LGA, Ngamdu and Minok. Malnourished children who need to be hospitalised from these three locations are referred to the ITFC in Damaturu hospital (the capital of Yobe State, located 62 kilometres west from Beni Sheikh), where MSF is also running a nutritional program. A new extension to the Damaturu ITFC has been built to accommodate new referrals from the three ATFC sites. From mid-June to the end of August, a total of 4,620 children under 5 years old were screened for malnutrition, 879 of whom were suffering severe acute malnutrition and were admitted in the ATFC programme in Beni Sheikh, Ngamdu and Minok. Moreover, more than 70 children have been referred to Damaturu ITFC. In the coming weeks, MSF will start treating the complicated cases of severe acute malnutrition in a new ITFC in Beni Sheikh town. At the same time, MSF is preparing to provide primary healthcare for children in one health facility of Beni Sheikh.

Gwoza LGA

After an assessment carried out in early August in Gowza LGA, MSF plans to start working in the coming weeks on nutrition and providing primary and secondary healthcare (with a specific focus on paediatric and maternal healthcare) for the general population of Gowza town (Hausari and Bulabulin). MSF is also planning a targeted food distribution. The estimated population of these two sites is 46,000 people. A team was deployed in week 36 to prepare the facility and launch activities. MSF is also planning to start activities in Pulka in the coming days.

Banki

MSF teams from Cameroon have been providing emergency medical assistance and delivering food in Banki, over the Nigerian border, since July. The town has an estimated population of 30,000 and most are IDPs. People are blocked in the town for security reasons, and they lack access to food, water and adequate healthcare. MSF medical teams regularly cross the Cameroon-Nigeria border to provide assistance. Fourteen per cent of the children screened by MSF on 19 July were suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and nearly one in three children was malnourished. In response, MSF provided therapeutic food to 4,948 children and vaccinated them against measles. A total of 3,600 families received emergency food aid. Some 5,000 children received preventive malaria treatment.

Mortality rates in Banki remain very high. A recent survey by MSF showed that 70 out of 2,134 children under the age of five died from 20 July to September. 145 adults out of 8,396 died during the same period. The principal causes for death are diarrhoea and malaria.

Ngala and Gambaru

MSF teams from Cameroon also managed to access Ngala in Nigeria for the first time on 19 September, where they found 80,000 internally displaced people cut off from the outside world in a camp controlled by the Nigerian military. A rapid nutritional screening of more than 2,000 children under five years of age found that one in ten were suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and people reported having less than half a litre of water per day. MSF teams provided food and medical care and plan to scale up assistance.

In Gambaru, a town a few kilometres from Ngala, MSF teams found that over 15 per cent of children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition. The town’s 123,000 residents lack basic food supplies and have no access to healthcare. The only health centre was burnt down, and the road is too dangerous for people to leave to seek care elsewhere.