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Sudan: Food Emergency
Sudan: Food Emergency
Date distributed (ymd): 980602
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: East Africa
Issue Areas: +security/peace+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains several notices from UN agencies on the
current food emergency in the Sudan.
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
UN Calls For Urgent Assistance To Save Lives Of Sudanese
May 20, 1998
For UN press briefings and news releases, see the UN Web Site
(http://www.un.org/News).
Geneva - United Nations relief officials said today
contributions were urgently needed in order to save the lives
of over 700,000 people in Sudan.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA), in the troubled region of Bahr Al Ghazal
alone, an estimated 380,000 people are suffering from severe
hunger.
In humanitarian terms, this is one of the toughest years in
the recent history of Sudan, said Ross Mountain, OCHA's
Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator-designate. Mr. Mountain
said Bahr Al Ghazal is not the only region where the
combination of drought and insecurity has produced acute
emergencies. In the war-affected parts of the country, he
added, the United Nations estimated that more than 700,000
people require food and non-food assistance.
During the past few weeks the United Nations has been very
pleased with a number of important breakthroughs in access
which allows Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) to intervene where
needed and to avert famine conditions, especially in Bahr Al
Ghazal, Mr. Mountain said. OLS, which brings together United
Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations to deliver
relief assistance, has operated in Sudan for the last ten
years. Since 31 March, OLS has had access to all locations in
Bahr Al Ghazal and to over 180 locations across the country.
As of early May, the Government of the Sudan approved the use
of eight heavy cargo aircraft including five C-130 and three
Buffalos.
Before 23 April, when OLS was only permitted to fly one C-130
aircraft, the United Nations was able to move approximately 32
MTs of food into Bahr Al Ghazal each day. Now with four C-130
aircraft operational, OLS is able to move 128 metric tonnes of
food each day. The United Nations has worked around the clock
to address the crisis in Bahr Al Ghazal. Within days of
receiving permission, extra aircraft were operational. The
fifth C-130 is expected to begin flying shortly. OLS now has
the access and the logistical capacity to deliver humanitarian
aid wherever it needs to go.
Mr. Mountain said the United Nations also has the best
opportunity in years to assess needs in the rebel-held areas
of the Nuba Mountains. There are also significant needs in
Government areas of the Nuba Mountains which need to be
addressed.
'The UN is gratified that all parties have recently agreed to
an United Nations mission to assess humanitarian needs in the
rebel-held areas of the Nuba Mountains', he said. 'We
appreciate the sensitivity of the issue for all concerned and
therefore applaud the agreement of the Government of Sudan,
which was announced by the Sudanese Foreign Minister on 13
May, to support the holding of the mission. The UN is making
arrangements for this mission which will be launched shortly'.
'We are aware of recent press reports from people in
rebel-held areas indicating that humanitarian needs in the
area are great and that deliveries to rebel areas should come
from the OLS staging base in Lokichokio, in northern Kenya',
he continued. 'The United Nations position on this is
unequivocal: One, the UN urgently needs to assess the
humanitarian needs in these locations. Two, no decision on the
routing of relief assistance will be taken until after the
assessment has been completed. Furthermore, sole
responsibility for these decisions rests with the United
Nations alone. At our meeting yesterday, donors strongly
endorsed these positions'.
The United Nations appealed to both parties to offer the
support required in order for the United Nations to act in the
humanitarian interests of the civilians in need in the area,
he said.
Mr. Mountain added that yesterday OCHA convened a special set
of consultations with donors to discuss the humanitarian
crisis, strategies for addressing it and the resources the
United Nations needs to stabilize conditions in acute areas.
'At yesterday's meeting', he said, 'the UN was very pleased
that donors reaffirmed their support for Operation Lifeline
Sudan as the primary vehicle for channelling relief assistance
to Sudan and their willingness to provide the financial
support to ensure that the United Nations can deliver relief
to those in need'. Yesterday donors announced pledges
amounting to some $9.6 million, which comes in addition to the
$32 million already received by the United Nations this year
for humanitarian work in Sudan.
However, the United Nations Consolidated Inter-agency Appeal
for Sudan requests a total of $109 million this year for
humanitarian assistance to Sudan. The United Nations has
received only 38 percent of this amount, leaving an estimated
shortfall of $67.4 million.
In the next three to four months, an estimated $35.8 million
are urgently required:
- World Food Programme immediate food needs for areas with
acute emergencies, including Bahr Al-Ghazal, are $31.3
million. A number of contributions are in the pipeline which
will reduce the net requirements for the next three to four
months.
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) immediate non-food
needs for Bahr Al-Ghazal have been estimated at $4.5 million
to meet health, nutrition and household food security needs.
In addition, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Unit
requires $741,000. The continuing conflict in Sudan has
produced the world's largest group of internally displaced
persons. OCHA's office in Khartoum operates one of the United
Nations's only integrated assistance and protection programmes
for the displaced. According to Mr. Mountain, 'this pioneering
programme has enabled us to better address both the emergency
needs of populations displaced by war and, in cooperation with
the Government of Sudan, to ensure that the longer-term needs
of these populations are explored'.
'We now have the access and the capacity', he said. 'Now we
need the money urgently to ensure that the UN can save the
lives of over 700,000 people in Sudan, one of the worst-hit
countries in Africa'.
19 May 1998
Excerpts from
Press Briefing on Assistance for Southern Sudan
13 May 1998
At a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon, Emergency
Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello, made an urgent
appeal to the international community for assistance for the
people of southern Sudan.
He said the conflict in Sudan was one of the longest running
in recent history. He had served in southern Sudan at the end
of the first civil war, from 1973 to 1974 and all the work
that was done then to return refugees to their homes and
provide them with the means for a dignified and peaceful
livelihood, had turned out to be in vain, as the war resumed
soon thereafter and had been continuing ever since.
He said the situation in southern Sudan had deteriorated since
February as a result of renewed hostilities and the effects of
the drought that hit the country. As a result, around 800,000
civilians were in danger, and many had already died.
...
A correspondent said that two weeks ago, Carol Bellamy, the
Executive Director of UNICEF, had told journalists she was
concerned about an apparent "donor fatigue". Did Mr. de Mello
sense that people around the world had become desensitized to
disasters, especially in Africa? "Absolutely", he said. That
was a problem faced by everyone in the humanitarian community.
It was a new and worrying trend, and it was not limited to
Africa.
"And let's face it, the amounts we're talking about are not
that great when you imagine the degree of suffering that is
ongoing in so many of these emergency situations", Mr. de
Mello went on to say. He appealed to correspondents to bring
the situation to the media forefront. Otherwise, there was no
hope of overcoming that indifference. Noting contributions
that had been made by Governments, Ted Turner, and other
sources, he said that much more was still needed.
To what did he attribute the recent cooperation of the
Sudanese Government, and what hope did that give him for a
peaceful settlement of the long-running conflict in that
country? a correspondent asked. Recommending that the
correspondent put the first part of his question to the
Sudanese Mission, Mr. de Mello said there was a new and
welcome trend in Khartoum. The Sudanese Government seemed to
be accepting that humanitarian assistance to victims of the
conflict did not constitute an interference in its internal
affairs.
Relief for the victims was an obligation of both sides in the
conflict and of the international community as a whole, Mr. de
Mello said. He hoped one of the motives was that the
Government had accepted that the United Nations and the
non-governmental organizations assisting it were not
conducting any "funny business" in southern Sudan. They were
simply helping the victims of the conflict until the two
parties had the courage and the vision to bring that conflict
to an end.
Food and Agriculture Organization
GLOBAL INFORMATION AND EARLY WARNING SYSTEM
ON FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
SPECIAL ALERT No. 282
(Circulated only for countries where foodcrops or supply
conditions give rise to concern)
COUNTRY: SUDAN
DATE: 15 MAY 1998
GRAVE FOOD SUPPLY DIFFICULTIES IN SOUTHERN SUDAN AND A BLEAK
PRODUCTION OUTLOOK FOR 1998
The food supply situation in southern Sudan gives cause for
serious concern. Intensified civil conflict since January,
particularly in Bahr El Ghazal, has resulted in fresh waves of
population displacement aggravating an already precarious food
situation following the 1997 drought-reduced harvest. This,
together with difficulties in distribution of relief
assistance, has led to severe malnutrition in Bahr El Ghazal,
Western Upper Nile and Eastern Equatoria States, with
starvation-related deaths reported from some areas. Food
prices have risen sharply throughout the region and are too
high for the majority of the population. Coping mechanisms
have been largely exhausted. Reflecting serious food shortages
people have resorted to the consumption of wild fruits and
plants. In Bahr El Ghazal region alone 350 0000 people,
including 150 000 recently displaced, are at risk of
starvation unless adequate relief assistance is distributed
urgently. Nutrition surveys carried out by UNICEF on children
under five in Wau, the capital of West Bahr El Ghazal,
indicate an overall malnutrition rate of 29 percent of which
some 9 percent are severely malnourished.
Fifteen years of civil strife has dealt a serious blow to
southern Sudan's economy and damaged much of the region's
infrastructure. Economic and agricultural activities, as well
as traditional trading and exchange patterns, have been
seriously disrupted. Agriculture has suffered from physical
damage to infrastructure, population displacement, disruption
of marketing networks and input delivery mechanisms. Frequent
weather hazards have hampered production. A combination of
these factors has significantly reduced productivity and food
supplies, jeopardizing the food security of the population.
The December 1997 FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment
Mission estimated that the cereal production in Southern Sudan
(excluding the mechanized area of Renk) was 45 percent lower
than in 1996. Eastern Equatoria, Lakes, Bahr El Jebel and Bahr
El Ghazal were the most affected States, with widespread crop
failures due to the prolonged dry weather. Last year’s drought
also resulted in poor conditions of livestock and pastures.
Fifteen years ago, two-thirds of the population of southern
Sudan derived their living from pastoralism. However, the
prolonged civil conflict has resulted in incessant looting and
cattle raiding. Even in areas where localized surpluses of
grain are available in good years, poor infrastructure and
insecurity renders the transport of these surpluses to deficit
areas almost impossible. The disruption of economic activity
has resulted in high unemployment, which has limited the
access to food for many. As a result, large sections of the
population have become dependent on food aid and are highly
vulnerable to even small reductions in production. Some 60 to
70 per cent of the population in Eastern Equatoria, Bahr El
Ghazal, Lakes, parts of Jonglei State and the transitional
zones are currently in need of emergency food aid.
Difficulties in transporting relief food aid by land due to
insecurity and poor road conditions, as well as restrictions
on distribution since early February, have meant that only
limited quantities of assistance have reached the affected
population. The situation is expected to improve following the
Government's agreement with the UN Secretary-General in early
May to allow additional relief flights into most areas of the
South. However, flights have recently been interrupted by
heavy rains in northern Kenya, which have also washed away
vital bridges.
Prospects for the 1998 main season food crops, to be harvested
from July, will depend largely on rainfall in the next two
months. However, early indications are not encouraging.
Plantings, which normally take place in April, have been
reduced. Large areas have remained uncultivated because of
population displacement. Latest satellite images indicate
late, erratic and generally insufficient rainfall from late
March to the first dekad of May, with precipitation well below
normal in Bahr El Gazal, the state most affected by the civil
strife, and in areas of Western Equatoria. Severe shortages of
seeds, following last year's poor harvest, have also
compromised plantings. As a result, prospects so far for this
year's harvest are unfavourable. Another poor harvest this
year would have serious implications for the food security of
the population and widespread starvation may occur unless
adequate relief assistance is mobilized to the affected
population.
Donors are urged to make additional food aid pledges and to
provide financial support for seeds and tools for the next
cropping season. Support for the distribution of relief
assistance to the affected population is also needed.
This report is prepared on the responsibility of the FAO
Secretariat with information from official and unofficial
sources. Since conditions may change rapidly, please contact
Mr. Abdur Rashid, Chief, ESCG, FAO, (Telex 610181 FAO I; Fax:
0039-6-5705-4495, E-Mail (INTERNET): GIEWS1@FAO.ORG) for
further information if required.
Special Reports as well as quarterly reports on the Food
Supply Situation and Crop Prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa can
be found on the FAO web site (http://www.fao.org/giews).
The Special Alerts/Reports can also be received automatically
by E-mail as soon as these are published, subscribing to the
GIEWS/Alerts report ListServ. To do so, please send an E-mail
to the FAO-Mail-Server at the following address:
mailserv@mailserv.fao.org, leaving the subject blank, with the
following message:
subscribe GIEWSAlerts-L
To be deleted from the list, send the message:
unsubscribe GIEWSAlerts-L
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC), the educational
affiliate of the Washington Office on Africa. APIC's primary
objective is to widen the policy debate in the United States
around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa, by
concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant
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