| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
Source: UN OLS (contact: gwilcox@unicef.org)
UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES Operation Lifeline
Sudan (Southern Sector) Weekly Report: 19th
- 25th April
General Situation
On 22nd April, NGOs received a letter from the Executive
Secretary of the SRRA informing them that all NGOs
should sign the attached Memorandum of Understanding
with the SRRA by 30th April. NGOs who did not wish
to sign the MOU would be required to leave SPLM-held
areas of south Sudan. After intense negotiations, involving
OLS management and the donors, the deadline for signing
the MOU was lifted on 28th April, and the negotiations
for agreeing a mutually acceptable MOU will resume.
Insecurity continues in Chukudum, and the location is
currently no-go for OLS agencies. In addition, the
Natinga-New Cush road has been declared unsafe by OLS
Security.
During the reporting period, five C-130 Hercules and
three Buffalo aircraft operated out of Lokichokkio
and two C-130 Hercules and one Ilyushin-76 operated
out of El Obeid and Khartoum.
Meetings & Workshops
OLS Retreat The annual OLS southern sector retreat took
place in Machakos on 22-24th April. Staff from over
30 NGOs, as well as UNICEF and WFP, met to discuss
issues such as Targeted Aircraft Funding, OLS relations,
Emergency preparedness and Program Quality. The Retreat
report is expected soon, but the main actions points
agreed upon include:
TAF: the Share a Ride system will be phased out.
OLS Relations: the Retreat reconfirmed the viability
of the OLS consortium in its present form.
Emergency Preparedness: a move towards a consortium
wide contingency plan and emergency response, with
the Emergency Preparedness and Response Officer as
the focal point.
Program Quality: the Nakuru recommendations for improving
the quality of OLS programs were reconfirmed. The
need to develop capacity for independent program quality
evaluation was recognised, although further discussion
on the mechanisms would be required.
UNHCR officials visited Lokichoggio on 21st April and
announced plans to hold three workshops on protection
of refugees in northern Kenya. The first workshop will
be held in Kakuma on 5th May, the second on 6th May
in Lodwar and lastly on 7th May in Lokichoggio at the
Intereact Hall. UNHCR requested the participation of
nine OLS staff members. Agencies interested in participating
in this workshop have been requested to give their
names to the camp manager.
Programme Health
Cholera In view of the confirmed and unconfirmed cases
of cholera reported by MSF-H in Lankien and Chuil,
MSF-H is setting up a clinic in Lankien to deal with
the outbreak of cholera in the area. According to MSF-H,
the outbreak is no longer confined to Akobo and Wanding
but seems to be spreading to other parts of Jonglei
and Upper Nile. MSF-B reported 655 admissions into
their PHCC in Akobo and nine deaths between 6th April
and 25th April.
Borrelia/Relapsing Fever The WHO/CDC team returned to
Lokichoggio on 24th April from Rumbek and debriefed
OLS agencies on their findings. The team had previously
debriefed agencies based in Rumbek and Billing on 23rd
April. According to the team, borellia, commonly known
as relapsing fever, in Rumbek and Billing was louse
- borne. The disease is transmitted through the body
louse and not the head louse. The team attributed the
outbreak to poor sanitation and unhygienic practices
that offer a conducive breeding environment for the
louse. Most people in the area live far from water
points, lack soap for cleaning clothes and rarely change
their clothing. The team observed that many people
were infested.
The villagers found it difficult to accept that the
killer disease was spread through lice. Lice have always
been part of their lives and wondered why it was the
cause of disease today.
The team with the help of NGOs and counterparts devised
the following control measures:
- Educating the community about the connection between
the body
louse and borellia and therefore the need for
personal hygiene.
- Delouse suspected cases of borellia and treat patients
with
appropriate antibiotics at the PHCC / PHCU.
- Health workers to visit the homes of suspected cases
and treat
and delouse all family members since the disease
is highly contagious and could easily spread from
one family member to the other.
- Documentation of reported cases.
- Train health workers on relapsing fever control and
treatment.
- Stockpile antibiotics and delousing powder in locations
with
reported cases.
Nutrition
A nutrition assessment team, consisting of seven nutrition
consultants, commenced the nutrition survey of 15 locations
in Aweil East, Aweil West, Gogrial and Twic counties
in Bahr el Ghazal on 15th April. The survey was prompted
by reports of emerging pockets of malnutrition in these
locations. The assessment is based on the 30 cluster
UNICEF/WHO sampling procedure whose purpose is to determine
the nutritional status of children below 5 years of
age at this period which covers the beginning of hunger
gap. The results of the assessment will give a baseline
situation and a broad understanding of nutritional
status which will guide interventions during the hunger
gap and in future. NGOs are carrying out surveys in
their areas of operation and UNICEF is covering locations
not covered by NGOs. The assessment is scheduled to
end in mid-May.
Food Distribution 1931.74 tons of food was distributed
to 176,320 beneficiaries in south Sudan. WFP distributed
food to Aweil East and West, which recently reported
increased malnutrition levels amongst children, adolescents
and adults.
WFP resumed food distribution to Gumriak, which has
been declared insecure for two months, after the location
was cleared by OLS security about two weeks ago. The
following table summarises WFP food distribution to
various locations in south Sudan:
Bahr el Ghazal
Location Beneficiaries Quantity of Food in MTS Abuyong
3,300 55 Ajiep 18,342
143 Baar 38,520
334 Turalei 22,068 226 Midel
10,000 160 Tieralet 10,140
137 Nyamlell 32,330
322
Upper Nile/Jonglei
Location Beneficiaries Quantity of Food in MTS Gumriak
15,360 142 Nhialdiu 26,260
172
Training WFP staff held a training session in Liil,
Twic County in Bahr el Ghazal for members of the local
Relief Committees which includes women's groups, chiefs
and local counterparts on security measures needed
during WFP air drops and distributions.
Supplies
The following supplies from UNICEF stores were distributed
to south Sudan.
19th April . 410 kilograms of health and nutrition supplies
to Padak, Adior,
Banya and Malualukon . 10 kilograms of veterinary
supplies to Malualkon . 30 kilograms of agriculture
supplies to Malualkon . 60 kilograms of education supplies
to Malualkon
20th April . 7,750 kilograms of agricultural supplies
to Pochala . 15 kilograms of veterinary supplies to
Mabior . 174 kilograms of health supplies to Baau .
8,520 kilograms of water and sanitation supplies to
Narus and
Naita.
21st April . 3,725 kilograms of health and nutrition
supplies to Akon. . 280 kilograms of vet supplies to
Marial and Mading. . 4,300 kilograms of agriculture
supplies to Longochok. . 650 kilograms of education
supplies to Akon and Malualkon. . 600 kilograms of
camp supplies to Akon.
22nd April . 410 kilograms of veterinary supplies to
Pochala . 12,880 kilograms of health and nutrition
supplies to Aburoc,
Nyamlel, Padak, Akon, Billing, Abuyong and Lual
. 45 kilograms of camp supplies to Ajiep . 10 kilograms
of agricultural supplies to Mabior
23rd April . 585 kilograms of vet supplies to Thiet
and Nanyagachor . 2,200 kilograms of health and nutrition
supplies to Akon . 240 kilograms of education supplies
to Akon and Thiet . 15 kilograms of agricultural supplies
to Thiet . 865 kilograms of camp supplies to Akon
24th April . 744 kilograms of water supplies to Leer
. 4 kilograms of agricultural supplies to Wunrock
25th April . 1,260 kilograms of health and nutrition
supplies to Akon,
Yambio and Nyal . 415 kilograms of vet supplies
to Narus and Pochalla . 1,805 kilograms of Agricultural
supplies to Yambio
Visitors
Mr. Ralph Hazleton and Mr. Douglas Clements from CIDA
returned to Nairobi on 25th April after an eleven-day
visit to Lokichoggio and south Sudan. The team toured
the UNICEF HHFS project in Bunagok and Banya, World
Vision activities in Lunyaker and other NGO activities
in Panthou.
Paul Filler and the new European Union Head of Delegation
to Khartoum, Xavier Marchal visited Lokichoggio on
22nd April. The delegation toured the airstrip, met
OLS agencies and had a security briefing with the
UNICEF security team. The UNICEF/OLS Information and
Communications Officer accompanied the delegation.
Simon Mansfield of the DFID arrived in Lokichoggio on
20th March to view the activities of OLS agencies.
He visited Lankien, south Sudan on 24th March to view
CMA and MSF-H activities. Mr. Mansfield had earlier
visited the SCF-UK and MSF-B projects in Acumcum and
Ajiep. He is scheduled to return to Nairobi on 26th
April.
Sylwester Walczak and Szymon Karpinski of Rzeczpospolita
Newspaper in Warsaw Poland arrived in Lokichoggio on
25th April. The crew is scheduled to visit Rumbek with
Diocese of Rumbek and to hold a debriefing session
with the OLS Field Co-ordinator upon their return on
27th April.
Security
The Chief Security Officer on 25th April expressed concern
about the poor turn out of OLS staff for the Security
workshop that commenced on the 25th April. Only five
people turned up for the workshop though 44 participants
had confirmed their attendance by 21st April.
21st April: The New Cush-Natinga route was closed to
OLS agencies following an ambush on a NCA vehicle by
about ten armed men. All valuables were stolen but
the occupants were unharmed.
25th April: Chukudum was evacuated following fighting
which, reportedly resulted in the deaths of four people.
[ENDS]
Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 17:13:05 +0300 (EAT) From: IRIN - Central and Eastern Africa <irin@ocha.unon.org> Subject: SUDAN: OLS (Southern Sector) Weekly Report 29-15 April [19990503]
Editor: Dr. Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D
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