http://www.irinnews.org/irin-fp.aspxUpdated everydayen-gbThu, 19 Nov 2009 14:14:02 GMTNAIROBI Thursday, November 19, 2009 (IRIN) - Residents of a coastal town in Somalia's self-declared autonomous region of Puntland saved the crew of a fishing boat when they foiled an attempt by pirates, who had captured the boat, to sail away.NAIROBI Thursday, November 19, 2009 (IRIN) - Residents of a coastal town in Somalia's self-declared autonomous region of Puntland saved the crew of a fishing boat when they foiled an attempt by pirates, who had captured the boat, to sail away.

The pirates had commandeered the boat off the Somali coast on 1 November and sailed it to the town of Eil in Puntland, northeastern Somalia. However, the boat, manned by nine Indians and Bangladeshis, hit a sandbank and ran aground in Eil, prompting the inhabitants to demand the mariners’ release.

“I think when they realized they where all Bengalis and Indians they decided to use the boat to hunt other ships and use the crew to run it," Abdirahman Hassan Koronto, a businessman in Eil, said.

He said the pirates tried to get the boat back in the high seas but residents stopped them. The pirates resisted for about five days but finally surrendered the crew, Koronto added.

"This is one case were their plan did not work out the way they wanted," said Koronto.

“If they went back to sea they were going to use them [the crew] so we decided that we would not let them harm these poor people," said Asha Abdikarim, a resident.

The residents asked the Puntland authorities to send forces to help them keep the boat, she told IRIN.

“I think when they saw the whole town - women, men and children - were out and confronting them, they thought better of it and released the crew to us," said Abdikarim. "For once we showed them that they cannot do their ugly deeds in our town."

She said residents of coastal towns were fed up with pirates. "No one wants them here," she said.

Elders took the nine crewmen to a hotel in town where they stayed until Puntland forces arrived.

Abdimahdi Abshir, the director of administration of the Puntland presidency, told IRIN the boat and crew were now in the hands of the authorities.

"The boat is being repaired and will be brought to Bosasso," he said, adding that the crew had been taken to Garowe, the Puntland capital, where they were under the care of the administration.

"They are doing well and we are trying to arrange for them to be sent home,” he said.

Abshir said the authorities had asked humanitarian agencies to help repatriate the seamen.

Phuban Das, a member of the boat's crew, told IRIN they were in Garowe and safe.

"We are free and here," he said.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87113HARGEISA Thursday, November 19, 2009 (IRIN) - Aden Muhumed Hassan, 46, a divorced father of one, lost his hands 11 years ago after he accidentally picked up unexploded ordnance [UXO] planted during fighting between the Somali National Movement (SNM) and former President Siad Barre's army in Somaliland's liberation struggle between 1981 and 1991, and during the Ogaden war between Somalia and Ethiopia in the late 1970s. HARGEISA Thursday, November 19, 2009 (IRIN) - Aden Muhumed Hassan, 46, a divorced father of one, lost his hands 11 years ago after he accidentally picked up unexploded ordnance [UXO] planted during fighting between the Somali National Movement (SNM) and former President Siad Barre's army in Somaliland's liberation struggle between 1981 and 1991, and during the Ogaden war between Somalia and Ethiopia in the late 1970s.

Ethiopian by origin, Hassan has lived in the self-declared republic of Somaliland since 1977. He told IRIN of his experience.

"It was about 10 in the morning [in 1988] when I was herding my cows in the Bali-Abane area [Somaliland]. When I tried to remove a piece of stick close to the place where I was watering the animals, I suddenly felt something explode; my hands were gone and I fell to the ground in shock.

"A few minutes later, I got up and walked back to the watering point where there were some people who knew me. They had nothing to stop the bleeding, so I asked them to get the leaves of the local Karir plant to control it.

"I was then loaded on to a camel and taken to Masajidka [where the SNM used to take its injured].

"Despite having no hands I was with the SNM veterans during the Somaliland liberation struggle. The war ended after the ouster of [former President] Barre [in 1991] and the capture of the northwestern regions of Somalia by the SNM. [Later the self-declared republic of Somaliland was declared.]

"I was then registered as an SNM war disabled veteran and stationed at the disabled centre in Hargeisa. The newly established government used to feed us there.

"But when the SNM term [in office] ended, we were told to go look for a livelihood. The government provided some money for those who had the worst injuries.

"I came to the city and my first job was collecting money at a company’s lavatory. I then started my own business selling charcoal in Daruraha [a settlement in the Ga’an libah District of Hargeisa] with some 200,000 Somaliland shillings [about US$32] I had saved.

"When you cannot use your hands, it is difficult eating or getting dressed. Before, when someone would give me some clothes, I did not like it because I believed I could not wear them; but later, I adapted.

"I can now wear my clothes; I can also use a spoon when eating. I am [even] better at collecting charcoal than my friends who have hands.

"Before I wanted to die but now I am able to work and I am surviving. I earn about 15,000-20,000 Somaliland shillings daily ($2.41 to $3.22).

"[Allah] has ordered us to work and promised that he will provide for our livelihood. It is for this reason that Alhamdullilah [thank God], he provides for me and my child."

maj/aw/mwhttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87116DUBAI Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (IRIN) - More people have died from H1N1 influenza in Iran than in any of the 22 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region, according to WHO’s 14 November update.DUBAI Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (IRIN) - More people have died from H1N1 influenza in Iran than in any of the 22 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region, according to WHO’s 14 November update.

With 33 deaths to date, Iran made up about 17 percent of the 188 total deaths in the region since May 2009. Saudi Arabia has had 28 deaths, Oman 25 and Syria 22.

Syria had by far the highest rate of deaths to cases with 9.5 percent of all cases being fatalities. This was followed by Yemen with a 2.5 percent rate, Afghanistan 1.7 percent and Iran 1.5 percent.

Kuwait had the highest number of cases with 6,640 (23 percent of all 28,751 cases in the region), followed by Saudi Arabia with 4,119; Oman 3,829; and Egypt 2,494.

Kuwait also had the highest number of cases per capita (populations taken from CIA Factbook) with 2.46 cases per 1,000 in the population, followed by Oman with 1.12 cases per 1,000 and Bahrain with 1.10 cases per 1,000.

Since WHO’s last regional H1N1 update on 7 November, Egypt has had the highest number of new cases, with 850, followed by Iraq with 561, Iran with 515 and Oman with 500.

Somalia reported its first two cases at the start of November.

As of 8 November, WHO reported that there were over 503,536 global cases of H1N1 with at least 6,260 deaths. However, it noted that because countries are “no longer required to test and report individual cases, the number of cases reported actually understates the real number of cases”.

WHO segments the world into six regions: Africa, the least affected region, had 2.9 percent of the global total of H1N1 cases; the Eastern Mediterranean Region 5.1 percent; Southeast Asia 8.8 percent; Europe 15.5 percent; the Western Pacific 29.8 percent and the Americas 37.9 percent.

BOX
Country Total laboratory-confirmed cases reported by the state parties Total deaths reported by the state parties
Afghanistan 779 14
Bahrain 793 6
Djibouti 9 0
Egypt 2,494 7
Iraq 1,835 9
Iran 2,153 33
Jordan 2,380 4
Kuwait 6,640 17
Lebanon 761 2
Libya 21 0
Morocco 824 0
Oman 3,829 25
Pakistan 6 1
Palestine 901 1
Qatar 23 1
Saudi Arabia 4,119 28
Somalia 2 0
Sudan 21 0
Syrian Arab Republic 230 22
Tunisia 141 0
United Arab Emirates 79 0
Yemen 711 18
Total 28,751 188

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87092NAIROBI Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (IRIN) - Escalating violence in the Somali town of Galkayo, Mudug region, is creating a climate of fear, which in turn has adversely affected livelihoods, residents say.NAIROBI Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (IRIN) - Escalating violence in the Somali town of Galkayo, Mudug region, is creating a climate of fear, which in turn has adversely affected livelihoods, residents say.

Cases of killings and explosions have increased in the past six weeks, with the business community attributing the trend to the demolition of a market and subsequent displacement and desperation of dozens of small-scale traders.

"The current climate of insecurity is affecting all aspects of our lives, including the ability to make a living," Fuad Abshir, a businessman in Galkayo, told IRIN.

Abshir said the town's authorities had been promising to do something about the deteriorating security situation but nothing had changed.

Abdiqani Hassan, another businessman, said he was now closing his shop much earlier than he used to due to insecurity. "I close three to four hours earlier than I did before, which impacts on how much business I do."

Hassan said security forces had exacerbated the situation by firing indiscriminately whenever explosions or gunshots were heard.

Abshir blamed the insecurity, in part, on the demolition of a market for small traders on 29 October by the authorities. "They demolished a market of hundreds of small traders without providing an alternative."

He said he suspected that many of the displaced traders were on the streets and "will do anything to survive". He urged the authorities to address the problems of the traders "as a priority, before things go from bad to worse".

In addition, the police had been lax in addressing the insecurity, he claimed.

Abshir said businesses paid taxes "and those taxes should be used to provide services such as security to the people".

Maryan Hashi, a mother of seven, was a small trader in the Suqa Bankiga market, demolished for security and health reasons. "I was not rich but I had a decent life and never asked for help from anyone to feed my children. Now I have nothing," she told IRIN.

She said the market supported hundreds of families who are now destitute and urged the authorities to address the issue.

Khalif Abdi Dala, an official at the Centre for Peace and Development in Galkayo, said the demolition had hit low-income families hardest.

"This was a place where low-income people eked out a living," Dala said. "It is a problem and the government needs to address it."

However, he said, "there is no serious security problem at the moment and what there is, is being addressed".

Ahmed Ali Salad, the governor of Mudug region, said “although Galkayo has had some problems, we are dealing with it.

"Galkayo is better placed than most in Somalia and our security situation is under control," he said. The security forces were redoubling their efforts.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87098NAIROBI Monday, November 16, 2009 (IRIN) - The first cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009 have been confirmed in Somalia, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).NAIROBI Monday, November 16, 2009 (IRIN) - The first cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009 have been confirmed in Somalia, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

"Two out of 10 samples tested positive for novel H1N1 [pandemic strain] on 3 November 2009 in KEMRI [Kenya Medical Research Institute] referral laboratory in Nairobi," Mohamed Mahamud Fuje, WHO's H1N1 focal point for Somalia, told IRIN.

On 9 November, WHO issued a statement saying Somalia was the last country in the Eastern Mediterranean region to report confirmed cases of H1N1.

2009 H1N1 (also known as “swine flu”) was first detected among human beings in Mexico, spreading worldwide in much the same way as regular seasonal influenza.

On 11 June 2009, WHO signalled that a pandemic of 2009 H1N1 flu was under way.

Awareness building

WHO said it had conducted training for 70 health workers from the self-declared republic of Somaliland and the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland "on case management, surveillance, outbreak communication and social mobilization, infection control, and vaccination".

Fuje added that this would be extended to south-central Somalia very soon to strengthen WHO’s surveillance. He said the aim was to train enough people and "if we do that I am confident we would be able to deal with any outbreak".

Bahsir Ali Bihi, the Puntland Minister of Health, told IRIN on 16 November that the region had started vaccinating people going to the Haj against H1N1.

"We have started with the pilgrims and we are also conducting prevention campaigns," Bihi said. "We are gearing up for a major campaign to sensitize people to the danger and how to prevent it."

Messages will be disseminated to the population by radio, pamphlets and billboards, he said.

WHO said personal protection equipment and laboratory diagnostic kits had been pre-positioned in Somalia for infection control and rapid diagnosis.

The biggest constraints are the lack of an effective and sensitive disease surveillance system which would enable early detection of cases of influenza-like illnesses, WHO noted.

The absence of appropriate laboratory facilities in Somalia had led to delays in the identification and confirmation of the H1N1 virus and further delays in response, WHO said. The agency recommends a national influenza centre be established.

Fuje said lack of sufficient funds was "severely hampering efforts to increase social mobilization and community awareness on prevention and case management".

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87055DUSHANBE Thursday, November 12, 2009 (IRIN) - Even as world food production grows, hunger is on the rise in many poor countries, according to the Global Crop Prospects and Food Situation report for November, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 12 November.DUSHANBE Thursday, November 12, 2009 (IRIN) - Even as world food production grows, hunger is on the rise in many poor countries, according to the Global Crop Prospects and Food Situation report for November [http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/ak340e/ak340e00.htm], published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 12 November.

The report highlights a contradiction: world cereal production is at its second-highest level ever, yet food prices remain very high. It identifies 77 countries that are both low-income and food deficit.

In East Africa, cereal prices range from 68 percent to 177 percent over the 2007 numbers. In southern Africa, prices are 58-200 percent higher than in 2007, and in most of Asia prices are up 40-70 percent. Since most low-income food deficit countries are food importers, they lose far more from high prices than they gain from steady crop production.

Hunger, in most cases, is caused by lack of money rather than a shortage of food production, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). [http://www.wfp.org/hunger/causes] In 2008 the number of undernourished people in the world increased by 40 million, despite record harvests. [http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/8836/icode/]

The new FAO report suggests that 2009 is likely to see a similar increase in hunger.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87006JOHANNESBURG Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (IRIN) - A move by donor countries to provide aid agencies with cash, allowing them the flexibility to source cheaper or more appropriate food in the region or beneficiary country and save on transport and warehousing costs, is not addressing nutritional needs, according to a new report.JOHANNESBURG Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (IRIN) - A move by donor countries to provide aid agencies with cash, allowing them the flexibility to source cheaper or more appropriate food in the region or beneficiary country and save on transport and warehousing costs, is also not addressing nutritional needs, according to a new report.

Food aid should include foodstuffs fortified with micronutrients and animal protein. "The emphasis is more on quantity rather than quality, and rarely does the food aid target the most vulnerable groups: children under five, pregnant women and lactating mothers," said Stéphane Doyon, of the international medical charity, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a co-author of the organization's report, Malnutrition: how much is being spent?

"Barely 1.7 percent of interventions reported as 'development food aid/food security' and 'emergency food aid' between 2004 and 2007 actually address nutrition needs," he said.

The MSF report was published ahead of a new UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) report, which points out that the level of child and maternal undernutrition "remains unacceptable" throughout the world; 90 percent of the developing world's chronically undernourished or stunted children live in Asia and Africa.

jk/he http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86993HARGEISA Tuesday, November 10, 2009 (IRIN) - Days after Saudi Arabia lifted a nine-year ban on livestock imports from Somalia, the market in Hargeisa, Somaliland, has seen a 10-fold increase in sales, according to local traders.HARGEISA Tuesday, November 10, 2009 (IRIN) - Days after Saudi Arabia lifted a nine-year ban on livestock imports from Somalia, the market in Hargeisa, Somaliland, has seen a 10-fold increase in sales, according to local traders.

"One thousand five hundred sheep used to be sold in the market before the recent announcement... compared to more than 16,000 animals in the market daily in the last few days," Jama Farah Du’alle, a middleman (`dilal’) in the market, told IRIN on 7 November.

Livestock keepers in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, whose mainstay is pastoralism, said they were beginning to see a change in their fortunes.

"In the last nine years I used to earn 5,000-10,000 Somaliland shillings a day [US $1.6 - 3.2] but by Allah’s mercy in the past few days I have been earning 60,000-70,000 a day, which has really improved my life," Du’alle said.

Somaliland’s livestock minister, Idiris Ibrahim Abdi, announced the Saudi move on 5 November. Imposed in late 2000, the ban followed an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in the Horn of Africa region.

RVF is an acute viral infectious disease of humans, cattle and sheep, which usually occurs during the rainy season. Clinically it is characterized by fever, loss of body coordination and sudden death.

Saudi Arabia, which used to be the biggest buyer of Somali livestock, said it had lifted the ban to coincide with the `haj’ pilgrimage later in November.

Better days for Berbera

The decision allows livestock keepers to ship animals to Saudi Arabia through Somaliland's traditional livestock port of Berbera. In the past, the port also served livestock trucked from the neighbouring Ethiopian regions of Somali and Oromiya.

Berbera had been losing its importance as a business centre since 2000. Thousands of people there moved to other towns such as Hargeisa and Burao.

"[Most] of the young men who used to work in the livestock export business as animal herders on vessels heading to Saudi Arabia, have moved to Arab countries or other urban centres within Somaliland," a local resident said.

The Saudi decision, according to local pastoralists, has renewed hope that Somali livestock can fetch a good price. "We have suffered in the last few years because of the ban; our animals had no value in the market.

"For example one lamb was valued at only about US$20, which is much less than the cost of foodstuff," said Rashid Haybe Illeeye, from the Lebi-Sagaale region along the Somaliland-Ethiopia border.

"Today I came with four lambs as usual - to buy food - and three of them were bought at $40-50," Illeeye said.

A local journalist based in Burao told IRIN that the lifting of the ban was a boon to all. "The market has not seen such activity for nine years," he explained. "The whole of Burao - from tea ladies, truckers and nomads, to porters - is doing a booming business."

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86959NAIROBI Monday, November 09, 2009 (IRIN) - Heavy rain, lack of medical services, few latrines and reduced aid have worsened the plight of the growing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) camping on the outskirts of Mogadishu, sources said.NAIROBI Monday, November 09, 2009 (IRIN) - Heavy rain, lack of medical services, few latrines and reduced aid have worsened the plight of the growing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) camping on the outskirts of Mogadishu, sources said.

"We have two clinics in the area covering over 30 camps, with an average population of 550 families (3,300 people) per camp," Hussein Ali Mohamed, a doctor with the UK-based charity Islamic Relief, said.

"I am seeing more and more cases of malnutrition and water-related diseases," he added. "There are not enough latrines and those that there are, are being used by three or four times the number of people they were designed for in 2007."

"You have people weakened by lack of food and poor health with minimum shelter," Mohammed told IRIN on 9 November, adding that the main problems were respiratory tract infections and diseases related to malnutrition.

"Yesterday [8 November], a two-year-old boy weighing 3.5kg was brought to the clinic… Normally he should have weighed over 10kg. Unfortunately, that is becoming more frequent than in the past."

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates there are some 900,000 IDPs in the Mogadishu-Afgoye corridor. Virtually all of them are in camps of one sort or another.

Asli Aden, a 30-year-old mother of four, has been an IDP in the Arbiska area, 20km south of Mogadishu, since 2007. While visiting the clinic with her sick child, she told IRIN that life in the camps was becoming even more difficult.

Food aid cut

In 2007 when she first came to the camps, her family used to get 100kg of sorghum, 10kg of beans, 10kg of porridge and 3ltr of cooking oil each month from aid agencies.
"First they reduced it [sorghum or maize] to 75kgs per month, and about four months ago they cut all food aid by half so that we now get 37kg of maize or sorghum, 5kg of beans, 5kg of porridge and 1.5ltr of cooking oil," she said. "Now, we don’t get oil or beans. I don’t know what we will do but it is getting harder and harder to feed the children."

The plastic sheeting covering her makeshift home also had so many holes in it that it no long provided shelter from the rain. "Some nights, when it rains, we have to move to the corrugated-iron sheet latrines for shelter," she explained.
Aid agencies in Somalia have recently said they needed more money but some donors are holding back, concerned at where resources might end up in areas too dangerous for international staff.

Many IDPs also used to go to Mogadishu to look for work and return to the camps with some earnings to supplement aid handouts. "Now because of the deteriorating security conditions many are afraid to go," Jowahir Ilmi, head of local NGO Somali Women’s Concern, said.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86941NAIROBI Friday, November 06, 2009 (IRIN) - Aid agencies operating in Somalia say they need more money but that some donors are holding back, concerned at where resources might end up in areas too dangerous for international staff.NAIROBI Friday, November 06, 2009 (IRIN) - Aid agencies operating in Somalia say they need more money but that some donors are holding back, concerned at where resources might end up in areas too dangerous for international staff.

"Some of the largest donors in 2008 have given much less or almost no support so far this year," said Kiki Gbeho, head of UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for Somalia.


Large parts of Islamist rebel-dominated southern and central Somalia are classified as just below the worst "famine" level on a five-point scale used by food security analysts. Aid planners are considering where needy people might move, in or out of the country, and where aid could be delivered securely.


As of November 2009, total available humanitarian funding for Somalia stands at US$571 million, compared with $615 million in 2008 (according to the OCHA-managed Financial Tracking System). However, this masks the fact that over $215 million was carried over from unspent or late 2008 monies.

Gbeho warned that if the funding situation did not improve soon, it could have a negative impact on the whole region, as fleeing Somalis sought relief not only within safer areas of Somalia as but in neighbouring countries too.
"According to one worst-case scenario, an additional 283,000 Somalis could flee to neighbouring countries and would require assistance," Gbeho said. "Already, 530,000 Somali refugees live in several countries in the region."

The lukewarm and unpredictable donor response, senior aid workers and observers told IRIN, is due at least in part to perceptions that aid operations cannot be properly supervised in areas controlled by armed groups, including Al-Shabab, which might steal or "tax" the aid or benefit indirectly. Some donors feel it is hard to provide the "due diligence" their taxpayers deserve and doubt "remote control" management and monitoring techniques [LINK]. This comes on top of budget pressures due to the global financial crisis, observers say.

The World Food Programme is conducting an internal investigation in response to allegations that some of its relief supplies are being diverted away from their intended beneficiaries.

Britain's Department for International Development (DFID), is "very concerned about allegations of humanitarian food aid being sold for profit in Somalia. Any future contributions to the WFP will be in the light of the findings of the investigation into the alleged misuse of aid," according to a spokesman.

"We are committed to helping the people of Somalia, and this year alone we will provide £23 million to tackle hunger, and provide healthcare and education," he said.

"Donor countries have to be careful with the money they give to Somalia," a western diplomat, who requested anonymity, said. "There is a problem with lack of proper monitoring inside the country, due to the prevailing security situation... There is also the fear in some quarters that some of the money is ending up in the wrong hands."

Aid agencies argue that even in dangerous areas, brave and dedicated local staff, creative partnerships and networks involving local NGOs and community leadership can and do deliver successful life-saving programmes. A combination of appropriate monitoring techniques, they say, offers fully credible accountability.
According to OCHA, 42 humanitarian aid workers have been killed since January 2008 and 10 remain in captivity, and very few international staff stay continuously in south-central Somalia -while some areas are off-limits even to national staff.

Alun McDonald of Oxfam, while admitting that access was a problem, given the lack of security and functioning government, said: "But just because it's difficult, that's not an excuse to stop aid when 3.6 million people need assistance. We stress to donors that we work with trusted and long-term local partners, with regular monitoring visits from Oxfam staff, and we are confident that aid is being delivered appropriately," he added.

"We can respond, despite the situation," insisted another aid official. Unrealistic conditions being floated by some donors to try to limit risk would make it impossible even to get "from point A to point B" in areas controlled by militants, the official added.

US humanitarian funding has been tangled much of the year in anti-terrorism legislation http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86452, affecting its ability to contribute food and cash. Nevertheless it has still been the largest humanitarian donor in 2009. A US State Department spokesperson told IRIN an ongoing review on US aid to Somalia "will include ensuring compliance with US laws designed to prevent potential support to terrorists".
Private non-governmental donations have become the second biggest source of donations reported to the FTS (see BOX). Aid officials say concerns about accountability have influenced donors, but concerns have not been publicly articulated.

The fact that some channels of funding have not diminished in 2009, such as governance support to the fledgling TFG, assistance to the African Union's peacekeeping force and even in direct weapons transfers to the government, has left some NGOs nonplussed. "Transferring guns seems a lot more risky than food and water," commented one aid worker.

UN Under-Secretary-General Lynn Pascoe in late October hinted at a chicken and egg situation when he said: "I would guess that we will be asking for more money and more assistance in the months ahead. Clearly they're going to need it both for security and also for the social services the government needs to provide. One of the difficulties about Somalia, of course, is that without the aid and the assistance for real development aid, it's very hard for the government to show what it's doing."

Meanwhile, further narrowing humanitarian space, local media reported this week a spokesperson for Al-Shabab has announced that aid carrying the US flag would be banned in areas under its control.

Some argue that not funding humanitarian operations would strengthen, not weaken, armed militant groups. In spite of the risk of aid diversion, donors must not reduce their levels of humanitarian assistance, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on the rights of displaced people urged last month. Walter Kälin told journalists: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32649&Cr=somali&Cr1= "This would not only mean punishing the most vulnerable among already destitute communities, but also playing into the hands of radical elements who could easily exploit the situation."
Aid agencies are putting the finishing touches on the consolidated humanitarian appeal for 2010, for release early December. A well-placed official said funding will be "even more tricky next year".

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86909NAIROBI Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (IRIN) - Encouraging the use of traditional African herbal medicines could prevent some of the one million malarial deaths on the continent, according to specialists attending a conference www.mimalaria.org/pamc in Nairobi. Many poor communities, especially in rural settings, cannot afford modern malarial drugs and many people die due to inaccessibility of treatment.NAIROBI Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (IRIN) - Encouraging the use of traditional African herbal medicines could prevent some of the one million malarial deaths on the continent, according to specialists attending a conference www.mimalaria.org/pamc in Nairobi. Many poor communities, especially in rural settings, cannot afford modern malarial drugs and many people die due to inaccessibility of treatment.

“Malaria kills many people in Africa, both children and adults, despite the availability of free treatment in certain African countries. While it is true many governments in Africa, with development partners, give free pediatric treatment for malaria, many still cannot access this facilities and resort to home treatment,” says Merlin Wilcox of the Research Initiative on Traditional Antimalarial Methods and the University of Oxford.

Some specialists at the ongoing 5th MIM Pan African Malaria Conference in Nairobi said medicines drawn from plants that abound in the continent could be utilized to save many people, especially those in poor settings, from malaria.

BN Prakash, a researcher with the Foundation for the Revitalization of Local Health Traditions, based in Bangalore, said Africa could draw on experiences in India where medicinal plants have been used with great success in the control of malaria-related deaths.

“Research in India has shown a 5-10 times reduction in malaria-related deaths among communities who use traditional medicinal plants like Guduchi [tinospore coeditdia], a local medicinal plant found in India,” said Prakash.

Preserving traditional knowledge

Another speaker, Gemma Burford of the Global Initiative for Traditional Systems of Health, said while there had been increased cases of loss of knowledge about traditional medicinal plants, student-led research could be used to preserve knowledge and create a database on these plants.

“When we carried out research involving school children in rural Tanzania about traditional Maasai medicines, we found out that 48 percent of these children already had knowledge about these plants. We used [this knowledge] to create a database for the purposes of preserving the knowledge and these plants too,” said Burford.

“It is important to note that many malarial drugs are still bought from commercial pharmaceutical shops and not many of them are that cheap. Costs also involve how easy or not it is to access these government facilities, especially in Africa where medical facilities are far-flung,” Burford said.

Educating the youth

Speakers at the conference called on African governments to introduce educational programmes that would teach the younger generations about the traditional methods of treating malaria and other diseases plaguing the continent.

“The biggest obstacle to use of traditional medicines is lack of interest from the youth and teaching them about these medicines would be the best way to let them appreciate their values. Evangelical churches and development agencies must also be persuaded to stop fighting traditional African medicine because modernity and tradition can be married to provide a formidable force against malaria,” added Burford.

Effectiveness and dangers

Doumbo Ogobara, director of the Mali Malaria Research and Training Centre, and a lecturer at the University of Bamako, said there should be more research to ensure the effectiveness of traditional medicinal plants in the treatment and management of malaria.

“More research must be directed towards finding out the effectiveness of these traditional medicinal plants and their safety and efficacy because initiatives on using them could be counter-productive if this is not done. More emphasis therefore must be laid on research for plant-based prophylactics for malaria,” said Ogobara.

Mahamadou Sissoko of the Centre called for caution in taking the traditional medicinal route, arguing that many malaria-related deaths have occurred even among communities that have relied heavily on traditional plants for treatment.

“People are dying even in places where there is still widespread use of traditional medicinal plants and unless the efficacy of a traditional plant on malarial treatment can be ascertained through vigorous research, we could have our backs against the wall. Many traditional healers will abuse this and give anything as medicine so long as it is a plant - we must urge caution,” said Sissoko.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86866SANAA Sunday, November 01, 2009 (IRIN) - The past 10 months saw the highest number of Africans reaching Yemeni shores over figures for the same period in 2008 and 2007, when large numbers began travelling to Yemen by boat, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).SANAA Sunday, November 01, 2009 (IRIN) - The past 10 months saw the highest number of Africans reaching Yemeni shores over figures for the same period in 2008 and 2007, when large numbers began travelling to Yemen by boat, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

More than 56,600 people arrived on 1,100 boats to Yemen from the Horn of Africa so far this year, already exceeding the total for all 2008, when 50,091 people crossed, Rocco Nuri, an external relations officer at UNHCR, told IRIN on 31 October.

“This is a stunning 40 percent increase in comparison with the same 10-month period last year when 40,540 boat-carried people arrived… [This year], 281 people drowned and another 152 have been missing and presumed dead after their boats capsized in the Gulf of Aden," Nuri said.

Santiago Perez, country representative for NGO the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), said there were several factors causing this growing influx of Africans to Yemen. "We’re detecting an increasing number of displaced people who say they are coming to Yemen fleeing climate disasters like drought, untimely and torrential rains, as well as conflict and poverty," he said.

He added that rapid population growth in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia, was also "responsible for the phenomenon”.

Because of this greater demand for the trip across the Gulf of Aden, smugglers have doubled their fees. "The money paid for smuggling by boat has jumped from US$50 to $100 per person these days," Ahmad Akam, a Yemeni coast guard official, said.

The total number of new arrivals by the end of this year is likely to hit 70,000 as sea conditions are becoming milder, according to Akam.

Response

UN agencies in Yemen and their implementing partners have developed contingency plans to provide assistance to 20,000 extra arrivals – on top of the 50,000 already planned for in 2009.

"UNHCR has improved the capacity and conditions of its reception centres in Mayfaa and Ahwar, on Yemen's southern coastline, and established a presence through its implementing partners in Bab al-Mandab on the Red Sea," Nuri said.

He added that in order to provide a dignified burial for those who do not survive the boat journey - due to rough sea conditions, drowning and mistreatment by smugglers – UNHCR had secured three cemetery plots in Hadhramout, Shabwa and Abyan governorates to bury bodies washed ashore.

A September report by UNHCR said there were 162,362 registered refugees in Yemen, 153,080 of whom were Somalis.

ay/edhttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86830NAIROBI Thursday, October 29, 2009 (IRIN) - Flash floods caused by four days of torrential rains have displaced more than 15,000 people in the southwestern town of El-Waq near the Kenyan border and submerged most homes and businesses, say localsNAIROBI Thursday, October 29, 2009 (IRIN) - Flash floods caused by four days of torrential rains have displaced more than 15,000 people in the southwestern town of El-Waq near the Kenyan border and submerged most homes and businesses, say locals.

"Most of the town is under water, with people moving to higher ground around the town," Alaso Gurhan, a resident of El-Waq, in Gedo region of southwestern Somalia, told IRIN on 28 October.

The local administration and civil society groups have been able to move many people to safer ground, she said.

She said mothers with small children and the elderly were being given priority in the provision of shelter material. "We are all in the open now with very little help. We don’t have much so we have to give first to the weakest."

A lot of livestock have reportedly died due to the ongoing rains. "Hundreds of goats and sheep weakened by the drought have succumbed to the rains and the cold weather," said Ali Hassan, a civil society activist.

He said El-Waq, like the rest of Somalia, was waiting for the rain but it was "too much in too short a time. If the rain continues the way it has for the last four days we will be in serious trouble."

He said most of the residents, about 18,000 with some 900 displaced families (5,400 people) from Mogadishu, had been affected. "We are no better than the displaced today," he added. He said the population was concentrating on the hills around the town. "Any higher ground in the area is now occupied."

Hassan Hussein, an engineer with Development Frontier International, an NGO, told IRIN they were now trying to dig trenches to allow the water to drain from the town.

He said there was still a danger of more flooding since the rains were ongoing. He said his group was organizing the population to alert them to any more danger. "We are using the loud-speakers in mosques to tell people to help the weak and to get to higher ground."

People who are still in low-lying areas were also being told to move to higher ground, he said.

He said shelter material was urgently needed. "There are many people who are too weak to stay in the open or in the flimsy shelters we have. We need help in the provision of tents and other shelter material if we are to avert a serious health situation."

There are fears that with the rains mosquitoes and waterborne diseases will not be far behind, he warned.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86791JOHANNESBURG Thursday, October 29, 2009 (IRIN) - An African international agreement has opened the door to a debate on the rights and protection of people displaced by natural disasters, with a nod to migration as a result of climate change. JOHANNESBURG Thursday, October 29, 2009 (IRIN) - An African international agreement has opened the door to a debate on the rights and protection of people displaced by natural disasters, with a nod to migration as a result of climate change.

The Kampala Convention, a ground-breaking treaty adopted by the African Union (AU), promises to protect and assist millions of Africans displaced within their own countries. Significantly, the treaty recognized natural disasters as well as conflict and generalized violence as key factors in uprooting people.

Jean Ping, chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, told IRIN that "more and more people are likely to be displaced" as Africa experiences more frequent droughts and floods brought about by climate change.

He said the inclusion of displacement by natural disasters was informed by the global debate on the need to develop a framework for the rights of "climate refugees" - people uprooted from their homes and crossing international borders - because the changing climate threatened their survival.

The treaty also calls on governments to set up laws and find solutions to prevent displacement caused by natural disasters, with compensation for those who were displaced. Migration expert Etienne Piguet said with the Kampala Convention the AU had "once again" tried to push the envelope.

In 1969 the Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, adopted by the then Organization of African Unity, had gone a step further than the 1951 UN Refugee Convention by using a definition of "refugee" that included not only people fleeing persecution but also those fleeing war or events seriously disturbing public order.

Piguet described the reference to people displaced by natural disasters as an "interesting attempt" to find "adequate answers to the new concern about migration linked to environmental degradation".

In 2008 climate-related natural disasters like droughts, hurricanes and floods forced 20 million people out of their homes, while 4.6 million people were internally displaced by conflicts, according to a recent joint study by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

The Representative of the UN Secretary-General (RSG) on the Human Rights of the Internally Displaced Persons in a submission to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change noted that people uprooted from their homes by natural disasters enjoyed protection under the existing human rights law and the guiding principles on internal displacement.

However, the Kampala Convention also calls on governments to "prevent or mitigate, prohibit and eliminate root causes" of displacement, and find "durable solutions" to them.

Moussa Idriss Ndele, President of the Pan-African Parliament, the legislative body of the AU, said the debate in Kampala on the rights of people displaced by natural disasters did not "quite evolve properly - we did not address the issue of climate change" because most people still believed conflict was the biggest trigger of displacement.

Can of worms

However, it was unclear which events could be linked to climate change. "More and more people are being displaced by floods, which are becoming more and more frequent and intense," said Rachel Shebesh, chair of the African Parliamentarian Initiative for Climate Risk Reduction.

The RSG said there was a need to clarify or even develop a legal framework to help people who moved inside or outside the country because environmental degradation and slow-onset disasters - like desertification, salination of soil and groundwater - made areas uninhabitable, and if displaced persons could not return to their homes they should be considered forcibly displaced.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has projected more frequent and intense floods and droughts in Africa during the next few decades, and the debate is not only set to continue, but to intensify.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86805KAMPALA Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - The African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa is a comprehensive document that will, if ratified, fill a void in international humanitarian law, say experts. KAMPALA Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - The African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa is a comprehensive document that will, if ratified, fill a void in international humanitarian law, say experts.

Whereas the rights of people who flee across national boundaries are protected under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and a similar instrument introduced 18 years later by the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union), there has been no international legislation catering specifically for people displaced within their own country (IDPs).

IDPs vastly outnumber refugees in Africa. In just 10 of the 18 countries in east and central Africa, there are more than 10 million IDPs, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with Sudan (four million), the Democratic Republic of Congo (2.12 million) and Somalia (1.55 million) heading the list.

In the same region, there are refugees in 16 countries, totalling just less than two million, according to OCHA.

This latest instrument, also known as the Kampala Convention because it was signed in the Ugandan capital, "obliges governments to recognize that IDPs have specific vulnerabilities and must be supported", said Walter Kälin, Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.

"It covers all causes of displacement, is forceful in terms of responsibility and goes beyond addressing the roles of states to those of others like the AU and non-state actors."

Signed by 17 African states at the end of summit on 23 October, the convention defines IDPs broadly, irrespective of who is displacing them.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the convention provides a solid framework for enhancing the protection and assistance of IDPs in Africa. The ICRC is the custodian of international humanitarian law.

"The crucial challenge now is the same one facing international humanitarian law in general – ensuring that once the convention is signed and ratified by as many states as possible, it is actually implemented and respected," ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger said.

"States must now take concrete steps to implement the convention into their own national legislation and regulation systems, and develop plans of action to address issues of displacement.

"The convention goes further than international humanitarian law treaties in some aspects, for example, in the rules it contains on safe and voluntary return, and on access to compensation or other forms of reparation," Kellenberger added.

Next steps

To become a binding document, the convention has to be ratified by 15 of the AU's 53 member states.

"No international treaty is perfect, and the AU IDP Convention does have a few weaknesses. Concerns over the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms and insufficient guarantees for equality and non-discrimination have been raised," the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement noted in a statement.

"There is some question regarding the extent to which non-state actors and armed groups called upon by the convention to protect IDPs can be bound by its provisions. Nevertheless, the convention, which has benefited from the input of international experts, is considered to be generally consistent with international standards such as the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement."

AU officials in Kampala were cautiously upbeat, urging member states to remain engaged. "It is the responsibility of member states that the convention becomes a binding instrument," Jean Ping, AU Commission President, said. "At this point, it is an achievement, but not an end in itself."

Zambian president Rupiah Banda also chose his words carefully. "We have given legal force to the task ahead and Zambia is ready to sign," he said. "Those who are displaced should not be forgotten."

An observer who requested anonymity said progress would require member states to demonstrate greater political will to implement the convention and address concerns about sovereignty and enforcement.

"It is a question of a progressive [AU] Commission versus [conservative] member states," he told IRIN in Kampala. "For example, the inclusion of armed groups in the draft was interpreted by some member states as lending legitimacy to such groups."

The convention emphasizes the sovereignty of member states but spells out the obligations and responsibilities of armed groups. Among others, it prohibits armed groups from carrying our arbitrary displacement, recruiting children and impeding humanitarian assistance.

"Overall, though, the convention has a good chance of getting the necessary signatures rather quickly," the observer added. "In April, SADC’s [Southern African Development Community] 11 members committed to speedy signature."

Political will

Civil society leaders, attending a parallel event, insisted political will and demonstrated commitment were key to progress. The fact that only five presidents came to Kampala, they said, called for an urgent strategy to bring on board more states.

Present were Banda, Ugandan President and host, Yoweri Museveni, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Somalia's Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Mohamed Abdelaziz of Saharawi, along with high-level UN, INGO and AU delegations.

"It is one thing to have a good convention and another to implement it," Dismas Nkunda of the New York-based International Refugee Rights Initiative told IRIN.

In 2007, the AU adopted the African Charter on democracy, elections and governance, but it has so far been ratified by only two member states.

The basic question of impunity also needed to be addressed. Until African countries learn to respect the law, participants said, the continent would "remain at rock bottom" in its attempts to address the problems of the displaced.

AU officials seemed conscious of these sentiments. "We have come a long way, but a plan of action is now envisaged," Jolly Joiner, AU commissioner for political affairs, told IRIN. "Once member states are on board, we will take this convention forward."

Antonio Guterres, head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and representative of the UN Secretary-General at the summit, said solving the question of displacement in Africa required political solutions.

"There is no humanitarian solution to conflict," he explained. "The solution is always political."

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86762NAIROBI Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Replacing manual data with electronic health records would significantly improve the quality of care and enable African HIV treatment programmes to be scaled up more efficiently, say the authors of a new article on the subject. NAIROBI Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Replacing manual data with electronic health records would significantly improve the quality of care and enable African HIV treatment programmes to be scaled up more efficiently, say the authors of a new article on the subject.

"Talkin' About a Revolution", published in the latest edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, looked at the Academic Model for Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), a programme that uses electronic health records in care and treatment services for around 100,000 HIV-positive patients at sites across western Kenya.

"Scaling up treatment programmes requires timely data on the type, quantity and quality of care being provided," the authors said. "Health care is an information business; managing patient care requires managing patients' data at many levels ... health care systems the size of AMPATH (or larger) cannot effectively be managed without ... [electronic] data."

More efficient care

The health data system can help programme managers avoid medical errors and stock-outs of key medicines, while enabling clinicians to monitor and care for their patients more effectively.

"Electronic records help us store data efficiently, retrieve it when we need it, and monitor and evaluate the progress of our programmes much more easily than if we were using manual systems," said Erica Kigothe, AMPATH's programme manager in charge of data management.

"When a patient comes to a clinic for a visit, instead of poring over large files, the clinician has one summary sheet that contains all the vital patient information and should he or she need more information, they can always go back to the patient's computerized file," she told IRIN/PlusNews.

A previous study comparing an AMPATH clinic before and after the adoption of electronic health records found that patient visits were 22 percent shorter, provider time per patient was reduced by 58 percent, and patients spent 38 percent less time waiting.

Kigothe noted that assessing disease trends was also easier with electronic records, as was collating data for the purposes of research and new directions in programme development.

Electronic health systems have been successfully used in the care and treatment of HIV in Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda, but few African countries have adopted the systems on a large scale.

"Programme implementers in low-income countries sometimes see clinicians' recording of patient data and the management of those data as secondary to providing good care, or even a distraction," the article's authors commented.

Not all smooth sailing

The programme has not been without its difficulties. "In one of our sites in Busia [town on the Kenya-Uganda border] they have very frequent power outages, so they have had to find ways to work around it, inputting data when power is on, even if that is at night," Kigothe said.

Finding people with computer skills is not always easy in the developing world, particularly in rural areas, and "like any equipment, computers break down from time to time and require repair or replacement, which can cause some problems" and incur additional expenses, she said. "In addition, the data collectors are human, and therefore prone to the occasional error."

Electronic systems are not cheap; they require considerable investment in computers, training data collectors and hiring information technology experts. However, according to the study, AMPATH's total cost of care is under US$100 per patient per year, making the system financially feasible even in resource-poor settings.

"You're going to have to spend quite a lot of money to set up the system," Kigothe said. "But looking at the big picture, it saves so much in the long run - for example, each of our data collectors manages 2,000 patients' information, something that would be impossible using manual data collection."

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86768MIDRAND Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Disaster risk reduction as a tool for climate change adaptation is a "technical mouthful" said Rachel Shebesh, chair of the African Parliamentarian Initiative for Climate Risk Reduction. MIDRAND Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Disaster risk reduction as a tool for climate change adaptation is a "technical mouthful" said Rachel Shebesh, chair of the African Parliamentarian Initiative for Climate Risk Reduction.

Members of the Pan-African Parliament thought so too. The legislative body of the African Union met in Midrand, halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria in South Africa, for a parliamentary debate on climate change in Africa.

Shebesh, the new champion of disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Africa for the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR) has been given the job of making the subject accessible.

Why?

The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, said DRR was "the first line of defence" against climate risks. Many countries did not have a plan that covered what to do to adapt to the impact of climate change, but drawing up a disaster risk reduction plan was a starting point.

DRR deals with the short-term changes in climate variables, such as temperature; adaptation to climate change is about long-term changes to climate. It is now widely acknowledged that reducing vulnerability to climatic variables could improve resilience to the increased hazards associated with climate change.

What does it mean?

Wahlström acknowledged that trying to explain to countries what this meant, and how to take DRR into account, could sometimes be problematic. Essentially, it is about "disaster-proofing" any plan or programme.

"You take into account the current and future disaster risks. If you are building a bridge in an area, you study the soil, ask the people who live in the area about what they know about the conditions in the area: do they build in the area? What precautions do they take? The easiest thing to do is draw up a check list."

Wahlström said she had come across several cities and towns in developing countries who had already been doing this, and "we are now busy putting all this information together for our next report."

She also said she would not be surprised if "disaster-proofing" became a pre-requisite for sourcing money for any climate change adaptation project, "but I would rather countries took up the initiative on their own." India, she said has made it mandatory for projects costing a certain amount to be disaster-proof so as to qualify for funds.

jk/he http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86774KAMPALA Monday, October 26, 2009 (IRIN) - Seventeen countries signed the African Union convention on internally displaced persons (IDPs) after years of preparation culminated in a week of meetings in the Ugandan capital but a lot more hard work remains before it becomes effective, according to observers.KAMPALA Monday, October 26, 2009 (IRIN) - Seventeen countries signed the African Union convention on internally displaced persons (IDPs) after years of preparation culminated in a week of meetings in the Ugandan capital but a lot more hard work remains before it becomes effective, according to observers.

"The most important step now is implementation," Julia Dolly Joiner, AU commissioner for political affairs, said. "We need to move from intentions to actions."

For the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement,  it is crucial that implementation is carried out "in a timely fashion and in a manner that makes a real difference to the lives of persons affected by internal displacement in the region, including host communities.
 
"The first step forward should involve a process of national dialogue and civic education aimed at securing the Convention's ratification and implementation by the State parties," according to a statement by the project, which monitors displacement issues worldwide to promote best practice among governments and other actors.

Fifteen countries must ratify the convention before it enters into effect.

Organizers of the 19-23 October meetings  insisted that the fact that only 17 signed did not represent a lack of political will and commitment on the part of the African states.

"We debated together and we agreed but when it comes to signing, the person has to have been given the authority by his government to sign," one AU official told IRIN. "Only 17 had such authorization."

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who chaired the summit, praised it as "a very important milestone [that] has gone beyond conflicts to address issues of development.

"We have at least agreed in words, we now have to put our words [into] action," he told a news conference. "The solace for the women in Darfur may not be very immediate, but the fact is that people have come together to discuss the matter."

Partnerships urged

Joiner called for international support. "Africa cannot do it alone; that is why we are calling for partnerships," she told IRIN. "We are optimistic that countries will be faithful to their commitments under the convention.”

The AU will now try to get more signatures, and lobby 15 countries to ratify the convention so it can become a binding document. Observers, however, say much more work needs to be done to generate political will, given that most presidents stayed away from the summit.

The convention addresses the root causes of displacement in Africa, where at least 11 million people are displaced by conflict and climate change-related natural disasters, among other reasons.

According to the Brookings-Bern Project, three of the world's top five countries with the largest populations of conflict-induced IDPs are in Africa.

These include Sudan, with an estimated 4.9 million IDPs, the Democratic Republic of Congo, with at least one million, and Somalia, where the UN estimates 1.5 million are displaced. Hundreds of thousands more are displaced in Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Overall, citizens in at least 20 African states are experiencing internal displacement.

The convention aims to promote regional and national measures to prevent, mitigate, prohibit and eliminate the root causes of internal displacement as well as provide durable solutions.

"People who flee persecution or conflict and cross into another country are categorized as refugees and, as such, benefit from a long-standing and well-oiled international legal protection system, including the 1951 Refugee Convention," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said.

"Until now [IDPs] have been more or less excluded from the system of international legal protection, even though they are often displaced in exactly the same way, and for exactly the same reasons, as refugees. At least in Africa, that should no longer be the case."

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The IDP convention obliges states to:

- Prohibit and prevent arbitrary population displacements, respect the principles of humanity and human dignity, as well as aspects of international humanitarian law concerning the protection of IDPs;

- Ensure assistance to IDPs, incorporate obligations under the convention into domestic law and designate a body to coordinate IDP protection and assistance;

- Devise early warning systems on potential displacement and establish disaster risk reduction strategies, protect communities and respect individual rights on protection against arbitrary displacement;

- Respect the mandates of the AU and UN, and the roles of international humanitarian organizations; and

- Take necessary action to effectively organize humanitarian relief and guarantee security; respect, protect and not attack humanitarian personnel or resources, and ensure armed groups conform with their obligations.

It prohibits armed groups from:

- Carrying out arbitrary displacement, hampering the provision of protection and assistance to IDPs and restricting the movement of IDPs;

- Forcibly recruiting, kidnapping or engaging in sexual slavery and trafficking; or

- Attacking humanitarian personnel or resources.


It obliges the AU:

- To intervene in respect of grave circumstances such as war crimes and crimes against humanity;

- To respect the right of members to request such an intervention and support efforts to support IDPs; and

- Strengthen capacity and coordinate the mobilization of resources for protection and assistance to IDPs.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86746HARGEISA Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - Immigration officials in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have expressed concern over the increase in the number of illegal Ethiopian migrants entering the region, with claims that up to 90 people are arriving daily, against 50 in 2008.HARGEISA Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - Immigration officials in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have expressed concern over the increase in the number of illegal Ethiopian migrants entering the region, with claims that up to 90 people are arriving daily, against 50 in 2008.

An immigration official, who requested anonymity, said most of those arriving in Somaliland were asylum-seekers from the Oromiya region of Ethiopia. Others transit through Somaliland en route to the Arabian Peninsula.

The exact number of Ethiopian refugees in Somaliland is unclear as the region's authorities and the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, have different figures.

Mohamed Ismail, the director of social affairs in the Ministry of Interior - charged with overseeing refugee affairs and asylum-seekers – said: "We consider 4,000 individuals as Ethiopian refugees but all the other people who live in Somaliland are not refugees; [they have] come to Somaliland for a better life."

According to UNHCR Somalia, Somaliland has 1,600 Ethiopian refugees and more than 14,000 asylum-seekers.

"UNHCR has the responsibility of engaging in strong information campaigns targeting Ethiopians on their right to seek asylum if they are fleeing persecution in their country and of the rights they have as refugees," Roberta Russo, a spokeswoman for the agency, told IRIN on 22 October.

However, a source in the Ministry of Interior said the last estimate by the ministry and UNHCR in 2006 was that at least 8,000 Ethiopian refugees were in Somaliland.

Saleban Ismail Bulale, chairman of the Horn of Africa Human Rights Organization, based in Hargeisa, said: "UNHCR has granted refugee status to only 1,500, but it is estimated that there are thousands of Ethiopians in Somaliland."

Living on the streets

Asha Abdi, an Ethiopian mother of six living on the streets of Hargeisa, told IRIN: "My children and I left our home in Babuli town in Ethiopia's Oromiya Region several months ago; we came because we had suffered lack of food for a long time."

Hers is one of several Ethiopian families trying to survive on Hargeisa's streets. "We live in the shade of local houses and beg for food to survive," Asha said.

An Ethiopian official, who requested anonymity, told IRIN it seemed the UNHCR office in Hargeisa was encouraging asylum-seekers to enter Somaliland.

"Ethiopians emigrate to Somaliland in search of a better life; for example, they want to be relocated to a foreign country. You see them coming here and then going back to their homes after registering with the UNHCR office in Hargeisa as asylum-seekers," the official said. "When their time comes for their relocation, they come back to Hargeisa."

However, Russo said UNHCR did everything possible to inform the refugees of their rights and to ensure the protection mechanisms put in place were not abused.

In very few cases, she said, UNHCR offered the option of resettlement to a third country if the refugees faced insecurity in the country of asylum or if it was impossible for them to integrate. Russo added that this opportunity was offered to the most needy cases.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86708KAMPALA Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - With increasing natural disasters, including floods, storms and droughts, hitting the continent, more people in Africa are likely to be displaced, creating a challenge for governments, the UN warns.KAMPALA Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - With increasing natural disasters, including floods, storms and droughts, hitting the continent, more people in Africa are likely to be displaced, creating a challenge for governments, the UN warns.

Displacement caused by natural disasters, said John Holmes, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, promised to be one of the greatest challenges African countries would face.

“As many countries… know from recent painful experiences, climate change is already increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme hazard events, particularly floods, storms and droughts,” Holmes told an African Union (AU) summit in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, on 22 October.

In 2008, Africa reported 104 natural disasters, of which 99 percent were climate-related, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Over the past 20 years, the population of Africans affected by natural disasters doubled from nine million in 1989 to 16.7 million in 2008. Of all the disasters on the continent, 75 percent were a result of drought.

“By 2020, rain-fed agriculture is expected to have reduced by half because of shifting rainfall patterns, scattering millions of people across the continent in search [of] new livelihoods,” Holmes said.

The meeting is discussing a draft convention for the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons and a declaration on refugees, returnees and the internally displaced.

The convention is the first such global document that aims to comprehensively address the problems of Africa’s 12 million IDPs.

Transitional justice

Before the meeting, civil society leaders called for concrete action on the convention, when adopted. Chris Dolan of the Uganda Refugee Law Project urged delegates to look beyond existing models of protection and assistance to IDP, refugee and returnee populations and draw from creative transitional justice practices around Africa.

“One step towards this would be to ensure that the plan of action that is put in place to implement the decisions adopted at the summit makes links between the African Union’s draft… and the policy on post-conflict reconstruction and development,” he added.

“Another will be to link… to ongoing transitional justice processes on the continent.”

At least 15 countries need to ratify the proposed convention for it to come into force, and diplomats at the summit are confident the signatures will be raised soon. Preparatory work, they added, had shown broad support across the continent.

“It is the responsibility of member states that the convention becomes a binding instrument,” Jean Ping, AU Commission chairman, told the meeting. “It is an achievement, but not an end in itself. It is a beginning.”

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86716NAIROBI Thursday, October 22, 2009 (IRIN) - Authorities in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, are compiling data on foreign helicopters said to be poaching and stealing wildlife from the area while at the same time scaring off the farm animals.NAIROBI Thursday, October 22, 2009 (IRIN) - Authorities in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, are compiling data on foreign helicopters said to be poaching and stealing wildlife from the area while at the same time scaring off the farm animals.

"We have been getting reports in the past few months of unidentified helicopters swooping in from the sea and attacking and taking wildlife," Abdiqani Yusuf Ade, Puntland's Environment Minister, told IRIN.

He said the authorities did not have a clear picture of “who was involved or from what countries”.

Ade said Puntland was calling on countries whose forces were stationed off the Somali coast as part of the anti-piracy efforts to stop the poaching if they were involved.

He said the authorities had asked residents in the coastal villages to take photographs of the helicopters. "We are trying to get visual evidence to show the world. If the information we are getting is correct, what is happening is illegal," he said. "These forces are here to fight piracy; they should not be poaching our natural resources."

Noise pollution

Abdiaziz Aw Yusuf, the district commissioner of Jariban, near the area where the helicopters are alleged to be poaching, told IRIN it had been going on for some time. "They usually operate in an area between the coastal villages of Eil Danan and Dhinowda Digdigle."

He said the helicopters scattered the wildlife and once they had landed, two or three men captured the animals. He said the most common game in the area was gazelle and ostrich.

Yusuf said the noise of the helicopters was affecting the local population and their livestock. Many were lost after being frightened by the planes and stampeding. He said some had been eaten by predators.

"We have forwarded our complaints and what information we have collected to the Puntland government," Yusuf said.

Easy access

Ahmed Aden, an elder in Garad town, 5km south of the area, told IRIN the helicopters came from ships that could be seen from the land.

Aden said because the area was flat and grassy, it was easy for the helicopters to land. He said the dust raised disoriented the animals, allowing the men on board to capture them.

"It has become normal to see them on a daily basis," Aden said. "They [foreign forces] claim to be guarding against pirates but who is guarding us and our resources against them?"

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86690KAMPALA Thursday, October 22, 2009 (IRIN) - Civil society and government officials are gathered in the Ugandan capital of Kampala to discuss the Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Africa and a declaration on refugees, returnees and IDPs.KAMPALA Thursday, October 22, 2009 (IRIN) - Civil society and government officials are gathered in the Ugandan capital of Kampala to discuss the Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Africa [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86585] and a declaration on refugees, returnees and IDPs.

“It is a good convention, but the next steps are even more important,” said Dismas Nkunda of the New York-based International Refugee Rights Initiative. “The key test to the continent’s commitment to it will be the implementation.”

Countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, said Traore Wodjo of the Ivorian civil society coalition, needed to quickly implement the convention because political developments there could raise tensions, leading to renewed displacement.

“Some of those who were displaced during the 2003 conflict are yet to recover,” he added. “Forced displacement again, without protection, would completely disrupt their lives.”

The leaders at the summit, including presidents Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of Somalia, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Ruppiah Banda of Zambia, realize just how important is the challenge of displacement in Africa.

“Displacement is a scourge that is blighting the African landscape – and some of us are talking from experience,” said Zainab Bangura, former activist and now Sierra Leone’s foreign minister. “One day you are a minister, the next you are on a boat running for your life – with nothing on your back.”

Uganda’s Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi, while praising his country’s policies on refugees, said: “The inability to effectively protect, assist and find timely solutions to the problems that created these displacement situations is posing a major threat to Africa’s development."

The convention, the first such global document, aims to comprehensively address the problems of Africa’s 12 million IDPs. It contains provisions on obligations of state parties relating to internal displacement and protection and assistance.

It also contains provisions on obligations relating to armed groups, the African Union, as well as obligations on sustainable returns, local integration or relocation and compensation.

“The concern is that there are already millions of laws that should protect IDPs, but they are not always observed,” Nkunda said. “So we need to ensure that this convention is respected by setting some kind of benchmarks against which we will evaluate its implementation.”

Civil society and AU role

The civil society meeting will make recommendations to the summit, which should strengthen the convention’s implementation processes, Nkunda said, and is keen to work with the AU to ensure it succeeds.

AU officials are upbeat that the summit, whose side events include an exhibition by actors in the humanitarian field, will fully explore the root causes of forced displacement in Africa and ways to prevent it.

“We are here to reflect on the specific challenges facing IDPs and to adopt an instrument that would bridge existing policy and legal gaps,” said Julia Joiner, AU political affairs commissioner.

Delegates include the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes. There is also a big NGO and government presence.

Before the summit, Holmes flew to the northern Ugandan district of Pader where most returnees are resettling in their villages. He visited IDP camps, host communities and met aid workers and local leaders.

“As emergency relief needs reduce, development efforts need to be stepped up,” he said of the Ugandan situation, where about 500,000 out of more than two million IDPs are still in camps.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86700NAIROBI Wednesday, October 21, 2009 (IRIN) - Humanitarian agencies should move from Nairobi to "relatively safe" areas of Somalia to be able to better serve more than 1.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) caught up in a "deepening" humanitarian crisis, Walter Kälin, Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of IDPs, said on 21 October.NAIROBI Wednesday, October 21, 2009 (IRIN) - Humanitarian agencies should move from Nairobi to "relatively safe" areas of Somalia to be able to better serve more than 1.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) caught up in a "deepening" humanitarian crisis, Walter Kälin, Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of IDPs, said on 21 October.

"It is essential to find ways to improve humanitarian access and security of humanitarian workers," Kälin told a news conference in Nairobi. "To the extent possible, humanitarian agencies must shift their operations from Nairobi to Puntland, Somaliland and other areas from where the affected regions can be serviced."

He said these agencies must be given the staff and resources necessary to effectively work in such a difficult and dangerous environment, and should receive respective support by donors.

Marcus Prior, a spokesman for the World Food Programme in Nairobi, told IRIN: “WFP retains several operational bases across Somalia and has international and national staff inside the country. We would like to have an even greater presence, but Somalia is probably the most dangerous place in the world for humanitarian workers to operate in."

Conflict in Somalia over the past 18 years has led to hundreds of deaths and the displacement of millions of others internally and externally. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR-Somalia) estimates that 1,550,000 Somalis are IDPs while 18,600 are refugees. Since 1 July, the agency says, some 89,000 civilians have been displaced from Mogadishu due to fighting between government forces and Islamist militias opposed to the government.

Historical divisions

Since the ousting of President Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has been largely controlled by warlords backed by different militias. At least 15 attempts have been made to re-establish a national government, the latest being the installation of President Sheik Sharif Ahmed in January 2009. However, Islamic militias opposed to Ahmed have continued attacks on government forces and civilians as well as African Union peacekeepers.

The country is divided into three regions: the self-declared republic of Somaliland in the northwest; the autonomous Puntland region in the northeast; and the south-central part of the country, housing most of the IDPs.

Security issues

Puntland welcomed Kälin’s call and said it was ready to cooperate with humanitarian agencies.

"We will welcome and ensure the security of any agency that wants to establish a base here," said Ali Mohamed Hayaan, director-general of Puntland’s ministry of security.

Hayaan said it made sense for aid agencies, wanting to access south-central Somalia, to operate out of Puntland, "since it would be cheaper and closer to those in need".

Ali Sheikh Yassin, deputy chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Human Rights Organization (EHRO), said while there were "massive violations of the rights of the displaced and, ideally, agencies should be close to them to monitor these violations, however it won’t be easy for aid agencies to move to Somalia.

"Unfortunately, the security situation is such that even Somalis like us are operating under the most extreme insecurity."

Deepening crisis

Kälin, who visited Somalia from 14 to 21 October, said the international community was failing the IDPs when the humanitarian crisis was deepening. He said there was a need for a stronger engagement of the international community in Somalia.

"I am shocked by the degree of violence facing the civilian population in central and south Somalia," he said. "Serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, in particular indiscriminate attacks and shelling of areas populated or frequented by civilians, are being perpetrated by all parties to the conflict with total impunity.

"Such acts are a major cause of displacement and may amount to war crimes and other crimes under international law."

Kälin urged all parties to the conflict - state actors and anti-government groups - to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law.

Deplorable camp conditions

"I am deeply concerned about the unacceptable living conditions in some of the IDP settlements I have visited, including lack of proper shelter, food and drinking water; severe malnutrition of children, very poor sanitation, lack of education and health facilities and severe overcrowding," Kälin said.

Calling on donors to be prepared, Kälin added: "Torrential El Niño rains are expected to further aggravate an already dramatic situation."

He said lack of humanitarian access to those most in need, dangers for humanitarian workers, such as abductions, as well as a sharp decline in donor contributions, had exacerbated the "long-standing humanitarian crisis and risks bringing it to hitherto unknown levels".

Exploitation risk

Although he noted there was risk of aid being diverted, Kälin urged donors not to reduce humanitarian aid. "This would only mean punishing the most vulnerable among already destitute communities but also playing into the hands of radical elements who could easily exploit the situation," he said, urging all actors to grant humanitarian access and ensure safety of humanitarian workers.

Although he did not visit south and central Somalia, Kälin said he had received testimonies regarding violence and the appalling living conditions of IDPs in the Afgoye corridor, close to the Somali capital, which has one of the highest IDP densities worldwide.

"Existing humanitarian aid is pitifully insufficient compared to the needs of the displaced who often face severe protection risks and marginalization," he said. "Vulnerabilities are heightened by the fact that many IDPs have been displaced more than once."

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86676NAIROBI Monday, October 19, 2009 (IRIN) - Flash floods have rendered homeless thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps in and around Mogadishu, the Somali capital, locals say. NAIROBI Monday, October 19, 2009 (IRIN) - Flash floods have rendered homeless thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps in and around Mogadishu, the Somali capital, locals say.

"The rains that fell on Friday and Saturday [16 and 17 October] destroyed many of the makeshift shelters," Jowahir Ilmi, head of the Somali Women Concern (SWC), a local NGO, said. "The resulting floods washed away many of the shelters."

Ilmi said many IDP families lost everything - "the floods took their utensils and anything that was not fixed to the ground”.

Bilmo Nur, who is looking after four grandchildren, told IRIN she sought shelter with another family after the rains destroyed her makeshift home. “My grandson [18 months old] was almost swept away by the water.”

Nur said the children were weak and she was worried the cold weather would make matters worse.

"We don’t have food but we need shelter more urgently,” she said, adding that there had been a break in the rains but it was not expected to last long. “I hope we will get some tents and plastic sheeting before the next [flood].”

Khadra Ali, a community activist in the camps, told IRIN that many in the Ali Somali displaced camp, home to 350 families (2,100 people), were sleeping in the open. “If, as expected, we get another downpour today or tomorrow, we don’t have any place to shelter.”

Ilmi said the rains were also making the sanitary conditions of the camps worse. “The conditions were bad to begin with but the rains are making them worse.”

At the mercy of mosquitoes

Meanwhile, in the southern coastal city of Kismayo, 500km south of Mogadishu, heavy rains are adding to the misery of the displaced who fled the city during the recent fighting between two Islamist groups, a local activist told IRIN.

The source said thousands of IDP families who had not returned to city were at the "mercy of the rains and mosquitoes".

"Around 6,000 families [36,000 people] are living in the open or in very poor conditions," the source said, adding that most of those who fled the city [on 30 September and 1 October] had not returned.

Some 900,000 people who fled the fighting in Mogadishu between the government and Islamist insurgents have settled in the Mogadishu and Afgoye corridor, according to aid agencies.

Conflict, drought and hyperinflation have combined to create a humanitarian crisis in Somalia, with some 3.6 million needing food aid, according to the UN.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86640NAIROBI Monday, October 19, 2009 (IRIN) - As countries across East Africa and the Horn of Africa begin to receive El Niño-related enhanced rainfall, disaster risk reduction experts from 10 countries in the region are meeting in Nairobi to develop strategies for reducing the negative impact of the evolving El Niño phenomenon.NAIROBI Monday, October 19, 2009 (IRIN) - As countries across East Africa and the Horn of Africa begin to receive El Niño-related enhanced rainfall, disaster risk reduction experts from 10 countries in the region are meeting in Nairobi to develop strategies for reducing the negative impact of the evolving El Niño phenomenon.

"Africa, and in particular the Horn of Africa, suffers more and more the impact of climate-induced hazards," Pedro Basabe, the Africa programme representative of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), said on 19 October at the beginning of the three-day conference, organized by the InterGovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and World Bank. "Drought and floods affect directly or indirectly millions of people each year, in particular the poor who are the most vulnerable."

According to the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), which produces monthly and seasonal climate outlooks, the Greater Horn of Africa is prone to extreme climate events such as drought and floods, which often have severe negative effects on the region’s key socio-economic sectors.

Experts from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan and Somalia are attending the conference, of which the second and third day will be held in the western town of Kisumu, with participants making field trips to nearby flood-prone areas.

In a keynote speech, Moses Gitari, a senior deputy secretary in the Kenyan Ministry of State for Special Programmes, said memories of the negative impacts of the 1997-1998 El Niño and awareness efforts by climate experts had helped the country develop several disaster preparedness strategies.

"These include education, awareness and information sharing, risks and vulnerability analysis, people-centred early warning, adaptation to climate change, environmental protection, vulnerability reduction through development and social programmes and community coping mechanisms," Gitari said.

He added that community level intervention was pivotal to any disaster risk reduction strategy.

Gitari said the meeting was timely since some of the intervention efforts could require support beyond individual countries' borders.

Abbas Gullet, secretary-general of the Kenya Red Cross Society, said the government, UN agencies and NGOs had, in September, developed a National Contingency Plan for El Niño, "which is being [put into operation] currently".

"We have pre-positioned relief items, human and material resources countrywide in all the eight regions we work in and have conducted drills in some of the regions with a view to putting preparedness capacity on alert status," Gullet said. "It is our hope that this workshop will provide opportunities to explore the various ways and means of entrenching disaster risk reduction in communities we work with and provide a way forward for building safer and resilient communities countrywide."

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