ICRC News Release - Sri Lanka: humanitarian assistance can no longer reach civilians

ICRC News Release No. 09/103

14 May 2009

Geneva (ICRC) – In north-eastern Sri Lanka, hundreds of seriously wounded or ill patients blocked in the conflict area have been waiting in vain for several days for desperately needed medical care. For the third consecutive day, a ferry chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and anchoring only a few kilometres away from the patients has been unable to evacuate them because of continuous heavy fighting.

"Our staff are witnessing an unimaginable humanitarian catastrophe," said the ICRC's director of operations, Pierre Krähenbühl, from the ICRC's headquarters in Geneva today. "Despite high-level assurances, the lack of security on the ground means that our sea operations continue to be stalled, and this is unacceptable," added Mr Krähenbühl. "No humanitarian organization can help them in the current circumstances. People are left to their own devices."

Thousands of people remain trapped in a small area along the coast within the conflict zone. As fighting goes on unabated, civilians are forced to seek protection in hand-dug bunkers, making it even more difficult to fetch scarce drinking water and food.

An ICRC ferry, the GreenOcean, is carrying 25 metric tonnes of urgently needed food. The last time the ICRC could offload food and medical supplies and evacuate patients was last Saturday, 9 May. In addition to the ferry, a cargo ship, the Oriental Princess, carrying another 500 metric tonnes of food from the World Food Programme, is waiting off the coast north of Mullaittivu, ready to deliver the food to civilians.

"We need security and unimpeded access now in order to save hundreds of lives," said Mr Krähenbühl. "The ICRC stands ready to carry out its humanitarian work as soon as conditions permit."

OVER 19 MILLION PEOPLE IN HORN OF AFRICA NEED HUMANITARIAN AID, SAY UN OFFICIALS

OVER 19 MILLION PEOPLE IN HORN OF AFRICA NEED HUMANITARIAN AID, SAY UN OFFICIALS
New York, May 12 2009 2:00PM
Senior United Nations officials today highlighted the need for significant resources to help over 19 million people in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia who require humanitarian aid due the effects of conflict and drought.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes told a news conference in Geneva that the situation in Ethiopia, which has faced several years of drought and more recently high food prices, could deteriorate over the next few months.

There were concerns that less than expected rainfall could lead to poor harvests and there would be an increased need for food aid and for pockets of therapeutic feeding where malnutrition was present.

Mr. Holmes, who is also UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that there was no consolidated appeal for Ethiopia but there was a joint humanitarian response plan agreed with the Government, which would expire in June of this year and would need to be renewed. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/countries/ethiopia">WFP) needed an additional $236 million to cover its operations in the country for the rest of the year.

Meanwhile, drought and a major conflict had led to a situation in which some 50 per cent of Somalia's population was being provided with food rations, Mark Bowden, Humanitarian Coordinator for the country, told reporters.

He said the current drought was one of the worst in the last decade, and the prognosis for the rains this year was worsening. Around 24 per cent of children in some parts of the country had global acute malnutrition, and it was necessary now to start general supplementary feeding for children.

With fighting erupting again in the capital, Mogadishu, there are renewed fears about displacement, he added. There are currently some 1.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and more people had left the city over the weekend.

Mr. Bowden noted that the response to the $900 million appeal for Somalia had been "disappointing," with only 35 per cent of it being met so far.

Aeneas Chuma, Resident Humanitarian Coordinator at the UN Office in Nairobi, said Kenya too was facing a complex humanitarian situation owing to drought and high food prices. An estimated 10 million people were currently affected by the food insecurity.

In addition, the country had also been affected by the global economic downturn as major sources of revenue such as tourism had declined by about 30 per cent, while remittances from families abroad had also declined by 40 per cent.
________________

QATAR GIVES $40 MILLION, MOSTLY TARGETED AT GAZA, TO BOOST UN HUMANITARIAN RELIEF

QATAR GIVES $40 MILLION, MOSTLY TARGETED AT GAZA, TO BOOST UN HUMANITARIAN RELIEF
New York, Feb 23 2009 3:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed his appreciation for a $40 million donation from Qatar to aid United Nations emergency relief and recovery efforts around the world.

The majority of the funding – some $30 million – is targeted at the world body's humanitarian operations in Gaza, and $10 million has been allocated to the Central Emergence Response Fund (CERF), created in 2006 to speed relief for natural and man-made disasters and save thousands of lives that would otherwise be lost to delay.

In a statement attributable to his spokesperson, Mr. Ban said that he "is honoured to accept a generous $40 million contribution from the Emir of Qatar to United Nations humanitarian agencies for programmes to meet the emergency needs of civilians in Gaza."

Of the $30 million allocated to Gaza, devastated by Israel's three-week military offensive with the stated aim of stopping Hamas rocket attacks into its territory, some $10 million will be distributed to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to support its life-saving activities.

The remaining Gaza funds will be shared by the World Food Programme, which provides emergency food assistance to more than one million Gazans, humanitarian projects of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and programmes headed by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to help rebuild the damaged agricultural sector.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will also receive funding for its coordination and advocacy activities in the Gaza Strip.

"The Secretary-General is particularly grateful to Qatar for allocating $10 million from the pledge to go to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)," Mr. Ban's spokesperson said in the statement.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, stressed that "the $10 million donation to the CERF is especially significant, as it allows the United Nations to allocate the funds based on need to other parts of the world that are often overlooked."

I hope that other potential donors will follow suit, as humanitarian needs will only grow in 2009, considering the combined threats posed by intensified conflicts, climate change, the global food crisis and the global economic slowdown," Mr. Holmes said.

So far in 2009 CERF has provided $8 million for food and safe water to people in Gaza, $10 million to boost aid efforts including water and nutrition programmes in Somalia, and $4 million for emergency programmes in Niger that have received inadequate support from donors.

Since its establishment, more than 100 member states and private sector donors have contributed some $1.5 billion to the CERF, which was envisaged as being "by all, for all" and has disbursed over $1.2 billion to help millions of survivors of natural disasters and conflict in 70 countries.
________________