ICRC Bulletin - Yemen: ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent aid thousands as fighting continues

The current armed clashes in northern Yemen have continued for almost three weeks, and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating. Thousands have fled, taking refuge with relatives or host families. Makeshift shelters have been set up in neighbouring areas, but some people have fled as far as the capital Sana'a, more than 300 km to the south.

The ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent Society have registered over 25,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in the provinces of Sa'ada and Amran and staff of the two organizations are working around the clock to respond to the most urgent needs.

"The dire humanitarian situation is hitting women and children especially hard,” said Daniel Gagnon, the ICRC's acting head of sub-delegation in Sa'ada. But ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent aid is making a difference. "Some of us have already received mattresses, gas bottles and food," said a displaced woman in Wadi Khaiwan. She and her family had to flee al-Harf city in the north of Amran province. "This helps us get along and makes us less of a burden to our host families and neighbours, who have very little themselves."

In and around Sa'ada city, over 4,200 people are living in Al-Ihsa', Sam and Al-Talh camps, which are run by the ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent. But as Daniel Gagnon points out, "there are thousands more in Sa’ada governorate who need our help.”

Over 5,500 people are staying with host families in Sa'ada city. As the influx continues, the ICRC is looking for ways of accommodating more. "What the people need most is clean water, food and shelter,” said Daniel Gagnon. "With commercial traffic paralyzed because of the fighting, people find it difficult to get supplies.”

The conflict makes it difficult to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid, with fighting in parts of Sa'ada and Amran provinces hampering operations. Despite the obstacles, ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent staff continue to bring help whenever the situation allows them to move safely.

How displaced people have benefited from ICRC activities in recent days

Medical supplies

• A health centre in Wadi Khaiwan (Amran province) received basic medicines and a tent to act as a “waiting room”.



• Yemen Red Crescent staff in Baqim (Sa'ada province) received ICRC support in the form of medicines for the treatment 400 patients.



• The Yemen Red Crescent doctor based in Al-Azgoul received medicines.
  

Food and water

• In Sa'ada province, 5,000 displaced people in the Al-Talh area received flour, rice and cooking oil, while more than 250 people in the Qataber area received flour.



• 5,500 people living with host families in Sa'ada city received flour, rice and beans.



• Several dozen displaced families in Baqim and Al-Mahader (Sa'ada province) received daily water deliveries.



• 850 displaced people in Wadi Khaiwan (Amran province) received drinking water.
  

Shelter and other essential items

• Over 3,500 families who fled to Sa'ada city are receiving basic household items.



• ICRC and YRCS teams have been distributing blankets, mattresses, tarpaulins, jerrycans, soap, stoves, gas cylinders and other items to 2,500 people in the Wadi Khaiwan, Amran province.



• Over 1,900 people from Al-Mahader, west of Sa'ada city, and more than 560 people in Sa'ada city itself received such essential household items as blankets, mattresses, tarpaulins, jerrycans, soap, stoves and gas cylinders.



• 7,000 people registered in the Baqim area should be receiving shelter and other essential items in the next few days. The ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent are working on accommodating 3,000 people as soon as possible.
  

The ICRC has been working in Yemen since 1962 and in Sa'ada governorate since 2004. Its workforce has been increasing steadily since the beginning of the year; the organization currently has 111 staff based in the country – 69 in the capital Sana'a, including 19 expatriates, and 42 in Sa'ada, including five expatriates.

ICRC News Release - Somalia: conflict and drought compound civilians' woes

Nairobi/Geneva (ICRC) – The longstanding armed conflict in Somalia is taking a heavy toll on the country's population. Thousands of people continue to flee the hostilities in Mogadishu. They either find refuge with relatives or host families or look for shelter in makeshift camps. In cooperation with the Somali Red Crescent Society, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) completed a distribution last week of items such as blankets, kitchen sets, jerrycans, sleeping mats and clothes for 75,000 displaced people (IDPs) from Mogadishu in southern and central Somalia.

In the drought-affected Sool region, in the northern part of the country, 36,000 displaced people received a two-month ration of beans, rice and oil. In addition, 120,000 displaced people and residents in various parts of the country were given seed that will enable them to harvest tomatoes, onions, carrots and other vegetables in the upcoming months. The dire humanitarian situation is particularly difficult for children to bear.

"Somalia's children have never known what it is like to live in peace; armed violence has ravaged the country ever since they were born," said Dr Ahmed M. Hassan, the president of the Somali Red Crescent. "Although they have adapted their short lives to the situation, they deserve all the support they can get."

Thousands of children have to cope with the task of surviving in a hostile environment where there is a constant danger of being caught in crossfire. Child-care institutions across the country are doing their best to provide children with food, clothes and medical care, at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult for civilians to contend with the deadly violence.

During the fasting month of Ramadan, the ICRC and the Somali Red Crescent are supplying various orphanages in Mogadishu and the Shabelle region with food. Around 5,800 children are receiving rice, flour, dates and oil. For Eid al fitr, the festival that marks the end of Ramadan, the orphans will receive clothes.

The ICRC has been working in Somalia since 1977. It focuses on providing emergency aid and restoring family links for people directly affected by armed conflict, often in combination with natural disasters, and runs extensive first-aid, basic health-care and other medical programmes to treat the wounded and sick. It also carries out agricultural and water projects designed to improve the economic security of vulnerable communities over the medium term. It works closely with and supports the development of the Somali Red Crescent Society.

HALF OF SOMALIA’S POPULATION COULD GO HUNGRY, UN WARNS

Half of Somalia's population is in need of humanitarian assistance, according to a new United Nations report which finds that the conflict engulfing the Horn of Africa nation is pushing increasing numbers of people into hunger.

The Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO/FSNAU) says that the crisis in Somalia is both widespread and severe, with some 3.76 people in need of humanitarian aid, up from 3.17 million in January.

"This signals a serious deterioration in the emergency food security and nutrition situation from earlier this year," according to Cindy Holleman, Chief Technical Advisor of the Unit.

She adds that perhaps more worrying is that the increased fighting is occurring in the same areas that are now recording the greatest problems of food access and malnutrition and which are largely inaccessible to aid workers.

Emergency nutrition levels in several parts of the country have deteriorated further since January, with one in five children, up from one in six earlier this year, now acutely malnourished and one in 20 severely malnourished, among the highest rates in the world.

In the whole of Somalia, nearly 300,000 children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, of whom 70,000 are severely malnourished and are at an increased risk of death without appropriate specialist care.

The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has skyrocketed since the start of the year, surging 40 per cent to 1.42 million people, and the conflict's epicentre in central and southern Somalia has also faced droughts due to several consecutive seasons without adequate rainfall.

With livestock having been decimated, the new report notes that in these areas, up to 75 per cent of the population can be characterized as living in a humanitarian emergency.

In a related development, the top UN envoy to Somalia called, on the occasion of the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, for an end to armed violence in the country.

In a letter to the Somalia diaspora, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, said that fighting continues to rage even though there are no more Ethiopian troops in the capital, Mogadishu.

"What reason is there now to continue fighting unless it is to capitalize on the insecurity for personal gain?" he asked. "What moral justification is there for instilling fear and terror in the population?"

The time has come, the envoy said, to "end this long conflict at home, that of Somalis fighting Somalis," stressing the need to seize the opportunity to bolster the country's fledgling Government.
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UNICEF HEAD SPEAKS OUT AGAINST VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN YEMEN

The head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called for "immediate and secure" access to people uprooted by escalating clashes – mostly children and women – between Government forces and rebels in northern Yemen.

"Children cannot be the innocent victims of conflict," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said in a statement issued yesterday, noting that the agency stands ready to assist civilians caught up in the conflict.

The humanitarian situation in camps, she said, is becoming ever more dire due to the lack of basic services, including safe water, sanitation and nutrition.

"Thousands of more families remain trapped inside the conflict zone, unable to reach safer areas," Ms. Veneman added. "They, too, are in urgent need of humanitarian support."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today that insecurity is hindering aid agencies' efforts to reach people affected by the fighting, which could ultimately uproot up to 150,000 people.

Including those displaced by previous violence, some 119,000 people in Sa'ada governorate have fled clashes between Government troops and Al Houthi rebels which are now spreading to the neighbouring Amran governorate.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today that the violence has affected 35,000 in the past two weeks alone.

Stepped up fighting in recent days "is worsening what is already a dire and complex humanitarian emergency," agency spokesperson Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva.

"We are especially worried about the situation in Sa'ada city, the provincial capital of Sa'ada governorate," he said, noting that a UNHCR team has reported that there has been no water and electricity there since 10 August.

Additionally, there is a fuel shortage and it is becoming increasingly perilous for people to reach markets to purchase food, Mr. Mahecic said.

Although UNHCR, which last week called on donors for an additional $5 million to respond to the latest emergency, has registered hundreds of newly displaced families, registration has been suspended due to security situation inside the city as well as a curfew.

Along with preparing new aid shipments, the agency is working with local authorities on the construction of a new camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) that could house up to 3,500 people.

According to OCHA, the violence has made it difficult for humanitarian workers to access the uprooted and accurately assess the situation, with the Sa'ada airport having been closed to all non-military activities.

Travel by land from Yemen's capital, Sana'a, has been hampered by roadblocks, with UN agencies having evacuated non-resident staff from Sa'ada on 20 August.

The Ministry of Public Health has pointed to an alarming situation in Sa'ada, which borders Saudi Arabia and is a relatively remote and inaccessible region where many health facilities are currently not functioning.

According to an inter-agency assessment in Haradh, many IDPs were found to be living without shelter or water and are at risk of heat stroke and severe dehydration. Further, cases of diarrhoeal diseases and child malnutrition have been reported.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has airlifted 40 metric tonnes of high energy biscuits, distributing 10 metric tonnes of food aid to 7,000 newly-displaced people in Hajjah governorate. It started delivering a one-month ration of cereals, pulses, vegetable, salt and sugar on 23 August for 10,000 people.

For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) has provided two trauma kits to the Ministry of Public Health, while a mobile health clinic was deployed last week.

The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released $1.2 million for rapid response measures to provide immediate assistance to 25,000 people displaced by previous fighting in Sa'ada.

A flash appeal, to fund life-saving assistance for up to 150,000 IDPs and other indirectly affected people, is being prepared.
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Yemen – ICRC Bulletin No. 01 / 2009

Since mid-August, armed confrontations affecting the civilian population have intensified in the already volatile governorate of Sa'ada, in the north of the country, and spilled over into parts of Amran governorate. According to initial estimates, thousands of people have been displaced in the two governorates.

"Thousands of people have fled the fighting to seek refuge in Sa'ada city and surrounding areas. They probably could not take much with them, and many are now left stranded without even a roof to protect them from the rain," said the ICRC's head of delegation in Yemen, Jean-Nicolas Marti. "Their most important immediate needs are shelter, water, food and access to medical care."

ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent Society staff have so far registered more than 12,000 displaced people (IDPs) in Sa'ada governorate and more than 4,000 in Amran governorate while also meeting vital needs, for example by providing support for medical facilities.

FEATURE: PAKISTANI HOST FAMILIES PLAY CRUCIAL ROLE IN UN AID EFFORTS

Their names may not make headlines or their faces grace television screens, but to United Nations officials and hundreds of thousands of their fellow Pakistanis, people such as Haji Akbar and Shahzaman are the true heroes of what is one of the largest displacement crises in the world today.

They are among those who have opened up their homes in an unprecedented show of generosity to accommodate men, women and children uprooted by the military operation conducted by Government forces against militants in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

At the height of the crisis just a couple of months ago, the vast majority of the more than 2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) were either sheltering in schools and other public buildings, with host families or in rental accommodations.

"The everyday people of Pakistan are the real heroes of this current crisis in Pakistan," according to Martin Mogwanja, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan.

"They are opening the doors of their often modest homes, sharing what they have, no matter how little, no matter how it strains their often modest budgets. True humanitarians, they set an inspiring example of extraordinary generosity for the whole world."

Haji Akbar did not know any of the men, women and children who arrived at his doorstep one morning in April, or how long they would be staying. But that did not deter the farmer in Swabi district from helping them in their time of need.

"I was extremely happy that I was being able to provide [a] service to my brothers and sisters," says Akbar, whose family of 14 hosted 60 displaced people for two and a half months.

"It was for the first time in my life that I received so many guests at one time to live in my house," he told the UN News Centre, on the eve of the first annual World Humanitarian Day, to be observed on 19 August.

"I invited them to stay with me and when they came in I realized there were a lot of people to accommodate so we decided to shift to my brother's house to leave the whole house for our guests."

The displaced who were living in camps received relief supplies there. Meanwhile, the UN set up humanitarian hubs for those staying outside the camps where they could come on certain days to pick up food rations and other items.

In addition, agencies such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) provided tents – to extend living spaces and alleviate crowded conditions – as well as food rations, hygiene kits and latrines.

"There's absolutely no doubt that the fact that people were taken in by host families helped to save lives," says Ariane Rummery, spokesperson for UNHCR in Pakistan. "To accommodate over 2 million people in camps would have been much tougher."

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes had a chance to see the "host-community phenomenon" first-hand when he visited areas of NWFP last month, including the village of Jamal Garhi, in Mardan district, where there were as many displaced people as residents, and in one case, one family was hosting some 95 displaced people.

"I think that's not untypical," he said following the visit, adding that it has been "a remarkably generous response – partly for traditional, cultural reasons – by the local population in parts of North West Frontier Province."

Mardan resident Shahzaman and his family of 15 accommodated 30 relatives in their five-room house for two and a half months.

"In these testing times, if we will not provide them shelter where should they go? They were in trouble… they were not a burden to us. We felt proud to host them," says Shahzaman.

He and his family did receive some UN assistance to cope with the influx but it was still not easy. "With very limited resources, we had to cut most of our own needs. There were budgetary constraints in hosting such a large number of guests.

"I am a low-paid government servant, so this was a big challenge for us," he adds.

The Pakistani Government estimates that some 890,000 displaced persons have returned since mid-July to their villages in the districts of Buner and Swat – among the areas hardest hit by the military operations.

For many of the host families, the experiences shared over the past several months are ones they will not soon forget.

"Our families made friendships and when they were leaving we were very sad," says Akbar. "Two and a half months in the same place is a lot of time… we miss them."
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CHAD: $1 MILLION IN FRESH FUNDS KEEPS UN AIR SERVICE ALIVE FOR ANOTHER MONTH

Humanitarian workers assisting over 430,000 vulnerable people in Chad will be able to get to where they need to go thanks to $1 million in new funding from the United States for United Nations-run aid flights operating in the West African nation.

The UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) plays a vital role in accessing remote locations and in cases where insecurity prevents travel by road.

Run by the World Food Programme (WFP), the service flies aid workers from the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as journalists and others, to some of the hardest-to-reach emergency operations around the world.

In Chad alone, some 5,000 aid workers per month use UNHAS to help 250,000 refugees from the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur, as well as 180,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).

WFP's Emilia Casella told reporters in Geneva that despite the new funds, the service would shut down half of its operations by 15 September, and be grounded altogether by 30 September, without more resources.

The Chad flights need another $5.7 million to stay in the air until the end of the year, she noted.

With a 2009 budget of $160 million, the air service operates in Chad, Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, the Central African Republic (CAR), West Africa and Afghanistan.
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UN WARNS IT LACKS ACCESS TO 500,000 HUNGRY SOMALIS

Lack of access has prevented the United Nations from delivering food to 500,000 of its planned 3.3 million beneficiaries in Somalia over the past month, principally in Mogadishu and the south of the battle-scarred country.

At the same time, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) will face critical shortfalls as of October and urgently requires 209,000 metric tons of food worth $208 million to cover the current aid pipeline until the end of March 2010, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today.

As of the end of July, the Somalia consolidated appeal was 52 per cent funded at $438 million. In July, WFP delivered about 33,725 metric tons of food, 83 per cent of the planned tonnage, to 2.8 million beneficiaries in south-central Somalia and Puntland and Somaliland in the north. Lack of access and minor pipeline shortfalls cut off delivery from the full target of 3.3 million, OCHA said.

Mogadishu and the south have been shattered by an upsurge of attacks from Al-Shabaab and other militant Islamic groups against the provisional Government in a country that has had no functioning central authority and has been riven by factional fighting for nearly two decades.

WFP this week completed nutrition screening of vulnerable groups in Afmadow district in the Lower Juba region in southern Somalia, identifying 4,500 people, most of them children under the age of five, pregnant and lactating women in need of supplementary feeding. The agency will distribute 190 metric tons of food to them. Further screening is ongoing in the nearby Dobley district. In August, WFP will assist some 70,000 people with supplementary feeding in Somalia.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), meanwhile, has completed the construction of a two-kilometre network of pipes, tanks and kiosks to provide safe drinking water for nearly 17,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in Kaa Shiqal camp in Banadir district, near Mogadishu.

More than 10,500 people, mainly newly arrived IDPs, will benefit from 200 newly constructed latrines in IDP camps to the north and south of Mogadishu, OCHA reported.
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THOUSANDS OF CONGOLESE DISPLACED IN LATEST ATTACKS BY UGANDAN REBEL GROUP – UN

Some 12,500 people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been uprooted from their homes in the past month by attacks by the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

"The humanitarian situation in this remote part of the DRC remains dramatic," Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva.

He said that last month the LRA launched an "unprecedented" 55 attacks against civilians in the Faradje area in north-eastern Orientale province. Villages in the Dungu district of Haut-Uele province were also targeted.

According to the agency, 1,273 people have been killed by the LRA since September 2007 and 655 children and 1,427 adults have been abducted.

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) tell UNHCR that many women have been raped by the rebels and their households looted and torched. More than 226,000 people have been displaced in Haut-Uele alone and another 42,000 in Bas-Uele, according to UN estimates.

"Most of the IDPs are unable to return home because of the ongoing assaults," said Mr. Mahecic. "They sleep in public buildings such as schools and churches. Some have been able to find shelter with friends, relatives or host families willing to share their meagre food stocks.

"According to our local partners, regular medical supplies are low, hospitals lack basic equipment and drinking water is in chronically short supply," he added.

While UNHCR and other aid agencies have been able to reach some 45 per cent of the displaced and provide basic assistance such as food, blankets, sleeping mats and cooking sets, the agency said that insecurity is preventing larger scale deliveries of humanitarian assistance.

"Ongoing insecurity and poor, impassable roads remain the main obstacles to our work. Some of the areas where the IDPs have gathered are accessible only by air," Mr. Mahecic noted.

UNHCR also reported that the recent displacement is spilling over into neighbouring Sudan. Out of 21,000 refugees in South Sudan, 16,500 arrived since last November from Orientale province, most of them fleeing LRA attacks in Faradje.
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Pakistan - ICRC Bulletin - Pakistan: ICRC assists Waziri displaced for first time

This week, the ICRC and the Pakistan Red Crescent Society are providing food and other essential items for over 2,500 people who have fled Waziristan. Humanitarian operations in NWFP and other parts of the country are ongoing.

"The fighting in Waziristan has resulted in displacement, but our ability to assist the population in the district itself is affected by a difficult security environment," said Benno Kocher, head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Peshawar. "That is why we have opened an office in Bhakkar, on the east bank of the Indus, from which we can step in to help those in need at short notice."

While many Waziris seeking to escape the aftermath of the fighting are reportedly staying with relatives or in their own "winter homes" in Dera Ismail Khan, the most vulnerable have been forced to flee further, some of them to Baluchistan. There, many have found refuge with relatives or rented their own accommodation. Some have had to move into a small camp recently set up in Zhob. As in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), going to a camp is a last resort for internally displaced people (IDPs) who have run out of alternatives.

In the past few days, the ICRC has delivered food and other essential goods to about 2,500 displaced people in and around Zhob and Killasaifuallha, in Baluchistan, in a bid to stave off further impoverishment.

"These people are running down their savings," explained Imran Mehmood, the ICRC's field officer overseeing the operation. "With this aid distribution, we are trying to prevent them from selling their possessions to purchase basic necessities."

Dir

In agreement with the authorities, the ICRC and the Pakistan Red Crescent are setting up a new camp, Khungi Sha, for internally displaced people in Timergara. The aim is to free up schools, which have hosted many displaced people over the last few months, so that they can admit students for the new academic year which started this week. The camp could eventually host up to 4,000 people. Part of the infrastructure and equipment used in Swabi Camp, which has now closed, will be transferred directly to Timergara. The ICRC stands ready to open more camps should the need arise owing to new arrivals from Maidan, Bar Malakand and Upper Dir.

Even though the security situation remains volatile, the ICRC and the Pakistan Red Crescent managed to distribute food and soap to almost 20,000 displaced people in Dir this week, most of whom are staying with host families. ICRC staff toured several camps in the district to identify new arrivals, better understand the problems they face and give them the opportunity to make free phone calls to relatives.

Swat

The return to the areas south and east of Mingora has involved more people and occurred more quickly than expected. Even though the situation in the district capital and the surrounding area has improved, it remains tense and security is volatile. Markets have re-opened. Food, including fruits and vegetables, is available, and prices are falling as more goods trickle in. However, most local residents missed this year's wheat harvest and many of the returning displaced people ran down their savings while they were away. Movement into and out of Swat remains difficult. Many families in Mingora are still waiting to return to their homes in western parts of the district that remain inaccessible because of the security situation west of the Swat River.

The ICRC continues to provide food and medicine to the Saidu Sharif Central Hospital in Mingora and to support the Pakistan Red Crescent's health work in the area. The Pakistan Red Crescent is now running a medical facility in Kanju Township, across the river, which treats about 400 patients a day. Many are brought in by three Red Crescent ambulances. Together with their mobile medical unit, which carries doctors and essential medical equipment to the field, the Pakistan Red Crescent is providing basic health care for around 100,000 people in Kanju and 12 nearby villages.

The ICRC is concerned not only about the plight of those who have come back to Swat without being able to return to their homes, but also about the hundreds of thousands of Swatis living west of the river in volatile areas still under curfew. They have been cut off from the rest of the district for about three months and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

Buner

The ICRC was able to return to the district this week. ICRC delegates observed that many displaced people had returned. The delegates also visited a new camp in Daggar, built in response to new displacement from an area where fighting is currently taking place. The people in the camp, who fled their homes and lost their livelihoods, are in urgent need of assistance.

Malakand

The ICRC is continuing to provide support for the large number of displaced people in the district, most of whom have opted for living arrangements outside camps. The organization distributed food and other essential goods, including soap, to over 30,000 displaced people this week, including many newly displaced from volatile parts of Lower Dir. The bulk of the ICRC's assistance is provided in the places where most displaced people have chosen to go.

Peshawar

The ICRC Surgical Hospitaladmitted 23 new weapon-wounded patients over the last week. The ICRC also continues to support a programme run by the Pakistan Institute of Prosthetic and Orthotic Sciences in Peshawar (Hayatabad).

Swabi Camp

By 29 July, Shah Mansoor Camp, the only camp for the displaced run directly by the ICRC in conjunction with the Pakistan Red Crescent, was empty. Its population of almost 20,000 left within two weeks. Most of them have returned to the districts they came from, though some have been unable to reach their homes. Nearly 3,000 have been transferred to Jalala Camp. Some displaced people have opted to move into private housing or accept accommodation with host families instead.

Raising awareness of mine hazards

Over the past week, more than 10,000 displaced people in camps have been informed about the dangers of mines and other explosive remnants of war in order to reduce the risk of accidents when they return to their homes. Reports indicate that unexploded munitions are a genuine

JOINT AFRICAN UNION-UN ENVOY DISCUSSES BETTER SECURITY WITH DARFUR’S DISPLACED

The head of the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur met today with leaders of a camp housing some of the region's displaced to discuss improved security measures following the killing of a camp leader and his wife earlier this week.

The mission, known as UNAMID, has been monitoring the situation in the Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the wake of the murders of Chief Umda Saroukh and his wife, who were shot by unknown armed men at their house near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

Rodolphe Adada, the Joint AU-UN Special Representative and head of UNAMID, noted that the mission had prioritized community policing on its agenda and the camp's residents needed to extend meaningful cooperation in the form of a joint approach to security and exchange of information inside the camp.

He urged unity among the leaders, stressing that their needs, challenges, concerns and interests were the same as those of the general population in the camps.

"UNAMID could only work well with a coherent and united team of leaders," he told the leaders.

Mr. Adada added that UNAMID was not in Darfur to replace the Sudanese Government, but to work with it to improve the safety and security of all Darfurians, especially the displaced.

An estimated 2.6 million people have been displaced in Darfur since fighting began in 2003, pitting Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen against rebel groups, and as many as 4.7 million people have been left totally dependent on humanitarian aid.

While expressing gratitude to UNAMID for its services to the IDP community, including education, the Umdas voiced their concern about their own protection and ongoing criminal activities in the camp, among other issues.

They also raised concerns that UNAMID's mandate did not extend to executive policing powers of arrest and detention. Further, the leaders requested that UN patrols work closely with them in deploying patrol vehicles to problematic areas in the camp.

The Umdas and UNAMID Police will further explore proposals put forward at today's meeting.

Meanwhile, the mission announced that the first batch of the Ethiopian Infantry Battalion comprising 151 personnel arrived today in Darfur, and another 151 are scheduled to follow tomorrow.

The remaining members of the infantry battalion – totalling some 800 soldiers – are expected to be deployed in September or October, helping UNAMID to advance toward its goal of 97 per cent deployment by the end of this year.

Established by the Security Council in 2007, the mission is expected to have a total of 19,555 military personnel at full deployment.

In a related development, the Joint Chief Mediator for Darfur, Djibril Bassolé, is in Tripoli, Libya, where he is meeting a number of Darfur rebel movements willing to engage in peace talks with the Sudanese Government.
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AFRICAN UNION-UN PEACEKEEPERS IN DARFUR PRESENT FUNDING FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

The African Union-United Nations peacekeeping operation in Darfur has provided a financial boost of almost $250,000 for the construction of classrooms, toilets and water pumps in the violence-ridden region of Sudan.

Henry Anyidoho, Deputy Joint Special Representative of the AU-UN mission (UNAMID), presented the Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) funding, which will also cover the construction of an x-ray wing for a local hospital, to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) yesterday on his visit to South Darfur.

The visit took in the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), where a school has been built with the QIPs funding.

Mr. Anyidoho inspected progress on work carried out by the UNAMID Chinese engineering company – including the construction of two water dams – following recent heavy flooding in the makeshift camp.

At the IDP camp, he met with sheikhs and other traditional leaders to discuss the living conditions and heard complaints over the absence of basic necessities for survival, such as food and water, amenities and social services.

The camp leaders also raised concerns over the ongoing operation of armed militias in the area, land occupation, guarantees of collective and individual compensation for IDPs and bringing to justice those accused of war crimes among other issues.

Meanwhile, UNAMID has reported that the security situation in Darfur is relatively calm except for some minor banditry and car-jacking in North Darfur.

The mission was also informed yesterday that chief Umda of Abu Shouk IDP camp and his wife had been shot by unknown armed men at their house near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. UNAMID military and police are monitoring the situation in the camp and Sudanese Government police are investigating the incidence.
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GREATER EFFORTS NEEDED TO END DISPLACEMENT IN NORTHERN UGANDA, SAYS UN EXPERT

Stepped up efforts are needed to ensure that the last of the people uprooted by the long-running conflict between the Government and a notorious group in northern Uganda are able to return to their homes, a United Nations independent expert said today.

Wrapping up a week-long visit to the Great Lakes nation, Walter Kaelin, the Secretary-General's Representative on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs), said that he is "impressed" by progress made in tackling the displacement situation in the country's north, where nearly 80 per cent of the uprooted have returned to their villages.

He voiced his appreciation for the Government's actions in allowing the IDPs to find durable solutions, welcoming progress made in restoring security and freedom of movement in northern Uganda, which has seen two decades of fighting between the Government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

But Mr. Kaelin noted that "serious challenges remain for those remaining in camps to freely opt for return, local integration or settlement elsewhere as provided for by the Ugandan National IDP Policy and to ensure the sustainability of returns or other durable solutions.

Also impeding sustainable returns are the lack of water, food, health and education services, as well as land and property disputes, in areas of return, he added.

In spite of the Government's efforts, the Representative said that the low impact of recovery and development activities in the north, especially the setting up of basic services in return areas, threatens stability and the durability of peace.

He called on national and local authorities to implement the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan for northern Uganda, calling on the international community to support recovery efforts.

"The implementation of recovery projects and support for solving land conflicts would go a long way in restoring economic, social and cultural rights of those who have been deprived of their human rights for so long," Mr. Kaelin said in a press release issued in the capital, Kampala.

Food insecurity is another cause for concern, especially among elderly people and orphans, he noted, urging authorities and their development partners to increase investment in guaranteeing the right to food.

Earlier this week, the outgoing UN envoy for the conflict in northern Uganda today stressed the need for a two-pronged strategy of pursuing negotiation as well as military action against the LRA.

In his last briefing to the Security Council as the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the LRA-affected areas, Joaquim Chissano spoke about the state of the Juba peace agreements – originally signed in Sudan in February 2008 and set to take effect after the signing of a final overall peace accord – involving the LRA and the Ugandan Government.

Countries in the region, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have joined forces with Uganda to militarily root out the LRA, following the failure by the group's leader, Joseph Kony, to sign the final peace pact which would end two decades of fighting.

Those operations, which display a new determination by countries to collectively deal with t

he dangers posed by the LRA, had both uprooted and disrupted the group, Mr. Chissano, the former president of Mozambique, told the 15-member Council in a closed meeting.
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UN AGENCY COMMITS TO HELPING PROTECT LAND RIGHTS FOR AFRICA’S DISPLACED

The United Nations agency tasked with promoting adequate shelter for all has committed to ensuring better protection of land and property rights for people uprooted from their homes in Africa, which hosts nearly half of the total number of displaced persons worldwide.

UN-HABITAT and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding last week committing them to this common goal.

Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, said she hoped the new agreement will be an opportunity to "work together to mobilize resources and help the significant number of displaced persons in Africa."

The two institutions will work together to promote the creation of proper legal and institutional frameworks so that countries can be better prepared to protect the rights of displaced populations and to find durable solutions with regards to land and property issues.

In 2008 there were an estimated 11.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Africa, nearly half of the total number of displaced worldwide.

"The technical assistance that UN-HABITAT can provide will aid us greatly in our quest to help the huge displaced populations in the Great Lakes Region," said Liberata Mulamula, Executive Secretary of the ICGLR. "The sharing of experience and resources is going to be essential in dealing with the current situation."

The ICGLR is an institution created by Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia to implement the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region.
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UPROOTED FAMILIES BEGIN RETURNING TO NORTH-WEST PAKISTAN, REPORT UN AGENCY

Around 800 people displaced by the conflict in north-west Pakistan have headed back home yesterday under a government-run programme, while another 2,500 are slated to return today, the United Nations refugee agency reported.

Returnees to the district of Swat told the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that they felt safe going back to their villages after contacting neighbours who had already safely returned on their own, the agency's spokesperson, Ron Redmond, told reporters in Geneva.

"Other internally displaced people (IDPs) reported they were not yet ready to return, citing security concerns in various areas in Swat," he stated. "Some IDPs have been displaced several times in the course of the past several months and want to avoid being uprooted yet again."

More than 2 million Pakistanis have fled the conflict between Government forces and militants in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), and the vast majority are either sheltering in schools and other public buildings, with host families or in rental accommodations.

Those that headed home yesterday were living in the Jalozai camp, which is managed by UNHCR together with its partners and provincial authorities. Unbearable heat in the camp was cited as one of the main reasons they decided to go back to their villages.

Some of the most vulnerable IDPs, including pregnant women, said they would rather remain in camps for now since they have access to health services – something that is not always available in their villages, noted Mr. Redmond.

The World Health Organization (WHO), which just completed a high-level mission to Pakistan on Friday, said one of its major concerns is ensuring that returnees have access to functional health systems. The agency's spokesperson, Paul Garwood, also cited a major gap in female health workers available to treat patients, particularly female returnees who prefer to be treated by women.

The scale of the displacement crisis continues to "exhaust the current health system's ability to meet all needs," he told reporters. The situation is being further complicated by the coming monsoon season, which will result in higher risks to displaced women and children under five, especially with regard to respiratory infections, malaria, and other water-borne diseases.

The Government's return plan – known as Naway Sahar, or 'Dawn of a New Beginning'– will focus first on repatriating displaced people currently staying in camps, and then move on to those staying with host families, renting rooms or staying in schools.

Government authorities and UN agencies, including UNHCR, signed a statement over the weekend pledging that the return process would follow the principles of voluntariness, safety and dignity.

UNHCR will help to monitor the willingness of people to return as well to implement the registration process. It will also provide assistance in cash to the Government for the transportation of vulnerable people, and distribute relief items to families which have not yet received them, especially for IDPs staying in host families and school buildings.

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REPORTS FROM SOMALIA SUGGEST POSSIBLE WAR CRIMES, SAYS UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF

It is clear that grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law – possibly amounting to war crimes – are being committed in strife-torn Somalia, a top United Nations official said today.

Despite the signing of a peace accord last year and the formation of a new government this past February, ongoing violence has caused enormous suffering and massive displacement in the Horn of Africa nation.

More than 200,000 people have been forced to flee the capital, Mogadishu, since the latest round of fighting began in early May between the Government and the Al-Shabab and Hisb-ul-Islam groups.

"In this new wave of attacks, it is clear that civilians – especially women and children – are bearing the brunt of the violence," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said, noting that attacks against civilians have been one of the main features of the conflicts that have engulfed the country since 1991.

"There needs to be a much greater effort to protect civilians. Displaced people and human rights defenders, aid workers and journalists are among those most exposed, and in some cases are being directly targeted," she added.

UN investigators who spoke with refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) that fled the recent surge in fighting were told that the Al-Shabab groups have carried out extrajudicial executions, planted mines, bombs and other explosive devices in civilian areas, and used civilians as human shields, according to a news release from the High Commissioner's office (OHCHR).

In addition, fighters from both sides are reported to have used torture, and fired mortars indiscriminately into areas populated or frequented by civilians. There has also been increasing evidence of child recruitment by various forces.

"Some of these acts might amount to war crimes," Ms. Pillay said.

She added that the work of human rights defenders and journalists in Mogadishu has become "extremely precarious," with six journalists having been killed in Mogadishu – four of them apparently victims of target assassinations – since the beginning of the year.

"It is vital that the fighting and violence stop as soon as possible," the High Commissioner said, adding that once order has been restored, those responsible for human rights violations and abuses should be brought to justice.

"The gathering of evidence, by all who are in a position to do so, has to continue so that those committing these terrible crimes in Somalia will one day receive their due punishment before a court of law, and their victims will finally see justice being done," she stated.
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WOMEN’S CENTRES RE-OPEN IN DARFUR WITH HELP FROM AU-UN MISSION

Female internally displaced persons (IDPs) will again be able to learn job skills, take literacy classes and receive awareness programmes on reproductive health after the joint African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) helped reactivate women's centres at an IDP camp in the Sudanese region.

UNAMID's Gender Advisory Unit has worked with the North Darfur state Ministry of Social Affairs to relaunch the centres at the Abu Shouk IDP camp on the outskirts of the state capital, El Fasher. The centres, which will be run by a local non-governmental organization (NGO), had closed last year.

The Abu Shouk centres are expected to carry out several activities aimed at helping women gain livelihoods, including tailoring, candle-making and handcrafts. There will also be adult literacy classes, and awareness programmes on women's reproductive health, and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

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SPIRALING VIOLENCE CLAIMS HUNDREDS OF LIVES IN SOMALIA – UN REFUGEE AGENCY

The United Nations refugee agency today voiced its grave concern over the escalating violence and worsening displacement crisis in the Somali capital, where local hospitals report that over 250 civilians have been killed and nearly 1,000 others wounded since fighting erupted last month.

Continued fighting, which broke out on 7 May in several parts of north-west Mogadishu between Government forces and the opposition Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam, "is leaving a trail of civilian casualties, destruction and renewed displacement," William Spindler, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva.

Since violence broke out last month, the agency estimates that over 160,000 people have been driven to other parts of Somalia or to neighbouring nations, with some 26,000 uprooted between 19 and 22 June alone.

Most of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), numbering nearly 50,000, have moved to safer areas within Mogadishu or to makeshift camps on the capital's outskirts. A further 45,000 people have fled towards the so-called Afgooye corridor 30 kilometres south-east of Mogadishu, joining 400,000 other IDPs who have been displaced since 2007.

Some of the newly displaced are families who had recently returned to the capital after a period of relative peace in the first quarter of this year, Mr. Spindler said.

"Many IDPs tell stories of hardship and suffering as they try to flee the embattled Somali capital," he added, noting that most people escaping the clashes are leaving on minibuses, whose drivers are charging $250 or more, carrying 20 people on average.

According to UNHCR's local partners, a mother of six who had left Mogadishu said it took her nine days to reach Afmadow, 400 kilometres west of the capital, with transporters taking her money and leaving her family stranded along the route.

"The deteriorating security situation has sharply reduced deliveries of desperately needed humanitarian aid to the displaced in and around Mogadishu," the agency's spokesperson said, adding that UNHCR partners, which are providing emergency aid to IDPs, are facing growing security problems.

Neighbouring Kenya is seeing numbers of Somalis crossing the border increase. Since the start of the year, 38,000 new refugees – virtually all of them from Somalia – have arrived. The Dabaab camp, the largest in the world, is currently home to nearly 300,000 people, three times the number it is intended to hold.

More than $4 million has been allocated from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to alleviate overcrowding and assist Somali refugees at Kenyan camps, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.

Last week, the Security Council voiced its concern at the situation in Somalia, reiterating its support for the Transitional Federal Government, its efforts to achieve peace, security and reconciliation in Somalia through the UN-facilitated Djibouti process, which aided the formation of the new government in February, as well as the creation of a newly-expanded Parliament and election of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
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ANNUAL UN MEETING OPENS WITH CALL TO ENSURE HIV SERVICES FOR ‘PEOPLE ON THE MOVE’

The agency tasked with coordinating the United Nations response to the AIDS epidemic today called for improving HIV information and services for "people on the move," saying it will help further development and promote human rights.

Addressing the HIV-related needs of the millions uprooted from their homes every year, either by forced displacement or migration, is the focus of the annual meeting of the governing body of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, which began in Geneva today.

Figures by the UN refugee agency indicate that there were 16 million refugees, 26 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to conflict and an additional 25 million displaced due to natural disasters in 2007, while the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates there were over 200 million international migrants in 2008.

Meeting the needs of people on the move for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support is essential for achieving universal access, UNAIDS noted in a news release.

The agency said that populations on the move are sometimes blamed for the spread of HIV, or for increasing the burden on limited services for people living with HIV. However, many of the underlying factors driving mobility also increase the vulnerability of this group to HIV infection.

In addition, those among this group living with HIV and those taking antiretroviral medication face additional challenges in obtaining needed care and treatment.

It is critical to address the needs of those who 'fall between the cracks' in national AIDS strategies, and in global discussions of forced displacement, migration and travel, the agency said.

Among the specific issues of concern being discussed at the three-day UNAIDS meeting are human rights, especially in connection with access to services, as well as stigma and discrimination against persons living with HIV.

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SOME 42 MILLION PEOPLE UPROOTED WORLDWIDE IN 2008 – UN REPORT

The United Nations refugee agency said today that the number of people forced to flee their homes because of deadly violence and persecution stood at 42 million worldwide at the end 2008.

Although this represented a decrease of 700,000 over the previous year, new displacement in 2009 has already more than offset the decline, according to a news release issued by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"In 2009, we have already seen substantial new displacements, namely in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Somalia," said High Commissioner António Guterres.

Some 80 per cent of the 16 million refugees who have escaped to other countries and the vast majority of the 26 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) are in developing countries, noted the UNHCR "Global Trends" annual report.

"While some displacements may be short-lived, others can take years and even decades to resolve," said Mr. Guterres. "We continue to face several longer-term internal displacement situations in places like Colombia, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC] and Somalia."

The report highlighted some 5.7 million refugees "living in limbo," with no immediate solutions in sight, including 29 separate groups of 25,000 or more refugees in 22 States exiled for five or more years.

In 2008, some 2 million refugees and IDPs were repatriated, which was the second lowest level of returnees for 15 years and a reflection of deteriorating security in Afghanistan and the Sudan, the report said.

"Today, we are seeing a relentless series of internal conflicts that are generating millions of uprooted people," said Mr. Guterres, adding that UNHCR "is committed to working within the UN team and the broader humanitarian community to provide the internally displaced with the help they need, just as we do for refugees."

The agency provides support for 25 million of the total number of uprooted people, including a record 14.4 million IDPs – up from 13.7 million in 2007 – and 10.5 million refugees. The other 4.7 million refugees are aided by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Meanwhile, Hollywood star and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has released a new video ahead of World Refugee Day (20 June), calling on the public to "remember them on this day."

The 30-second public service announcement, co-produced by Ms. Jolie and UNHCR, includes images of refugees and other victims of conflict around the world.

The first night the video was uploaded to You Tube, it received more than 25,000 views.

Ms. Jolie is slated to travel to Washington D.C. this week with Mr. Guterres to mark World Refugee Day.
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