GROWING INSECURITY IN SOMALI CAPITAL HAMPERING AID ACCESS, UN WARNS

Aid workers are finding it increasingly difficult to gain access and provide assistance to residents of the Somali capital because of the worsening conflict there, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

This week's scheduled distribution of 4,000 aid kits in Mogadishu and surrounding areas had to be postponed because of security concerns, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Ron Redmond told journalists in Geneva.

The looting by militants of UN facilities in Baidoa and Wajid yesterday has meant assistance efforts in those areas have also ground to a halt.

"We again appeal to the warring parties in Somalia to respect basic international humanitarian and human rights principles and to guarantee the safety and security of the civilian population as well as for the humanitarian workers trying to help the victims," Mr. Redmond said.

The UN's top humanitarian official, John Holmes, warned yesterday that aid workers in Somalia – and many other countries – are coming under increasingly violent attack.

An estimated 223,000 residents have now left Mogadishu since early May, when the Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam militant groups launched attacks against Government forces in the capital. In the past fortnight alone, about 20,000 people have fled their homes.

The newly displaced join another 400,000 Somalis packed into the Afgooye corridor, a congested strip of land that runs southwest from Mogadishu and is packed with makeshift shelters.

Mr. Redmond said non-governmental organizations (NGOs) trying to operate in the Afgooye area say they are overstretched and unable to cope with the latest influx.

"There is a lack of adequate shelter, sanitation facilities and clean drinking water. The situation has grown worse following recent torrential rains. The lack of sufficient latrines poses a major health risk."

The widespread insecurity means aid workers are struggling to deliver humanitarian assistance from the port of Mogadishu to the Afgooye corridor.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that it is especially concerned about deadly outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea, which is on the rise again around Mogadishu after two years of decline.

WHO is working with its NGO partners to provide cholera kits, oral rehydration sachets, aqua tabs and chlorine, and transport communication sets in a bid to contain the outbreaks of diarrhoea and cholera.

Two of Mogadishu's four functioning hospitals are admitting only war-wounded patients and trauma patients for emergency surgery, which is adding to the burden for other facilities.

In the Bakool region, which is home to at least 300,000 people, several health facilities – including a hospital in the town of Xudur – have had to be closed because of insecurity and hostility towards aid workers.

A spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) said that the agency was committed to helping Somalis and was continuing its operations, despite yesterday's attack by looters.
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MORE MUST BE DONE TO FIGHT ZIMBABWE CHOLERA OUTBREAK – UN

MORE MUST BE DONE TO FIGHT ZIMBABWE CHOLERA OUTBREAK – UN
New York, Jun 5 2009 3:00PM
Although the number of new cholera cases in Zimbabwe is reportedly on a downward trend, greater efforts are needed to combat the outbreak and address the source of the problem, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA) said today.

According to OCHA, local medical authorities had reported that the number of new cases was down in most provinces, with no new deaths reported, but noted that new cases are still being reported in Harare, Manicaland and Masvingo provinces.

Stepped up efforts are needed in areas which are still reporting high numbers of new cases, and the problem of the lack of safe water and sanitation facilities – the main cause of the epidemic – has yet to be tackled in most parts of the Southern African nation, the Office said.

It also reported that this year's grain production has nearly tripled over the previous harvest, with an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of grain having been produced, compared with about 564,000 metric tons harvested in 2007-2008.

The increased yield will, however, not meet the country's food requirements, OCHA warned, noting that a cereal shortfall of 670,000 metric tons will have to be imported.

The second term of Zimbabwe's school year started last month, but the situation is still precarious, it stressed, calling for teachers' conditions of service, especially remuneration, to be addressed to ensure that they continue working.

Almost half-way through 2009, the Consolidated Appeal for Zimbabwe remains under-funded with only 36 per cent of the required $718 million covered, OCHA said. But with requirements outstripping the funds previously sought, a revised appeal was launched this week for an additional $168 to help some 6 million people in need.
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ZIMBABWE’S CHOLERA DECLINING BUT CONTINUED VIGILANCE VITAL, SAYS UN HEALTH AGENCY

While noting an overall downward trend in the number of cholera cases and deaths in Zimbabwe over the last two months, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today urged continued vigilance, citing the very real risk of the outbreak restarting in some areas.

According to an update issued today by the agency, some 2,076 cases were reported in the week ending 14 March, which, although still high, is down from 3,812 cases in the week prior and over 8,000 cases per week at the beginning of February.

In addition, the weekly Case Fatality Rate has decreased from its peak of near 6 per cent in January and stood at 2.3 per cent for the week ending 14 March.

"While data collection and verification remain a challenge throughout the country with the effect that weekly statistics are not always accurate or complete, the overall trend over the last two months is of a decreasing number of cases and deaths," WHO said.

As of 17 March, 91,164 cases of the water-borne disease have been reported with 4,037 deaths since the country's worst-ever outbreak began in last August.

WHO states that while cases have decreased in all provinces, they are increasing again in and around the capital, Harare.

"The risk of the outbreak restarting in those areas of the country is real," notes the agency. "The need to remain vigilant and to continue and reinforce the control measures already in place is paramount."

WHO and its Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) partners have a sizeable team working out of the national Cholera Command and Control Centre in Harare.

Their efforts, along with partner UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have been vital in tackling the outbreak in the Southern African nation, which has a dilapidated water and sanitation infrastructure and a weak health system.
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NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY CHOLERA REACHES 88,000 IN ZIMBABWE, SAYS UN

NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY CHOLERA REACHES 88,000 IN ZIMBABWE, SAYS UN
New York, Mar 6 2009 5:00PM

Some 88,000 people have now been affected by cholera in Zimbabwe, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) announced today, noting that the number of new cases reported weekly is dropping.

At the start of the year, as many as 8,000 new cases were being reported per week at the national level, but over the past few weeks, that number has been slashed by half.

According to a joint update by the WHO and the Government of Zimbabwe, 395 new cases and 18 deaths were reported yesterday.

Nearly 4,000 people have died from the disease, which is caused by contaminated food or water, the agency said.

But WHO cautioned that the need to remain alert continues since cholera continues to claim lives in the Southern African nation on a daily basis. It also warned that the start of the rainy season could also trigger increased cases of the disease.
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UN HUMANITARIAN OFFICIAL CHECKS ON CHOLERA, FOOD PROJECTS IN ZIMBABWE

UN HUMANITARIAN OFFICIAL CHECKS ON CHOLERA, FOOD PROJECTS IN ZIMBABWE
New York, Feb 24 2009 3:00PM

As the cholera toll in Zimbabwe climbs to 83,000 cases, with more than 3,800 deaths, a senior United Nations humanitarian official arrived over the weekend in the country's capital Harare, to assess responses to the epidemic as well as to a food emergency.

Catherine Bragg, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, visited a cholera treatment centre outside the city today, accompanied by representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

There were more than 364 cholera treatment centres around the country, WHO noted, adding that efforts were being made to decentralize the cholera command centre, now in Harare, in favour of small command centres across the country to ensure access to people in distant villages.

More than 61 per cent of the deaths were still taking place outside treatment centres, in local communities, which meant that many people still did not have such access, the agency said.

The humanitarian group also visited a food distribution centre and a food warehouse, in a district where 60,000 people out of a total population of 83,000 are receiving food aid for the next two months, until the harvest comes in.

The harvest in the area is expected to be poor due to a combination of factors including drought and shortage of seeds and agricultural inputs.
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