NAIROBI, 22 December (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

DJIBOUTI: Better food security prospects despite poor rains - FEWS Net SOMALIA: Continuing fighting forces hundreds more to flee homes SOMALIA: EU to present memorandum to Somali parties SOMALIA: Puntland trying to stop people smuggling, says official SUDAN: Largest monthly relocation of aid workers

SUDAN: Agencies seek US$1.8 billion for projects

See Also:

SOMALIA: Grappling with flood-induced challenges at: [http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56773]

DJIBOUTI: Better food security prospects despite poor rains - FEWS Net

The availability of food for pastoralists in Djibouti next year will be adequate despite poor rainfall in the region recently, the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net) has reported.

FEWS Net said the "Heys/Dada" rains - which are essential for the viability of coastal dry season grazing areas - performed poorly in November. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56818]

SOMALIA: Continuing fighting forces hundreds more to flee homes

The number of people fleeing the southern Somalia towns of Baidoa and Buur Hakaba swelled on Thursday as fighting between forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) entered a second day, sources told IRIN.

"Yesterday [Wednesday] we had people coming from the Daynuunay area [epicenter of the fighting]. Today, many Buur residents are leaving their homes," Mukhtar Atosh, a resident of Buur Hakaba, said. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56806]

SOMALIA: EU to present memorandum to Somali parties

The European Commissioner of Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, is to press both sides in the Somali conflict "to resume talks in order to find a peaceful solution", the European Union has announced.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the EU said Michel, who is expected to travel to Somalia, would present a memorandum of understanding to Somalia's adversaries, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), in a bid to prevent an escalation of the conflict. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56786]

SOMALIA: Puntland trying to stop people smuggling, says official

Somalia's self-declared autonomous region of Puntland is doing all it can to stop people smuggling, the governor of Bari region said on Monday from Bosasso, the region's commercial capital.

"We have set up a special taskforce to deal with this problem," Governor Muse Ghelle said. "We have made some arrests of smugglers and confiscated a number of boats and trucks used to ferry people." [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56772]

SUDAN: Largest monthly relocation of aid workers

More aid workers have been relocated in western Sudanese region of Darfur following Monday's attack on Gereida, South Darfur State, bringing the numbers of humanitarian staff moved in December to a record 400, the United Nations said.

The relocations are the highest in one month since a large-scale humanitarian operation in Darfur began in 2004. Gereida has the largest number of displaced people – 130,000 - in the region. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56796]

SUDAN: Agencies seek US$1.8 billion for projects

Humanitarian, recovery and development projects in Sudan will require at least US $1.8 billion in 2007, according to a work plan unveiled by the United Nations, NGOs and the Sudanese government on Tuesday.

Most of the funds – $1.26 billion – are for humanitarian activities for large numbers of people still in considerable need, with nearly half the amount dedicated to the war-torn western region of Darfur. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56783]

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