Ten countries where violence persists and populations live in fear. People in Hunger's Global Hotspots don't know what tomorrow will bring and they often have to rely on WFP for their next meal.

Several security incidents have been reported especially in the southern provinces where incidents recorded included an attack and looting of trucks transporting WFP food apart from abductions, assassinations and suicide bombings in several parts of the country where military operations by international and Afghan forces countering insurgent attacks continue to hamper food deliveries and project monitoring.

On 6 July, four trucks travelling in an escorted convoy and transporting WFP food from Kandahar to Chakhansor district of Nimroz were attacked, resulting in the killing of two police officers and 13 assailants.

Looting

While three of the trucks arrived safely at the destination, 40 metric tonnes of food from the fourth truck was looted.

Six trucks carrying 280 mt of wheat arrived in Herat during the week, after food deliveries to the west of Afghanistan had been suspended since late May.

Additional trucks are being loaded in Spin Boldak to continue, and increase, the movement of food to the west, and additional food is already being called forward from the WFP logistics base in Quetta.

Prepositioning for the rainy season has been completed. Current stocks will cover needs for the IDPs and refugees till end November 2007.

July food distributions for the Sudanese refugees are currently on going. Distributions for the IDPs have been completed in all sites in the Assongha, Sila and Bahr Azoum departments.

The IDPs have been provided with 2 month food rations to cover their needs through July and August. Next distributions are planned in September.

The airlift of 100 mt of food commodities from N’Djamena to Abeche undertaken by the French military has been completed.

The Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission (CFSAM) has now commenced comprising four teams to collect data. The survey is expected to last for three months with 216 villages being surveyed.

In North Kivu province, eight trucks borrowed from WFP Kampala and WFP Burundi have been reinforcing transportation capacity.

So far, 333 mt of food from WFP central warehouse in Goma to various IDPs sites in the North Kivu province (Nyamilima, Kiwanja) as well as 15 mt of UNICEF medical kits have been transported from Goma to Rutshuru.

The trucks are used for areas not accessible to local transporters due to logistics or security reasons.

Expulsion

Thousands of Congolese have been expelled from Angola where they were involved in illegal mining activities.

Their accurate caseload is not yet known. According to MONUC, up to 25,000 Congolese might be affected. A first inter-agency needs assessment mission will take place in Katanga on 14 July. WFP is part of the mission.

With the Ethiopian Defense Forces (EDF) continuing counter-insurgency operations in Somali region, the situation remains tense with restricted UN movement in Fik, Deghabur, Warder, Gode and Korahe.

Approximately 9,600 mt of relief food for 530,000 beneficiaries in the region was allocated in May. However, dispatch to date has been limited to Shinile, Afder and Liben zones. Food to Warder, Fik and Dagahbur zones will only be dispatched if deemed necessary by the gu/belg needs assessment.

Screening and registration of new arrivals are still going on in Kebribeyah refugee camp in Ethiopian Somali region. To date, 3,675 newly arrived Somali refugees were screened and registered in Kebribeyah (including 893 transferred from Hartisheik).

These refugees will be moved to the new camp at Teferiber starting from mid-July. The number of newly registered refugees is estimated to reach around 4,000 by the end of July.

Planning

Contingency planning, coordinated by the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency (DPPA), is ongoing. Latest planning figures assume that in the most likely scenario some 324,000 people might be affected and in the worst-case, 429,000. The latter is considered less likely due to measures taken already at central and regional level.

Flooding in Southern Nations and Nationalities People’s Region (SNNPR) has already affected 10,000 people, including 6,700 who were displaced.

In response, the regional government has purchased food locally to assist all those affected for one month. Further assistance will be determined by recommendations from the gu/belg-assessment.

Findings of the assessment, with the exceptions of some zones in Somali region, will be presented at federal level during the second half of July.

EMOP distributions that spilled over from June into July were completed during the week beginning 9 July.

Some districts have started distributions for the month of July, while the dispatches of food to other districts continue and distributions will start shortly. The EMOP pipeline is healthy and the full basket will be distributed.

UNICEF and the Ministry of Health (MoH) co-sponsored a workshop for all the district nutrition officers, essential health and specialised agencies staff with participation of WFP, focusing on the new supplementary feeding programme supported by UNICEF and WFP and implemented by the MoH.

Border closed

The Kenya-Somalia border remains closed for refugees; however, new spontaneous arrivals were received in Dadaab bringing the number of new arrivals since the border’s closure in early January to 7,319 people.

A joint WFP/UNHCR/UNICEF nutrition mission will be visiting the camps from the 18 to 25 July to review current nutrition interventions and will make recommendations for future assistance in an effort to address the unacceptably high malnutrition rates.

From 9-12 July, WFP was able to deliver 1135 mt to Gaza through the Sufa crossing.

The Karem Shalom and Karni (grain conveyer belt only) were also open. Karni ( the main terminal with Israel) and Rafah (the passenger terminal between Gaza and Egypt) remain closed. WFP plans to deliver 3,000 mt of food to Gaza from Egypt through Karem Shalom this week, however food access to Gaza remain precarious.

In the past week there has been repeated mortar fire at Karem Shalom from various militant groups which threaten this important lifeline.

Toll on economy

The closure of Karni for commercial (non food) imports and exports is having a heavy toll on the Gazan economy and is heavily affecting factories, businesses, the agricultural sector and daily labourers leading to a weakening of Gaza's economic potential and is leading to a decline in the average wage and widespread unemployment.

For example, the Gaza Ministry of Agriculture has reported that 50,000 mt of produce is awaiting export, raising concerns that farmers will not re-plant fields if markets cannot be found.

Security in Gaza has improved. However, Municipal services are not fully working; as a result garbage litters the streets of Gaza posing a serious health risk.

The security situation in Mogadishu remains tense due to an increase of grenade attacks. Six mortar shells from insurgents hit the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) presidential palace in Mogadishu on 11 July. The district commissioner of Bondhere district was shot and critically wounded on 10 July.

The situation now prevailing in Mogadishu, and leading upto the planned National Reconciliation Conference (NRC) scheduled to start on 15 July, is tense and insecure.

Distributions suspended

Consequently WFP will suspend all planned distributions in Mogadishu until the situation improves. WFP staff in Mogadishu have been asked to stay at home during the period 14 to 17 July given the gravity of the situation.

Relief food distributions to some 100,000 beneficiaries in Bardhere, Burdhubo and Garbaharey (Gedo Region) have resumed following the opening of the Kenya/Somali border crossing on 5 July. As at 13 July, food has reached 51 out of 55 final delivery points (FDPs) planned for this week.

The return movement continues in Batticaloa with more than 74,100 displaced persons having officially returned.

WFP started food distributions to returnees in western Batticaloa this week and will continue to assist 90 percent of those who remain displaced in welfare shelters or living with host families.

Other stakeholders will cover the remaining 10 percent. FFE and MCN are operational in most areas of Batticaloa including in the areas of return.

The recent returnees to western Batticaloa are in urgent need of livelihood assistance as well as the food aid from WFP and the Government if they are to resume their regular coping mechanisms.

This requires immediate NGO access to these areas if local populations are to plant rice in the next planting season (October).

Flash flooding in central and eastern parts of Sudan has left 30 people dead and 25,000 homes destroyed. Parts of Darfur have also reported torrential rains and isolated flooding. WFP is participating in joint needs assessments to the affected areas.

Meanwhile, WFP has started food distributions to some 20,000 affected people in Kassala bordering Eritrea in the east of Sudan.

OCHA estimates that the continuing violence in Darfur has led to new displacement of nearly 160,000 people so far this year.

In June, despite reaching more than 2.5 million people, WFP and partners were unable to assist almost 172,000 people, mostly in North Darfur where GAA's activities remained suspended throughout the month. Food distributions in most of these locations have since resumed.

Staff relocated

In South Darfur, World Vision has relocated its staff from Menawashi to Nyala following escalating tension in the area that may affect food distributions to some 14,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).

WFP reported three incidents of ambushes and looting on convoys of trucks, one attack was on WFP fleet in West Darfur and the other two incidents targeted three commercial trucks transporting WFP food near East Jebel Mara in South Darfur.

The quantity of food that was looted has not yet been determined.

In South Darfur, CARE reported three cases of severely malnourished children under-five caused by diarrhoea and infectious diseases in Kass. While in Mukjar, the Ministry of Health re-activated Therapeutic Feeding Centres to address increased malnutrition in Garsila and Deleige areas.

As predicted food security continues to deteriorate in the country. In addition recent price capping measures which were heavily enforced by police/military are having negative effect of food availability.

According to the local media approximately 2,000 businessmen/women have been arrested for not obeying the various directives.

Shop-shelves are increasingly empty across the country, and several outlets have closed.

On the supply side, production continues to slow down as the lower prices are considered uneconomic. Food and fuel now in very short supply.

Support programmes for HIV affected, mobile vulnerable populations and other food insecure groups continue without major difficulties. Planning for a major vulnerable group feeding (VGF) programme from Sept – March continues.

Brenda Barton
WFP/Rome
Tel: +39-06-65132602
Mobile: +39-347-2582217
(ISDN line available)