Highlights
Eritrea-Critical nutrition situation
The lingering effects of the war with Ethiopia and the 2002 drought have had a significant impact on households' food security and nutritional status in a country where the general situation was already poor. The future of the food security situation is bleak, partly because of the recent failure of rains.
The National Nutrition Surveillance System, a collaborative inter-agency group set up by the Ministry of Health conducted a second round of nutrition surveys in Northern Red Sea, Gash Barka, Debub and Anseba in mid-2004. The results showed that the situation was critical in all the areas surveyed except Debub where the situation was average.
Emergency and long-term development programmes need to be strengthened.
Sudan - Situation still grim in Darfur and of concern in Southern Sudan
Despite a renewed commitment by the Government of Sudan and the two armed opposition forces to halt air bombardments and to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid, the situation on the ground is still dire.
About 2.2 m people are estimated affected by the crisis, including 1.6 m internally displaced persons. While humanitarian assistance has increased over the past months, gaps in response to humanitarian needs are still widespread.
Several surveys have been conducted recently in accessible areas of Darfur. They showed average to critical levels of mortality depending on the area and a generally high prevalence of malnutrition.
Moreover, access to safe drinking water and sanitation is inadequate.
In South Sudan, a poor rainy season and continued insecurity will probably affect further the food security of the populations.
Chad-Precarious situation among the refugees and the resident population
Most of the refugees are now located in the eleven camps settled in eastern Chad. Tension and several security incidents have been reported in and around the camps.
Availability of water is a main issue and the water table has been decreasing very rapidly in some of the camps.
As of October 2004, the nutrition situation seemed to have slightly improved in the camps , when compared with summer months.
Resident Chadian populations in the areas of refugee settlement seem to experience more and more difficulties. Government of Chad/UN mission recommended that 20,000 MT of emergency food assistance be distributed to 157,000 resident people .
Donor's and agencies' commitment should be sustained to allow the situation to improve further .
Haiti-Nutrition situation not critical
Haiti has known both political and natural crises in 2004. In early 2004, an armed uprising and international political pressure led to the resignation of the president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. This was followed by the deployment of a UN peace-keeping force, the MINUHSTAH and by the appointment of an interim government until the elections scheduled in 2005. However, the situation is volatile. Violence and insecurity are on the rise , which hampers the proper delivery of aid, in the hurricane affected areas of Artibonite and North West departments, where about 300,000 people are vulnerable. Nutrition surveys conducted in the hurricane-affected areas before the hurricane or in on-affected areas showed an acceptable nutrition situation.
Occupied Palestinian Territories-Food insecurity and micro-nutrient deficiencies
The second Intifada, which began in September 2000, is still on-going. It had seemed there was a slight improvement in the situation in 2003, with a relaxation of closures and a modest economic recovery due to an increase in the amount of employment within the territories.
The situation suffered a further setback in 2004, especially in the Gaza Strip where an estimated 20,000 people lost their jobs. Restrictions of movement have intensified as well as incursions by the Israeli army which has led to an unprecedented destruction of houses and infrastructure. Coping mechanisms developed by the Palestinians to deal with the economic crisis have tended to become overstretched. However, it seems that basic needs services are still provided thanks to donors' commitment, although support from donors declined slightly in 2003 compared to 2002. A nutrition survey, which was conducted in mid-2003 and recently released, showed an acceptable situation. A survey on micro-nutrient deficiencies was carried out in June 2004 among children 6-59 months old. The survey revealed a high prevalence of vitamin A, vitamin E and iron deficiencies.
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