HIGHLIGHTS
Angola. The war in Angola continues to create acute humanitarian needs. The funding situation has improved and access by road has sporadically been possible, thus some humanitarian assistance is being delivered. High prevalences of malnutrition among children under five have been recorded in the besieged cities of Huambo, Malange and Kuito.
Great Lakes Region. The situation in Brazzaville continues to be extremely serious; very high prevalences of malnutrition have been recorded amongst the returnees from Pool. In the DRC increasing stability throughout the country has resulted in improved humanitarian access to war affected areas. Since the last report, the funding of the GLR programme has improved.
Ethiopia and Eritrea. The conflict affected populations in both Ethiopia and Eritrea continue to live in extremely difficult conditions. This combined with the underfunded relief programme places them at increased nutritional risk. There are grave concerns about the impact of food insecurity on a further 5 million drought affected people in Ethiopia.
Sierra Leone Region. In Sierra Leone access continues to improve to many of the previously inaccessible areas, and thus there have been assessment missions followed by emergency food distributions. High prevalences of malnutrition have been reported in certain areas.
Somalia. The failure of the Gu rains in addition to several recent poor seasons and continuing unrest, is expected to result in acute food insecurity for over one million people in Central and Southern areas of the country.
Sudan. Compared with the situation in Southern Sudan this time last year, food security and public health are dramatically improved. However humanitarian agencies continue to report problems in delivering assistance as a result of insecurity and seasonally bad weather limiting access in some areas.
Kosovo Region. The vast majority of refugees returned to Kosovo within a short time following the peace agreement. An extremely high proportion of the population in the province has already received regular food assistance as a result of considerable pre-planning, organisation and an excellent funding base. Currently, there is no nutritional crisis although problems related to lack of shelter are anticipated in the winter months.
Indonesia. Recent events following the elections in East Timor have created a massive humanitarian emergency in terms of outpouring of displaced people into West Timor, and the hills in East Timor. The humanitarian needs appear to be critical, although full details are not yet available.
Other areas. Situations which have not changed significantly since the last report or have improved include: Liberia, Guinea Conakry, Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Bangladesh, Nepal, Burundi, Rwanda In the African context, this is partially due to increasing regional stability (in those areas previously affected by conflict) and subsequent improved access. Improvements in the funding base of humanitarian programmes have also helped considerably.