Weekly Humanitarian Highlights in Ethiopia 01 May 2006

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
posted to the web on May 1, 2006

01 May 2006 - Eight people died and hundreds of people are at risk from acute watery diarrhoea in Gambella, according to UNICEF field reports. As of 25 April, 260 cases were admitted in Gambella Treatment Centre, Itang Centre and Abobo Health Centre. New cases are being reported daily in different locations. All centres are overwhelmed by this extraordinary load and the Regional Health Bureau (RHB) has pledged to strengthen human resources in Itang Centre. There is a severe shortage of potable water in the Gambella hospital and UNICEF is at present fetching water from the Catholic Mission compound to provide to the admitted patients. A coordination meeting was held in Gambella town on April 24 to discuss the most immediate and appropriate interventions and define the role of each organisation. The RHB and MSF-CH will be involved in case management, surveillance and community awareness, while UNICEF will be involved in the provision of clean water, sanitation, shelter material and oral re-hydration salts and drugs. Meanwhile, UNICEF has dispatched US$ 543,000 worth of supplies to Gambella, including pillow tanks, tents, Emergency Water Treatment Units and medical supplies based on the requests received from the respective regional bureaus. The RHB has also committed Birr 250,000 to avert this crisis. In addition, MSF-CH dispatched a team comprised of two health specialists and medical supplies. Contact: mapted@unicef.org

After seven to ten days of a dry spell, the gu/hagaya (belg) rains resumed in Somali Region and southern parts of Oromiya Region. Following the generally good rainfall during the first dekad of April, the second dekad was dry in Somali Region. Since 20 April, the rains have resumed and several woredas report 1-3 days of light to heavy rainfall over the last week, including: Guradamole and Bare woredas of Afder zone, Jijiga town, Warder woreda of Warder zone, Gerbo woreda of Fik Zone, and Gunagado, Degahamedo, and Degahabur woredas in Degehabur zone. Recent reports from Gode indicate that Guradamole, Gorobokoksa, Elkere and Hargele enjoyed good rainfall on 24 April. On 26 April, there was favorable rainfall in Gode town as well as in Mustahil, Ferfer and Kelafo woredas that lasted for about six hours, as well as light showers in Kebridehar and Adadele woredas. There are reports of migration of people (including cross border from Somalia) to areas that received good rains. This posed a serious health threat in the region as measles cases was confirmed among families that had recently migrated to Bare woreda, who had missed the recent vaccination campaigns. Similarly, the rains in Borena resumed on 19 April, improving pasture (especially browse) and water availability. Consequently, water tankering operations are suspended in the zone and attention is shifting to water purification and general hygiene and sanitation activities. Efforts continue in maintenance and rehabilitation of water schemes as longer term solutions, and the procurement of spares and equipments worth US$250,000 has been finalised by UNICEF.

The latest update on the belg rains indicate that, with the exception of the lowland areas of Sidama zone, the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) had a generally good rainfall in both the first and second weeks of April. In Derashe Special woreda and the rift valley areas of the region, there have been localised floods following heavy rainfall in the first week of April. In Oromiya, nearly all zones had favorable rainfall in the first week of the month. In the second week of April, West Hararghe, lowlands of Arsi and nearly all the western zones of the region received no rains, while East Hararghe and West Shewa had poorly distributed rains. On the other hand, North Shewa, Jimma, Borena, Bale and most of Arsi received good precipitation during this period. Recent reports in Afar Region indicate that the flooding has receded and the Awash River has returned to its normal levels. The Federal Authorities have dispatched six tonnes of Corn Soya Blend (CSB), five plastic sheets, 0.4 tonnes of sugar, 10 tins of dates, 15 cartons of biscuits and three cartons of different utensils to the affected population. For more information contact: wfp.addisababa@wfp.org

The Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency's (DPPA) daily dispatches continue to Somali Region and Borena zone of Oromiya Region. From the 23,527 tonnes of food aid allocated for Somali Region for February, 74 percent has been dispatched to date. DPPA has also started moving small quantities of food allocated for March. For Borena zone of Oromiya Region, the DPPA has allocated 2,501 tonnes of food aid for February, of which it has currently dispatched 88 percent. From the 2,238 tonnes allocated to Borena zone for the month of March, 97 percent has been dispatched. The DPPA has also dispatched 76 percent of Afar's March allocation (875 tonnes). For more information: wfp.addisababa@wfp.org

The first quarterly report of 2006 of the Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme indicates that the programme has distributed 5,672 tonnes of food to 204,032 beneficiaries. Regions covered include: 105,000 beneficiaries in SNNP; 78,457 beneficiaries in Tigray; and 20,575 beneficiaries in Oromiya. During the same quarter, the programme was introduced to three new regions (Afar, Gambella and Beneshangul), training was provided to government staff, and the monitoring system was established across all regions. A pilot study was conducted in SNNPR to test a new model of distribution by pre-positioning food prior to the nutritional screening. The finding from the study indicates that the present logistics system is not adequate to cope with pre-positioning. However, the study strongly recommended that the food distribution agents should be involved in the nutrition screening process, as a way to increase the effectiveness of the screening and reduce opportunities for beneficiaries to double register. wfp.addisababa@wfp.org

GOAL's nutritional survey (2-5 April) in Kombolcha woreda, East Hararghe zone in Oromiya Region reveals a 6.2 percent GAM and a 0.3 percent SAM with 0.49/10,000/day U5MR. The nutritional level is considered as poor due to the presence of aggravating factors such as poor measles and BCG vaccination coverage and poor Vitamin A supplementation. The report recommends improving the availability and quality of potable water through the construction of new water schemes and improving the coverage of BCG and measles immunisation as well as vitamin A supplementation. It also recommends increasing general primary healthcare education, particularly for women in the community, for long-term prevention of malnutrition and other diseases. goal.ethio@telecom.net.et