ReliefWeb

Key Events

• The multi-agency and multi-sector meher needs assessment started on 23 November in all regions, except Somali where the assessment has been pushed back to 10 December. The assessment team members received an orientation before being dispatched to their respective areas. The aim is to launch the HRD in early January.

Nutrition Update

The nutrition situation in Amhara region is closely being monitored following reports of increases in new admissions of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) to therapeutic feeding programs (TFPs) for two consecutive months. TFP admissions increased by 11 per cent from 3,296 in July to 3,656 in August and further increased by 15 per cent in September. The increase was more pronounced in East Gojam, North Shewa, Oromia and South Gonder zones, where the rate of increase ranges from 27 to 58 per cent. In addition to food security concerns, the increase is partly attributed to the CHD screening that was conducted along with the national polio vaccination campaign.

At present, DRMFSS’s Emergency Nutrition Coordination Unit (ENCU) is monitoring thirteen woredas in the region that depicted a concerning nutrition situation in the second and third quarter of 2013. All thirteen woredas were either classified as priority one or priority two under the April – September nutrition hotspot classification. All thirteen woredas are covered by TFP and relief food programs, while eleven benefit from TSF programs. However, given the particularly concerning situation in Tselemt woreda, ENCU and the regional Early Warning Bureau have requested partners to boost the nutrition response in the woreda. GOAL will also conduct a standard nutrition survey in Tselemt at the end of November to gauge the magnitude of the nutrition problem. For more information, contract isaackmanyama@yahoo.co.uk

Refugee Update

In Benishangul Gumuz region, UNHCR and the Government refugee agency, ARRA, confirmed that the Ashura kebele administrative cabinet has allocated additional land for the proposed extension of the Ashura site. Site clearance and tent pitching is on-going. With the three existing camps in Benishangul Gumuz currently at full capacity, new refugee arrivals from Sudan are being accommodated in the new temporary site, Ashura, which is also quickly reaching capacity.

In Gambella region, 30 Eritreans were detained by the Gambella police when trying to cross over to South Sudan. The refugee ration card that many of them carried indicated that they had been hosted at the Hitsats camp in Tigray region. ARRA has confirmed that 18 were indeed registered as refugees at Hitsats. UNHCR and ARRA are closely following the matter. Meanwhile, UNHCR launched its Child Protection Program in all refugee camps across the country, including in Tigray where a large number of Eritrean unaccompanied minors (UAM) are hosted. Child protection staff were deployed to ensure all the refugee children, particularly the UAM, receive the proper care and protection. For more information, contact: gegziabk@unhcr.org

WaSH Update

The cessation of the rains in Tigray expanded water shortages in the region beyond Raya Azebo woreda and Shire town to Erob and Saesie Tsaeda Emba woredas in Eastern Tigray zone and Shiraro town in North Western Tigray zone – drought prone areas where water availability had slightly improved during the rainy season. Currently, eight water trucks – up from four trucks last week - are requested in the region, of which two are operational. The water trucking gaps are in Raya Azebo (two trucks), Sheraro town (one truck), Shire town (two trucks) and Saesie Tsaeda Emba (one truck). Elsewhere, three water trucks in Elidar woreda of Zone 1, Afar region are benefitting more than 4,150 people.

The overall improvement in water availability in the country and the resultant decrease in water trucking demand has allowed partners to focus on the construction and rehabilitation of water supply schemes. Under the Joint Action Plan (JAP), the Government and WASH partners are finalizing plans for a borehole drilling project in Afar‘s Elidar woreda.
In Oromia region, the rehabilitation of eight motorized boreholes in Boke, Gemechis, Habiro, Hawi Gudina and Mieso woredas benefitted some 20,000 people in the areas. For more information, contact awesterbeek@unicef.org

Relief food update

As of 20 November, distribution of the fourth round of relief food stood at 96 per cent and the fifth round at 68 per cent. Meanwhile, dispatch of the sixth round relief food reached 50 per cent. The humanitarian community is discussing ways to cover the seventh round relief food ration, which will be the “bridging round” until the next Humanitarian Requirements Document. Resource shortfalls to cover the relief food operations in the next year are daunting. For more information, contact wfp.addisababa@wfp.org