1. Somalia Situation Report
2. Ethiopia Situation Report
3.CONFLICT-AFFECTED CHILDREN STILL FACING MISERY
Somalia Situation Report
October 22, 2001
UNICEF’s Response
Health and Nutrition
Water and Sanitation
Education
Somalia has one of the world's highest rates of infant mortality: 125 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to UNICEF's report, State of the World's Children 2000. Diarrheal dehydration, acute respiratory infections, tuberculosis, and malaria are the leading causes of death for infants and young children in Somalia.
Fig. A severly malnourished two-year-old child at a UNICEF-supported supplementary food center in Somalia.
In fact, diarrheal diseases, respiratory infections, and malaria account for more than half of all child deaths in the country, and neonatal tetanus and other birth problems also contribute significantly to infant mortality. In addition, Somalia remains among the countries with the highest incidence of tuberculosis in the world.
Somalia's infrastructure is in need of major repair, making the distribution of humanitarian assistance even more difficult. Ongoing armed conflict has also affected crop production, as farm families are forced to abandon their home communities for security reasons. More than 350,000 Somali refugees are residing in neighboring countries. Thousands more are displaced within Somalia.
Fig. A teacher with first grade students at a UNICEF-supported primary school in Baidoa, Somalia. The school has more students than it can accommodate.
The conflict in Somalia has also hampered international relief operations, and efforts to stabilize the security situation have been slow in proceeding. Although the United Nations Security Council approved a peace-building mission for Somalia in August 2000, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan reported on October 15, 2001 that "there is no single authority in the country that can assure security" for such a mission.
Despite the lack of security, however, rapid responses by humanitarian agencies in recent months (along with scattered rains, which created conditions for local farmers to plant crops) have reduced from 750,000 to 500,000 the number of people suffering from food shortages. But due to internal conflicts and a prolonged drought in parts of the country, children and their families will remain at risk and require relief assistance — especially food supplementation — throughout 2001.
Two of the worst drought-affected areas are the Bay and Bakool regions, both located northwest of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. According to UNICEF nutrition surveys, the average malnutrition rate for children is 23 percent in the most affected areas of Bay and Bakool. In areas where families have been taking refuge in displacement camps, malnutrition rates have reached as high as 40 percent.
Another recent nutrition survey carried out by UNICEF, other aid agencies, and the health ministry in Somaliland, northwestern Somalia, found a 15 percent malnutrition rate among returnees who have come from refugee camps in neighboring Ethiopia.
These nutrition findings are especially alarming because severely malnourished children and women are vulnerable to certain deadly diseases, including cholera and diarrhea, both of which are caused by drinking water from contaminated wells and other water sources.
A looming cholera epidemic is one of the biggest threats to Somali children and women. The United Nations reported more than 1,300 cases of cholera and over 80 cholera-related deaths in Somalia at the end of 2000. From January through June 2001, 881 cases of cholera were reported, resulting in 71 deaths. Cholera is endemic in most areas of Somalia; outbreaks usually occur during the dry season, from December through May.
UNICEF's Response
Health and Nutrition: As part of its response to cholera outbreaks, UNICEF, with the aid of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Medical Corps, the Somali Red Crescent Society, as well as other international relief organizations, has established the Regional Cholera Task Force.
Quarantine facilities have been set up to prevent the spread of the disease and provide medical treatment for patients. UNICEF has provided anti-cholera medication, chlorine for water purification, and oral rehydration salts, which are essential for the treatment and prevention of deadly diarrhea and dehydration. UNICEF also distributed cholera awareness pamphlets to more than 30,000 families.
In most parts of Somalia, malaria incidence rates correspond with the October-January rainy season, as the disease is transmitted by mosquitoes. UNICEF has distributed malaria kits suitable for 600,000 cases and supervised the social marketing of mosquito nets.
Last year, UNICEF helped vaccinate more than 500,000 Somali children under five against preventable childhood diseases such as measles. With immunization levels at about 30 percent, measles outbreaks continue to result in many deaths.
In the central-southern zone of Somalia, UNICEF-supported partners have reported that 4,003 children received an anti-tuberculosis vaccine; 2,132 received a vaccine for diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus; and 8,458 received measles vaccinations. Additionally. 5,000 pregnant women received tetanus injections.
A training program on expanding immunization programs was held for the third time in all districts of the northern Sahil region of Somalia last year. The course aims to train health care personnel in proper vaccination techniques; how to plan immunization campaigns; and how to monitor immunization efforts.
In an effort to reduce high levels of malnutrition, UNICEF is currently distributing an average of 366,000 pounds per month of Supermix, fortified supplementary food, to children in feeding centers throughout southern and central Somalia.
Water and Sanitation:
In an effort to improve sanitation and access to clean water, UNICEF has provided chlorine, rehabilitated latrines, and supplied materials to rehabilitate several urban water systems. In the Bay and Bakool regions, both located in southern Somalia, UNICEF rehabilitated and dug wells ensuring the provision of safe water to some 137,000 people. UNICEF water system rehabilitation has also benefited 80,000 people in the central town of Galkayo, 80,000 people in the northwestern town of Boroma, and 60,000 people in the northeastern town of Bossaso.
Education:
Twenty-one percent of males and 13 percent of females attend primary school in Somalia, according to the State of the World's Children 2001.
Fig. At the same schoolhouse pictured above, classes are held in a roofless building.
UNICEF supports 352 primary schools in central and southern Somalia, out of 418 that are operational. Additionally, UNICEF has rehabilitated 35 schools, trained 2,300 school teachers in using new education kits (which contain pens, paper, and exercise books), and initiated a school improvement program.
Working with the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, UNICEF last year distributed more than 1,600 education kits to over 650 schools. Each kit contains classroom and recreational materials for up to 40 children. UNICEF also helped train teachers and supported the rehabilitation of 70 schools.
In the Bay and Bakool regions, both located in southern Somalia, UNICEF distributed 215 sets of school desks and benches to nine primary schools, benefiting 1,556 children.
Copyright © 2000 U.S. Fund for UNICEF. All rights reserved.
U.S. Fund for UNICEF 333 East 38th Street New York, NY 10016 1-800-FOR-KIDS E- mail:webmaster@unicefusa.org
Ethiopia Situation Report
October 9, 2001
UNICEF’s Response
Nutrition
Health
Water and Environmental Sanitation
Shelter and Agriculture Needs
Education
Landmine Awareness
Women and Children in Need of Special Protection
UNICEF in Ethiopia
In the latest calamity to strike Ethiopia, heavy floods due to torrential rain have reportedly forced more than 15,000 people from their homes.
According to government officials, several of the country's major rivers — including the Tekeze, Omo, Gilo, and Rib — overflowed in August, submerging crops in surrounding areas. At the same time, unusually heavy seasonal downpours in the Blue Nile catchment areas of the Ethiopian highlands have left many villages submerged, sending vast quantities of water into neighboring Sudan. Wind and rain have also affected the self-declared state of Somaliland, northwestern Somalia, and heavy rains have been reported in Eritrea.
UNICEF is currently assessing the emergency relief needs of children and families in the flooded districts.
Despite the recent floods, Ethiopia's ongoing humanitarian crisis in recent years has resulted not from an excess of rain but from a lack of it. Drought has taken a punishing toll in most of the country, affecting 6.2 million people — including 1,054,000 children under the age of five and 527,000 pregnant or lactating women.
More than a year after the peak of Ethiopia's 2000 drought emergency, however, a new UNICEF report says the situation has generally improved and the number of people needing food relief is declining overall. Nevertheless, many of the children and families displaced by last year's drought — especially an estimated 100,000 now moving back to their home districts in the Somali region — still have poor access to adequate water, health, and nutritional services.
Recent nutritional surveys have indicated high malnutrition levels among drought-displaced populations. Three locations in the southern Somali region have shown alarming nutritional conditions for children, including the Denan region where 51.2 percent of children are suffering from acute malnutrition, according to Médecins sans Frontières. Severe acute malnutrition rates over 1 percent signal that urgent intervention is needed.
Fig. At a United Nations food distribution site in Somalia, a woman sifts grains of maize. The maize was supplied by the UN's World Food Program.
The vast majority of Ethiopians are farmers who survive on annual harvests not only to feed their families, but also to provide household income. Another major source of food and income is livestock. During this drought, many cattle have died. Some areas have reported up to 90 percent loss in livestock — causing even more hardship for many families.
"It'll take many years for them to recover because the livestock herds themselves will take many years to get back to the same numbers," said the United Nations Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Horn of Africa, Manuel da Silva.
Another crisis is a chronic lack of health care facilities — the country has an average of one health post per 40,000 people. Health posts are usually housed in one-room buildings, where medical personnel supply patients with basic services, including medicine to fight infections.
UNICEF's Response
Nutrition: Since the summer of 1999, UNICEF has been supporting a special Nutrition Coordination Unit to monitor malnutrition in young children and provide a comprehensive system of supplemental food distribution. At the end of December 2000, for example, UNICEF supported a nutrition survey in 10 drought-affected villages in the Bale zone, located in southern Ethiopia. Results indicated an estimated 15.4 percent of children are suffering from acute malnutrition.
Over 50 therapeutic feeding stations for severely malnourished children have been set up throughout the country with UNICEF's assistance. As food distribution networks reach the hardest hit areas, some of the therapeutic feeding stations centers are closing — including in the Gode region in southeastern Ethiopia, which last summer recorded some of the highest child malnutrition rates in the country. In areas such as Somali, where malnutrition levels are still high, therapeutic feeding centers remain open.
UNICEF is supporting an intensive training program for health care workers on the management and care of severely malnourished children and women.
Other UNICEF nutritional assistance includes supplying over 200 tons of high protein biscuits and 9,000 units of ringer lactate (an intravenous solution that is used to replenish lost fluids).
School-feeding programs have also been launched by UNICEF.
Fig. With a UNICEF-supplied notebook in her hand, this girl attends a primary school in Rabdure, Somalia.
Health:
Between December 26, 2000 and February 2, 2001, a total of 250 drug kits were dispatched to drought-affected regions. Each kit has enough supplies to meet the basic health care needs of 10,000 people for three months. Over 200 health centers have received equipment and supplies from UNICEF.
A growing meningitis epidemic has put 8.4 million people at risk. The total number of recent meningitis cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), stands at 5,636, including 392 deaths. Meningitis is an infection that affects the brain and spinal cord. In response to this emergency, UNICEF has helped launch a meningitis vaccination campaign and delivered 500,000 doses of vaccine to combat the outbreak.
In early October 2001, UNICEF announced a new effort to achieve polio eradication in Ethiopia, using crucial supplies procured with special assistance from the Government of Japan. About 14 million children will be protected against polio and 1.6 million against measles during two National Immunization Days (NIDs) to be held in November and December.
The planned NIDs follow up earlier immunization efforts by UNICEF and its partner agencies. In the summer of 2000, for example, UNICEF, WHO, and the Ethiopian health ministry launched measles vaccination campaigns in drought-stricken areas of southern Ethiopia, where one press report estimated a total of 2.3 million children were at risk of contracting the disease. Vitamin A, essential for maintaining good eyesight and a strong immune system, was also given to children who received measles vaccinations. UNICEF supplied the vaccination effort with syringes and cold chain equipment (used to preserve vaccines), including 360 cold boxes (similar to coolers) that are used to transport vaccines to remote locations.
UNICEF also worked to prevent and treat malaria by providing anti-malarial drugs and 15,000 insecticide-treated bed nets.
To prepare for the winter dry season this year, UNICEF airlifted more than 180 tons of additional medicine, medical equipment, and oral rehydration salts (used to treat and prevent deadly diarrheal dehydration). The airlift benefited more than 2.5 million children. Some of the medicine included:
1. 500 bottles of chloroquine syrup, 190 tins of chloroquine tablets, and 100 bottles of quinine (used to treat malaria);
2. 500 bottles of metronidazole syrup (an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections);
3. 500 bottles of co-trimixazole syrup and 130 tins of co-trimixazole tablets (used to treat pneumonia);
4. 28 tins of tetracycline tablets (used to treat cholera);
5. 70 bags of intravenous fluid (used to treat and prevent dehydration).
Water and Environmental Sanitation:
During the conflict with Eritrea, many of the more than 340,000 Ethiopians who were forced to flee their home communities lacked adequate access to clean water and sanitation. Many displaced families took shelter in caves, far from wells and waste disposal systems. To assist displaced families, UNICEF provided 16,000 jerrycans (each can holds about 2.6 gallons of drinking water and is easy to carry), supplied water tanks, rehabilitated over 100 water points, and helped construct and repair shallow wells and hand pumps. It is estimated that UNICEF Water and Environmental Sanitation assistance benefited over 850,000 people.
UNICEF is coordinating hygiene education and environmental sanitation programs to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery. In areas affected by drought and war, UNICEF supported the establishment of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) committees. WASH groups facilitate community participation in safe water programs, including training community members to repair and maintain water and sanitation systems.
Fig. Women and children fetching rain water near the Somali villages of Wajid and Rabdure. While the water provides welcome relief, it is not safe to drink and has come too late for the planting season. A key component of UNICEF's relief work in the Horn of Africa is providing water purification tablets.
Shelter and Agriculture Needs: Throughout 2000, UNICEF provided shelter materials for an estimated 15,000 families. UNICEF provided 30,000 blankets, 3,600 rolls of plastic sheeting (for shelter), and 110 large tents for children and families who were forced to flee the war-torn regions of Tigray and Afar in northeastern Ethiopia. In the Somali and Oromiya regions (located near Ethiopia's eastern border), UNICEF provided plastic sheeting for 60,000 people and distributed 12,000 hand tools for use in small food-producing gardens.
Education:
Ethiopia has net primary school enrolment of only 24.9 percent.
To ensure that children's rights to education are respected during this humanitarian emergency, UNICEF has distributed education materials, including desks, exercise books, pencils, chalk, and blackboards, and provided counseling services. This assistance has reached an estimated 120,000 school children.
UNICEF has helped train teachers and provide supplies of clothing and school materials (including exercise books, pencils, chalk, and blackboards), benefiting over 28,000 war-displaced children. Sixty tents were also provided to serve as temporary classrooms. In drought-affected areas, 87 schools continue to receive UNICEF assistance, including the provision of construction materials, benches, classroom desks, and school supplies (books, pens, pencils, and school bags). UNICEF is also helping to build school latrines and dig new wells at schools.
Landmine Awareness: Since February 2000, landmines have killed at least 149 people in Ethiopia and are preventing hundreds of thousands of displaced persons from returning to their homes. A UNICEF-supported landmines awareness project found that as of October 2000, 76 percent of all landmine victims in the northeastern Tigray region were children.
On September 19, 2000, a one-year agreement was signed between UNICEF and the Ethiopian Rehabilitation and Development Organization to provide technical assistance in developing and implementing landmine awareness education for communities in mine-ridden areas. Other UNICEF-supported programs use radio programs, plays, poetry, and discussion groups to promote landmine awareness.
Fig. A UNICEF-supported landmine awareness workshop in Tigray, Ethiopia. There are an estimated 100,000 landmines and unexploded ordnance in Tigray.
Women and Children in Need of Special Protection: It is estimated that 750 children have lost their parents or family members during the border conflict with Eritrea. Family tracing and reunification, as well as counseling, are being provided to children and women in conflict affected regions. Recent UNICEF surveys have found that many children who have been separated from their parents are living with extended family members.
UNICEF in Ethiopia
UNICEF has operated in Ethiopia — one of the world's poorest countries — since 1952. Less than 20 percent of Ethiopia's population has access to safe drinking water, and over the last 15 years UNICEF funds have helped upgrade 2,000 water systems throughout the country, providing up to a million people with access to safe water. UNICEF also continues to support national immunization drives and currently supplies nearly all of Ethiopia's essential vaccines.
Copyright © 2000 U.S. Fund for UNICEF. All rights reserved. U.S. Fund for UNICEF 333 East 38th Street New York, NY 10016 1-800-FOR-KIDS E-mail: webmaster@unicefusa.org
CONFLICT-AFFECTED CHILDREN STILL FACING MISERY
ADDIS ABABA (November 7, 2000) -- A UNICEF assessment team returning from Tigray region in northern Ethiopia has confirmed that four months following the declaration of a cease-fire between Ethiopia and Eritrea the situation for internally displaced children and adults remains critical.
The UNICEF team warns that urgent assistance is required to combat the persistent scourge of landmines planted during the war. Considerable support is also needed in the areas of health, nutrition, emergency education, water and environmental sanitation. The situation is particularly acute for the more than 300,000 persons who have been forced to leave their homes as a result of the two-year conflict. An estimated 70% are children and women.
The continuing impact of conflict on children and women in the region cannot be over emphasized. Displaced persons often find that they cannot return home because either their dwellings have been destroyed as a result of the fighting, or they are prevented from doing so by landmines, the ubiquitous residue of the war. UNICEF is working with local partners to promote mine awareness messages, specifically with the national NGO, Rehabilitation and Development Organization (RaDO).
As the crisis unfolded, many of the displaced found temporary sanctuary in caves. Eventually some moved into makeshift plastic covered shelters under cliffs, while others found refuge in host communities. Still today, they are enduring unsanitary living conditions where safe water is inaccessible and health services are in limited supply. Under such circumstances, displaced persons remain vulnerable to malaria, acute respiratory infections, intestinal parasites, diarrhoeal diseases and the HIV virus.
Increasing numbers of street children and women are observed in the northern towns of Mekele and Dessie, many of whom are returnees from Eritrea. Commercial sex workers are evident in militarized frontline areas, as well as in the areas of resettlement, and the number of sexually transmitted infections reported in the health clinics is increasing. In addition to being victimized, this contributes to the spread of the HIV virus. The disintegration of family norms and values, lack of shelter, vulnerability to rape, abuse and exploitation are compounded by the absence of basic infrastructure and services.
Although a remarkable effort is underway to provide the required assistance, considerable resources are still needed to avert a humanitarian disaster. For this purpose UNICEF is seeking 5.85 million USD in emergency funding to meet the immediate needs of these vulnerable populations for the period August 2000 - January 2001. Resources will be allocated in the areas of health, nutrition, water and environmental sanitation, emergency education, land mine awareness, HIV/AIDS prevention, emergency shelter and child protection. To date, roughly one million USD has been secured. Close to five million USD is urgently required to make up this deficit.
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For further information, please contact:
Guy Taylor (gtaylor@unicefusa.org), (212) 922-2659
Copyright © 2000 U.S. Fund for UNICEF. All rights reserved.
U.S. Fund for UNICEF 333 East 38th Street New York, NY 10016 1-800-FOR-KIDS E-mail: webmaster@unicefusa.org