Supplementary Memorandum from the Department
for International Development
RECENT REPORTING FROM DFID'S EMERGENCY/REHABILITATION
ASSISTANCE FIELD MANAGER ON THE SITUATION IN BAHR EL GHAZAL
Our Emergency/Rehabilitation Assistance Field Manager
visited Bahr el Ghazal, Nairobi, Lokichokio and Khartoum from
8-22 May. He was able to meet senior staff from NGOs and UN agencies.
He visited the WFP Akon base in Northern Bahr al Ghazal, the MSF
therapeutic feeding centre in Panthou and the SCF project in Mapel,
and briefly in Lanyakyer. From Khartoum he visited Wau town for
two nights where he was able to observe an IDP registration exercise
and visited the therapeutic feeding ward at the hospital and further
nutrition/health posts run by Islamic African Relief Agency, Sudan
Red Crescent and the Catholic nuns.
His observations were, as follows:
In Akon he witnessed the WFP food drops and
distributions. The process was reasonably we!l organised and controlled
but the involvement of the SPLA in the distributions and the targeting
exercise made it appear that SPLA were bringing the food and choosing
who would receive. This was unfortunate. WFP should make constant
efforts to distance themselves from the SPLA. This might be achieved
by working more directly with the lineage chiefs. Security is
also a concern. At a nearby distribution at Ajiep on the same
day SPLA fighters killed one person and wounded others in arguments
over food.
At Panthou he witnessed the MSF Belgium feeding
operation There are approximately 800 children plus mothers and
siblings on a wet supplementary feeding programme and 45 on a
24 hour therapeutic feeding regime. The four staff on the ground
are doing an exceptional job under great pressure. All Sudanese
staff have to be appointed by SPLA and tend to be unsuitable.
This is a serious constraint. Security is also a concern. Soon
after he left, the team had to evacuate to a nearby village as
Marahaleen raiders approached the area. The project is seriously
limited logistically.
He visited the SCF programme in Mapel. Even
in Mapel, which is usually much better able to resist food shortages
than northern Bahr el Ghazal because of the more stable security
situation, there was direct evidence of starvation. MSF have a
feeding centre in Mapel but only providing dry rations. They are
considering upgrading to a therapeutic feeding centre.
Wau town is a garrison town controlled by GoS
in Bahr el Ghazal. On 29 January outbreaks of fighting led to
the expulsion of around 50-70,000 people. Starvation in surrounding
areas has forced some of the displaced to try to return to the
town in search of food. This is proving to be extremely dangerous
for returnees. Even women with children are detained without food
or water. The condition of these groups that do become accessible
to the relief agencies is very poor. Deaths among children are
common. The Nuns running the Catholic health and nutrition centre
had been in Wau for 14 years and were of the opinion that the
situation this year was as bad as they had seen in that period.
This perception was based on the obvious nutritional evidence
from children, and the poor health status of women attending antenatal
clinics.
The conclusions drawn were:
Significant numbers of people in parts of south
Sudan are facing starvation. The people most effected are mainly
those in Bahr al Ghazal where repeated looting and insecurity
capped by large scale displacements during fighting in Wau on
29 January have left them with inadequate resources to meet basic
needs.
Standards required to trigger a relief response
have been raised, arbitrarily, over the past 10 years In Bahr
el Ghazal therapeutic feeding is provided only to children who
are below 60 per cent weight for length. A number of recent deaths
seemed to have been related to highly malnourished children eating
UNIMIX. Were normal standards applied (24 hour therapeutic feeding
for all below 70 per cent WFL) then these children may not have
died. Certainly MSF Belgium are keeping death rates low for the
below 60 per cent in their feeding centres. The reason for the
stringent entry criteria is concern that numbers would be unmanageable
were normal standards applied. TFC is a crucial element of the
current response in that it targets assistance very efficiently
to those in greatest danger of dying as a result of starvation.
DFID should continue to ensure that as far as possible resources
are available to bring the treatment protocols up to normal standards.
WFP plan to increase food aid deliveries from
Kenya through Lokichokkio which are to be supplemented from 1
June by food aid flights from El Obeid in Kordofan. The intention
had been to deliver and distribute 6,000 Mts per month, now increased
to 7,000 Mts with Hercules transports—four in Lokichokkio
and one in El Obeid. In addition SCF, World Vision and MSF Belgium
have provided support to the population including replacement
of basic household equipment looted or abandoned during displacement
and direct nutritional support. Seeds and tools have also been
provided, although these should be regarded as a lower priority.
DFID has provided key support to these interventions. It seems
unlikely, given the experience of the first week of operation
of the air drops, that the monthly 6,000 Mts will be achievable
- even with the additional plane based in El Obeid The specialised
feeding programmes are also barely maintaining adequate levels
of supplies. DFID should not fund new interventions that will
compete for existing transport capacity.
A number of new proposals have been received
for projects in Sudan. To date the DFID response has been timely
and well targeted. Given the recent media interest, and the dangers
of an uncontrolled influx of new agencies, we should continue
to maintain a tight focus for our efforts and to continue to liaise
closely with other donors.
We must continue to keep up the pressure for
unhindered humanitarian access. Even where sites are no longer
actually banned the operating environment is often highly constrained,
sometimes unacceptably so.
Department for International Development
7 July 1998
| 
