CERF July Newsletter 2007

Pledges & contributions

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is pleased to acknowledge the receipt of six new contributions totalling $17,780,360.51 as of 29 June. The contributions were made by Egypt ($15,000), Iceland ($308,618.16), New Zealand ($762,700), Pakistan ($19,967.16), Peru ($5,000), Sweden (a second installment of $14,226,999.46), Switzerland ($2,422,075.73) and Trinidad and Tobago ($20,000). New pledges were announced by Brazil ($30,000), Poland ($250,000) and Slovenia ($50,000) for 2007. OCHA encourages all member states to turn their pledges into contributions as soon as possible.

Country highlights

In June 2007, the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) approved $18 million in grants from the CERF's window for rapid response. Details on each allocation can be found below, or on the CERF website at http://cerf.un.org.

In Afghanistan... The CERF has allocated $5 million to help 114,000 Afghan refugees deported from Iran to return to their country. Although many are single men capable of coping with their situation, families representing 24,352 people remain vulnerable. After five assessment missions to Farah and Nimroz provinces, the humanitarian community is carrying out various life-saving activities. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is delivering non-food items to 5,000 families, mainly in the south and west. It is also vaccinating 32,000 children under 12 years of age against measles and 80,000 children under five against polio. Ten thousand families are receiving access to safe drinking water, and the most vulnerable families are being assisted with basic sanitation. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is transporting 5,000 families to their final destination. The deportees are also receiving emergency shelter kits and building materials, personal, household and clothing items, and an agricultural package to start farming activities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is providing adequate basic health care to 10,000 families. Three thousand children under 5 years of age are receiving treatment for diarrhoeal diseases and 1,900 people for acute respiratory infections. To prevent vector-borne diseases such as malaria and leishmaniasis, every family will receive at least one king size insecticide-impregnated mosquito net.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is using its CERF grant of almost $1.1 million to assist 10,000 Afghan deportee families. Those who arrive at one of the border crossing points are receiving a transit food ration - on average 80 families a day are expected. WFP is providing general food rations to some 2,000 families that recently settled in Farah province in western Afghanistan. Families willing to take up permanent residence in their place of origin or any other location in Afghanistan are getting a one-month food incentive ration as an encouragement. To implement this programme, WFP is locally purchasing 1,435 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat, 144 MT of pulses, 106 MT of vegetable oil and 17 MT of iodized salt.

In Ethiopia... Due to insecurity and difficulties on the part of humanitarian agencies in reaching and assisting internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Somalia, an increasing number of Somalis have opted to seek asylum in Ethiopia. CERF has allocated more than $1.1 million to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to assist an estimated 20,000 refugees who have arrived in Hartisheik and Kebribeyah (North-East) and Gode and Dolo (South-East). UNHCR is transporting non-food items for the refugees and relocating more than 3,000 new arrivals from Hartisheik and Kebribeyah to the new camp site of Teferi Ber. It is also supplying plastic sheeting, kitchen sets, soap, sanitary napkins, fuel for cooking, jerry cans, blankets and mosquito nets for the refugees in Teferi Ber and 3,200 vulnerable persons in the Gode area. In addition, the funds will be used to rehabilitate ten existing shallow wells and to construct 150 communal pit latrines and six waste disposal pits in Teferi Ber. All new arrivals are receiving primary health care, while all new refugees in Hartisheik are registered and issued with a refugee status attestation and a ration card.

In Lebanon... More than 30,000 Palestinian refugees have left Nahr El Bared camp and the surrounding area, according to the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), with most seeking shelter in nearby Beddawi camp, whose population has consequently risen from 16,000 to over 37,000. Meanwhile, as many as 3,000 Palestinians remain in Nahr El Bared camp, lacking adequate food, shelter, household supplies, health care, water, sanitation and electricity. The CERF is responding to the crisis in Lebanon with a $5.7 million grant. UNRWA as the lead agency launched an additional three-month $12.7 million Flash Appeal on 4 June to address the urgent needs of those displaced by fighting in and around Nahr El Bared refugee camp.

In Swaziland... In the 2006-2007 season, a devastating combination of drought, hail and windstorms hit the country during the critical development stages of the staple maize crop, leading to the worst harvest in more than 15 years. In May 2007, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the WFP reported that maize production was 26,170 MT, down 60% compared to last season. About 407,000 insecure and vulnerable people, including orphans, children under 5 years of age, students, malnourished pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and persons on antiretroviral therapy, are in dire need of some 40,000 MT of food assistance. With its CERF grant of almost $1.6 million, the WFP is purchasing within the region and distributing 2,628 MT of food to meet needs for the next three months of 145,000 people affected by the latest drought. The FAO is conducting input trade fairs with a CERF allocation of $1.54 million. Without the timely provision of farming inputs in the most affected areas, the most vulnerable groups would delay - or altogether abstain from - planting crops. Up to 30,000 households were receiving vouchers to purchase agricultural inputs such as seeds, tools or fertilizers.

In Tajikistan... During March and April 2007, the Government of Tajikistan mobilized funds to procure 30,000 litres of pesticides to fight locusts in four districts on the border with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. However, additional pesticides were needed for other areas where more than 12,000 households were going to be affected unless an immediate spraying campaign was launched. In recent weeks, locust invasions in Tajikistan have destroyed crops in an area of almost 45,000 hectares. CERF has allocated $119,814 to the FAO to procure the necessary pesticides and mobilize local resources to immediately intervene, thus ensuring future crop productivity and food security.

In Yemen... Yemen is facing the worst locust epidemic in nearly 15 years. If it is not controlled, the desert locust will pose an immediate threat to marginal and small scale agricultural production, and to livestock and honey production of a large majority of the rural population. The outbreak could also spread into neighbouring countries. CERF allocated more than $2.4 million to the FAO to support emergency reinforcement of the locust control capacity of Yemen by setting up effective rapid aerial intervention in the remote and insecure areas of the interior of the country.

Contact

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Rudolph Muller (programmes) (+1-917-367-4116 or mullerr@un.org);
or Ms. Shoko Arakaki (contributions) (+1-917-367-3498 or arakaki@un.org).

Your comments and suggestions on how to enhance or improve the CERF web site and this newsletter are most welcome (cerf@un.org).