The four major operations during the past year have taken place in Chechnya, Ukraine (Chernobyl), Kenya and the Sudan.
Following a request from the Russian Federation for international assistance for persons displaced from Chechnya to the neighbouring federal republics of Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Daghestan, last January I authorized a United Nations inter-agency mission to the region. This resulted in the issue of a "flash appeal" in February to mobilize immediate resources for the emergency needs of 220,000 people. Subsequently, the United Nations consolidated appeal for persons displaced as a result of the emergency situation in Chechnya, Russian Federation, covering the period from 1 January to 30 June 1995, was launched at Geneva in March. Because of the continuing crisis, the appeal was updated in June and its coverage was extended by six months to the end of 1995.
The extended United Nations humanitarian programme now covers the emergency needs of the 118,000 internally displaced persons identified as being the most vulnerable and seeks donor support for financial coverage of the 30 per cent shortfall of the total $25 million needed to allow relevant agencies to complete emergency assistance projects, as originally envisaged. Activities being implemented include assistance in areas such as shelter, water and sanitation, food, health and care for children in especially difficult circumstances. A high level of inter-agency cooperation has been achieved through a triangular structure among agencies operating in the field, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Moscow and the headquarters of the United Nations agencies, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Department of Humanitarian Affairs. However, the situation affecting refugees and internally displaced persons in the three republics is still precarious. While the majority of those affected have sought shelter with host families, this additional burden has placed severe pressure on already meagre resources. Overcrowding has stretched the social services available to persons in the region. Food and medicines are in short supply and the onset of winter weather will result in additional hardships for the victims of the conflict unless urgent preventive action is taken. In particular, additional funding support is urgently required in order for agencies to stockpile contingency food supplies for the winter months.
At the end of June, peace negotiations between the Russian authorities and the Chechen delegation commenced at Grozny under the auspices of OSCE. A cease-fire came into effect on 2 July.
While the tenth anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is approaching, the extent of its impact on the populations of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine is only now being fully realized. Over 300 children now suffer from thyroid cancer, a disease practically non-existent in children before the accident, and hundreds of thousands live in constant fear of still unknown effects the accident may have on their long-term health. The fertility rate, especially in Belarus, has declined dramatically, while the morbidity and mortality rates have increased. This trend is unlikely to reach its peak until well into the next decade.
In September 1994, the United Nations Coordinator on International Cooperation on Chernobyl convened an expanded meeting of the quadripartite committee for coordination on Chernobyl. The meeting assessed the results of ongoing United Nations activities relating to Chernobyl and discussed the need for initiatives to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the accident in April 1986 and, in that connection, to draw attention to the continued need for funding of programmes to overcome the effects of the Chernobyl accident.
Members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Chernobyl continue their efforts to bring Chernobyl projects to fruition, but the lack of funds has brought several programmes to a halt. Particularly affected is the International Programme on Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident under the auspices of WHO. Although generous financial support by a handful of countries allowed the full and rapid implementation of the priority activities, there are now no resources to maintain the programme and initiate much-needed follow-up activities that have a direct impact on the health of the affected population.
In November 1994, nine community centres (three each in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine) were officially opened, marking the completion of phase I of the UNESCO programme to overcome the psychological effects of the accident. However, the implementation of phase II of the project, as well as other related projects, will depend on the possibility of raising additional funds. The FAO/International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) joint division completed successful projects on the use of radio-caesium binders to reduce contamination of milk and on the cultivation of rape-seed on contaminated soils. As a result of the projects, large areas that were hitherto regarded as unsafe can now be used for agricultural production. In 1995, IAEA also began, in cooperation with the French Institut de Protection et de Sureté nucléaire, a project on environmental impact assessment.
Plans are now under way for events to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Chernobyl accident. WHO will arrange a conference at Geneva in November on the health aspects of the accident, the United Nations will participate in a conference to be arranged at Minsk by the Government of Belarus and EU, while IAEA will arrange a summing-up conference at Vienna from 8 to 12 April 1996. A further meeting of the quadripartite committee will be held in the autumn of 1995 and will have as its main objective to identify those projects which remain of vital importance to the affected population and to agree on ways to ensure their funding.
The United Nations consolidated inter-agency appeal for Kenya launched in February 1994 covered the period from January to December of that year, targeting a population of 1,620,000. Donor response totalled $54,860,331, an amount equal to almost 57 per cent of the total requested in the appeal. The food situation remains mixed, as agricultural conditions in some regions have improved while others remain uncertain. Aggregate production in 1994/95 is provisionally estimated at close to 3.5 million tons, almost 1 million tons above the previous year's reduced level. Good rains and high world prices for coffee are helping to maintain recovery in agriculture. Over 200,000 Somali refugees remain in Kenya, adding some strain to the food situation and increasing tension at border areas. Political tensions continue, as do both ethnic tensions in the Rift Valley and violence in Mombasa between Islamic groups.
The Secretary-General's report of 12 September 1994 on emergency assistance to the Sudan (A/49/376) stated that, despite progress made in the Sudan relief operation and Operation Lifeline Sudan, considerable needs still remained to be addressed, and the international community was urged to respond generously to the emergency needs and recovery of the country. In January 1995, the Department of Humanitarian Affairs issued the 1995 United Nations consolidated inter-agency appeal for the Sudan, in which United Nations agencies requested $101.1 million to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of 4.25 million people.
The donor response to the yearly United Nations consolidated appeals between 1992 and 1994 has generally been quite positive: in 1992 it was 73 per cent of the amount requested. In 1993, however, it was 64 per cent, but although there were considerable delays in the donor response to the 1994 appeal, at the close of the year approximately 85 per cent had been received. Such fluctuations have serious ramifications for programme effectiveness.
Regrettably, the early part of 1995 showed only limited contributions to the appeal, so that by mid-July a considerable shortfall in donor response (less than 27 per cent of total requirements) was seriously compromising the United Nations ability to provide the urgently needed humanitarian assistance. This is all the more alarming as the shortfall occurred after increased cooperation during the previous two years with both the Government of the Sudan and the southern factions, as well as the improved cereal harvest in 1994, had permitted the United Nations to scale down its funding requirements by 45 per cent of the prior year's revised figure.
Since the launching of the 1995 appeal, Operation Lifeline Sudan activities have been hampered by renewed fighting, in particular in the provinces of Equatoria, Upper Nile, Junglei and northern Bahr El-Ghazal, where tens of thousands of persons have been dispossessed and dispersed. Renewed hostilities, combined with a lack of donor funding, have greatly reduced the effect of improved food production and forced people to abandon their homes and fields. In total, the United Nations estimates that there are just under 1.2 million internally displaced persons in the Sudan. The conflict has also forced the evacuation of relief workers from numerous localities, while in already three instances this year, relief workers have been kidnapped and held for periods ranging from a few days to almost two months. In another case an armed attack on a United Nations barge convoy disrupted a highly successful and cooperative logistics operation. With respect to other components of the Operation Lifeline Sudan logistics plan, operations remain dependent on air transport as the Operation has not received agreement on the use of road corridors. Moreover, both financial constraints and a recent increase in the denial of air access have cut into the Operation's effectiveness. Further affecting the United Nations and non-governmental organizations' capacity to respond were the various incidents of misuse, misappropriation and looting of food and other relief supplies, which continue despite agreements to the contrary, although improved monitoring and coordination mechanisms have reduced the overall number of incidents since last year.
Positive developments registered before the mid-year mark related notably to the two-month cease-fire between the Government and rebel factions mediated by the former United States President Jimmy Carter in consultation with the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development, under whose aegis peace efforts have been organized since late 1993. Despite sporadic fighting, United Nations agencies were able to take advantage of opportunities for accelerating primary health care programmes during this initial period as well as during a subsequent two-month extension. Further efforts to renew the cease-fire in late July did not meet with success.
Since 1989, when Operation Lifeline Sudan began as a short-term programme to deliver food and other life-saving provisions, it has developed considerably. While still providing food aid and basic health care to reduce mortality and morbidity among the affected population, the Operation now implements a much broader programme that extends to household food security, water and sanitation, basic shelter, food for work in support of agricultural production and health sector rehabilitation, primary education, support to psychologically traumatized children, capacity-building and promotion of humanitarian principles.
With increased access to a war-affected population of approximately 4.25 million throughout the country, Operation Lifeline Sudan reaches more people than ever before. Originally serving some 8 sites in southern Sudan, its operations have since come to include as many as 104 locations. This has been due in large part to greater flexibility shown by all the concerned parties.
It will be recalled from last year's report that the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development had by March 1994 assumed a separate, though complementary, role in the regional peace process by facilitating negotiations on humanitarian access and related issues organized by the United Nations with the Government and the principal southern factions. Subsequent to agreements reached in March and May 1994, fixing modalities for humanitarian access across lines of conflict was identified as the priority for further negotiations. As no progress has been achieved during the intervening period, preliminary discussions intended to permit a resumption of tripartite talks were undertaken with the parties at Khartoum and Nairobi in late July and early August by the United Nations Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs for the Sudan, at which the question of operational modalities for international non-governmental organizations working out of Khartoum was discussed and all parties encouraged to work closely with the United Nations Special Envoy and senior Operation Lifeline Sudan personnel at Khartoum and Nairobi to secure an improved basis for progress.
With some exceptions, notably the suspension of an international non-governmental organization from the Operation owing to a breach of operational procedures, as well as the need to agree on guidelines for non-governmental organizations working out of Khartoum, cooperation among national, United Nations and non-governmental organizations working in the Sudan remains excellent. As in the past, the Operation provides the framework for the humanitarian efforts of 30 international non-governmental organizations working in the region. While the Nairobi office has established letters of understanding with non-governmental organizations, which reflect the ground rules for Operation Lifeline Sudan operations, UNICEF Khartoum has sought to support government counterparts and local non-governmental organizations in relief and rehabilitation initiatives. Special efforts have been made to promote an improved framework for international non-governmental organizations to operate from Khartoum, including in the displaced person camps and the transitional zones. However, the continued strict controls on access and movement of the international non-governmental organizations in Khartoum have hampered attempts to bring to bear the comparative advantages they can offer.
While the number of approximately 1.2 million beneficiaries identified as requiring emergency food aid in 1995 is a significant reduction compared with the needs of 1994, insecurity continues to plague the food delivery systems. In addition, whereas carry-over food stocks from 1994 were sufficient to cover most of the emergency food aid needs for 1995, international assistance to support monitoring, operational support costs and special transport costs had received less than 30 per cent of required donor support by July, causing the World Food Programme (WFP) to scale back monitoring activities by 50 per cent. Despite these constraints, by the end of July over half of the estimated 109,398 tons of food needs for 1995 had been transported by WFP and partner non-governmental organizations to areas in need.
For Operation Lifeline Sudan non-food assistance out of Khartoum and all operations in the southern sector out of Nairobi, UNICEF has a lead responsibility. Overall 4.25 million people have been targeted for 1995, of whom 2.7 million are accessed from Khartoum and 1.7 million from Nairobi.
In May 1995, the Department of Humanitarian Affairs organized a consultation of key donors and aid organizations at Geneva to review funding status and programme implementation, the status of recommendations made by donors in 1994 and the timetable for a comprehensive review of Operation Lifeline Sudan.
A detailed critical review of the Operation is planned for later this year. As its main objectives, the review will analyse the Operation, its appropriateness in achieving maximum access to populations in need and in ensuring respect for fundamental humanitarian principles; assess the effectiveness of its coordination structures, in particular the relationship among the United Nations, donors, non-governmental organizations and Sudanese counterparts; and assess efficiency, identifying constraints and achievements.
In the first half of 1994 alone, some 96,000 tons of emergency food aid were delivered to affected areas of the Sudan by WFP and international relief agencies, in a major initiative that benefited substantial numbers of the affected population and not least the 500,000 persons who were then on the verge of starvation. In the latter part of the year WFP continued those efforts and expanded, in particular, its surface delivery capacity in southern Sudan.
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