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Home , Balombo, Benguela, Benguela Province, Caimbambo, Calandula, Capupa

UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS (OCHA)

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN

Situation Report

Reporting Period: 1 – 15 October 2003

Critical Issues

q Humanitarian partners reported concerns about the food security situation in , Ganda Municipality, Province. q The Kuito – Chipeta road in Bié Province was reopened for humanitarian operations. q A drought is causing hunger amongst populations in the municipalities of , Kuvelai, Kwanhama and Ombanja, . q Thirty metric tons of food for distribution in were delayed at the Namibian border due to transport problems and bad road conditions. q Food distribution was temporarily suspended in Municipality, Province, after humanitarian workers were beaten during a distribution. q Due to an increased number of returning refugees from , there is a shortage in seeds and tools for distribution in Lumbala N’Guimbo, Province.

Provincial Update

Bengo Province: The road to has been partially rehabilitated easing access to which will be assessed at the end of the month.

Humanitarian partners are beginning interventions in Cassoneca, including much-needed water facilities projects, in preparation for the expected arrival of 2,000 refugees and returning populations.

Benguela Province: Humanitarian partners conducting an assessment in Chicuma, Ganda Municipality report the food security situation is alarming. During a recent assessment humanitarian partners found that the population lacked adequate food reserves and seeds and tools for the agricultural season. Although malnutrition levels are currently under control, humanitarian partners recommend the extending the supplementary feeding centre as a preventive measure due to the food insecurity combined with a weak health system.

A truck in a seven-vehicle convoy carrying food aid to Fazenda Santa Ana, Chicuma and Casseque communes detonated an anti-tank mine when it detoured off the main road approximately 15 km from the centre of Ganda due to bad conditions from heavy rains. The secondary road was demarcated as mined. The main route has been provisionally closed until an assessment can be conducted.

Approximately 150 demobilised soldiers and family members waiting in the Benguela transit centre for onward transportation to Chongoroi, and Municipalities will not arrive in time for the planting season.

Humanitarian partners began seeds and tools distribution for 6,000 families in Elongo, Municipality and 10,400 families in and Yambala, Cubal Municipality, and and Casseque, Ganda Municipality. Local Authorities reported that they sent seeds and tools to those municipalities not covered by the humanitarian partners’ distributions.

Local Authorities are advancing in efforts to open access to Makamombolo and Chindumbu communes, Balombo Municipality, which have been isolated due to several broken bridges. The Chindumbu local administration is working out of Elongo where 7,000 returnee families have recently returned, some of whom will return to Chindumbu when it becomes accessible. At the moment Makamombolo is only reachable by car through Municipality, Province.

Bié Province: The Kuito – Chipeta road was reopened for humanitarian operations after having been closed on 12 September when three AT mines were near the commune of Chipeta. Demining partners are moving forward with mechanical mine verification of the road from Chipeta to Katabola until Kuanza commune using the Chubby system except for an area between Chipeta and Calombambi were two mine fields on the fringes of the road have been identified and demarcated which will be demined manually.

Demobilised soldiers and their dependents continue to arrive at the Kunje transit centres in Kuito. As of mid-month, 235 people were registered and awaiting onward transportation. In Njele a small group of approximately 50 persons are waiting for transportation to other provinces.

According to Provincial Authorities, 4,995 children were registered between May and October.

Cunene Province: A drought is causing hunger amongst populations in the municipalities of Cahama, Kuvelai, Kwanhama and Ombanja. Food for Work activities may be implemented to address the situation. Humanitarian partners also reported weaknesses in the stock of the cereals pipeline which could affect food assistance in Cunene, Huíla and Namibe.

Approximately 72,000 IDPs have returned to their areas of origin in Cunene Province. An additional 3,148 demobilised soldiers and their family members have returned from Kafima and Yonde.

Huíla Province: Demining activities on the – road continue. More than 18 km were cleared during the reporting period and 14 AP mines and four mortars destroyed.

During the month of September, 4,369 cases of malaria and 32 related deaths were reported. Meningitis also continues to be reported but the incidence of cases has not reached epidemic levels. The outbreak has spread from the Municipalities of and Matala to , and a handful of cases have been reported in , Caconda, Jamba and . Overall, 235 cases and 62 deaths have been registered since the start of the outbreak in Huíla in late June.

Kuando Kubango Province: Fewer than 30 people remain at the airport awaiting transportation to Moxico and Cunene. In the first week of October, 364 persons were transported to Huambo, 34 to Bié, 99 to Benguela and five to Lunda Sul. Twenty-seven demobilised soldiers arrived from Bié Province are staying at Kavikivik while constructing houses in town.

Local Authorities in Rivungo reported that transport problems and bad road conditions had delayed the delivery of 30 MT of food for distribution in at the Namibian border. The Government expected that trucks would be available next month. The administrator expressed concerns about the hunger levels in the commune due to an increased number of returned refugees from Zambia combined with a poor harvest last year. Figures on malnutrition rates have yet to be confirmed. Five metric tons of food were distributed in Nankova which has a population of 15,000. Both areas as well as Likua remain inaccessible to humanitarian partners pending security assessments.

Thirty activists from communes outside Menongue were trained in HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases awareness and prevention in a three-day seminar.

Three hundred metric tons of seeds and tools arrived in Menongue and are being transported via Hercules transport plane for distribution in locations in Menongue, , Lumbala N’guimbo, and Cangamba. During the reporting period seeds and tools were distributed to 729 families in and 1,525 families in .

OCHA Angola 2 Av. Comandante Valódia 206 - 5 Andar, , Angola Tel. (244-2) 444 321 Fax. (244-2) 442 710 : Food distribution was temporarily suspended in Calandula Municipality after some humanitarian workers were beaten during a distribution. Distribution will resume after local authorities complete an investigation and are able to ensure staff security.

Humanitarian partners provided 90 kits for health centres and 62 kits for health posts in response to a shortfall in essential drugs reported by provincial health authorities. Although the kits will cover needs until December, health authorities expect a rupture in the medicines pipeline as of January 2004.

In other health issues, 220 new health care workers, including 120 reintegrated demobilised soldiers, have been appointed to functioning health posts in the province. Health Authorities also reported that a campaign to intensify routine vaccination coverage in the province, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, is planned beginning in Malanje, Cacuso and Calandula Municipalities. Health Authorities also agreed to resume regular monthly meetings of the Health and Nutrition Subgroup to discuss and share information on the health situation in the province.

Roughly 170 people, demobilised soldiers, IDPs and family members, who intend to resettle in Marimba and Kahombo Municipalities, remain in the Katepa transit centre due to lack of onward transportation.

Moxico Province: Due to the increasing number of returning refugees from Zambia, the amount of seeds and tools for distribution for Lumbala N’guimbo is no longer in line with the projected number of families. Humanitarian partners originally planned for 3,000 families but now estimate the revised needs are for 5,000 families. Also, scarcity of fuel and transport is jeopardising the prompt deployment of seeds, tools and food for seed protection to Chiume, Ninda and Mussuma. Action should be taken before the rains increase significantly.

Seeds and tools distribution has begun for 4,500 families in Cangumbe, Cangonga and Lucusse. Overall, seeds and tools will be distributed to 56,124 families in the province.

By mid-December trucks travelling between Cazombo and Luau will no longer be able to cross the through the Zambeze riverbed due to rising water levels. The bridge over the river is broken.

Local Authorities have not sent a health team to Lumbala Caquenque to confirm a reported outbreak of measles and humanitarian partners are unable to reach the commune pending a security assessment of the airstrip and the main road.

END

OBSERVATION: Please note that the information contained in this report may have changed since it was received by OCHA Luanda.

OCHA Angola 3 Av. Comandante Valódia 206 - 5 Andar, Luanda, Angola Tel. (244-2) 444 321 Fax. (244-2) 442 710