Kyrgyzstan / Uzbekistan Update
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Sahel Crisis Update No. 25 Regional Bureau for West Africa 29 June 2012 The 2012 food and nutrition crisis in the Sahel threatens to affect more than 18 million people. WFP plans to assist over 10 million people through food/cash and nutrition interventions, focusing on the link between relief and recovery. Vulnerable households in the Sahel had little time to recover from the last drought in 2009/2010, and are to-date left with limited coping mechanisms. Malnutrition rates, particularly affecting children under two, are generally high in the Sahel, and usually rise during the lean season, leading to significant peaks in acute malnutrition and mortality. dŚŝƐ LJĞĂƌ͛ƐĐƌŝƐŝƐŝƐ compounded by a reduction in food and fodder production and high food prices, and comes on top of a tenuous socio- political, economic and security situation. The Mali crisis is Women carrying home CSB donated by Belgium. further exacerbating needs and contributing to a complex operational WFP/Chad environment. Highlights As both the hunger and rainy seasons start and communities are planting for the next harvest, June and July mark difficult months for vulnerable households to cope; for many, humanitarian assistance is the main means of survival. t&W͛ƐZĞŐŝŽŶĂůƵƌĞĂƵŝƐĂƐƐŝƐƚŝŶŐŽƵŶƚƌLJKĨĨŝĐĞƐŝŶadjusting their preparedness and response plans taking into account scenarios of the post-harvest as potentially affected by locust. WFP provided critical food and nutrition assistance to some 4 million people between January and May, and supported 2.9 million in May alone. The number of people reached is expected to further increase in June and onwards when needs are greatest. In June, scale-up is underway of unconditional transfers and blanket supplementary feeding to provide vital support to the most vulnerable during the lean season. In order to enable WFP to implement its large-scale response aiming to support over 10 million people in 2012, t&W͛Ɛ logistics capacity is being increased to accelerate the procurement, shipping and prepositioning of an unprecedented volume of food required since the beginning of the emergency. In additional, local procurement is ongoing to reduce lead times. Timely arrival of commodities will be crucial for full-scale support. Additional resources are required for the ongoing scale- up during the lean season as well as subsequent shift to recovery activities with a view to building the resilience of communities; The Mali crisis is placing a heavy burden on communities. Note: This weekly update aims to provide highlights ŽĨt&W͛Ɛ^ĂŚĞůresponse during the past week. For more specific information please contact the Regional Bureau in Dakar (p.6). 1 Operations Update Nutrition In the Sahel, children, pregnant women and nursing mothers as well as adolescent girls endure the worst consequences of crisis, facing the highest risk of mortality linked to malnutrition and irreversible effects on the mental and physical development of children. Under nutrition activities, WFP has been implementing targeted supplementary feeding (TSF) activities and providing care-taker rations in Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mali and Mauritania since the start of the response. The blanket supplementary feeding (BSF) programme is ongoing in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger; final preparations for the start of the activity in the remaining countries are ongoing. Burkina Faso: WFP is working with partners for the referral and treatment of children with MAM. WFP and MSF are setting up procedures for the management of MAM in refugee sites to avoid potential dropouts. First rations were provided to ƌĞĨƵŐĞĞĐŚŝůĚƌĞŶƐƵĨĨĞƌŝŶŐĨƌŽŵŵŽĚĞƌĂƚĞĂĐƵƚĞŵĂůŶƵƚƌŝƚŝŽŶŝŶƚŚĞƐŝƚĞŽĨ^ŽŵŶŐĂŶĚĞ͘t&W͛Ɛ operational partner Save the Children Canada is currently conducting weekly MAM screenings. A screening campaign was carried out in the health district Nanoro (June 18-20) for the referral of children in need of targeted supplementary feeding. In June, 2,760 children were supported, including 1,358 registered during the said screening campaign. Under the blanket feeding activity, currently only carried out in the Sahel regional of Burkina Faso due to a pipeline break in nutritional products, close to 4,500 children were supported. Cameroon: A support mission from the Regional Bureau to set up Blanket Feeding Post Distribution Monitoring has started in Kousseri. Chad: Blanket-feeding and targeted food distributions are ongoing throughout the Sahelian band. Over 830,000 beneficiaries were reached so far with more than 12,800 mt of food distributed. Three distributions sites in eastern Chad had to be relocated as roads have become impassable due to the rains. The relocation was done in coordination with the local authorities, in order to finalize distributions. This was also an alternative to the reluctance of many transporters to go in these areas. Mali: WFP continues to monitor closely its ongoing curative (for children under the age of 5 and pregnant women and nursing mothers) and preventive nutritional activities (for children under the age of 2 and pregnant women and nursing mothers) being conducted through cooperating partners. This is being done through regular field missions in Kayes, Mopti and Koulikoro regions. Mauritania: To cover the needs of 30,000 children for a one month period under the targeted supplementary feeding programme, some 41 mt are being delivered to Gorgol and Brakna. Monthly dispatches of this same tonnage are expected to follow. Niger: As of 25 June, more than 3,285 mt have been delivered to partners for the June cycle; the tonnage represents 51% of planned requirements for the month and will benefit 385,258 children 6-23 months and 122,086 nursing mothers. Data collection for the baseline and post-distribution monitoring of BSF is complete; analysis is ongoing. Senegal: Nutrition activities were launched on 19 June in Matam. Food security t&W͛ƐĨŽŽĚƐĞĐƵƌŝƚLJĂĐƚŝǀŝƚŝĞƐŝŶĐůƵĚĞĐŽŶĚŝƚŝŽŶĂůĂĐƚŝǀŝƚŝĞƐ;ĨŽŽĚĂŶĚĐĂƐŚͬǀŽƵĐŚĞƌĨŽƌĂƐƐĞƚƐͿ͕ĂƐǁĞůůĂƐunconditional targeted food and cash/voucher distributions implemented in a phased approach, and based on the seasonal calendar of communities. Burkina Faso: Cash-for-work activities, focusing on soil rehabilitation and resilience building through the construction of stone bunds, gully work and fertilization, are ongoing until the end of the month. Cameroon: The first food distributions started on 11 June in Kousseri; so far, 18,562 people were supported. On 24 June, the EMOP was officially launched by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. 2 Following the feasibility study on Cash/Voucher activities in northern Cameroon recommending such transfers, a budget revision to the EMOP is being drafted to include the activity. Chad: Food for work projects are ongoing with different partners: In the western Sahel, projects carried out with FAO, ONDR (national bureau for rural development) and other partners include the construction of some 299km of hedge to protect 818 ha of farming land in the wadis, the construction of a bridge, flood Women and men participating in cash-for-work activities in Bogande district/Burkina Faso. barriers, etc., with more than WFP/Benoit Geers. 70,400 participants. In the eastern Sahel, three projects for the construction of dams and vegetable gardening are ongoing with 3,600 participants. In June, scale-up is underway of unconditional transfers and blanket supplementary feeding to provide vital support to the most vulnerable during the lean season. Mali: WFP continues to scale up its assistance in the northern areas with deliveries through NGO partners. To date, WFP reached 50,300 beneficiaries with 328mt of food and nutritional commodities in Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal regions. Further deliveries are planned with NGOs Handicap International, Islamic Relief, and Norwegian Church Aid. The first ĚĞůŝǀĞƌŝĞƐŽĨĨŽŽĚĐŽŵŵŽĚŝƚŝĞƐƚŚƌŽƵŐŚďŽĂƚƐ͕͞ƉŝŶĂƐƐĞƐ͕͟ were launched on 27 June, from Mopti port, and are directed to Timbuktu. The rainy season, which is now ongoing, will allow for further use of the waterway for delivery of assistance with NGO partners to vulnerable communes located by the river Niger. WFP is completing the June round of distribution in the southern regions. WFP provided immediate food assistance through monthly rations. Cash transfers and resilience building through food-for-asset activities are also ongoing. Mauritania: On 25 June 2012 the first cash transfers were completed in the regions of Guidimagkha and Assaba and will be finalised in all other regions by the end of the week. A second cash transfer is expected in July 2012. The positioning of wheat for the Cereal Banks is almost complete and the dispatch of wheat within the SAVS is expected to be completed in early July 2012 this will cover the needs of a total of 230,000 beneficiaries for a period of 2 months. x Niger: Since last week, distributions are underway in Maradi, Tahoua, Zinder, and Diffa as commodities are received. Deliveries are ongoing as commodities arrive in country; as of 26 June more than 7,794 mt had been dispatched, representing 33% of planned tonnage for the June cycle. Distributions are ongoing: As of 26 June, nearly USD 5 million were dispatched to partners for the distribution of unconditional cash transfers across rural areas of Niger; this amount represents 67% of planned requirements for June ʹ the remainder is pre-financed by WFP partnered micro-finance institutions (to be reimbursed following receipt of validated distribution reports). Following technical concerns regarding mobile phone