IRNA Report: Ayod, Wau and Pagil, Ayod County, Jonglei State 7-8 March 2014 This IRNA Report is a product of Inter-Agency Assessment mission conducted and information compiled based on the inputs provided by partners on the ground including; government authorities, affected communities/IDPs and agencies. Situation overview Ayod County is in the northwest part of Jonglei and is comprised of five Payams: Ayod, Mogok, Pajiek, Pagil, Kuachdeng and Wau. Ayod County and its environs are inhabited by Gawar Nuer. It has a population of 139,282 people as per South Sudan Household Census of 2008. Ayod town hosts the county administrative quarters. The county headquarters at the time of the assessment was calm though deserted; the few inhabitants were welcoming to the IRNA team. On 15 February OCHA received reports that up to an estimated 54,000 IDPs were seeking refuge in Ayod County. In response an IRNA mission was launched with COSV taking the lead and convening an Inter cluster Working Group for actors in Ayod County. The area normally has high levels of food insecurity which has worsened over the last two years when flooding destroyed a high proportion of crops and livelihoods. Menime and Haat are Island locations of Ayod, located on the Western part of the county, bordering Fangak County to the North West, Pigi County to the North and Nyirol County on the North East. Since the time of war, these areas have been underserved with basic health care and other services. The area lacks health and immunization coverage. Communication and transport to the islands are a major hindrance in getting adequate information and the only way to access the islands is either by river or air. Given the number of IDPs and the extreme conditions of the site, a multi sector emergency response covering food security and livelihoods, NFIs, WASH and Health, needs to be given priority. Inter-Agency Rapid Needs Assessment http://southsudan.humanitarianresponse.info/ IRNA Report: Ayod, Wau and Pagil, Ayod County, Jonglei State,7-8 March | 2 Site overview Location map Inter-Agency Rapid Needs Assessment http://southsudan.humanitarianresponse.info/ IRNA Report: Ayod, Wau and Pagil, Ayod County, Jonglei State,7-8 March | 3 Drivers of crisis and underlying factors Violence, which began with events on 15 December 2013, in Juba quickly reached Bor and displaced over 76,000 citizens to neighbouring counties. Ayod, the county capital of Ayod County, was a not a key area of convergence for IDPs fleeing on-going conflict in Bor and Malakal as some still perceived Ayod as a target. Thus it was only a transit to their original Payams. Existence of IDPs were recorded in mid-January, however more have arrived since those figures were released (and many have gone to other Payams and have integrated and assimilated with the host populations). Recent attacks on Gadiang have caused further displacement for both populations in Kuachdeng and Pajiek Payams. Displaced populations have moved toward Jiech and Pagil Payams and beyond to Menime and Haat Bomas. Scope of the crisis and humanitarian profile The County and Payam RRC in all three locations assessed indicated that IDPs moved into the host community with a few putting up on their own in makeshift tukuls of palm tree and sorghum straws. In many cases the integration was relatively easy because despite them coming from Bor or Malakal, most displaced had families in Central Jonglei. The displacement has placed significant strain on the host community as in all three locations food and water points have been exhausted. Generally family and friends along the way, report on the unavailability of food, strain on water, shelter and insecurity as a reason for fleeing and residing in the villages. There were some people settling in their current locations who felt that security was sufficient enough for now for them to remain in this place unless events shift and insecurity erupts. Any further deterioration of the situation in the south (or indeed rumours of which are very prevalent given that the mobile phone network is non-existent) are likely to set off further movement of IDPs to the north. People still felt safe in Nuer areas, but movement by the government forces into the Nuer homeland would indicate that the government intentions were beyond just securing Dinka areas and such a movement would significantly affect the Nuer's feeling of security. Affected population IDPs figures: Haat 125, Menime 350, Nyoat 280, Pakuem 170, Pakur 370, and others unaccounted for, as having integrated within Menime Boma. (Use of 5-7 people as the average number of IDPs households.) In Pagil, IDPs were reported from Malakal, with 1,569 arriving in January 2014 and 886 in February 2014 respectively. Trends and Scenarios At the time of the assessment, Ayod County population had not been directly affected by the violence, but due to the advancement from Gadiang the inhabitants of Kuachdeng, Pajiek and Ayod are moving northwards to areas perceived as relatively secure. As at 7-8 March there were more obvious IDPs population in Menime and Pagil, however there was no verification conducted yet. Key response priorities Food security and livelihoods Provision High Energy Biscuits (HEB’s) to populations still displaced from the violence in Upper Nile State (Malakal), Unity (Rubkona, Leer and Panyinjar counties) Provide food to both the IDPs and the vulnerable host communities in all three locations in 3-4 weeks Provide host communities and IDPs with agricultural inputs in readiness for the next agricultural season, so as to build resilience and reinvigorating livelihoods Health Deliver drugs and medical supplies to all health facilities in Ayod County. Deliver vaccines and scale up follow up measles immunization campaign covering the Ayod County. Nutrition Preposition TSFP supplies in Ayod, Mogok, Jiech and Pagil. Supply COSV with SAM supplies as per the UNICEF PCA projections. Inter-Agency Rapid Needs Assessment http://southsudan.humanitarianresponse.info/ IRNA Report: Ayod, Wau and Pagil, Ayod County, Jonglei State,7-8 March | 4 WASH Repair of handpumps Public health promotion Ongoing sanitation programming Shelter/NFI Jiech, Menime and Pagil: Distribute standard NFI kits Provide plastic sheets that can be used to make shelters for protection from rain Protection Support to protection mitigating measures in the event of humanitarian distributions Protection monitoring and mainstreaming Humanitarian access In a normal situation and in the absence of violence Ayod is accessible with fixed wing aircrafts and helicopters in addition to the road transportation from Bor and Malakal, and serves as an important hub servicing adjacent counties. The airstrip is long and currently dry, well kept and safe for landing. In Wau Payam(Jiech), the access is by Cessna caravan and helicopters and road, the only constraint at the moment is that the airstrip is not well managed, consequently leading to a shorted taxing and landing space especially with a payload. Exploring the road is another alternative, however the culvert to Jiech was washed away in 2012 and was not reconstructed and the window period is fast closing as we approach the next rainy season, the roads will be rendered impassable soon even if access is granted. Last but not least, in Pagil the airstrip is short and after a heavy rain, it has to have four days of dry weather to be safe for landing. The southern tip is better as compared to the northern tip which is more damp and water logged and pools of water remain stagnant. In Menime, island communication and transport to the island has been a major hindrance in getting adequate information on the situations of the islands. The only ways to access the islands is either by river or air. Key findings Food security and livelihoods Key findings It was clear that food insecurity is a key challenge at this point in time, primarily attributed to the seasonality but exacerbated by the inflow of IDPs. The communities in these locations are agro-pastoralists. The crop production is typically low. In 2013, Ayod, Jiech, Menime and Pagil Bomas reported a low output per household. The dry weather is still tolerable though food is diminishing faster than normal due to the additional pressures of IDPs. The displaced people indicated having lost their livelihoods including previous stocks of harvest when they fled and were mainly surviving on water and wild fruits during their long journeys. Food supply and market situation: In all the three areas visited, there were indications that the current stocks will not last beyond March with Ayod reporting a likelihood of stocks lasting for the next 2-3 weeks, and markets being largely depleted of food. They indicated that they are likely to move out the remaining livestock in the next 2-3 weeks to pasture areas west of the county to Toch. This will imply a further reduction in food sources. The resident households will not have anything to share with IDPs. The WFP supply on ground has already been distributed. Unless replenished, the distribution is already exhausted in Ayod and Mogok. The main source of livelihood for the communities is subsistence agriculture. Livestock keeping is also common among the IDPs particularly cattle and goats. The animals are mainly used for milk production and rarely slaughtered for consumption or sold to meet household food and non-food needs. It is however Inter-Agency Rapid Needs Assessment http://southsudan.humanitarianresponse.info/ IRNA Report: Ayod, Wau and Pagil, Ayod County, Jonglei State,7-8 March | 5 important to note that agricultural produce have significantly dwindled after the conflict mainly due to looting or getting burnt at the height of the crisis. Typically, the markets within Ayod depend on food commodities from Juba through Bor.