IRNA Report: [Kuernyang, Fangak, Jonglei State] [25-26 November 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 Main cause of displacement: Conflict – attacks in Pigi / Canal and attacks in New Fangak / Phom el Zeraf by warring factions. Flooding Displaced population numbers : IDPs to Baibor / Manajang Payam = under 4,000 IDPs (pending registration and verification) Location of IDPs in Baibor / Manajang Payam: Kuernyang (Payam headquarters) Kuotnyakoang boma Wanglel boma Bei boma Kuemduok boma More specifically - Pajak village and forest, Kerial, Nyalual, Wichmuon and Pakan villages (mostly along the Zeraf river). Origins of IDP population : - Kaldak, Pigi / Fangak County - Otherparts of Pigi / Fangak County - Phom el Zeraf / New Fangak (County HQ) - Kuerdap - Wangthok - Gerger - Bab village (burnt) - Tambong village (burnt) - Kuerkan - Kuotnyikang - Kuerthiani Main impact of conflict : Displacement Loss of livelihood, shelter, food and non-food items The latest IDPs (as at 26 Nov 2014) were displaced from villages along the banks of the Nile River in the northern part of Fangak County due to conflict. Kuernyang itself has very few IDPs but there are reported IDPs in the forests and villages along the River Zeraf who would easily come o Kueryang for assistance if a response is provided. Suffice to say heavy fighting was reported in New Fangak and was reportedly captured a few days after the assessment. This has resulted in more IDPs. Tanbong and Bap villages were attacked and burnt around 10 Nov 2014. Approximately 2,000 people fled the area in different directions. Many of the IDPs found in Kuernyang have relatives in the area. New Fangak suffered heavy shelling around 6 November. Most part of the IDPs from Pigi/Canal arrived in September while the IDPs from New Fangak arrived in the past 6-8 days. The IDPs reported attacks during the night, which led to a great number of family separations. Besides, they reported a huge number of tukuls being burnt and people killed. They also fled without any possessions; basically just with the clothes they were wearing. They consider Kuernyang a safe place for settlement because it has not suffered any attack since the beginning of the conflict. The area is difficult to access, being surrounded by two rivers, has an airstrip and it is considerably far from the frontlines. The team was not able to talk to many IDPs, who are allegedly scattered around the village and in other parts of the Barboi Payam. A further verification needs to be carried out in order to check the authenticity of numbers provided. Finally, Kuernyang can be considered a potential catchment area to address the needs of IDPs displaced by the recent attacks in the villages north of Fangak County. Inter-Agency Rapid Needs Assessment http://southsudan.humanitarianresponse.info/ IRNA Report: [Kuernyang, Fangak, JONGLEI], [25-26 Nov 2014] | 2 Site overview [Insert maximum 2 picture(s) of assessed site in the boxes below.] Location map [insert a location map for the assessed site in the box below] Inter-Agency Rapid Needs Assessment http://southsudan.humanitarianresponse.info/ IRNA Report: [Kuernyang, Fangak, JONGLEI], [25-26 Nov 2014] | 3 Drivers and underlying factors The conflict crisis in Pigi / Canal and more recently (as at 26 November 2014) in New Fangak (also known as Phom el Zeraf) has caused displacement. This has resulted in IDPs moving from Pigi / Canal locations towards Fangak. In November, armed actors started shelling New Fangak from along the river. This caused the host population as well as the IDPs from Pigi / Canal who had sought shelter in New Fangak to again flee in different direction, with some coming to Baibor / Manajang Payam, whose center is Kuernyang. There are increasing reports of continued shelling in locations of Fangak along the river. This is anticipated to turn into a protracted conflict in the area which will mean long term displacement. It will not be possible to return to their villages along the Nile River due to the continued conflict. Two villages namely Bab and Tam-bony have been burn down completely. IDPs are therefore fleeing away from New Fangak to locations that include Kuernyang and its surrounds. Many are reported to be still in the forests between Kuernyang and New Fangak, mostly along the river – with the hope that things may get better and they would be able to return. The only closest location that is accessible and relatively safe from New Fangak is Kuernyang before reaching further down to Old Fangak. Scope of the crisis and humanitarian profile The conflict was initially reported in Pigi / Canal County, particularly affecting locations along the river like Khorfulus, Canal and Kaldak. As people fled from the affected areas to go further inland or move off completely, reports were received of people moving to Kamel and more recently to Kurwai (within Pigi /Canal County) but further inland. Other reports identified IDPs proceeding to Nyirol County (Pultruk, Waat), Ayod County, Akobo County (specifically in Walgak) as well as Fangak County (including New Fangak, Old Fangak and Baibor / Panajang Payam (of which Kuernyang is the headquarters). There has been recent reports of shelling in New Fangak and surrounding locations, especially those along the river. This has caused the New Fangak host population as well as the IDPs from Pigi / Canal to be further displaced, resulting in many moving to different locations, including Kuernyang. It is anticipated that the conflict may further deepen in New Fangak, which could lead to further displacements. In Kuernyang where the assessment team went, the number of people seen was very minimal – hardly up to 300 people. However, we received reports that upto 4,000 IDPs were at least within Baibor / Panajang Payam, whose headquarters is Kuernyang. The majority of these are in Parjak area. Others are along the river Zeraf in locations such as Wichmon, Pakan, Kerial and Nyalual. The majority of the displaced are women and children. The men are reportedly either in the frontline fighting or reportedly dead. There was no accurate figure of the displaced population in the area since no headcount nor registration had been done. However, it is estimated that combining the 4 bomas of Baibor / Panajang Payam would yield up to 4,000 IDPs. Status of the population in the affected area A few of the IDPs have run to locations where they have relative. Many more who did not have relatives are reportedly in the forests along the river. However, even the IDPs that are with host family are reportedly over crowded in the shelters that they are provided. As such, some of the them are reportedly having to sleep in the open spaces. There has been reports of lack of shelter and NFIs in addition to the primary request for food. Health care, mosquito nets, safe water and fishing gears were identified as other key needs in the emergency set up. In general, there is lack of access to basic social services, food insecurity, separated families, vulnerable women and children and a general sense of insecurity. Key response priorities Inter-Agency Rapid Needs Assessment http://southsudan.humanitarianresponse.info/ IRNA Report: [Kuernyang, Fangak, JONGLEI], [25-26 Nov 2014] | 4 Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) While the population is in need of services, there is no demand for a formal CCCM presence at this point in the area. Any actors responding in the area should consider communicating with the CCCM cluster to inform about population movements and tracking. Organizations with a previous presence in the area (Christian Mission Aid and CADA) would be especially well positioned to support CCCM information activities and population tracking if they resume activities in the area. Education Without requiring too many resources, education should be restored in Kuernyang immediately to avoid loss of a generation of young people. The longer the children remain without learning, the less likely they will ever access school and crucial life-sustaining skills. Volunteer teachers should be mobilized and trained in life skills and basic teaching methods. Teaching and learning supplies should be deployed to Kuernyang, especially blackboards, exercise books and pens. Rapid teacher training in life skills, psychosocial support and basic teaching methods should be conducted for the volunteer teachers. With support from the community, a temporary learning structure should be erected in the community using local materials and labor. A life skills curriculum should be taught to all learners, with an emphasis on psychosocial support, hygiene practices, peacebuilding, protection against recruitment and health messaging. Education actors should link closely with Child Protection to care for separated and orphaned children. Food Security and Livelihoods There is need for registration to know the exact number of IDPs for intervention planning Distribution of food to IDPs and host community Provision of animal health service Provision of fishing kits Health No urgent needs have been detected. No outbreak has been detected during the visit. While there is a PHCC operating in capacity of PHCU, with fairly regular reporting, there is shortage of medical supply and need for refresher course for health workers. Provision of mosquito nets will be requires as the utilization rate of mosquito net is very low. As the last EPI vaccination was done September 2013, there is need for reestablishment of routine immunization NFIs and Emergency Shelter A need for shelter and NFI cluster verification/registration exercise to identify the number of IDPs plus the vulnerable people from the host community. Prepositioning of NFI loose items Distribution of NFI loose items (Plastic sheet, Mosquito net, cooking set, blanket and sleeping mats) Nutrition Undertake nutrition screening to determine the magnitude of the problem in order to provide an appropriate response.