UNITED NATIONS CONSOLIDATED INTER-AGENCY APPEAL FOR COUNTRIES OF THE GREAT LAKES REGION AND CENTRAL AFRICA JANUARY - DECEMBER 1999 DECEMBER 1998 UNITED NATIONS UNITED NATIONS CONSOLIDATED INTER-AGENCY APPEAL FOR COUNTRIES OF THE GREAT LAKES REGION AND CENTRAL AFRICA JANUARY - DECEMBER 1999 DECEMBER 1998 UNITED NATIONS New York and Geneva, 1998 For additional copies, please contact: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Complex Emergency Response Branch (CERB) Palais des Nations 8-14 Av. de la Paix Ch-1211 Geneva, Switzerland Tel.: (41 22) 788.1404 Fax: (41 22) 788.6386 E-Mail: [email protected] This document is also available on http://www.reliefweb.int/ OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS (OCHA) NEW YORK OFFICE GENEVA OFFICE United Nations Palais des Nations New York, NY 10017 1211 Geneva 10 USA Switzerland Telephone:(1 212) 963.5406 Telephone:(41 22) 788.6385 Telefax:(1 212) 963.1314 Telefax:(41 22) 788.6386 4 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... vii Table I: Summary of Total Funding Requirements - By Appealing Agency/Country ............................................................... ix Table II: Summary of Total Funding Requirements - By Agency, Sector and Country ............................................................. x THE COMMON HUMANITARIAN ACTION PLAN .................................................................... 1 Humanitarian Context .................................................................................................. 2 Common Humanitarian Action Plan ........................................................................... 5 SUMMARY OF PROGRAMMES/PROJECTS ......................................................................... 10 Table III: Listing of Project Activities - By Appealing Agency .............................. 11 Table IV: Listing of Project Activities - By Sector ................................................. 12 Coordination .......................................................................................................... 13 - 18 Assistance to Refugees ......................................................................................... 19 - 35 ANNEX I. 1998 Financial Summaries ............................................................................... 37 ANNEX II. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies ............... 47 ANNEX III. Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................................................ 49 6 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The various conflicts which have plagued the Great Lakes Region, have resulted in large numbers of victims who have been displaced from or forced to remain in their looted and destroyed communities or who have reluctantly sought refuge in other countries of the region. In a region in which the majority of the population has always lived close to, or below, acceptable subsistence levels, the persistent deterioration of political, social and economic conditions has resulted in the continued uprooting and marginalisation of fragile and vulnerable populations. While political instability and subsequent economic malfunctions may have deprived many of their sources of livelihood, they have also resulted in the virtual elimination of the basic and essential services of health, water supply and education. Consequently, ever increasing numbers of people have become dependent wards of the life-saving assistance of the humanitarian community. This dynamic has a regional rather than purely national dimension, as such, there is an identified need for a regional mechanism to direct appropriate humanitarian assistance to these affected populations. In addition, the recurrent crises affect people in more countries than those for which consolidated appeals are envisaged in 1999, hence the necessity to cover their needs under a Regional Appeal. In such an environment, one must recognise the limit of humanitarian action. Indeed, any humanitarian assistance can only be a stop gap measure that minimises human suffering until such time as long term political solutions can be found. The 1999 Regional Inter-Agency Consolidated Appeal will focus on two issues: regional coordination efforts, and assistance to refugees and returnees of the Great Lakes Region (GLR) who have sought asylum in Uganda or outside the Region. The GLR includes Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Uganda and United Republic of Tanzania. The UN country teams of Burundi, the DRC, Uganda and Tanzania have decided that the humanitarian situation in their countries, warrant the preparation of country-specific CAPs, which will be launched conjointly with the Regional CAP. Following consultations with the UN, the Government of Rwanda decided that a country-specific CAP was not required for 1999, however the 1998 CAP will be extended to May 1999 and updated to reflect new priority activities, especially in the North-West. The United Nations Regional Consolidated Appeal represents an outline of what the UN justifiably believes it is capable of achieving under difficult circumstances, rather than what it would ideally like to do. It is, therefore, an action plan which details how emergency humanitarian assistance can be systematically coordinated, delivered and monitored to ensure the most effective use of scarce resources in a timely manner. The total amount sought for regional programmes is US$ 58,442,043. Tables summarising regional programmes are attached, in addition to tables which summarise the requirements of all the 1999 Consolidated Appeals related to the crisis in the GLR. Recognising the need for effective regional coordination of the UN political and humanitarian responses to the crises affecting the region, the Secretary-General appointed a Representative and Regional Humanitarian Advisor for the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa (RRHA) whose office has been established in Nairobi. The RRHA serves as the principal advocate for humanitarian actions, humanitarian principles, policy formulation, and other concerns that are germane to the region. Using accepted humanitarian principles and taking into account the concerns raised in the IASC-sponsored Strategic Humanitarian Coordination in the Great Lakes Region, 1996-1997 and Report of the Tripartite (United Nation Children’s Fund - UNICEF, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - UNHCR, World Food Programme - WFP) Lessons Learned 8 Study of the Great Lakes Emergency Operation Since 1996, a consensus has been formed at the regional level by the participating agencies of the United Nations (Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - OCHA, Food and Agriculture Organization - FAO, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP and World Health Organization - WHO) of how best to address issues of regional dimension, including the cross-border movement of populations and assistance, and effective coordination mechanisms. A process of preparing and regularly updating contingency plans (national and regional) was launched in February and reinvigorated with renewed zeal with the resumption of hostilities in early August in the DRC. In an effort to streamline and facilitate UN operations in the DRC, particularly in areas under rebel control, an agreed upon Code of Conduct has been prepared by the UN and its humanitarian partners, while regular regional coordination meetings have been convened and information-sharing systems put in place. All of these actions are the result of concerted consultations amongst regional UN Agency representatives. 9 Table I : Summary of Total Funding Requirements for the 1999 UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for Countries of the GREAT LAKES REGION and CENTRAL AFRICA BY APPEALING AGENCY / COUNTRY January - December 1999 AP TH BUR DEM U UN TOTA PEA E UNDI OCR G ITE L(US LIN RE ATIC A D $) G GI REP N RE AG ON UBLI D PU EN C OF A BLI CY THE C CON OF GO TA NZ AN IA FA 1, 7,93 3,80 2 79 16,80 O 57 0,00 5,00 , 0, 6,000 0, 0 0 7 00 00 1 0 0 1 , 0 0 0 IO 6 638,6 M 3 68 8 , 6 6 8 OC 75 768, 412, 4 2,377 HA 5, 689 371 4 ,563 10 1 3 , 4 0 0 OH 9,33 2,24 11,58 CH 7,00 9,00 6,000 R 0 0 UN 5,50 4,45 4 1, 11,68 DP 0,00 6,25 0 32 1,250 0 0 5 0, , 00 0 0 0 0 UN 3,70 1 3,844 ES 1,11 4 ,918 CO 8 3 , 8 0 0 UN 246, 1 1, 1,442 FP 000 9 00 ,000 A 6 0, , 00 0 0 0 0 UN 42 10,2 3,50 7 18 75,21 HC ,7 75,2 7,01 0 ,0 9,400 R 37 96 9 0 00 ,0 , ,0 10 85 0 00 0 0 UN 70 10,0 5,00 3 6, 24,93 ICE 0, 54,0 0,00 , 10 4,000 F 00 00 0 0 0, 0 8 00 0 0 , 0 0 0 WF 12 35,2 5,25 6 47 161,8 P ,1 39,0 7,01 1 ,7 69,19 18 09 7 , 00 4 ,0 5 ,5 55 5 89 4 , 5 2 4 W 56 574, 1,46 5 29 3,392 HO 1, 520 1,21 0 4, ,330 80 0 0 80 0 , 0 0 0 0 GR 58 83,6 26,1 7 75 313,7 AN ,4 25,6 47,8 0 ,2 91,32 DT 42 32 67 , 05 3 OTA ,0 3 ,3 L 43 7 89 0 , 3 9 2 11 12 13 14 15 THE COMMON HUMANITARIAN ACTION PLAN Changes in the Humanitarian Situation At the end of 1997, the international community was preoccupied by the return and reintegration of large numbers of refugees to their countries of origin. In spite of low levels of conflict, the first six months of 1998 witnessed considerable progress in the reintegration of refugee populations in their home countries and a good start on the rehabilitation of the most affected communities. However, the resumption of hostilities in the DRC in August 1998 put a stop to the return of DRC refugees from Tanzania and neighbouring countries. In fact, the conflict has forced many residents of eastern DRC to move to Tanzania, as well as take refuge in Burundi. The war has also resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the DRC. Although the fighting has not led to a significant outflow of refugees as originally anticipated, it has provoked widespread internal displacement, particularly in the southwest in Bas-Congo and in the east in the Kivus. Nevertheless, the cross-border movement of people continues to swell the numbers of existing refugees, while continued conflict in Burundi, the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda perpetuates the displacement of innocent civilians.