Uganda: Nationwide analysis finds Gulu, Jinja, Kasese worst affected by hunger during lockdown (07.10.2020)

For the rest of the year, Gulu and Kasese are expected to remain at Crisis levels even while their markets are supplied with harvests.

KAMPALA, Uganda, October 7, 2020 – Ugandans in nine urban areas were at Crisis levels of food insecurity or worse for months leading to August because of negative impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown. The worst affected of were Gulu, Jinja and Kasese where nearly one in three people struggled to find nutritious food on a regular basis.

For the rest of the year, Gulu and Kasese are expected to remain at Crisis levels even while their markets are supplied with harvests.

These were some of the findings of the most comprehensive Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis conducted in Uganda to date, covering Kampala and other urban areas, the Karamoja region and refugee settlements and host communities for the first time.

The analysis was carried out by the Government of Uganda and three UN agencies and measures food insecurity from June through August and projected from September to December. It was informed in part by real-time data gathered by remote telephone monitoring of households in 13 urban areas, refugee hosting districts and Karamoja region in the northeast. It is the first time, real-time data informed the IPC on urban areas.

The IPC attributed Crisis food insecurity to the loss of livelihoods in the informal sector, tourism, the travel and events industry and the education sector, reduced remittances and reduced commercial networks due to the closure of borders.

Releasing the results of the analysis, the Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Eng. Hillary Onek, said that the Government is committed to ensuring food and nutrition security and well-being for all people in Uganda, including those in urban areas.

Speaking while releasing the results of the analysis, the Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Eng. Hillary Onek, said Government is committed to ensuring food and nutrition security and well-being for all people in the country, including those in urban areas.

“With these new findings, we now know, reliably, who the most food-insecure people are in Uganda, where they are and what we can do to save lives and preserve livelihoods. Such knowledge is critical before we take any decisions,” Mr Onek said.

“We thank our partners for working with us to come up with this very important analysis. We now must continue to work together to find solutions to the issues raised in the study,” Mr Onek added.

Currently, through a collaboration with the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the United Nations makes 10,000 calls a month to monitor food security in refugee areas, 12 urban areas and Karamoja region.

Using the real-time and other data, the IPC found that refugees in all 13 settlements in Uganda along with more than 1.3 million Ugandans in refugee-hosting districts and Karamoja region experienced Crisis or worse levels of hunger between June and August.

In Karamoja, all districts had worrying levels of malnutrition among young children and pregnant and nursing women, with malnutrition above emergency levels in Moroto and Napak.

The IPC attributed the high levels of food insecurity in refugee hosting districts and Karamoja to WFP’s ration cuts for refugees, the lockdown, floods and subsequent food losses, animal and human diseases, insecurity in some parts of Karamoja and reduced remittances as key contributors to the situation.

“Ration cuts for refugees will remain in place until we secure sufficient funding. To be able to provide full rations for refugees in the settlements until the end of 2020, WFP needs nearly US$15.3 million immediately,” said WFP Uganda Country Director, Mr El-Khidir Daloum.

FAO’s Deputy Representative, Ms Priya Gujadhur said “As part of the UN Uganda’s Emergency Appeal launched earlier this year, FAO has appealed for USD 7.8 million for food security, nutrition and livelihoods interventions. This will allow FAO to provide agricultural livelihood support and training in climate smart agricultural practices to help up to 10,000 of the most vulnerable households produce for their own consumption and diversify income sources through value chain development, thereby strengthening their resilience.”

Even with coming harvests this year, it is expected households will continue to struggle with food shortages partly because of lost incomes during the lockdown. All refugee settlements are expected to remain at Crisis level at best. Food security should improve in nine out of 12 worst-affected refugee-hosting districts. Malnutrition is expected to decline in two districts in Karamoja in the coming months.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, the Ministry for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Kampala Capital City Authority, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and WFP participated in the IPC analysis. The European Union, World Bank and UK Aid funded the exercise

Sudan alert: Flooding and surging inflation threaten humanitarian assistance (02.10.2020)

COVID-19 virus transmission has continued, with 13,653 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 836 deaths.

NEW YORK, United States of America, October 2, 2020 – Catastrophic flooding and rising food and health costs in Sudan, have driven up the number of people in need, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday.

Authorities declared a three-month state of emergency in early September after the worst flooding in 30 years. 

To date, more than 860,000 people have had houses destroyed or damaged and more than 120 people have died. 

Some 560 schools and thousands of health facilities have also been affected, compromising essential services to communities, especially in North Darfur, Khartoum, West Darfur and Sennar, which account for 52 per cent of all people affected 400,000 reached and counting 

The response by UN agencies and partners has reached more than 400,000 people so far, including emergency shelter and essential household items relief to over 181,000 flood-affected refugees, 1.87 million internally displaced people and Sudanese across the country. 

Meanwhile, COVID-19 virus transmission has continued, with 13,653 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 836 deaths, according official data from the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Amid growing needs, surging inflation – reaching nearly 170 per cent in August – has caused a shortage of basic commodities and increased prices of some locally sourced supplies by 300 to 400 per cent. 

“In some cases, by the time the procurement process is finalized, the supplies have increased prices, so that the original budgets are no longer valid”, said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke.  

He explained that this meant the purchasing process had to begin again and “there is no guarantee that by the time that that process is done, that the prices will not have risen once again”

Healthcare costs have also increased by up to 90 per cent, OCHA Sudan said in a recent tweet

In Geneva, Mr. Laerke noted that the price of an average family food basket had increased by over 200 per cent since last year, based on World Food Programme (WFP) data, increasing pressure on already dramatic levels of food insecurity across Sudan, where 9.6 million people are described as “severely” in need.  

Cash shortfalls 

Inflation has also affected the UN’s humanitarian partners which provide cash support to vulnerable families, as they are constantly having to adjust the amounts transferred, Mr. Laerke said. 

Even with these adjustments, many families are no longer able to purchase what they need with the cash received. 

Today, only one in four families who previously relied on outside assistance now receives it, the OCHA spokesperson said.  

Crop failure 

Another concern in Sudan is that large areas of farmland are under water or ruined just before harvest.  

“Most families in Sudan already spent around 65 per cent of their income on food, so these price hikes lead to increased hunger and less education, health and other services that families de-prioritize as they try to cope with the economic hardship”, Mr. Laerke explained.

Sudan: Humanitarians assist hundreds of thousands of people as the country faces its worst flooding in decades (21.09.2020)

Somalia: WHO, UNICEF urge caregivers in south and central parts of Somalia to vaccinate children against polio, while observing health and safety measures for COVID-19 (21.09.2020)

World Food Programme (WFP) expands assistance to families struggling in flood-devastated regions of Sudan (17.09.2020)

The flooding is the worst Sudan has seen in nearly a century.

KHARTOUM, Sudan, September 17, 2020 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up its emergency food assistance to reach nearly 160,000 people hit by devastating floods that have affected nine states of Sudan.

“Rains and floods have been much worse than anyone could have anticipated, causing a national disaster,” said WFP Representative and Country Director in Sudan, Hameed Nuru ”People have lost their homes, farmlands, schools and loved ones. Some of these people have lost everything.”

The flooding is the worst Sudan has seen in nearly a century. According to the Government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission, 650,000 people have been affected since the start of the rains in mid-July.

WFP provided a first round of emergency food assistance to 7,200 people and distributions for 40,000 people are currently ongoing.  “WFP is working tirelessly with the Government of Sudan and partners to get food out to the affected people. Together, we are trying to scale up the number of people reached every day,” he added.

WFP is planning to distribute two-week rations to flood-affected people in Khartoum, East and North Darfur, White Nile, North and West Kordofan, Red Sea, Sennar, and Kassala. As more assessments are underway, the number of flood-affected people requiring food assistance is likely to increase.

With the heavy rains making access to affected areas difficult, WFP has facilitated rapid needs assessments and delivery of assistance using the WFP-managed UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS). Since the start of flood season, WFP has participated in some 20 assessment missions to guide interventions and identify people who are most in need. WFP has transported three metric tons of food supplies provided by the government to flood-affected people in Bout town in Blue Nile state.

The devastating floods come at a time when hunger levels remain alarmingly high in Sudan with increased and protracted displacement, economic decline and inflation, and high food price hikes, exacerbated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak, WFP continues to provide emergency food assistance to ensure critical support reach the people in need.

“WFP is also working to implement all necessary precautions during distributions to minimize the risk of contacting or spreading COVID-19 and ensure the safety of staff and the people we serve,” Nuru said.

WFP’s flood response to date has been made possible by the generosity of donors, including German Federal Foreign Office, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, and the United States Agency for International Development.

Sudan: UN agencies support flood response in Sudan but warn aid stocks ‘rapidly’ depleting (02.09.2020)

Across Sudan, some 37,000 homes were destroyed in the floods, forcing families to seek shelter with relatives and host communities.

NEW YORK, United States of America, September 2, 2020 – The UN and its partners are supporting the Sudanese Government as it responds to recent severe flooding, which has killed 90 people and affected 380,000 others, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Tuesday.

The flooding was triggered by heavy seasonal rains, mainly in neighbouring Ethiopia, which caused the Nile River to rise to nearly 17.5 metres (roughly 57 feet) this past weekend: the highest level in 100 years, according to the authorities.

OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said the government has declared a state of emergency in Khartoum state alone, where more than 21,000 people have been affected by flooding since the end of July.

Homes destroyed, water contaminated

Across Sudan, some 37,000 homes were destroyed in the floods, forcing families to seek shelter with relatives and host communities. Another 39,000 houses have been damaged, along with 34 schools and nearly 2,700 health facilities.

“Access to clean water – critical in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic – has also been affected”, said Mr. Laerke, speaking from Geneva. “Some 2,000 water sources are contaminated or non-functional, according to initial assessments.”

The flooding has also impacted an estimated 125,000 refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), the UN refugee agency, UNHCR added.

Spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said rains have been particularly heavy in North Darfur state, leaving an estimated 35,000 IDPs, locals and refugees in need of help, where 15 people have died and a further 23 have gone missing.

“In Khartoum’s ‘Open Areas’ on the outskirts of the city, many South Sudanese refugees were living in make-shift homes and are in dire need of shelter,” she said.

“UNHCR is deeply saddened at the death of an 18-month old refugee girl who drowned in a collapsed latrine.”

Stockpiles rapidly dwindling

The UN and humanitarian partners are supporting national response with emergency shelter and household supplies, together with water, sanitation and hygiene assistance, food, health services and vector control.

Mr. Laerke reported that they were able to respond quickly as supplies to meet the needs of 250,000 people had been pre-positioned before the rains started.

However, with stocks “being depleted rapidly”, OCHA is calling for wider support from the international community as a $1.6 billion humanitarian plan for Sudan is less than 44 per cent funded.

Opinion: For 65 dollars more and you can enter the Republic…

It is amazing that a Republic like Uganda can charge $65 or 245,000 shillings on entering the Republic to be tested for COVID-19 or Coronavirus. This from a same government that has gotten grants upon grants to combat the disease. That is why this is infuriating.

Yes, no republic have boundless of funds or money to combat a global pandemic like this. While the government of Uganda have gotten support from all sort of foreign donors and multi-national organizations to beat it. Still, they sought to profit and cover their expenses on the ones arriving at Entebbe and the border points.

This means, the truckers, foreign aid workers, tourists and the ones who has the disease has to be tested, pay and then even quarantine somewhere. Certainly all of that costs and the quarantine “hostel” or “hotel” will not come for free either.

The “Cost Recovery Fee” is really showing the blatant disregard for the ones entering the Republic. Also the diaspora who are stranded and has to cough up funds to pay additional fees on entering. Like foreign students and maids abroad cannot afford this. Neither can the average truckers. This will either stop the testing or create a market for questionable behaviour. Since people cannot afford this.

Yes, the UN workers and Multi-National Organizations can afford doing this to support their projects. They will just allocate funds to expenses to secure their staff. However, the random and ordinary citizen cannot afford this. This is such a huge cost.

This is also spitting in the face of the donors and the ones offering grants to Uganda. As they are charging the same people on entering. Ensuring they are both offering grants and also getting fees to cover expenses. They are double paying for this.

Nobody is winning on this. The National Resistance Movement (NRM) just showing they have no sense and doesn’t want to cover their bases. They rather get additional funds. Then actually ensure the safety of the border points and see if they can trace the sources of the spread.

That they are doing it is insane. The state should know better and the donors should now ask for transparency and accountability over the COVID-19 Funds. Since, they are now clearly asking to be covered twice and sometimes by their own, but also by the same people who has used grants and donations to make it possible. Peace.

Chad: Complex security, environmental crises worsen conditions for over 360,000 in western Chad (29.08.2020)

Many families are facing heavy rainfall without proper housing, with the added complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NEW YORK, United States of America, August 29, 2020 – More than 360,000 internally displaced persons in Chad’s Lake province are facing a “double” crisis, exposed to security and environmental risks, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported, highlighting the need to strengthen resilience of affected communities.

According to Paul Dillon, an IOM spokesperson, while the region has been a target of repeated attacks by insurgents since 2015, the situation has worsened dramatically in 2020.

“Recurrent security attacks and incursions by non-State armed groups since the beginning of the year prompted the Chadian Government in March to declare the departments of Fouli and Kaya, two of Lake Chad’s borderlands departments ‘war zones’,” he said.

Since April, the number of the displaced has increased by almost 22 per cent, according to the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix, a tool to monitor displacement and movement of people in emergency or crisis situations.

Double crisis 

Located in the western part of Chad, the Lake (or Lac) region borders Nigeria and Niger. The three nations along with Cameroon form the Lake Chad Basin, where thousands have lost their lives and millions forced to flee their homes due to attacks by non-State armed insurgents.

The crisis has also exacerbated food security, leaving many dependent on humanitarian assistance.

In addition to the security challenges, the situation in the Lake region has been further complicated by some of the heaviest rainfall in nearly 30 years, with roughly 400 millimetres of rainfall that resulted in flash floods in villages and fields.

“This is a worrying trend as the displacement is recurrent, protracted due to the deterioration of security and environmental situations, and involves large in numbers of people,” said Mr. Dillon.

IOM response 

In response, IOM is providing emergency assistance to vulnerable populations. It has delivered more than 2,500 transitory and semi-permanent shelters to nearly 13,000 persons; and over 2,700 non-food item packages including hygiene kits, sleeping mats, clothes and basic cooking equipment for over 14,000 persons.

However, much more is needed immediately as many families are facing heavy rainfall without proper housing, with the added complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, three-quarters of the displaced persons IOM identified live in displacement sites, most of which are made of straw and metal shelters.

Many of them sleep in the open without adequate protection from bad weather, with limited access to amenities such as water, hygiene facilities, health services and COVID-19 protective equipment.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Millions ‘on the edge’ in DR Congo, now in even greater danger of tipping over – World Food Programme (WFP) – (14.08.2020)

Outbreaks of diseases, violence, and fears of a poor harvest, are worsening an already alarming situation.

NEW YORK, United States of America, August 14, 2020 – According to the World Food Programme (WFP), latest national data shows that about four in ten people in the DRC are food insecure, with some 15.6 million suffering “crisis” or “emergency” levels of hunger.

“So many Congolese are on the edge, and in even greater danger now of being tipped over the edge”, said Claude Jibidar, the head of WFP operations in the country.

“The world just can’t let that happen, worried though it understandably is about the huge toll COVID-19 is taking on lives and livelihoods elsewhere.”

Crisis in every direction

Outbreaks of diseases, violence, and fears of a poor harvest, are worsening an already alarming situation.

Malnutrition is particularly pervasive in the east of the country, where decades of brutal conflict has forced millions from their homes – many of them numerous times. In the first half of 2020, almost a million people were uprooted from their homes due to new violence.

Displaced persons across the DRC – numbering more than five million – live in makeshift camps and urban areas with poor sanitation and healthcare, making them especially susceptible to COVID-19.

Adding to this are killer diseases, malaria and cholera, exacerbating the hunger challenge. A new large-scale outbreak of measles in the central Kasai region has significantly increased the risk of fatalities among malnourished children.

The dire health situation is compounded by successive outbreaks of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). By the time the DRC’s tenth and biggest Ebola epidemic ended in June, having claimed almost 2,300 lives in the east over two years, the eleventh had erupted in the northwest, and continues to spread.

Resources urgently needed

Against this bleak picture, UN agencies, including the WFP have been working to provide life-saving assistance across the nation.

On its part, WFP need another $172 million to be able to fully implement its emergency operation in the country over the next six months. With enough resources, it aims to reach 8.6 million people this year– including almost a million of those hit hardest by the pandemic – up from a record 6.9 million reached in 2019.

However, without the necessary funding, food rations and cash assistance will have to be cut, then the number of people being helped, warned the UN agency.

“Interventions to treat and prevent acute malnutrition – which afflicts 3.4 million Congolese children – are at immediate risk”, it said.

Opinion: Is Amin relevant in 2020? [Mr. 1986 thinks so]

Uganda’s economy had collapsed completely during Amin’s time. There is no economy in the world that collapsed completely like Uganda. To revive this economy, our priorities were different from other neighboring countries. As a country, we budget to build a durable base and a viable political unit that will defend us. It’s like building the armed forces, if you don’t have an army, you don’t have education, security, health, etc”Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to US and Belgium Ambassadors at the Entebbe State House on the 25th June 2020

Sometimes I wonder, how come these folks are still in power and leading nations? Yes, we should never become so ignorant or forget our history. That is not my point here. History is important so we can learn and not do the same mistakes as our forefathers. Also get enlighten to create a better tomorrow.

However with that in mind, the statement released from yesterday’s meeting with US and Belgium Ambassador from the President is worrying. Since he needs to go back 40 years in time. He needs to go back to the time before the second stint of President Milton Obote. That’s how far he goes to give himself credit.

The President wouldn’t have gotten all the goodwill and the revival of the economy if it wasn’t for donors, grants and direct aid for years. The President was a donor darling in the 1990s and was blessed from everywhere. He even started some positive initiatives, which he never really finished. Just like the Standard Gauge Railway, Universal Primary Education for all and so fourth.

There are plenty of pledges and promises never realise or actually do. The President has promised the world, a fundamental change, but that hasn’t come. The King never let thy Kingdom Come, thy will be done. He has eaten in office and forgotten his vision, his vision and the 10 point programme.

That he praises his economy, when the budget is mostly financed with debt, raising loans and grants for development projects. There are over half of the budget covered with debt and already paying trillion of shillings a year only in interests alone. Therefore, him praising the economy is a bit far-fetched when deficit financing is the key to operate. You know something is up and that is why he needs to sweet-talk the dignitaries yesterday. They are the ones giving him the needed funds to cover his life-style and pay off his cronies.

The state have not the capacity nor the revenue to continue at the current state. That is why its loaning itself to oblivion. That is why the budgets are crushed and suddenly lacking funds for salaries, arrears and whatnot.

If he had so many achievements he wouldn’t need to beg foreigners for donations and grants. He has done this for over 3 decades. If he was such a great head of state the state would have been able to gain natural revenue on itself for its expenditure. However, we know that is not the case and his not interested in that.

I think if Amin’s reign is relevant for his achievements. today Yes he made peace, but a fake peace. A peace that is fragile, because he needs the army in every instance and at his beckon-call. There is very little remaining of his achievements. They are dwindling away and his merits on civic, social and political levels are being traded away for the cost of his prolonged reign. It is like he wants to burn the little efforts of the past on the glory of being the ruler at present day.

The rest wasn’t all him, but he tries to take credit for everything. He wants so badly to be the father of the nation, but lost his grip. Since he lost foothold of reality and of the course the Republic needed.

So in this regard, should the old man with the hat still be claiming greatness in comparison to Amin in 2020? Does the younger generation, the new electorate really care about that? Does the future hold another destruction of society and another civil created out of the space post-Amin?

If so, then the merits of Museveni is all at question. As the warnings that he might rejuvenate a similar fashion of elections like in 1980. That is how we are repeating the same ills of the past and letting one tyrant continue the tyranny. This is why the President wants to praise his achievements after him. Everyone will look golden if they are trying to compare themselves to Amin at this point.

Mr. 1986 should be careful about talking about his record, his achievements and his reign. The President has had his time. The time that he hasn’t spent wisely, except for finding ways to overstay.. Peace.