NDM: Press Statement on the Creation of Additional States by President Kiir (16.01.2017)

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New Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan arrives in Juba (20.01.2017)

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Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on The Gambia (19.01.2017)

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Earlier today, the Secretary-General called Mr. Adama Barrow, the President of The Gambia, to discuss the latest developments in the country and to congratulate him on his inauguration.

The Secretary-General expressed deep concern about the refusal of outgoing President Yahya Jammeh to step aside and about the high outflow of Gambians into Senegal.

The Secretary-General told President Barrow of his full support for his determination, and ECOWAS’s historic decision, with the unanimous backing of the Security Council, to restore the rule of law in The Gambia so as to honour and respect the will of the Gambian people.

The Secretary-General conveyed the readiness of the United Nations system to support President Barrow and his government in their efforts to promote democracy and achieve sustainable development in The Gambia.

New York, 19 January 2017

Somalia: Press Statement on the Drought Appeal (20.01.2017)

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It is estimated that the drought is affecting close to 5 million people and they are in need of emergency food, water and medical supplies.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, January 20, 2017 –The President of Somali Federal Republic, H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, hold a breakfast meeting for the Arab League Ambassadors and representatives in Mogadishu with the National Drought Response Committee, which consists of FGS FMS, Civil Societies. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the drought situation and its implications on the people and their livelihoods.

The Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs, Dr Yahye Ibrahim, who chairs the committee, briefed the President, the Ambassadors and representatives on the relentless drought and its severity. He informed that this devastating drought did not only affect the livestock and farming which is the livelihood of rural populations but also caused the death of our people due to insufficient rainfall in the last four seasons. It is estimated that the drought is affecting close to 5 million people and they are in need of emergency food, water and medical supplies. Records indicate that this is the worst drought in 25 years if not sixty years.

Shiekh Nur Barud Gurxan, an active committee member and respected Islamic Scholar , reinforces the message of urgency and the dire need for an emergency support to affected communities. He noted that the Arab League has continuously been supportive of the Somali people in its hour of need. We are aware of the calamities in other Arab, brotherly nations of Yemen, Libya and Syria. We wish them, but the Somali drought situation is very critical.

Speaking on behalf of the League of Arab nations. Amb Mohamed Idris welcomed the government’s initiative. He commented on the progress Somali made over the years but at the same time acknowledged the difficult it faces with this biting drought. Ambassador Idris promised that there would be a swift action for the Arab League member states to support the Somali people. He said that they don’t want to see a repeat of the 2010/11/12 drought. He also further said “Rest assured we will mobilise the Arab League member states, and we are here to work with you in your hour of need”.

The President, H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, thanked the Arab League diplomatic community for attending this breakfast. The President also thanked the Committee for the excellent work they have done so far.

His Excellency, the President, reiterated that this is of the worst droughts for a long time. It hugely affected nomadic communities and those rely on subsistence farming. The vulnerable groups such as the sick, children and the elderly are dying due to hunger. The President told the gathering diplomats and other dignitaries that as a nation “we are trying to organise ourselves, and there is a local mobilisation effort underway to support those severely affected. For example, all government institutions are making financial donations. We are about to start levying extra taxes on certain commodities and services and deductions from the salaries of the civil servents”. Unfortunately, our efforts alone will not be enough. The Arab League Member States had always been supportive of the Somali people.

The President strongly requested the Arab League diplomats to engage the Arab media to inform the Arab masses of the situation of the Somali drought.

The President acknowledges the unwavering support of the International community to the Somali people; further welcoming the recent humanitarian appeal for the Somali drought.

Finally, the President sent an emergency appeal to the League of Arab Nations, Organisation of Islam Countries to positively respond to this drought appeal; your immediate intervention is critical.

République Démocratique du Congo : Tanganyika, Haut-Lomami, Haut-Katanga, Note d’informations humanitaires du 18 janvier 2017

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Somalia: Humanitarians launch US$864 million appeal to reach 3.9 million People (17.01.2017)

 

Somalia Draught Quotes

The Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia for 2017 plan was launched today in Mogadishu with calls to the international community for timely support to help bolster humanitarian operations and meet urgent humanitarian needs.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, January 17, 2017 -The humanitarian community in Somalia is seeking US$864 million to reach 3.9 million people with urgent life-saving humanitarian assistance. The Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia for 2017 plan was launched today in Mogadishu with calls to the international community for timely support to help bolster humanitarian operations and meet urgent humanitarian needs.

“The humanitarian situation remains grim for millions of Somalis. We are faced with a slight but steady increase in the number of people in need, and most recently with a significant risk of further deterioration to famine,” said Peter de Clercq, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia.

The launch of the HRP comes against a backdrop of a worsening humanitarian situation in Somalia. Expanding drought conditions have left hundreds of thousands of Somalis facing severe food and water shortages. Overall, some 5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. About 320,000 children under the age of 5 years are acutely malnourished and in need of urgent nutrition support. Of these, 50,000 children are severely malnourished and far more vulnerable than any other group.

Protection violations remain at the centre of the humanitarian crisis in Somalia and widespread human rights violations, instability and insecurity drive displacement and weaken the resilience of the most vulnerable. At least 1.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable people are exposed to protection risks. Some 3.3 million people lack access to emergency health services and require improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene. Giving birth is one of the greatest risks to a Somali woman’s life. The maternal mortality ratio for Somalia is among the highest in the world at 732 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Around 3 million school-age children are still out of school with numbers increasing and placing children at greater risk as the impacts of shocks deepen.

“Immediate support is required to prevent a significant deterioration of the humanitarian situation. Given the early warning provided by the humanitarian community and the Federal Government on the drought situation, early action is the only way to demonstrate that we have learnt the lessons from the past to avert another catastrophe,” added de Clercq.

The response plan seeks to strengthen emergency response preparedness measures, in collaboration with federal and local authorities, to mitigate the impact of predictable shocks and continue to build stronger linkages between life-saving and development-based durable solutions. It provides an opportunity for humanitarian and development actors to strengthen collaboration in addressing both life-saving and long term durable solutions to address underlying causes of vulnerability.

The 2017 plan is part of a three-year strategy (2016-2018), which recognizes that the drivers of risk and vulnerability in Somalia are largely cyclical and long-running, and cannot be resolved in a single year. Enhancing communities’ ability to cope with shocks through the long-term sustainable livelihood support and basic services, including durable solutions, in a community-based approach, will be vital in addressing underlying causes of vulnerabilities.

New drought risks in Ethiopia put recovery at risk (17.01.2017)

Hailemariam Desalegn Ethiopia

FAO targets pastoralists in southern regions facing failed rains on heels of a calamitous El Niño.

ROME, Italy, January 17, 2017 -New drought across swathes of southern Ethiopia may jeopardize the East African nation’s restoration of food security after the worst agricultural seasons in decades unless urgent efforts are made to shore up vulnerable households in rural areas, FAO warned today.

While an impressive government-led humanitarian effort has sharply reduced the number of hungry during the worst drought in 50 years, the legacy of last year’s El Niño along with low rainfall during a critical season pose renewed risks now, especially for pastoral communities facing forage shortfalls and water scarcity in southern regions.

Safeguarding recent gains requires responding to the livelihood-sustaining needs of fragile households that lost or sold livestock and other assets, often adding to family debt burdens to cope with the worst El Niño in modern history.

Effective and timely action has reduced the number of people who will need food aid in 2017 to 5.6 million, down from almost twice as much last August, according to the newly released Humanitarian Requirements Document (HRD). However, food security in 120 woredas (districts) has worsened since July, while 86 woredas are entering their third year (since December 2015) of top-priority emergency status.

The just-approved HRD, jointly developed by the Government of Ethiopia along with UN agencies, non-governmental organizations and other development partners, covers a range of subjects including education, access to water and nutrition. It advises that the bulk of the agriculture sector needs are related to assistance to pastoralists and agropastoralists livestock assistance – a total of $42 million is required by the sector to reach 1.9 million households, mainly in drought-affected southern and southeastern pastoral regions, this year.

Drought strikes again
While northern and western Ethiopia bore the brunt of El Niño, a new drought is emerging in southern and southeastern pastoral areas including Oromia, Somali and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNP) after poor, delayed and erratic rains curbed pasture and water availability. Some 80 percent of Ethiopians depend on agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods and an even higher share of the country’s arable land relies on seasonal rainfall.

Below-average precipitation has also affected neighboring Somalia and Kenya. The impact is expected to be most dire in early 2017 among livestock, with unusually early migrations, excess mortality rates and extreme emaciation.

FAO calls for an immediate response to support the food security and nutrition of households reliant on animals. Along with the provision of supplementary animal feed, especially along migratory routes, targeted destocking interventions will be implemented to make protein-rich meat available for vulnerable pastoral communities and support livestock prices in local markets.

Poorly-fed animals reproduce less frequently, lengthening the prospective time required to rebuild herds. For Ethiopian households, restocking after the loss of half of one’s cattle typically takes four years without adverse conditions.

Addressing fragility

Even though FAO’s support will focus on communities depending on livestock, some areas along the Rift Valley, however, especially in the northern and eastern highlands, are facing below-average crop production and therefore receive prioritized agricultural support as recovery will take longer than anticipated.

South Sudan refugees and their hosting communities in Gambella Region, are facing significant food availability and access challenges, and enabling households to produce more of their own food is essential.

After having reached 1.3 million farmers and herders affected by the El Niño-induced drought in 2016, FAO is appealing for $20 million to reach one million farming, agropastoral and pastoral households in 2017, with the aim of protecting gains made last year and preventing vulnerable households from slipping further into food insecurity.

FAO’s programme seeks in particular to support crop production, implement emergency response and resilience activities in the livestock sector, support livelihoods in refugee-hosting areas and strengthen coordination, information and analysis.

Is the M23 attack in Ishasha for political mileage for Kabila? Since Minister of Defense Oryem counter-claims the DRC confirmation of the new M23 insurgency!

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“The government of the DRC confirms Ishasha’s incursion of 2 groups of ex-M23 armed. FARDC”Lambert Mende confirms today.

The day after the terrible, but believable news that M23 surfaced into the North-Kivu and crossed from familiar borders from Congo. This as the M23 has had bases and armoury in Kisoro in the past. So it was rare that the Republic that harboured them and sheltered them would also we’re their we’re supposed to lay down their arms after the rebellion. So now years after the agreement and Nairobi Accords, the M23 goes back together with General Sultani Mukenga and 200 soldiers. They we’re 1600 soldiers during the 2013 battles in and around Goma. So since the news we’re coming quickly during the weekend, here is the main aftermath on this Monday!

Defence Minister Henry Oryem Okello of Uganda on M23:

“We know there are problems in Kinshasa, but they [government] should not use Uganda as an excuse for their problems,” Mr Oryem said” (…) “President Kabila had assured us that they would organise and take them [M23] back but it’s taking forever,” the minister said” (Kasasira, 2017).

What’s been said from the DRC side:

“No military official, however, was available to confirm any clashes at Ishasha” (…) “Our antenna in Ishasha confirms the presence of elements of the M23 in this city (…) where they control several axes (…), but there is not any fighting or clashes,” reported AFP Omar Kavota, director of the Study Center for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights (Cepadho), based in the city of Beni (east)” (Publie le Lun, 2017)

There been contacts in Goma where the people has been in touch with the military there, the Military in Goma doesn’t believe that the M23 have crossed the border into Ishaha from either Kihihi or Kisoro.

Still the Uganda Police Force found weapons close to the border:

“Police patrol stumbled on unidentified people loading six sub machine guns, a PK rifle, five magazines and seventy nine bullets in a Premio vehicle registration number UAS 978B in a bush near the common border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)” (…) “According to the Kisoro LC V Chairperson Mr Abel Bizimana, the recovery of the guns being smuggled into the district shows that security is still wanting. He wants the Inspector General of Police, General Edward Kale Kayihura to go to the district to find a lasting solution to the escalation of crime. Kisoro District is currently battling an escalation of gun related crimes and aggravated robberies” (Daily Monitor, 2017).

“Elly Maate, the Kigezi Region Police Spokesperson, clarifies that they impounded six sub machine guns and a PK Machine Gun. Kisoro District currently battles an escalation of gun related crimes and aggravated robberies” (CroozeFM, 16.01.2017).

While this is happening M23 Roger Lumumba we’re taken on grand chair and walked as a royal monarch in the streets of Kinshasa. In the border region of Uganda there are escalated robberies, as even impounded weapons are on the rise. Kisoro region has harboured and have had training ground for M23 in the past. Where even the M23 got new recruits as the reports of previous attacks of the guerrilla!

So that their escalated violence and armed crimes are happening in the border area; while the guerrillas are supposed to leave the same region, these acts are simultaneously without regard for each other. They both could happen, but one of them could also be parts of the other one. The thieving and robberies could be M23 before they went into the DRC. As well planned rebels they have the capacity. By all means the Ugandan government doesn’t want to seem like they harbour rebels and prepare them to fight proxy wars. This is something they have done so in the past; because Mzee like it to be low-key and not in the open, so cannot be implicated for the sanctioned violence.

We will see if the reports and if this will materialize in the DRC and if the MONUSCO and others than State Officials are reporting, since there should be intelligence and also words spread from others than central leaders who could earn political mileage on the violations. Peace.

Reference:

Daily Monitor – ‘Army, police deploy at Bunagana border’ (16.01.2017) link: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Army-police-deploy-Bunagana-border/688334-3519312-8fb170z/index.html

Kasasira, Ridsel – ‘Uganda scoffs at DR Congo over M23 rebels’ (16.01.2017) link: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Uganda–DR-Congo–M23-rebels-Kabila-/688334-3518768-15um6hpz/index.html

Publie le lun – ‘RDC: des ex-combattants de la rébellion investissent une localité de l’est’ (16.01.2017) link: http://www.radiookapi.net/lu-sur-le-web/rdc-des-ex-combattants-de-la-rebellion-investissent-une-localite-de-lest#sthash.tASR20cH.dpuf

Letter: Buzzfeed try to claim that South Sudan’s National Courier and the Newspaper answers (16.01.2017)

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South Sudan: Statement attributable to the Office of the Spokesperson The UN Mission denies accusations of bias (16.01.2017)

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