ACT members in Ethiopia are delivering aid to many parts of the country targeting a total of some 755,000 people for this year. In Eritrea ACT members are responding to the needs of thousands of displaced from the border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. In Sudan other ACT members are assessing the needs of Eritreans now seeking refuge in the very inhospitable environments of eastern Sudan. A new ACT appeals for Eritrea has just been issued and a Sudan Appeal is in process and will be released shortly.

New ACT appeals are also to be issued shortly for people threatened by drought in north-western Kenya and for parts of drought prone and war torn Somalia.

This Dateline has been produced on the basis of information from numerous ACT members through the Horn of Africa. It focuses on activities in Eritrea, Ethiopia and eastern Sudan.

Eritrea

While hopes for a cease-fire in the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea seems to be on and off every other day, ACT members are providing food and shelter to some of the estimated half a million displaced within Eritrea.

Distributions and other relief work are carried out by Eritrean authorities, while ACT members Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and Lutheran World Federation (LWF) are responsible for monitoring. So far ACT-NCA has provided 40 metric tons (MT) of high protein biscuits and 180,000m2 plastic sheeting. ACT-NCA is expecting to receive some 2,350 tents, 60 rolls of plastic and 2,5 MT of foods including wheat, lentils, sugar and edible oil.

ACT-DanChurch Aid will provide some of the above materials and also has some 9 MT of protein biscuits en route to LWF in Eritrea.

Sudan

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has registered some 75,000 Eritrean refugees in Eastern Sudan.

ACT members in Sudan including the churches there plan to assist some 3,000 families with tented shelter and with fuel for cooking. Other NGOs and UN agencies take care of food and other needs.

The exact number of new refugees in Sudan varies almost daily depending on the intensity and location of battles inside Eritrea.

Reports from ACT members in eastern Sudan stress the very poor condition of the refugees. They arrive with almost no personal belongings and are now sheltered in a very hot, dry and inhospitable environment - often only with temporary shelters and thorn trees (Acasia shrub) for shelter.

Ethiopia

Food now seems to be increasingly available for relief distributions in most of the country. This is due to both local purchases and a marked increase in food arriving from abroad. Just as importantly: The transport of food from the port in Djibouti and from regional food "hubs" is going better and faster than earlier this year. Approximately 3,500 MT of food is now being released from these "hubs" every day.

There is though still a concern over the cost of the short haul transport of food and consultations between Ethiopian authorities and humanitarian actors continue.

As of June 6, donors had pledged to deliver 88,8% of Ethiopia's food aid needs for the year. The original need was estimated at 836,000 MT for 7,7 million people. The latter figure is expected to rise as Ethiopian authorities and UN agencies in Ethiopia now estimate that some 10 million people are in need of food aid.

Over the next six weeks some 200,000 MT will arrive via Djibouti and this will put a heavy strain on the logistical capacity in the port and in Ethiopia.

The overall better outlook does not mean, that specific groups of people do not continue to be in very dire need, i.e. hunger or starvation. This continues to be the case in particular the South and Southeast of the country.

Activities by ACT and Joint Relief Partnership members

Several ACT members in Ethiopia have worked together since the mid-80's with the Catholic networks in Ethiopia through the Joint Relief Partnership (JRP). The current ACT appeal for Ethiopia thus builds on the combined efforts of the JRP members. An upcoming revision of that appeal will include activities and plans of all ACT members as well as the JRP activities.

The current JRP-ACT-Caritas appeal is for 88,392 MT of food for 2000 with the objective of assisting some 755,195 people. As of June 12, confirmed pledges stand at 50,575 MT. Unconfirmed pledges may cover some of the remaining gap. Depending on developments within Ethiopia, ACT and JRP may expand the number of people it will try to assist during 2000.

Norwegian Church Aid is assisting the Lutheran Church in Ethiopia (EECMY) in Bale Zone with 500 MT of grain for some 16,000 people for May and June. Similiarly some 15,000 people are being assisted in North and South Omo. 450 MT of "Famix" is given to approx. 19,000 malnourished children in parts of Dire-Borena, Meda Wolabu-Bale, North and South Omo and in the Somali region through the months of April - July. In addition 40MT of protein biscuits have been allocated to the Afden and Liben Zones of the Somali region.

A nutritional survey in Dire-Borena showed that 60% of the children were under 80% weight for height.

Catholic Relief Services are about to start their distributions of a USAID donation of 20,999 MT food. The food will be distributed to an approximate total of 411,699 people in South Tigray, North Wollo, North Gondar and East Hararge.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and EECMY are currently distributing 780 MT of maize and 78 MT of Famix in Hagere Mariam and in Bale. Some 52,000 people will benefit from these distributions.

An ACT shipment of 5,000 MT of wheat arrived in Djibuti May 25. This food will be distributed to 60,600 people in Borena and some 50,500 people in Bale between June and August.

Some 7,350 MT of food have been made available by the EU for distribution to a total of 139,000 people in Wag Hara, North Shoa, East Hararghe and Borena. LWF will be responsible for distributions, which will take place between June and August

EECMY will do distributions for 94,350 people in Afder and Liben Zones og the Somali Region during June and July. The food comes from the Canadian Food Grains Bank.

According to UN sources Afder and Liben are probably the worst affected zones in Ethiopia right now. Nutritional figures indicate that 20 to 40% of the children are severely malnourished. Poor roads are part of the explanation why these areas are yet to receive adequate food aid.

Caritas and the Ethiopian Catholic Church have made 25 MT of food available for EECMY for distributions in Borena.

Other food and/or money pledges for food are in process and will be reported on as they materialise.

Significant donations have also been made towards non-food items. Almost US $ 500,000 are available for EECMY and/or LWF for agricultural in puts such as seeds, tools, oxen, horses and sheep.

Weather forecast

According to the Ethiopian National Meteorological Services Agencies, the forecasts for the coming meher rainy season are encouraging for most parts of the country. Main season rains have already begun in parts of western Ethiopia and are expected to move east, reaching the central parts of the country by mid June and the northern and eastern parts by the end of June. Current expectations are that rainfall during this year’s meher season will be more plentiful than in normal years, especially in western and central parts of Ethiopia, while it will be weaker than usual in the northeast.

The southern lowlands of the Somali region and Bale Zone of Oromiya remain vulnerable. These areas receive most rain during the main gu season, which under optimum conditions will extend from February to early May. The gu rains began late this year, commencing only in mid April. Though locally heavy, many drought-affected areas received little more than a fortnight of rains. If the short rains, expected in September, fail, pasture for livestock, and drinking water will be as scarce as ever.

For a more complete picture of the situation and the activities in Ethiopia, please request the Ethiopia Sitrep 01/00, Relief Intervention by Joint Relief Partnership/ACT International-Caritas Internationalis from the ACT Coordinating Office.