To give you a picture of Africa's current situation ...

... and it's fairly dire, wherever you look. These updates cover emergencies that Oxfam affiliates are currently responding to in Africa.  Inputs are provided by the humanitarian lead agencies.

OXFAM EMERGENCIES UPDATES, 9th to 22nd February 2012

 - West Africa -

Regional: An early warning system network, which had played down the extent of the oncoming crisis, is now saying that conditions will in fact reach ‘crisis’ level between July and September, and that the worst affected country will be Mauritania.  Baroness Amos, the Under-Secretary for humanitarian affairs at the UN, is visiting Niger, where 5.4 million are affected, and will meet Oxfam staff while she is there. Oxfam Novib and Oxfam Great Britain (OGB)'s current plans are to help 450,000 people in Niger.

Mali
Tuareg rebels in eastern-central Mali, boosted by additional fighters returning from Libya, have renewed insecurity in the area and caused several thousand people to flee into neighbouring countries. The number of people displaced in eastern Mali has increased over the last couple of weeks to 70,000.  30,000 of these remain inside Mali’s borders, while the other 40,000 have fled into Niger, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso.

In Niger, Oxfam is helping refugees from Mali with basic hygiene/kitchen items and improving water supplies. Due to unstable life conditions more people are leaving Niger into neighbouring countries, particularly to Libya. 1200 persons in average leave the country every week. The second round of cash transfer of the OFDA 2 programme is happening in Dakoro (Maradi). In the departments of Madaoua and Doutchi the cash for work programmes are underway with funding from PAM.

In Mauritania, the cash transfer process has started in the most affected villages and programmes of disinfection and rehabilitation of wells are also underway in these villages. Intermon Oxfam is also finalising the advocacy strategy to be shared with the region and headquarter. The situation in eastern Mali is affecting Mauritania, with a total of 15,493 people registered by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on the 15^th February in the Fassala refugee camp in Mberra.

In Burkina Faso and Chad the responses continue, assessments are ongoing in Senegal. 

- Horn of Africa -

Sudan - South Kordofan and Blue Nile states
Negotiations with the government for broad humanitarian access into Southern Kordofan (SK) and Blue Nile (BN) states led by the UN in Khartoum continue.  Despite the visit of two high-level UN representatives to Sudan earlier this year (who also pushed the government to allow humanitarians into this area) this appeal has not yet resulted in any real change.  On January 22 the government announced they would allow humanitarian organizations to return to their areas of operation and allow the government humanitarian agency and the Sudanese Red Crescent to do humanitarian relief work, but agencies are still waiting to be able to move back.  Violence continues in both SK and BN. There is no sign of a ceasefire on the horizon. The conflict has caused large displacement. An early warning system is now estimating that without immediate large-scale assistance, large parts of both SK and BN will reach Level 4 ‘Emergency’ status – one level below famine – by the start of March. The latest figures are:

• 300,000 people estimated to have been displaced within SK state.
• Some 66,000 people displaced or severely affected by fighting in BN state.
• 105,000 Sudanese refugees in South Sudan, 25 percent of these arrived in January 2012. 
• 26,400 refugees from SK are now in Unity State in South Sudan.
• 78,605 refugees from BN are now in Upper Nile’s Maban area [Jacqui: this is where I am currently working] in South Sudan. A further 35,000 refugees from BN are now in Ethiopia.

Darfur: There are some signs that pressure on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Darfur to return to their homes areas continues, despite many of these areas being unsafe, although there has not been any significant change in government policy on this.  A women’s group in Kassab IDP camp recently wrote a letter to UNAMID complaining of ongoing insecurity and sexual abuse.  Nyala is calm again after large demonstrations in January. There is wide recognition in the camps that Darfur is no longer getting much profile internationally. Oxfam America is working closely with Sudanese partners in Darfur, currently reaching more than 339,800 people with programs to provide water, sanitation, hygiene, livelihoods activities (cash grants, assets, and training to start small businesses), and fuel-efficient stoves. OUS partners are also distributing tree seedlings.

South Sudan
Plans for scaling up in South Sudan are being fleshed out.  The UN is now saying that at best 2.7 million people will need assistance getting enough food by April.  This is due to a combination of poor harvests (partly climatic, partly because conflict gets in the way of planting and harvests), less food coming in from North Sudan, and higher prices for available food.  Some of these people are returnees – 364,000 so far, with a further 500,000 expected – and another 180,000 are refugees temporarily displaced from the north.

Oxfam is drawing up plans for a combined public health and food security programme, and is about to start a market assessment which will help understand how far cash distributions will benefit people (as opposed to maybe food aid).  The team has requested a significant injection of funding to help them kickstart a larger programme.

Somalia
Acute food shortages are being experienced in South Somalia due to the fragile security situation with high increase in prices of basic commodities. Security situation is worrying in the Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya where the threat of improvised explosive devices, kidnappings, vehicle hijackings and banditry remains high impeding the ability of aid agencies to deliver services. The Inter-Cluster Working Group (ICWG) met in Nairobi to review the implications of the Al Shabaab ban on humanitarian organizations in parts of Somalia and will produce an updated analysis document. The total number of individuals benefiting from OI interventions from 1st july 2011 is : 1,545,121,00.

Ethiopia/Kenya
An old tribal conflict in the northern Kenya region of Moyale has flared up, leading to a sudden upsurge displacement of people into Ethiopia (from about 20,000 to 57,000 2 weeks ago). Oxfam have an office in Yabello with contingency stocks they can distribute – basic kitchen/hygiene items, blankets, latrine slabs, and bladder tanks – about £100,000-worth.  It will be a short response – 1-3 months – to tide people over a crisis point.

- Southern Africa -

Mozambique
Intermon Oxfam continues to support water and sanitation needs of people affected in Quelimane City and Nicoadala District. OES are supporting the INGC and technical services in the coordination of activities in the WASH sector in Zambezia Province. Oxfam plans a emergency and early recovery WaSH intervention in Quelimane city and Nicuadala, in partnership with Kukumbi and Mozambican Red Cross (CVM). In Sanitation with CVM (Construction of 10 emergency latrines and 10 bath rooms in Sampene Camp) and water supply (Distributed 120 m³ of water in Quelimane – target 3000 people served per day, 10 water points identified for rehabilitation in Nicoadala, and assessment for cleaning ongoing in Quelimane). 1874 persons benefited from NFI distribution, 15 activists from municipality received training on water distribution and hygiene messages in Quelimane. The governments is not implementing is contingency plans in the province of Zambezia for lack of funds.

Madagascar
Tropical cyclone Giovanna swept through Madagascar earlier this week causing some considerable damage. No Oxfams are present in Madagascar, but other agencies are assessing needs and OGB are in touch with them in case there is a need for Oxfam to respond.  The cyclone is likely to hit the African mainland this weekend; Intermon Oxfam is already responding in the wake of recent storm damage in Zambesia province of Mozambique, and this storm could make matters worse.

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Africa is always in an emergency situation, not only due to man-made reasons (especially conflict) but also due to natural events (many greatly influenced by human activities), and this is now - when the impacts of climate change are not yet diastrous. But it's only going to get worse from here. So how can people build in resilience into this continent and minimise the impacts of climate change and other future disasters? When will this self-destructive cycle of poverty and aid finally end?