Eritrea:
WFP Emergency Report No. 47 of 2004
20 Nov 2004
Eritrea
(a) Five years after the 1998-2000 border conflict with Ethiopia, Eritrea
continues to endure the aftermath of war, as noticed by destroyed houses, mined
villages, shattered livelihoods, hunger and high malnutrition rates. A total of
USD 157.2 million would be needed to fund humanitarian activities in Eritrea in
2005. Some 2.2 million Eritreans, out of a total population of 3.8 million,
will be unable to feed themselves in the coming months. According to this
week's UN Consolidated Inter- Agency Appeal for Eritrea, the food component of
the appeal amounts USD 114 million.
(b) A anti-personnel mine exploded in a field 3 kms south of Tesseney
towards Goluj, in the western part of Eritrea. Two people died and one person
is recovering from severe injuries. The three victims had been working in their
field, which is located close to a known minefield according to UNMEE. This
mine appears not to have been newly planted according to UNMEE.
(c) WFP in the eastern part of country reported that although temperatures
have gone down, the dry weather continues. The expected rains around October
and November have not yet appeared. The food supply in the market is
comparatively good. Only liquid milk and sugar were not available.
(d) Eritrea's fuel crisis is worsening. Even after having obtained petrol
and diesel coupons, the purchase of fuel has become a problem as most of the
gas stations have run out of stocks. WFP's sub offices have drastically reduced
their monitoring activities. An exceptional allocation was obtained for the
field trips of the Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission, which arrived on
15 November 2004.
(e) While fuel for the distribution of food aid is a stated priority for the
Government, the transporter seems to be experiencing some problems as a result
of which the November distribution of general feeding rations to approximately
600,000 drought-affected people and some schools has not yet commenced.
Source URL: http://www.wfp.org via
reliefweb.int 19 Nov 2004
Unlimited, high
