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Sunday 25 December 2005


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IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 280 for 28 May-3 June 2005

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENTS:

DJIBOUTI: Malnutrition widespread in drought-affected areas
ETHIOPIA: Fresh elections held in six constituencies
ETHIOPIA: Opposition group takes legal action over polls
ETHIOPIA: Floods disrupt relief efforts in Somali region
SOMALIA: UN special representative meets with president
SOMALIA: Baidoa town reported calm
SUDAN: Southern pact basis for addressing other conflicts - Annan
SUDAN: African Union urges more help for Darfur
SUDAN: MSF officials held over Darfur report

DJIBOUTI: Malnutrition widespread in drought-affected areas

Malnutrition among children and women is widespread in Djibouti, according to newly released results of a nutrition and health assessment of drought-affected areas of the tiny Horn of Africa nation.

Moderate acute malnutrition rates were high in communities dependent on food aid, according to the survey carried out in May by the UN World Health Organization and Djibouti's health ministry in collaboration with the UN Children's Fund and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

"High rates of moderate acute malnutrition and some cases of severe malnutrition were found in communities that had a high morbidity rate," the survey, released on Thursday, said.

The assessment showed that the main health problems among children were diarrhoea, fever, respiratory disease and measles, and illness was often associated with malnutrition. Chronic malnutrition or stunting was found to be very high - over 40 percent - in all communities that were surveyed in the country whose population is 700,000.

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ETHIOPIA: Fresh elections held in six constituencies

Fresh elections were held on Thursday in six Ethiopian constituencies where disputes arose following allegations of fraud and irregularities in the May 15 polls, the National Electoral Board (NEB) said. "Voting was interrupted in 16 polling stations in these six constituencies and so the electorate have to be allowed to exercise their democratic right," said Mekonnen Wondimu, the NEB's registrar of political parties. The board also announced it was suspending the release of results from five additional constituencies across the country where it is investigating allegations of widespread vote-rigging.

He added that the election board might order new elections in other areas based on evidence presented to them by political parties. "We may hold new votes in other areas, but it all depends on the evidence," he said. Mekonnen said the irregularities included disruptions of voting, under-age voting and violent confrontations between supporters of political parties. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has so far won 301 seats out of the 513 counted. Its allies garnered 21 seats, according to provisional results released by the NEB.

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ETHIOPIA: Opposition group takes legal action over polls

Ethiopia's main opposition group, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), on Tuesday launched legal action to prevent the release of disputed provisional results of the 15 May parliamentary polls that showed that the ruling party had won.
CUD said massive vote rigging had cast doubt on the results, and threatened nationwide protests if the announced returns were made final. "The CUD has filed charges in court demanding that the National Election Board (NEB) desist from issuing election results that include disputed constituencies," Berhanu Nega, vice chairman of the CUD, told reporters.

He added: "CUD has requested the court that the illegal banning of public demonstrations the prime minister has imposed on the people of Addis Ababa, thus violating their constitutional right to assemble peacefully, be lifted."

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ETHIOPIA: Floods disrupt relief efforts in Somali region

Floods disrupted relief efforts in Ethiopia's southeastern Somali Region making travel impossible in some areas, a UN agency said on Wednesday. Trucks laden with relief items had been stuck on impassable roads for nearly three weeks, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. "Efforts by the government, UN and relief agencies are being hampered by poor road conditions, making travel impossible in some areas," Paul Herbert, OCHA's head in Ethiopia, told IRIN.

The flooding was causing new displacements in an area stretching from Kelafo to Mustahil town, where original floodwaters had receded and people were returning to their homes. A joint government and UN assessment team arrived in the region on 25 May to assess the scale of the floods and to recommend an appropriate emergency response.

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SOMALIA: UN special representative meets with president

François Lonseny Fall, the newly appointed special representative of the UN Secretary-General to Somalia, met with interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed on Monday and assured him of the UN's commitment to helping consolidate the Somali peace process. "Ambassador Fall assured President Yusuf of the commitment of the United Nations under his leadership to work strenuously for the consolidation of the achievements of the peace process that was led by IGAD [Inter-Governmental Authority on Development]," said a statement issued by the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS).

IGAD, which includes Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and Somalia, sponsored peace talks between Somalia's various clans and factions that culminated in the establishment of the Somali transitional federal government (TFG) in 2004. The TFG remains in Nairobi, where it was set up, because security concerns and lack of resources have prevented members of the administration from moving to Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

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SOMALIA: Baidoa town reported calm

The southwestern Somali town of Baidoa was reported calm on Tuesday, a day after fierce fighting between rival factions killed 12 people and wounded more than 20 others, a local source told IRIN on Tuesday. The fighting between factions of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), which controls much of Bay and Bakol regions in southwestern Somalia, erupted on Monday morning. Forces loyal to former RRA chairman Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigudud and former RRA first-deputy chairman Shaykh Adan Madobe, who are currently ministers in the transitional Somali government, attacked the town, which is controlled by forces loyal to Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade, an MP.

A local businessman who requested anonymity told IRIN that "things seem to be returning to normal. Almost all businesses which were closed yesterday [Monday] have reopened and people are coming out of their houses and assessing the damage of Monday's fighting". The death toll from the clashes rose on Tuesday. A Baidoa hospital source told IRIN: "A number of people have died of their injuries, bringing the total of those who have died since Monday to 12," he said. Among the dead were four children whose house was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

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SUDAN: Southern pact basis for addressing other conflicts - Annan

The peace agreement signed this year between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) constitutes a road map for resolving other conflicts in the country, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said during a visit to Sudan. Annan called for a quick implementation of the agreement, which was signed in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 9 January. "The Naivasha process [which resulted in the southern peace agreement] and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement have provided a road map which could be the basis of a peace agreement in the troubled region of Darfur," Annan said when he addressed the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC) in the southern Sudanese town of Rumbek on Sunday.

Annan urged delegates - including SPLM/A chairman John Garang, NCRC co-chairman Abel Alier and members of the commission - to finalise their work as soon as possible and establish a government of national unity by July. "I urge you to continue in your efforts to complete this essential task in a timely manner. The momentum of the peace process depends on it," Annan said.

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SUDAN: African Union urges more help for Darfur

The African Union (AU) on Thursday urged wealthy nations to donate more for the war-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur, saying they had not pledged enough to help end the suffering there. AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said that he was "not satisfied" with the US $300 million additional cash pledged by donors recently to end one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters. "We need more cash," Djinnit said as he flew into Sudan’s western region to begin a two-day visit ahead of the resumption of peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria.

The AU had appealed for $466 million to boost its peacekeeping force from 2,270 members to 7,700 members by the end of September. It needs a total of $723 million to expand the force to 12,300 by next year. "My problem is that there was a lot of enthusiasm, but it was focused on the same kind of support so there was a lot of overlapping," Djinnit added.
War-induced hunger and disease in the region has killed more than 180,000 people, according to UN estimates. About two million others have fled their homes. The peacekeeping operation is a critical test of international commitment and Africa's resolve to end conflicts on the world's poorest continent.

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SUDAN: MSF officials held over Darfur report

Sudanese authorities arrested two senior officials of the medical charity Medécins Sans Frontières (MSF) over a report that claimed that hundreds of rapes had taken place in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, MSF said. Paul Foreman, the head of MSF-Holland was interrogated for three-and-a-half hours, then released on a one million Sudanese dinar [US $4,000] bond on Monday in Khartoum, while Vincent Hoedt, the MSF regional coordinator for Darfur, was ordered to the Sudanese capital for questioning on Tuesday.

"I’m technically arrested and not allowed to leave the country," Foreman told IRIN on Tuesday morning while on his way to a second round of questioning. "The district attorney charged me with crimes against the state, publishing false information - and they are investigating other areas," he added. Mohamed Fareed, a prosecuting attorney, said in a statement that "upon interrogation, [Foreman] was not able to substantiate the claims nor could he provide any documents to this effect." If the crimes had really happened, the culprits would be punished, he added.

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[ENDS]

Theme(s)	Other

Other recent HORN OF AFRICA reports:

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 306 for 17-23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 305 for 10-16 December 2005, 17/Dec/05

UNMEE monitoring tense border despite setbacks, 16/Dec/05

UN relocates expelled staff from Eritrea to Ethiopia, 15/Dec/05

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 304 for 3-9 December 2005, 12/Dec/05

Other recent reports:

RWANDA: Body found in Brussels canal confirmed that of ex-minister's, 23/Dec/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 23/Dec/05

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 309 covering 17 - 23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

CENTRAL ASIA: IRIN-Asia Weekly Round-up 51 covering the period 17 - 23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 262 for 17-23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

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