Highlights

• In January 2019, UNICEF and partners have admitted a total of 20,053 children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM), an approximate 30 per cent increase compared to average new SAM admissions for the same period in the previous three years. However, it is important to note that the nutrition programme is facing a significant funding gap and it is likely that there will be a break in the ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) pipeline at end of April 2019. Donors were informed of this through the Nutrition Cluster Coordinator.

• On 31 January, UNICEF in collaboration with UNMISS and the National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Commission, successfully released 106 children associated with armed groups (27 girls; 79 boys) from Yambio and Nzara-1 counties.

• UNICEF provided support to Senior Four class students throughout the country, enabling them to take their exams. A total of 847 candidates (91 women) were taken from the Juba PoC site to an examination centre in Juba town and logistical support ensured the delivery and collection of examination papers in Warrap.

Situation Overview and Humanitarian Needs

UNICEF and partners continue to have sustained access to several parts of the country following national and local efforts to implement the Revitalized Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). In Upper Nile, Unity and Western and Eastern Equatoria, local agreements between forces has allowed the opening of roads and improved movement for civilians and humanitarians. Most notably, UNICEF and partners are regularly accessing the estimated 28,000 people of Greater Baggari (Western Bahr el Ghazal) after hostilities between July and November 2018 severely limited access to the area. Through both static and outreach activities, UNICEF is supporting the population – classified as IPC 4 emergency food insecurity levels - most of which remain displaced in locations.

However, the recent increase of armed hostilities in Central and Western Equatoria between signatories to the R-ACRSS and ‘hold out’ forces aligned with the South Sudan National Democratic Alliance (SSNDA) continue to limit humanitarian access to vulnerable populations. Clashes in Yei, Morobo, Mukaya and Lanya counties have led to civilian casualties, the destruction of property and the displacement of people. Reports indicate as many as 9,000 IDPs have arrived in Yei over the past one month where they are being assisted by UNICEF and other humanitarian actors. There are also reports of 5,000 refugees moving into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as several thousand displaced in the bush in South Sudan and along the border.

The 2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview illustrates that conflict and associated economic decline have eroded the Government’s ability to provide consistent basic services. Currently, one primary health center serves an average of 50,000 people. Only 40 per cent of nutrition treatment centers have access to safe water, a gap that puts more vulnerable people, particularly women, boys and girls, at risk of malnutrition and disease. Only about one in five childbirths involves a skilled health care worker and the maternal mortality ratio is estimated at 789 per 100,000 live births. Every third school has been damaged, destroyed, occupied or closed since 2013, and more than 70 per cent of children who should be attending classes are not receiving an education.

Relative calm in January has enabled resumption of nutrition services, most notably in areas that were affected by intermittent disruption including Unity, Jonglei and Wester Bahr El Ghazel. However, access challenges prevail in parts of Central Equatoria around Yei, Morobo, and Kajo Keji. Based on the September 2018 IPC analysis, an anticipated earlier than normal start of the lean season will result in an estimated 5.2 million (49% of the total population) people in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse acute food insecurity between January and March 2019, with 36,000 in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5). These estimates are in the presence of planned humanitarian food assistance.

Through national and state level task forces, UNICEF and partners continue to closely monitor the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), intensifying preventive and preparedness activities in targeted high-risk areas and potential points of entry. Priority preparedness activities include surveillance, screening at points of entry, and capacity development on case management, safe and dignified burial, pre-positioning of supplies and risk communication to increase community awareness on EVD. Following a prioritization exercise on EVD preparedness on 17 November2018 and feedback from the joint independent EVD monitoring mission (15-19 November 2018), UNICEF continued providing preparedness support, primarily in risk communication, community engagement and infection prevention and control through WASH.

Overview

This Weekly Bulletin focuses on selected acute public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 59 events in the region. This week’s edition covers key new and ongoing events, including:

• Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  
• Measles in Madagascar
  
• Lassa fever in Nigeria
  
• Humanitarian crisis in Nigeria
  
• Humanitarian crisis in South Sudan.
  

For each of these events, a brief description, followed by public health measures implemented and an interpretation of the situation is provided.

A table is provided at the end of the bulletin with information on all new and ongoing public health events currently being monitored in the region, as well as recent events that have largely been controlled and thus closed.

Major issues and challenges include:

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues, marked, this week, by two successive attacks on Ebola treatment centres in Katwa and Butembo. These attacks signify a new level of threat in which the Ebola response is directly targeted.

In light of this violence, some partners have understandably put their operations in Katwa and Butembo on standby as they assess the risks.

The direct and indirect disruption caused by the attacks may lead to increased spread and more people becoming sick. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Health, the response partners need to sustain the response, while also enhancing safety for responders and patients.

The humanitarian crisis in South Sudan remains serious despite the recent peace initiative. There are continuous population displacements due to pockets of skirmishes, while the food security situation is threatening, compounded by conflict-driven displacement, low crop production, economic hardship, climate shocks and impediments to humanitarian access. Of notable concern is the alarm raised by civil society around the likelihood of resumption of conflict. The window of hope to attain lasting peace and security in South Sudan should not be allowed to close, a prize that both the warring factions and the global community need to guard jealously.

This month’s update highlights children and armed conflict concerns in the situations of Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and South Sudan. It provides the Security Council with concrete recommendations for the protection of children in these country situations, particularly in the context of peacekeeping mandate renewals.

On World Radio Day, Internews distributed radios to IDPs in South Sudan

Marking World Radio Day on February 13, USAID media development partner Internews distributed 35 solar-powered wind-up radios to radio listener clubs in the Malakal Protection of Civilians (PoC) site, which houses people who have been displaced by conflict.

USAID supports Nile FM radio station, which broadcasts humanitarian information to the PoC site and the Malakal area.

“Nile FM has contributed in making peace and exchange visits between PoC and Malakal town communities. Nile FM has helped us to live together and avoid hate speech,” said a 43-year-old woman living in the PoC site.

Radio is the primary and most trusted source of information in South Sudan. USAID supports Eye Radio in Juba, which reaches many parts of South Sudan; community radio stations, which reach people in local languages; and a humanitarian information service, which reaches people displaced by conflict who live in PoC sites on United Nations compounds.

Radio provides citizens essential information, including about the peace process, humanitarian crisis, and development issues in South Sudan, and promotes peaceful coexistence through dialogue.

Extraordinary economic gains in many African countries and an increasingly vocal civil society have been jeopardized by conflict and the increasing severity and frequency of disasters. Many of the vulnerabilities that exist in sub-Saharan Africa arise from prolonged exposure to extreme risk, including a lack of access to services and inadequate resources to sustain development when confronted with natural disasters, poverty, climate related hazards, conflict and political unrest. This has led to increased food insecurity, unplanned urbanization, population movement and migration, unprecedented epidemics, chronic illness, and the scarcity of basic needs, such as food, water and health services. In turn, social unrest, exclusion and intolerance, dysfunctional economies and low employment have further eroded the capacity of local systems and vulnerable populations to cope with shocks. Additionally, dramatic shifts in climate continue to exacerbate these challenges and compound risk for millions of people.
The vision of IFRC in Africa is a continent filled with effective, accountable and resilient African National Societies (ANS) who to support and complement each other, provide best-in-class humanitarian service to people at risk of recurrent hazards, protracted food crisis, epidemics and conflict, and provide longer-term solutions to recurrent risks that strengthen the resilience of communities.
With the support of IFRC, a network of ANS with growing capacity to anticipate and prepare for disasters will save more lives, reduce the impact of the disasters and the cost of the emergency responses. By working in partnership with communities and ensuring their voices guide programs and operations, ANS will ensure they are trusted, influential and effective at building long-term community resilience.
Guided by the IFRC’s Strategy 2020, and the Africa Road Map 2017 – 2020, The IFRC is committed to assisting ANS to achieve results in seven Areas of Focus: disaster risk reduction, shelter, livelihoods and basic needs, health, water and sanitation, protection, gender and inclusion, and migration .

The five-year conflict in South Sudan left many humanitarian consequences that will last. The conflict has claimed innumerable lives and left millions forcibly displaced from their homes and unable to meet even their most basic needs. Levels of acute insecurity reached an all-time high in 2017 with six million people unable to provide sufficient amount of food.

Highlights of our work in South Sudan between January and December 2018

• Trained over 3,400 military on IHL and more than 1,700 police personnel on IHRL to promote knowledge and respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

• Raised awareness among over 7,800 beneficiaries, other community members and health staff on safe access to life-saving, useful and actionable information about the ICRC and its humanitarian services.

• Distributed monthly household food rations to 420,000 people.

• Improved access to safe drinking water to 400,000 people.

• Evacuated 534 people wounded in armed confrontations.

• Provided antenatal consultations to 17,400 women and safe deliveries for 2,900 women.

• Facilitated 44,100 phone calls between family members separated by the conflict.

For more information, read our full update of our work in South Sudan.

Background

This document complements IFRC operational plan for South Sudan 20191 and reflects its support to the South Sudan Red Cross (SSRC) in the agreed areas of focus.

The main challenges in the country

South Sudan presents a highly complex humanitarian landscape, mainly due to the ongoing conflict and the consequences thereof. There is currently renewed hope, following the signing of a new peace agreement between the various political groups in August 2018. Nonetheless, the situation remains extremely dire. According to the UNDP Humanitarian Development Index (HDI) of 2017, South Sudan still ranks 181 in the world. On average, a South Sudanese goes to school for only 4.9 years in his/her life. According to the UN Humanitarian report on South Sudan 2018, over 7.5 million out of 12.3 million people, are displaced and suffer from limited access to health care and infrastructure, extremely low levels of immunization and high levels of food insecurity and loss of livelihoods, in turn resulting in malnutrition, starvation and even death. South Sudan also ranks at the top related to the vulnerability to climate change. Unemployment is extremely high, and this has led to further formation of rebel groups,

Over the reporting period a total of 17,009 individual movements were observed at six (6) flow monitoring points at the border with the Republic of South Sudan (SSD). The majority (70%) of movements were short term movements of 1 day to a week and mostly for economic reasons and purchase of goods. 91% of the population tracked at Flow Monitoring Points (FMPs) self-declared as South Sudanese. Overall outflows from Uganda to South Sudan were slightly higher (52%) than inflows (48%), however at Elegu and Aweno Olwiyo the incoming movements were significantly higher. At Elegu FMP, enumerators observed high flows of population escaping conflict in Jonglei and Bahr el-ghazal. Also, as the school term re-opened in Uganda, many young people at all FMPs have been observed crossing into Uganda.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Government of Ethiopia and humanitarian partners will formally launch the 2019 Ethiopia Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) on 7 March.

• Some 90,000 displaced people in Amhara region need urgent assistance.

• Improved security along the OromiaSomali border is enabling humanitarian partners to move relief commodities to Dawa zone after more than a year.

• Access constraints has impacted humanitarian partners from providing meaningful assistance to IDPs in certain sites of Gedeb woreda (Gedeo zone), where most IDPs are concentrated.

• Experience from an IDP child in Deder Town

Partners to formally launch the 2019 Ethiopia Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) on 7 March

The joint Government and partners Ethiopia Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for 2019 will be formally launched in the presence of Ato Mitiku Kassa, Commissioner of the National Disaster Risk Management Commission; Mr. Aeneas Chuma, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator; as well as humanitarian partners, donors and the media at the Strategic Multi-Agency Coordination forum (S-MAC) on 7 March 2019.

The Plan lays out prioritized humanitarian needs in 2019 across eight sectors, including food, nutrition, shelter and non-food items, water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH), health, education, protection and agriculture.

The humanitarian situation in 2019 will remain similar to 2018 mainly due to mass internal displacements in various parts of the country, and related humanitarian and protection needs.
In addition, communities who suffered consecutive years of severe drought, who lost productive assets, or took on significant debts to shoulder the brunt of the crisis, will continue to need sustained humanitarian assistance and recovery during the year.

Accordingly, at least 8.3 million people will require relief food/cash and non-food assistance during the year. Detailed sector needs and financial requirement will be released following the launch on Thursday.

Addis Ababa (5 March)– Ending impunity for conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence is the only way to end its widespread practice in South Sudan, concluded participants today at a workshop in Addis Ababa on prosecuting sexual and gender-based crimes in the country, organized by the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (CHRSS).

“You cannot have peace in South Sudan without justice,” said Bineta Diop, the African Union’s Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, at the opening session of the workshop, “Impunity remains rampant despite the signing of the Revitalized Peace Agreement. We have seen enough. We must restore the dignity of the women of South Sudan and we must stop the violence.”

“Deeply entrenched impunity is the driver for this pattern of violence in the conflict,” said Chair of the CHRSS Yasmin Sooka at the end of the two-day workshop. ”Sexual and gender-based violence is a central characteristic of the conflict in South Sudan, used on a massive scale as a tactic of warfare by all parties to sow terror.”

The Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council specifically mandated the CHRSS to collect evidence and investigate sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The CHRSS mandate is also unique in South Sudan in that it extends beyond traditional human rights fact-finding to include identifying alleged perpetrators and collecting and preserving evidence for future prosecutions, truth seeking, and reparations. The Commission’s third report to the Human Rights Council, released on February 20, 2019, concluded that the continuing levels of violence in South Sudan, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Participants at the workshop in Addis Ababa, who included representatives of UN Agencies, the African Union, representatives of the Government of South Sudan and members of civil society, discussed the challenges of ensuring criminal accountability in the fragile political and security context, in particular in relation to collecting and preserving evidence for criminal prosecutions. Experts in the field outlined ways to enhance documentation and evidence collection, contributing towards the establishment of an effective prosecutorial system for future justice mechanisms, including criminal accountability for sexual and gender-based crimes.

The CHRSS has documented rapes and gang rapes, forced sexual acts, castration and mutilation of genitalia, perpetrated by all parties to the conflict.

Documenting cases for prosecution of SGBV can be particularly challenging. Many survivors do not even report their experiences because of the stigma associated with these crimes or fear of retaliation. Other difficulties in evidence-gathering include the limited police services and judicial system, a lack of systemic data collection on SGBV and an absence of support services for survivors.

Proper documentation and investigation of SGBV is critical for the success of any future criminal prosecutions and transitional justice mechanisms, at the national or international level. International tribunals have on many occasions pointed to insufficiency or inadmissibility of evidence coming from third parties, or dismissed the prosecution’s arguments intending to establish criminal responsibility for SGBV.

“While we use the same methodology and principles when collecting evidence for criminal prosecution and human rights documentation, the focus of the inquiry is narrower when collecting evidence for criminal prosecutions,” said International Crimes Prosecutor and Investigator Maxine Marcus. She told workshop participants that while human rights documentation focuses on specific violations committed by states and is concerned with attributing responsibility to states, gathering evidence for prosecutions needs a “deeper dive” to prove individual criminal responsibility. “Witnesses are the heart of the evidence in criminal prosecution for international crimes and interviews must be extensive so that witnesses can corroborate each other’s testimonies,” she added. Most of the time, when prosecuting individuals for international crimes there is little or no physical evidence, and therefore a case must often stand on witness testimonies.
Participants also noted that survivors and witnesses should be treated with utmost care – particularly in the case of SGBV – and that when expecting victims to come forward to give evidence, they must be provided with medical and psychosocial support, and that all interactions with victims should be based on the fundamental principle of “do no harm.” Best practices are being adopted in the field, participants noted, where investigators from different organizations coordinate their work, so that victims are not interviewed multiple times, which can result in ‘interview fatigue.’

Danae van der Straten Ponthoz, a member of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative Team of Experts, pointed out that specialist expertise is needed to interview children. “25 per cent of the victims of sexual and gender-based violence in the South Sudan conflict are children,” she said, “The expertise needed to interact with children is different and more specific than for adults. If people do not have that expertise they must recognise their limitations in order to do no harm.”

Underlining principles of International Law, Special Advisor to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Patricia Viseur Sellers stressed that “War crimes and crimes against humanity are an attack against a civilian population. We have to understand we are talking about civilians, who are South Sudanese citizens, being attacked,” she said. “Sexual and gender-based war crimes and crimes against humanity are more than just a crime against individuals.”

Participants also discussed the context in which sexual and gender-based violence takes place in South Sudan, even when it is unrelated to the conflict, noting the prevalent inequalities in power relations and access to resources and quality education between men and women. There are also harmful traditional practices deeply rooted in some parts of South Sudan, where early child marriage is common and where practices of forced marriage and sexual slavery are common. Although such practices are unlawful under South Sudan’s law, these cases are usually referred by the Judiciary to the traditional courts, where gender biases persist and where women are unable to access justice for the crimes perpetrated against them.

“Who is going to take rape seriously if the woman is handed over to her rapist for marriage?” queried Yasmin Sooka during the workshop. “The Government of South Sudan is a signatory to CEDAW [the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women], which makes it very clear that such cases must not be transferred to traditional courts that apply patriarchal norms,” she added. She stressed that the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan, in particular the equality principle, overrides any custom that would violate the rights of women. Participants agreed that custom and tradition are not static and that there is a need to bring custom and tradition in line with the constitution as too often customary practices are used as a defence for crimes. The CHRSS has noted that the status of women in South Sudan and such customary practices are linked directly to the high levels of SGBV during the conflict.

South Sudanese participants expressed shock at the massive increase in SGBV since the outbreak of the conflict. While there were certainly rapes, several frustrated participants noted, that the scale of such crimes now is unimaginable. “Women used to be able to walk far into the bush to collect firewood and return home after dark without fear of rape,” noted a participant from South Sudan, “That is no longer the case.”

The overall status of women in South Sudan, agreed all participants, must be improved and they welcomed the provision of the Revitalized Peace Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, signed last September, that 35 per cent of officials within public institutions, including in the transitional justice mechanisms, must be women.

“Women need to be included in, or even leading the process of reconciliation,” said Bineta Diop, “But support for women’s groups is not there. They must be supported. Women will be an army without guns and we must invest in them for the future.”

Participants also discussed command responsibility for sexual and gender-based crimes. Proving direct perpetration is difficult in the case of international crimes, so international law gives an opportunity to hold a person in effective control of an organization liable for crimes committed by their subordinates, if they knew or had a reason to know about the violations by those subordinates and failed to prevent them. “If you do not take responsibility for the actions of those under your command,” noted Ambassador Rapp, “You are just as guilty, even if you have not touched anybody.”

The Commission has documented violations, built dossiers on perpetrators, collected evidence and is preserving it for future accountability processes. In its most recent report, the Commission has detailed three cases studies in which the incidents and events have been extensively documented taking account of those who allegedly have command responsibility for the crimes.

The names of those alleged perpetrators are contained in a confidential dossier that will be handed over to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. Many of the acts identified by the Commission as war crimes or crimes against humanity, can also qualify as separate international crimes of torture under the Torture Convention–monitored by treaty bodies in Geneva. All states parties to those instruments are obliged to prosecute or extradite persons found on their territory suspected of such crimes.

“Our activities are not about shaming any one country,” noted Yasmin Sooka. “There is no country in the world that does not experience sexual and gender-based violence. But the scale of such violence in South Sudan including conflict-related sexual violence is massive and we are here together to search for a way forward, bearing in mind that just as commanders must be held accountable for the actions of their forces, the Government of South Sudan must also take steps to end impunity for such crimes. As with commanders in the field, not doing anything means you must be held responsible.”
ENDS

The Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan was established by the Human Rights Council in March 2016 and extended in March 2017 and for a further year in March 2018, with a mandate to determine and report the facts and circumstances of, collect and preserve evidence of, and clarify responsibility for alleged gross violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes, including sexual and gender-based violence and ethnic violence, with a view to ending impunity and providing accountability.

For media queries, please contact Doune Porter, Media Advisor, at +41 79 752 0486 / chrssmedia@ohchr.org and +44 7523 832 904 or Rolando Gómez on rgomez@ohchr.org or +41 79 477 4411.

Additional information: Joël Mermet (in Juba) + 211 (0)912 170 655 / jmermet@ohchr.org or Joseph Bonsu (in Addis Ababa) +251 984 875 005 / jbonsu@ohchr.org

Libya continues to be a transit point for departure from North Africa towards Europe. UNHCR's interventions at disembarkation points in Libya focus on the provision of life-saving assistance and protection monitoring, to identify persons in need of international protection, as well as vulnerable individuals, such as unaccompanied and separated children, elderly, medical cases, women at risk or victims of trafficking. UNHCR through its partner International Medical Corps provides medical services and core relief items. In addition, UNHCR rehabilitated WASH facilities at six disembarkation points, in Azzawya, Tripoli (3), Tajoura (Al Hamidiyah) and Alkhums.

As of 28 February 2019, the Libyan Coast Guard rescued/intercepted a total of 778 people in different locations along the Libyan coast. Last year the LCG rescued/intercepted a total of 15,235 refugees and migrants at sea. So far in 2019, Libyan local authorities have recovered 8 bodies of people who perished while attempting to cross the Mediterranean towards Europe, while 138 people were reported missing.

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, Democratic Republic of the Congo continues, as does the complex environment. Two Ebola treatment centres (ETCs) in Katwa and Butembo were successively attacked and burnt down during the week. These attacks, indicating a shift in insecurity, were the first such large-scale and organized attacks directly targeting the Ebola response. Patients from the destroyed ETCs have been temporarily transferred to the Katwa Transit Centre, managed by the Ministry of Health. The Butembo ETC was quickly rehabilitated to receive patients again.

Since the last report on 26 February 2019, 25 new confirmed cases have been reported, with 15 additional deaths. As of 3 March 2019, a total of 897 EVD cases, including 832 confirmed and 65 probable cases, were reported from 19 health zones in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces. Overall, cases have been reported from 119 of 301 health areas across 19 health zones. A total of 563 deaths were reported (overall case fatality ratio 63%), including 498 deaths among confirmed cases. Of confirmed and probable cases with reported age and sex, 57% (510/896) were female, and 30% (271/896) were children aged less than 18 years. Three new cases among health workers were reported during the week, bringing the number of health workers infected with Ebola virus to 72, with 24 deaths.

Thirty health areas in eight of the 19 health zones affected to date have active virus transmission, reporting at least one confirmed case in the last 21 days (11 February to 3 March 2019). Over this period, a total of 73 confirmed cases were reported from Katwa (44), Butembo (19), Kyondo (1), Vuhovi (1), Kalunguta (2), 1 Beni (1), Mandima (4) and Rwampara (1). Trends in case incidence reflect that the outbreak is continuing, with most recent cases reported in the major urban centres of Katwa and Butembo, accounting for 86% (63/73) of cases reported in the last three weeks.

The Ministry of Health (MoH), WHO and partners continue to monitor and investigate all alerts in affected areas, in other provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in neighbouring countries. To date, all reported alerts outside the outbreak affected areas have been investigated or laboratory tested to rule out EVD.

Les récoltes de la saison A au Nord-est et Sud-est ont amélioré la disponibilité et l’accès alimentaire

MESSAGES CLÉS

• Depuis la mi-décembre 2018, les récoltes de la saison A sont en cours dans les zones Nord-est et Centre-est du pays. Comparativement à la campagne précédente, la production est estimée moyenne en raison des bonnes conditions agro-climatiques observées durant la saison dans les principaux bassins de production. Cette situation pourrait apporter une amélioration de la durée des stocks alimentaires des ménages.

• Depuis fin janvier 2019, suite aux affrontements au Soudan du Sud, la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) a reçu un nouvel afflux des réfugiés estimé à près de 5 000 personnes dans plusieurs villages du territoire d’Aru en Ituri. Ces derniers s’ajoutent aux premières vagues encore présentes dans cette zone déficitaire et continueront à exercer une pression de plus en plus importante sur les ressources locales dans cette zone aux multiples défis agro pastoraux.

• La saison des pluies d'octobre 2018 à mars 2019 a démarré avec près d’un mois de retard dans l’ensemble des pays de l’Afrique australe notamment la Zambie, le Zimbabwe et l’Afrique du sud, avec des précipitations nettement inférieures à la moyenne. On s’attendrait à des faibles performances des récoltes qui pourrait impacter la zone Sud-est de la RDC, qui dépend principalement des importations à partir de ces pays.

WAU, SOUTH SUDAN — South Sudan's president is calling on his people to refrain from revenge attacks, as the country tries to move on from a brutal civil war.

Speaking Tuesday in the town of Wau, Salva Kiir said that with a peace deal in place, people must try to reconcile and peacefully co-exist.

"I need you to forget about what happened in the past and hold your hands together. I need my people to live peacefully with one another. I am aware that many of you have lost many of your relatives during the conflict. Please don't [seek] revenge," Kiir told hundreds of residents.

Wau state, in western South Sudan, has been the scene of numerous clashes since the war began in December 2013.

Rivalries to blame for conflict

Kiir also said the conflict was caused by rivalries in the ruling SPLM party, though he declined to take personal responsibility.

"What happened among the SPLM leaders is the main cause of your suffering and it is the same SPLM which fought for so long to liberate this country," he said. "They fought among themselves as they struggled for power. As a leader, I accept that this thing happened even though I did not do anything myself. I see that I am also on the wrong side if my party is the main cause of the suffering of my own people."

The civil war killed tens of thousands of people forced more than 4.5 million South Sudanese from their homes, with two million fleeing to neighboring countries.

Kiir appealed to the rebel groups that did not sign last year's revitalized peace agreement to lay down their arms and join the peace process.

He also called on the internally displaced sheltering in United Nations protection-of-civilians sites, churches, and schools compounds to return home.

Peace deal will take time

The president acknowledged that implementation of the peace deal is moving at a slow pace, which he said is largely due to a lack of money.

Despite funding and other challenges though, Kiir said the former warring parties will soon form a transitional government of national unity.

"If everything goes well we are going to form a government of national unity in May which will include all the political parties. This government will last for three years and will be followed by a national election. So, I call upon you to prepare yourselves for that election," Kiir said.

Kiir also is expected to visit the capitals of Gogrial and Lol states as part of a regional tour.

WEEKLY OVERVIEW

• Active screening remains ongoing in 9 Point of Entry (PoE) sites, with 11,491 travellers screened this reporting week, bringing the cumulative total EVD screenings to date 152,295

• Construction of screening sites is ongoing in two locations: Busia and Kerwa. Access and communication challenges in both areas are expected to delay the completion of these sites to week 10 or 11

• Screening teams in Okaba, Bazi and Kaya were successfully vaccinated for EVD this week.
  The Salia Musala team is slated for vaccination next week

HEALTH UPDATES

11,491 EVD screening cases were reported this week, with 15 non-EVD fever cases reported. Eight of these fever cases were detected in children under age 5. All fever cases were referred to Rodoba primary health care unit. There were no EVD alert cases reported during the week. Construction of a PoE facility in Kerwa, Kajo Keji is ongoing, and training of EVD screeners for Kerwa will be conducted by the end of the coming week. Vaccination of Salia Musala screeners is slated to take place on 6 March.

WASH UPDATES

EVD awareness and handwashing sessions were conducted in Morokonye, Attende, Gimunu, Tokori and the Yei SSRRC, reaching 2,782 individuals. Community engagement in Koya reached 126 individuals, and EVD prevention sessions in four nursery and primary schools reached 423 students. Community health and hygiene promoters continued with EVD awareness activities in Morobo, reaching 1,748 individuals. All 9 active PoEs are equipped with basic WASH services, including handwashing facilities with soap and rapid pit latrines separated by gender. Supply of basic IPC items (including hand sanitizer and disinfectants) is monitored and maintained at all sites.

DTM UPDATES

All six FMPS located near the border with Uganda and four FMPs in Yei County submitted data by 3 March, while Gangura, Bazi and Okaba could not submit in time due to logistical challenges. Based on the available data, 1,708 people were surveyed on arrival to South Sudan between 24 February and 3 March. The main regions of departure were Koboko (17.7%), Lamwo (9.6%) and Moyo (9.5%) in Uganda, while the two main counties of destination were Magwi (25.6% of respondents) and Juba (22.7%). 68% of respondents were South Sudanese nationals and 25% Ugandan.

UN-Coordinated Appeals

The GHO published on 4 December 2018 announced funding requirements of $21.9 billion for 21 Humanitarian Response Plans and the Venezuela Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP). With the inclusion of the Zimbabwe Flash Appeal last month, funding requirements for UN-led appeals as at end February amounted to $22.42 billion.

Of 138.8 million people estimated to be in need of assistance, the humanitarian response plans envisage assisting 103.7 million.

In January, the humanitarian country team in Burkina Faso deemed it necessary to draw up an Emergency Plan for Burkina Faso, which was issued on 15 February. It appealed for $100 million to assist 898,000 people highly affected by the upsurge in violence in the north and other parts of the country. For the first time, Burkina Faso is confronted with internal displacement – 83,000 people have fled their homes and it is expected that more displacement will follow.

A Flash Appeal for Zimbabwe was released at the end of February and Humanitarian response plans included in the GHO for 2019 were finalized for Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chad, Haiti, Libya, Iraq, Mali, Niger and Yemen.

The HRP for the Democratic Republic of Congo has now been launched. In spite of challenges in reaching vulnerable people, the vastness of the area to be covered and limited logistical infrastructure, humanitarian partners delivered life-saving assistance and protection to close to 3 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2018. An update of the three-year HRP for the Democratic Republic of the Congo was finalized in mid-January and requests $1.65 billion to assist 9 million people in 2019.

1 February: The 2019 HRP for Niger launched in Niamey on 1 February 2019 calls for $383 million to assist 1.6 million of the 2.3 million people in need in Niger due to chronic vulnerabilities including food deprivation, land degradation, migration and security threats. In Niger, the poorest country in the world, over 370,000 children under the age of five are severely malnourished.

15 February: The 2019 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis finalized by the Government of Bangladesh and the UN country team on 15 February requires $920.5 million to meet protection and life-saving needs of Rohingya people who have fled Rakhine State and live for the most part in highly congested camps. Others live with host communities. The funding will also support activities to aid Bangladeshi host communities severely affected by this crisis.

18 February: The UN and the Government launched the 2019 HRP for Libya in Tripoli, seeking $202 million to provide health, protection, water and shelter for 552,000 of the most vulnerable people in the country. In the past four years the UN and partners have increased humanitarian access and built strong partnerships with national and local organizations and municipalities. Humanitarian action will be crucial for the stability of Libya this year and in the future.