REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
On 12 December in Zambia, WFP and DFID
signed a bilateral agreement to move 23,000 tons of Government food through
WFP channels. This will be a complicated logistics operation, as the Government
food is in over 50 locations throughout the country. By 24 December, WFP
had dispatched 9,600 tons of the Government food, out of total dispatches
of 18,113 tons to date for the month.
It was announced in the local Zambian press that a Government contract with two South African suppliers to import 300,000 tons of maize has been cancelled and the Government is reported to be looking for other sources. Meanwhile, the Government has allowed millers to import maize duty-free.
Lesotho experienced heavy rainfall and two heavy hailstorms over the previous week. WFP awaits feedback on the damage to crops due to the frost and hail. In general, prices of foodstuffs are reported to be increasing in the country.
793 Rwandan refugees newly arriving in Malawi from Tanzania received WFP food at the Dzaleka Camp in Dowa. The Rwandans have come to Malawi due to possible closure of their camps as announced by the Government of Tanzania and Rwandan government missions.
According to UNAIDS data updates for 2002, in four countries national adult HIV prevalence has risen higher than expected, exceeding 30% --Botswana rose to 38.8% from a 1999 estimate of 35%, Lesotho is at 31% from a 1999 estimate of 23.5%, Swaziland rose to 33.4%, up from 25.3%, and Zimbabwe reached 33.7% from a 1999 estimate of 25.1%. Sub-Saharan Africa has the most people in the world living with HIV/AIDS, and the estimated annual HIV infection rates in the sub-region are also higher than elsewhere on the globe.
RESOURCES
The WFP EMOP 10200.0 is 61% funded. There remains a shortfall of US$ 200 million.
Current Status - WFP EMOP 10200.0 (as of 17 December 2002)
Current Confirmed Resources | Total EMOP Requirement | ||
US Dollars | Tons | US Dollars | Tons |
US$ 307,941,279 | 692,056 | US$ 508,745,176 | 993,050 |
LOGISTICS
IFRC/WFP TRUCKS
As of the end of December, 64 of the 118 IFRC trucks allocated to Zambia will be operational in the field. WFP is prioritizing further allocations based on beneficiary needs and which areas will be most difficult to access during the rainy season. IFRC expects that all the remaining vehicles will be registered and ready for deployment by 10 January.
Drivers received training in early December, and the 60 trucks allocated to Malawi are currently operational.
Of the trucks in Lesotho, 18 are operating and six are in for servicing.
MALAWI
As the rainy season continues, more incidents of transport difficulties have occurred. Efforts are being made to relocate FDPs with problematic access and WFP has begun contingency planning for flood-prone areas.
SWAZILAND
A two-day strike and national holidays reduced the rate of release of commodities, however the WFP warehouse is still scheduled to complete all planned monthly deliveries by 31 December.
ZAMBIA
WFP received its second export permit to remove GM maize from Zambia, bringing the total amount now covered by export permits to 10,000 tons. WFP has removed a total of 1,807 tons ex-Malawi to date.
WFP has been requested to provide certification that its maize is free of two fungi, Erwina Stewartii and Sclerophthora Macrospora, which is proving difficult to obtain from South African producers.
IMPLEMENTATION
WFP is currently undergoing a budget revision process for EMOP 10200.0, after which WFP revised requirements for food aid over the period January-June will be available.
WFP in Zambia hired an additional seven food aid monitors over the past week, bringing the number of monitors in the country to 13.
In Malawi, beginning in January, the school feeding programme will be expanded under the emergency operation to target an additional 110,000 primary school children in 145 schools in five districts. This means the WFP Malawi school feeding programme will reach a total of 160,000 children in 201 schools. Ad hoc assessments by UNICEF and WFP found there were lower rates of absenteeism in those schools participating in the WFP feeding programme than in those schools not receiving food assistance. For many children, the meal provided at school is the only meal they receive daily. WFP's expanded school feeding programme, being implemented through the Ministry of Education, will last for two school terms, from January to June 2003.
UPCOMING EVENTS
mid-January
WFP Country Directors in southern Africa will come to Johannesburg for a Regional Bureau Annual Strategy Planning meeting.
A stakeholders meeting on the results of the latest SADC/VAC assessments is being planned to be held in Johannesburg.
MISSIONS TO REGION
late-January
James T. Morris, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Humanitarian Needs in Southern Africa will embark on his second tour of the southern Africa region at the end of January, traveling to Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. As WFP Executive Director, Mr. Morris will visit Ethiopia prior to the mission, and Angola afterward.
SECURITY
Staff throughout the region have been advised to be cautious during the holiday season. Those stationed in Maputo, Mozambique have been instructed to drive in convoys when traveling to Nelspruit, South Africa due to recent security incidents in the Mpumalanga area.