ADRA-UK News Update

Camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) near the town of Goma continue to hold thousands of people fleeing the ongoing violence in war torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Meanwhile, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is responding, distributing emergency supplies and assisting more than 6,000 people who remain displaced from their homes.

This assistance is helping 3,578 families in the affected North Kivu Province. The distribution of non-food items includes 2,800 wool blankets, 850 school kits, and 4,000 multi-purpose fabrics that can be worn by women to protect them from the cold or to carry their babies. The school kits, which include book bags, notebooks, pens and pencils, are being given to elementary and secondary school-age students. The $64,000 project is implemented with funding from ADRA Norway, ADRA Canada, ADRA International, ADRA Sweden, the ADRA Africa Regional office in Kenya, ADRA Australia, ADRA United Kingdom, and ADRA France.

The situation in the region remains tense following weeks of violence. Fighting between the Congolese army and the rebel group National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) surged in late October 2008 forcing more than 250,000 people into makeshift camps. Nearly one million are presently displaced in eastern Congo, or 20 per cent of the population of the entire North Kivu Province, according to the United Nations. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) in DRC has reported that IDPs have become the target of serious human rights violations from all sides of the conflict, including abuses by civilians.

In a separate conflict in DRC’s northeastern Oriental Province, the Uganda-based Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group has recently killed some 534 people and kidnapped more than 400 others in ongoing raids, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported. On December 14, Congolese, Ugandan, and Sudanese forces launched a joint military operation to repel the LRA.

“We remain extremely concerned about the fate of residents who are now increasingly caught in a conflict zone near the borders of the DRC, the Central African Republic and Sudan,” said UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond in statement issued on January 13.

Since 1996, more than 4 million people are believed to have died in the Congolese conflict, according to UN estimates, mostly due to preventable diseases and starvation.

To assist ADRA’s emergency response to the growing humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, contributions can be donated to ADRA’s Refugee and Displaced Persons Fund, by phone at 01923-681723 or online at www.adra.org.uk

One hundred thousand trees, six artificial watering holes for cattle and the recovery of thousands of acres of precious agricultural land are some of the ecological improvements that the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) office in the United Kingdom aims to bring to the semi-arid Sahel region of Burkina Faso.

The N’Gurdam Leydi Project, which means “protection of the earth” in the Fula language, is designed to counteract increasing desertification by improving water and soil conservation measures, in addition to soil fertility in the Sahel. The project will work with 6,000 farmers in 30 villages in the Province of Séno, in northeastern Burkina Faso, near the towns of Bani and Gorgadji. Around 150 model farmers will be educated as local trainers, who will then teach others how to protect and manage their natural resources through methods like promoting hedgerows, naturally assisted regeneration and the cutting and conservation of animal fodder.

Techniques to improve soil fertility such as scarifying the land, half-moons, stone cordon dykes, “zai” fertiliser holes, and the treatment of ravines will be applied to 3,700 acres (1,500 hectares) of degraded or unused land. This land will then be available for agriculture and pasture. In addition, ADRA will help build 450 compost pits, 370 acres (150 hectares) of land will be forested, and 6 small dams will be constructed for the animals to drink from. The project is also expected to develop a community approach to natural resource management by developing and implementing two communal environmental action plans, setting up 30 natural resource management committees at the village level and establishing and monitoring 20 local land-use plans.

The 36-month project, funded by the European Commission on December 1 and worth $1.03 million (£675,000) with ADRA-UK contributing some $261,000 (£170,000) will also help improve local food availability in order to reduce poverty in the area. Expected to start on February 1, 2009, ADRA plans to benefit more than 40,000 people.

The target area has been struck by frequent droughts and locust swarms, making for a fragile and difficult existence. Living conditions continue to worsen due to global warming, deforestation and the advance of the desert. Human development in the region is also the most fragile in the country, with low literacy and life expectancy.

The Sahel, an extensive semi-arid region that spans several West African nations and forms a transition between the Sahara Desert and the lesser arid savanna belt to the south, encompasses a section of northern Burkina Faso, making it the least developed part of the country. An overwhelmingly rural area, the nomadic Fulani have traditionally used it as pastureland for their cattle. The increasing population pressure on the land has, however, resulted in the erosion of fertile land and the advance of the desert.

As an increasingly deadly cholera outbreak sweeps across Zimbabwe, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is working to stop the spread of the disease through prevention training, health and hygiene education, and the distribution of disinfectants, water treatment tablets, and water containers. Since August, the epidemic has killed 783 people, the United Nations reported.

ADRA is targeting 500 families, or approximately 2,500 people, in the Harare suburb of Kuwadzana, where residents often turn to open sewages for drinking water, and Chendambuya, a rural area in the Manicaland province. As part of this response, beneficiaries are receiving four-gallon (20 liter) plastic jerry cans, 100 water treatment tablets to sterilize up to 528 gallons (2,000 liters), laundry detergent, surface and toilet disinfectants, and hand soap. The new jerry cans are intended to replace possibly contaminated containers and ensure that vulnerable people have a clean and safe place to store and treat water. Beneficiaries include the chronically ill, who lack water storage containers or cannot afford to purchase hygiene materials.

In addition, ADRA is providing medical supplies to health institutions, including intravenous saline and dextrose solutions, cannulae, oral rehydration tablets, latex gloves, antibiotics, analgesics, anti-diarrheal solutions and tablets, anti-emetics to prevent vomiting, and cleaning agents. Approximately 100 public facilities and institutions will also receive cleaning and disinfecting materials. Those primarily targeted are churches, bus stations, shopping centers, bars, clinics, vegetable markets, and public toilets located within the targeted high-density suburbs of Zimbabwe’s two largest urban areas. The plan also includes schools, which will be targeted in January when they are open, and all public buildings.

In partnership with local Adventist clinics, health providers, and city council community representatives in Harare and Bulawayo, ADRA is mobilizing medical practitioners to facilitate participatory health and hygiene education (PHHE) workshops in order to raise awareness about the importance of cholera prevention, a program designed to reduce the rate of transmission. A clean-up campaign will also run parallel to the trainings.

Further activities are also planned in the areas of Epworth, and Old Pumula, located in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city.

ADRA is coordinating its intervention with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and the World Health Organization (WHO). Funding for the four-week project, which began today, December 12, comes from ADRA International and the ADRA Africa Regional office located in Nairobi, Kenya.

According to reports from WHO, more than 16,000 Zimbabweans have been affected by the latest outbreak of cholera, an acute diarrheal illness caused by the ingestion of food and water that has been tainted with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The epidemic has already reached all but one of the country’s 10 provinces, and cases have been identified in neighboring South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zambia where health officials are working with UN health experts to halt the spread of the epidemic.

Although prevention and preparedness activities have kept the disease largely under control, cholera outbreaks have become more frequent since the early 1990s, said WHO in a statement released on December 2.

To assist in ADRA’s emergency response to the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe, contributions can be donated to ADRA’s Emergency Response Fund online at http://adra.org.uk.

In response to the outbreak of violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) North Kivu province, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is preparing an emergency response plan to provide relief to tens of thousands of displaced persons who fled their homes near Goma along the border between Congo and Rwanda.

The recent surge in violence between government and rebel troops has caused food in Goma to become scarce, resulting in a severe spike of food prices, leaving thousands without access to nourishment. ADRA is mounting an emergency response to provide food, blankets, and other essential items to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region.

“Food prices have soared more than 50 percent in Goma and food is barely available for purchase,” said Romain Kenfack, country director for the ADRA DRC East office in Goma.

Widespread security concerns continue to be a problem for aid workers, limiting access to supplies and assistance. “The situation is very tense,” said Kenfack. “People are still very much afraid.” According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the fate of at least 50,000 people remains uncertain as several IDP camps near the town of Rutshuru, some 56 miles (90 km) north of Goma, have been reportedly looted and burned.

Since Tuesday, November 4, new fighting has broken out between the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), Congolese Tutsi rebels led by General Laurent Nkunda, and the local pro-government Mai-Mai militia. The rebels report that Rwanda Hutu Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels, and government forces have fought along with the Mai-Mai at Kiwanja, near Rutshuru, but were pushed back.

A peace deal was signed between the Congolese government and various rebel groups in January, but General Nkunda has refused to disarm, in an apparent attempt to protect his fellow Tutsis from attacks by Rwandan Hutus believed to be responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

On October 24, days after a shaky, week-old cease-fire negotiated by the United Nations disintegrated, Congolese rebels launched a new offensive in the North Kivu province. Since then, an estimated 100,000 people have been uprooted from their homes.

This weekend, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will meet with Congolese President Joseph Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, while attending the emergency summit that will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, in order to find a solution to the conflict. This summit is hosted by the African Union, and will also be attended by the leaders of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, and Burundi. The DR Congo crisis will also be addressed at the 15-nation Southern African Development Community summit held in Johannesburg this same weekend.

Due to the escalating violence, the ADRA office in Goma was closed on October 28, when rebel soldiers advanced to within six miles (10 km) of the city. Field offices in Bunia, Bukavu, Uvira, and Baraka, however, remain operational, as they are located in more secure areas. An estimated 95 percent of ADRA’s projects in the region are carried out in field offices, said Kenfack. ADRA’s work in the Goma region has primarily focused on helping IDPs and returnees with rehabilitation and resettlement, providing them with the means to begin again.

Over the last two months, approximately 250,000 have been displaced, totaling nearly one million IDPs in Congo, or 20 per cent of the population of the entire North Kivu province, according to the United Nations. Of that number, many are currently displaced in and around Goma.

Since 1996, more than 4 million people are believed to have died in the Congolese conflict, according to UN estimates, mostly due to preventable diseases and starvation.

At present, the greatest needs are for food, water, health kits, shelter and blankets.

Donations to help the relief effort in the DRC are welcome. Please visit our website http://adra.org.uk to donate.

In the northeastern state of Bihar, India, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is continuing to provide emergency food aid for displaced survivors after heavy monsoon rains caused widespread flooding throughout the state in September, killing more than 235 people and affecting nearly 5 million in 18 districts.

In response, ADRA India immediately distributed emergency kits containing rice, molasses, salt, multivitamins, folic acid and iron tablets, calcium tablets, baby food, and Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) for 7,500 of the most vulnerable survivors in the remote district of Bhimpur.

Currently, food, temporary shelter, and added protection for women and children remain the greatest priorities. “Many of the rescued families have been placed in government-run relief camps, some of which are in good working condition, while others are horribly overcrowded and suffering from a severe lack of necessary resources,” said Karmen Till, programmes and planning director for ADRA India.

In addition, many survivors have chosen to set up their own camps in areas near their villages, including embankments and highways, which are often not easily accessible. Health concerns are high, as waterborne diseases could affect many people.

ADRA India is planning to expand its response to include additional food, blankets, tarps, soap, and candles in the Araria District of Bihar. The three-month project, which is being funded by supporting offices in the ADRA network and New Zealand’s Aid & Development Agency (NZAID), will meet basic food security needs, as well as other immediate needs, for the most vulnerable and affected families; provide medical services to those remaining in marooned villages and without access to government medical services; and reduce the risk and further negative impact of the winter cold and adverse weather conditions.

“Bihar is one of the poorest states in India, and is facing tremendous challenges with millions displaced, hundreds dead, and most of the affected survivors still stuck in stagnant muddy water,” said Nitin Kenny, emergency program officer for ADRA India. “It is going to be a real challenge…but we can’t give up in the face of these insurmountable odds.”

Heavier than usual rains caused severe flooding in northeastern parts of India, breaking dams and causing the banks of the Kosi River to overflow. Record water levels changed the course of the river, destroying 300,000 homes, submerging entire villages and damaging at least 617,763 acres (250,000 ha) of crops. The worst affected districts included Madhepura, Bhagalpur, Araria and West Champaran.

The response is part of a ADRA Network intervention. Donations to help the relief effort in India are welcome. Please visit our website http://adra.org.uk to donate.