SUMMARY

The UN and government of Eritrea appeal for emergency relief assistance for the year 2001 launched on 22 February 2001. Fourth MCC meeting is held in the future Temporary Security Zone (TSZ), 28 February.

PEACE PROCESS

The fourth MCC meeting was held on 28 February 2001 in the Mereb River (the river is dry). This is the first time the meeting has been held in the future TSZ rather than a third country. Progress made towards the establishment of the TSZ was discussed. The fifth MCC meeting is scheduled for 28 March 2001.

The TSZ will exist once Force Commander Cammeart announces it. Access to the TSZ will be granted once UNMEE completes verification of Ethiopian force redeployment and checking of Eritrean troop re-arrangement.

Peace Building Conference

Eritrean NGO, Citizens for Peace in Eritrea (CPE), held a peace building conference in Asmara from 16-17 February 2001. Agreement was reached that peace and re-conciliation are two sides of the same coin but can only be expected after demarcation of the border.

APPEAL

On 22 February 2001, the Eritean Refugee and Relief Commission (ERREC) and the United Nations launched appeals to the international donor community to support humanitarian activities in 2001. The ERREC Appeal reflects the total amount of US$223,394,450 appealed for in 2001. The UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal is a subset of the Government Appeal and amounts to US$ 154,540,306. The UN Appeal includes nine UN agencies.

Food aid is the largest, but not the sole, component of the appeals. The United Nation is appealing for US$103 million for food aid to support 1.76 million rural Eritreans affected by war and drought. In addition, ERREC is appealing for a further US$52 million to cover the food aid requirements of the urban poor and other groups. The appeals also seek funding for: voluntary repatriation and integration; health and nutrition; shelter and house hold items; water and sanitation; education; mine action; socio-economic recovery; and protection and psycho-social care. Furthermore, financial support is requested to build capacity within the government to respond to humanitarian crises as well as strengthen co-ordination and communications. Donors are called upon to respond quickly to the emergency condition.

ASSESSMENTS

Neither the Government of Eritrea nor the UN Appeal includes the entire area of the TSZ. The Annual Needs Assessment in November 2000 covered all areas that were accessible at that time. Not all areas of the future TSZ are currently inaccessible. Some areas, such as Kotobya and Denbe Doran that are accessible, were assessed in 2000 and programmes are ongoing. It is expected that further assessment will be necessary once full access is granted to the future TSZ. On 01 March, UN Inter-agency Rapid Appraisal will take place in Senafe, Shambiko, and Tokombia.

TSZ

MSF-France visited Senafe to assess the condition of the hospital on 23 February. Due to the destruction of the hospital, they began medical services (a dispensary) in the compound of the Catholic Church in Senafe on 27 February for Senafe town. This will expand to surrounding areas once additional staff are deployed the following week. MSF-F also plan to open a 30-bed hospital in Senafe by mid-March. ICRC has also been active in Senafe since September 2000. Areas of operation include food distributions, tracing and protection, emergency medical support and WatSan.

Co-ordination mechanisms are being established at the decision-making level between representatives of the Government and the UN to facilitate humanitarian assistance in the future TSZ. Areas that need to be discussed include the return and reintegration of IDPs from camps and host families, the return of Eritrean civil authorities and the provision of humanitarian assistance. Key areas of initial concern include the availability of food, logistics and presence of landmines. In the meantime, OCHA has developed a database containing information relating to ongoing and planned programmes in the TSZ. Once the data and the system is verified it will be fully searchable by agency, geographical location and programme sector/type. The database will be available for access in the ICC in March.

MINE INCIDENT

During routine mine surveying in the sub-zone of Omhajer, an armoured vehicle belonging to HALO Trust detonated an anti-tank mine on 21 February 2001. One HALO Trust member is receiving medical treatment in the UK. In separate incident, an 8-year-old child died in the Tokombia area playing with unexploded ordinance.

POPULATION MOVEMENTS

Exchange of Nationals

On 17 February 2001 707 Ethiopians including 218 POWs and 14 Eritreans were repatriated to their respective countries with the assistance of ICRC. On 23 February a further 980 persons of Ethiopian origin left Eritrea (mainly from Asmara) under the auspices of ICRC. Since the beginning of December 2000 and 23 February 2001, ICRC has facilitated the repatriation of more than 7,000 civilians of Ethiopian origin and more than 900 civilians of Eritrean origin. In addition, some 1,200 prisoners of war have been exchanged between Ethiopia and Eritrea since the signing of the peace agreement on 12 December 2000.

Repatriation from Sudan

A tripartite meeting (UNHCR and the governments of Eritrea and Sudan) is expected to be held in Khartoum, Sudan on 21-22 March 2001. The meeting is to renew the agreement on the organised repatriation of Eritrean refugees from Sudan (those who have been in Sudan prior to the third offensive of May 2000).

IDPs

Recently 500 individuals were repatriated voluntarily from Mekete IDP camp to their homes. Some preparation is being made for the repatriation of all IDPs to their places of origin. Nonetheless, return is dependent on availability of resources, and services in the TSZ and also on mine action including demarcation of mined areas, mine clearance and mine awareness training.

SECTORAL WORKING GROUPS (SWG)

In SWG meetings during February discussions have taken place concerning imminent access to the future TSZ. Close co-ordination among the Humanitarian community (ERREC, UN agencies and NGOs) is crucial in the upcoming months.

Education

Ministry of Education (MoE) presented a draft paper updating education in emergency situation in Eritrea. It is reported that school feeding is a major concern for drought-affected areas. In addition it is known that 24 schools in Senafe have been closed since the May 2000 conflict. Therefore a large number of children need to resume their formal education.

Food

ERREC acknowledge receipt of 229,700 MT of different food items worth of $73.9million in the year 2000. Nonetheless, there are still problems with the availability for drought-affected beneficiaries. WFP informed that 1,900 MT of wheat for drought-affected beneficiaries has been received which is only enough for partial distribution to beneficiaries that did not receive food in January or February.

Health

The overall health situation of IDPs in camps remains stable according to the Ministry of health (MoH). The MoH also announced that it is sending a team to assess the situation of the IDPs in preparation of the forthcoming movement of IDPs to their place of origin.

Mine Action

Training of deminers by HALO Trust is almost complete. It is anticipated that 250 trained personnel will be ready to begin work on 01 March 2001. HALO Trust is preparing priority lists of areas and villages to be surveyed and demined in preparation for returning populations. Ethiopian forces reported to UNMEE that they removed many of the new landmines laid during the recent offensive during their withdrawal. Two requests were made to UNMACC for assistance in this process however, UNMACC declined since the landmines were repackaged rather than destroyed when they were removed.

Shelter and Non-food Item

ERREC shared the February distribution list and stock balance of 19 February 2001. There are now 30,000 kerosene stoves, 99,350 blankets and 19,000 Pcs of plastic sheeting in store. The latter will be distributed to replace torn and damaged tents. ERREC acknowledged that it received non-food items totalling $20 million in value during the year 2000.

WatSan

The water resource department circulated an appeal to all members of WatSan to ensure the supply of adequate safe water and sanitation facilities to the IDPs in their places of return. Preparation should also focus on rehabilitation, reconstruction as well as construction of new facilities in the areas where the IDPs are expected to resettle.

The annual report on WatSan-2000 is available at ICC electronically.

NGO NEWS

Care International in collaboration with ERREC started a 5-day workshop on 27 February 2001 at Sunshine Hotel Asmara. The workshop is on commodity management aimed to strengthen ERREC's capacity in commodity logistics management from secondary warehouses to beneficiaries. 25 ERREC staff members from six zones are attending the workshop. According to Care International further workshops will be held in Keren and Dekemhare.

A USAID funded consultant is working with MoH to survey the health activities of NGOs in IDPs camps.

Please note that an Italian NGO, Association for Participation in Development (APS) moved to Setanta Oto: avenue Koatit /12, telephone number 126246 PO.Box 2434.

SCHEDULE FOR NEXT SWG MEETINGS

Date	SWG	Time	Venue
06.03.2001	Non-food	10.30	UNHCR
06.03.2001	Food	16.30	WFP
08.03.2001	Health	15.00	MoH
02.03.2001	WatSan	08.30	WRD *
09.03.2001	Education	10.30	MoE
14.03.2001	Mine Action	14.30	UNMACC

*Water Resource Department meeting hall.

For further information relating to the ICC Update please contact ICC Information Officer Sirak Gebrehiwot

tel: 182923, 185154 or email icc@gemel.com.er

Tel. 120404.