Initial Rapid Needs Assessment (IRNA)

Transcription

1 Initial Rapid Needs Assessment (IRNA) Report Morobo County, Central Equatoria State October 28 November 2, 2017 Prepared by Monica Berti Programme Manager Lacha Community and Economic Development

2 Table of Contents Introduction... 3 Access and Security... 3 Population Figures... 4 Emergency Shelter and Non-Food Items (ES/NFI)... 4 Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL)... 5 Health and Nutrition... 8 Protection... 9 Child protection... 9 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

3 Introduction This Initial Rapid Needs Assessment (IRNA) was conducted in Panyume, Gulumbe and Kimba payams in Morobo county (CES), from the 28 th of October to the 2 nd of November The assessment was led by Lacha Community and Economic Development (LCED), for the sectors of S/NFI and WASH, and Sudan Peace and Education Development Programme (SPEDP) for the FSL, health, nutrition, and protection sectors. The assessment team used Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) to collect data. Access and Security Access to the assessed locations was gained through Koboko District, Uganda. The road from Koboko town to Gulumbe, through Busis (border between Uganda and South Sudan) is large enough and in fairly good conditions. However, the presence of a small bridge in Busis -which was constructed by the UNallows only the passage of bicycles and pedestrians. Trucks and cars can access the locations from the Kajo-Keji road (Kajokeji-Panyume-Gulumbe-Kimba). The location offers spaces for plane landing, although no official airstrips are present. The official route from Koboko to Morobo through the Kaya border is not safe for passage. No humanitarian assistance had been provided in the assessed locations since the spur of the 2016 South Sudan conflict. The whole of Panyume payam and part of Gulumbe and Kimba payam are controlled by the SPLA-IO forces, and have not been accessed by humanitarian agencies since July 2016, due to the overall situation of insecurity on the road from Kajo-Keji and Yei. Movement of civilian is limited to the IO-controlled areas, and crossing to the SPLA-controlled areas is reportedly dangerous. Local authorities reported that there is no restriction to humanitarian access in the assessed locations, as long as the legal authorization procedures are followed. Additionally, the area is indicated as nonprone to flooding. However, the conditions of the road greatly deteriorate during the rainy season.

4 There are several constraints to communications, including the complete shutdown of radio and mobile networks in the area. People living in the payam are able to access Ugandan phone network such as MTN, Africell and Airtel using their South Sudanese sim cards, however this allows only receiving calls. Additionally, lack of sources of electricity does not allow the residents to recharge their phones regularly. Population Figures Majority of the population in all the three assessed payam had been displaced by political conflict, between July and October Just over half the population declares of feeling safe in the current locations, as long as they do not cross to the SPLAcontrolled areas. Individuals Payam Total Men Women Boys Girls Kimba 4,570 2,030 1, Gulumbe 5,230 2,024 1, Panyume 7,545 3,275 2,430 1, Tab. 1: Population figures Kimba, Gulumbe, Panyume payam. Source: Executive Director s registers, Morobo county, July 2017 However, many respondents indicated that their farmlands are located in different areas, especially along Yei river, and in other areas of Morobo county. Reaching them is proven to be quite dangerous, as many of them have to travel through government-controlled areas. Furthermore, a 40% of the population declared of fearing that the ongoing conflict in Morobo county, and especially in government-controlled areas of Panyume payam could spread to their current location. Occasional movements of people returning from the refugee camps in northern Uganda, in order to harvest their crops, have also been reported. This creates tensions between the returnees and the IDP community, further explained in the following paragraphs. The local community has generally been sharing the local resources for over a year, and it is now strained. Emergency Shelter and Non-Food Items (ES/NFI) Generally, the shelter situation is considered fair by the community leaders, according to South Sudan standards. The population has been displaced for over 14 months, and the IDPs in the area have found refuge in the tukuls abandoned by people who fled to Uganda. This becomes problematic during the periods in which such people return to their homes to harvest their crops. There are also some cases in which people have returned permanently to their homes, and are now sharing the shelters with the IDPs. Except these cases, the number of individuals sharing a shelter is 1-5 in on average. The shelters are usually not in good conditions: some have been burnt or destroyed while in others water leaks from the broken roof. In many areas, especially in Kimba payam, the community complained about overcrowded shelters, where women and men are forced to sleep in the same tukul. In some areas of Panyume payam, there are some groups of households (40-50) sleeping in the open, without 4

5 any form of shelter. Some of those are using plastic sheets to cover, which were brought by returnees from the Ugandan refugee camps. There are little or no Non- Food Items in all houses, including few blankets, bedsheets and a few pots for cooking and/or storing water, which are usually shared. The items most needed by the community, in order of importance, include: cooking sets, jerrycans, blankets, and mosquito nets. County Payam Boma Village Kimba Asomuko Kimba Kimba Yondu Yonelu Baranya Morobo Girili Girili Gulumbe Kendila Kendila Panyume Panyume Guiricala Panyume Panyume Tab.2: Presence of markets by location. Source: observation by assessment team. Fig.1Few NFI owned by a household, Indidapa, Panyume payam Few items are available at local markets: sleeping mat (800 SSP/pc), jerrycan (500 SSP/pc), hoe (1,000 SSP/pc), saucepan (500-1,000 SSP/pc), bucket ( SSP/pc), mosquito net (300 SSP/pc), nylon rope (500 SSP/roll), bedsheets (2,000 SSP/pair), blanket (700 SSP/pc), and cloth (1,000 SSP/pc). However, majority of the community has little purchasing power. Local materials available include grass, trees and bamboos in most locations, but the population lacks the tools to fetch them. Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL) Gulumbe Area (feddans) Bags (50 kg) Area (feddans) Bags (50 kg) Maize 1 2 Maize Gnuts Gnuts Cassava Cassava Sorghum Panyume Sorghum Beans Beans Sasame Sasame Yams Rice Tab. 3.1: Average area cultivated and food production per HH in the last harvesting season. Source: KII, October In all areas assessed, availability of food was indicated as a major concern for the community. Most IDPs residing in the area have left their farmlands in their previous area of residence, mostly along Yei River. Majority of the population in Panyume and Kimba payam are both cultivating such lands, and possessing livestock. In Gulumbe payam only half of the population is either cultivating or breeding animals. 5

6 Kimba Area (feddans) Bags (50 kg) Maize Gnuts Cassava Sorghum Beans Tab. 3.2: Average area cultivated and food production per HH in the last harvesting season. Source: KII, October Agricultural production has generally decreased compared to the previous harvesting season, while in a few cases it has remained the same. Reason of that is the increased insecurity on the road to people s farm that doesn t allow them to cultivate properly. In all payams the period of the last harvest was between the second week of September and the first week of October, according to the plantations and to the access to their farmlands. Some plantations were not harvested, due to lack of access. Livestock is also scarce: most households possess a few chickens, ducks, goats or sheep, with the exception of a few cases in Panyume payam, which declared of possessing 44 to 50 heads of cattle and around 20 chickens. Cattle Ducks Sheep Goat Chicken Kimba Gulumbe Panyume Tab. 4: Average No. of livestock by kind. Source: KII, October The main foods normally consumed by the population, in order of importance, are the following: (1) maize, (2) rice, (3) sorghum, (4) G-nuts, (5) Beans, (6) Oil, (7) cow peas, (8) fish. However, most households do not have access to rice, fish and oil. Other food items that the population doesn t have access to are potatoes, meat, fruits and vegetables. Maize, sorghum, millet, cassava and beans are generally produced by the community, even though in small quantities, and are available at the local market. Most households do not have access to their farms in the current planting season. The current proportion of farming households that have seeds for planting in the next season is less than 25% in all location, having stocks from the last harvest as source of seeds. There are few exceptions in Kimba Crop Approx area (feddans) Maize 1.06 Kimba Sorghum 0.62 Beans 0.5 Gnuts 2.75 Cassava 0.5 Gulumbe Sorghum 0.5 Beans 0.5 Yams 0.5 Cassava 0.5 Panyume Sorghum 0.5 Beans 0.5 Yams 0.5 Tab. 5: Average area cultivated and food production per HH in the last harvesting season. Source: KII, Oct payam, where households declared of planning to buy seeds for planting from the market. Other items available at the local market and locally produced are cassava flour (23,000 SSP/cup), maize (20,000 SSP/basin or 200 SSP/cup), beans (2,000 SSP/cup), cow peas (1,500 SSP/cup), g-nuts (30,000 SSP/basin), tomatoes (500 SSP for 4 pcs), charcoal (700 SSP/basin), banana (50 SSP/pc), yams (30 SSP/pc), and sweet potatoes (10 SSP/pc). Items imported by neighboring Uganda are mainly salt (600 SSP/pkt), oil ( SSP/bottle), rice (100 SSP/kg), sugar (800-2,000 SSP/kg), meat (600 SSP/kg), 6

7 In Kimba payam, copying mechanisms used by the local population to face the current food scarcity include relying on less preferred and less expensive food (3 to 7 days a week), restricting consumption by adults in order for small children to eat (3 days a week), reducing the number of meals eating per day (3-4 days a week), and not eating the whole day (1 day a week). In Gulumbe payam, the community reduced the number of meals eaten per day (4 days a week) and collects more wild foods than usual for the season (4 to 7 days a week). The communities of Panyme payam diversified the most their coping strategies: many people borrow food or rely on help from their friends and relatives (2-3 days a week), limit portion size of their meals (7 days a week), restrict the consumption of food by adults to the advantage of children (2-3 days a week), do not eat the whole day (sometimes 3-4 days in a row), sell more animals than usual (every month 1-2 days), consume seed stocks held for the next season (1-2 days a week), and collect more while food than usual (2 days a week). Foods collected/gathered/ hunted include vegetables and fruits, cassava, beans, fish and meat. According to the community, on average the food stocks will last in the households less than a week in all payams, and 1-2 weeks in some areas of Panyume payam. While the main source of livelihood is agriculture, a smaller portion of the Fig.2: Small cultivations in Indidapa, Panyume payam population engages in selling of natural resources (charcoal, grass, firewood, etc.) in all payams. In Gulumbe payam, the community also engages in livestock activities, and casual labor as main sources of livelihoods. In Panyume payam, the main sources of livelihood include all the above, in addition to petty trade, thanks to the presence of small markets, and women brewing alcohol. Incidents of stealing crops of the local communities by IDPs have been reported, especially for cases of farmlands left behind by people who sought asylum in Uganda, and return to their places of origins to harvest. Priority concerns indicated by the key informants and the members of the focus groups, include: Scarcity of food and seeds for planting (both in terms of quantity and variety); Lack of agricultural tools; Need for life skills for the community; Need to prioritize women, especially mothers, for support. 7

8 Health and Nutrition There are three open Primary Health Care Units (PHCU) in Panyume payam (Panyume, Yaribe and Nyori), and one in Gulumbe. Only one hospital is present in the whole county, in Morobo town. Where health facilities are available, women and men are free to access them, without any restriction, and services are provided for free. PHCU Panyume Yaribe Nyori Gulumbe Measles Malaria Meningitis Diahorreal diseases Acute Respiratory Infections Injuries Pregnancyrelated conditions Tab. 6: Main health concerns - number of cases reported in the past 2 months. Source: PHCUs' registers, October acute malnutrition and 8% with micronutrient supplementation programme. 8 Overall, the main health concerns reported in the past two months are malaria and Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI). In Gulumbe, the PHCU s records reported a higher number of cases of measles, malaria, meningitis, and ARI. Due to lack of drugs, supplements and trained personnel, nutrition services, including screening of children for malnutrition, are currently suspended. The health personnel in Yaribe PHCU declared that when the unit was operational in early 2016, they were able to cover 10% of the population with management of moderate In Kimba, where the two existing PHCU are not functioning, the assessment team collected information from the local population during a FGD. In all locations, the main needs indicated by the population are: Low availability of trained health personnel, especially to carry out nutrition activities; Outdated training for health personnel; Lack of medications/drugs, which were either looted or expired, since the crisis started (14 months); Lack of adequate medical equipment; No vaccination campaigns have been conducted in over 14 months; PHCU Panyume Yaribe Nyori Gulumbe Nurse Medical ass Vaccinator Midwife Lab technician Consultation 4 days 5 days 5 days 5 days Tab. 7: Trained health personnel in the community. Source: KII, October No humanitarian organization operating in the area of health has provided any assistance since June 2016; Lack of functioning health facilities, especially in government controlled areas within the payam.

9 Protection In all locations, the protection concern reported by community leaders, health workers and religious leaders during the incident of July 2016 was mainly forced displacement of the population. Concerns such as inter-communal violence, mistreatment by armed groups and rape were indicated as protection concerns for women, girls and persons with disabilities at the time of the incident. The key informants reported few protection concerns in the current locations, where the population feels mostly safe. The only ones reported concerned the likelihood of being attacked on the roads near government controlled areas, or on the road to the IDPs farmlands, located in their previous area of residence. High risk for men and boys above 18 years of being killed and for women and girls to be raped and tortured was reported. Other forms of behavioral problems indicated among the population include increased aggression - because of widespread fear due to the trauma of the displacement- sleeping issues and nightmares among adult population, as well as difficulty in concentrating and general body weakness. The latter could also be attributed to lack of appropriate food consumption. Although most people feel protected in their current location, there is a widespread fear that the ongoing conflict in other areas of Morobo county will spread. There is free movement within the IOcontrolled areas, but people fear trespassing to government controlled areas, due to high risk of attacks especially on women, girls and boys below 18 years of age. Additionally, the key informants reported cases of human right violation within the community, which were reportedly handled by community leaders. They highlighted the need of the community to be sensitized on IDPs rights, GBV and human rights related issues, and peace-building, of community leaders to be equipped with means to prevent those problems, and of parents to be informed on how to protect their children during conflict. Finally, to avoid tensions between IDPs and the host community, which has also been heavily affected by the conflict, has not been reached by any humanitarian aid in 14 months, and is sharing the few resources with the IDPs, it has been strongly recommended to target it in case of any intervention. Child protection The presence of separated and unaccompanied children was reported in all locations, while in Payume and Kimba payam the key informants also reported seeing children under 18 years of age associated with armed groups. The main cause of separation for all categories of children was the death of their parents and disorganized flight/movement. Missing children were attributed to forced separation such as abduction, while the main cause of separation for unaccompanied children was once again disorganized flight. 9

10 The main risks to which children are exposed to in the current locations are abandonment, GBV, and lack of protection. Dysfunctional coping mechanisms that emerged during the FGD included unusual harmful practices against one-self, especially for boys below 18 who consume alcohol. Early marriages for girls years of age were also reported as protection concern in Panyume payam. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Access to clean water is a major challenge in all assessed areas. Majority of the population accesses water from a stream (one in each location) or seasonal ponds. In Kimba and Panyume payam there is a protected hand-dug well, which is used by approximately 30% of the population. In Kimba payam there is also a protected borehole near the PHCU. In Panyume, the most highly populated payam, water can also be accessed through two hand pumps and two wells. In all locations there is a risk that less water will be available within the next month, due to the upcoming dry season. In Panyume payam there are two trained handpumps mechanics, but no tools or spare parts are available. Presence of feces was observed along the roads, foot paths, water sources and in the fields in all locations, characterized also by absence of functional latrines. Incidents of sexual harassment of women and girls involving open defecation were reported as quite common. Fig.3: Kaya river, Panyume payam Water storage containers are scarce, on average one pot or one jerrycan per household. Since the population mainly collects water from streams and water ponds, and open defecation is a common practice, the community leaders indicated the need of providing solutions for purifying the water. There are few WASH items at the local market, imported from neighboring Uganda, which majority of the population cannot afford: soap (3500 SSP/bar), sanitary pads (2,000 SSP/pkt, only in Gulumbe). Other concerns indicated by community leaders are: Lack of containers for storing water and ways of purifying it; Lack of clean, functioning water sources. There is need for restore/rehabilitate the malfunctioning water sources, build new ones, and protect them in order to avoid the water to be contaminated; 10

11 General hygiene conditions of the population, and especially of children and youth, range from bad to needing improvement; There is need for training handpumps mechanics and providing them tools and spare parts; Open defecation practices, especially near the unprotected water sources, increase the risks of diahorreal diseases and cholera outbreaks; Women and girls of reproductive age are in need of MHM and hygiene products; Need to raise awareness among the community and their leaders on good hygiene and sanitation practices, as well as on related health issues. 11