RAPID RESPONSE MECHANISM. For further information, please contact: Taban Peter Tabuley Or Justus KIKUVI

Transcription

1 RAPID RESPONSE MECHANISM NRC - MULTI SECTORAL ASSESSMENT NASIR COUNTY (JIKMIR AND MANDENG/KUETKERENGKE PAYAMS UPPER NILE STATE For further information, please contact: Taban Peter Tabuley taban.tabuley@nrc.no Or Justus KIKUVI.justus.kikuvi@nrc.no 1

2 Contents 2.0. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Protection: Accessibility: Specific context: Summary of affected IDPs and Host Community in the Following Payams ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW Objective Methodology CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION ON JIKMIR AND MANDENG Security situation Economic situation TECHNICAL SECTOR Food security and livelihoods NFI/SHELTER WASH Education

3 2.0. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The assessment was meant to identify a selection of humanitarian needs within the population of Nasir County (Jikmir and Mandeng payams) and Makak Payam in Ulang County which have been safe haven for IDP s fleeing fighting in Nasir town and other locations within Upper Nile, Unity and Jonglei States. The assessment was meant to verify an earlier report shared in Mid- September by national organizations on ground and local authorities in Mandeng. The assessment covers education, Shelter Non-food Items (NFIs), Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Education and Food Security and Livelihood (FSL). The assessment was carried out by NRC Rapid Response Team. The team interacted with State authorities County authorities, ROSS (Relief Organization of South Sudan) authorities, South Sudan Relief Rehabilitation Agency (SRRA), various humanitarian actors operating in the area (ADRA, NILE HOPE, VSF Germany, UNKEA and the community. Different assessment tools were employed during the assessment process which includes meeting local authorities at different levels, community meetings in both locations (Jikmir and Mandeng), meeting partners on the ground and using RMM structured assessment forms for collecting required information Protection: Nasir County Payams of Mandeng and Jikmir are currently under the opposition as people displaced from Nasir County Headquarters following the resumption of violence in July 2016 in Juba, of which violence spread to other areas in the country, including Nasir of Upper Nile State. On the 8 th of July, violence resumed in Juba and rapidly spread in to various parts of South Sudan including Nasir County. This resulted in to displacement of people from the various payams and villages around Nasir county and upper Nile in general to areas consider being Safe within the County. The Internally displaced persons are mostly in the villages of Kuetrengke, Mandeng, Nyetot, Torkech, Makak and Jikmir Payams in Nasir County. People move freely in Nasir County as security is normal although the government forces are stationed within Nasir town. The assessment areas are divided from Nasir town by Sobat River making it more secure for any immediate attack. Very few soldiers were observed moving around with guns in Mandeng and Jikmir and there were no child soldiers observed during the assessment. Jikmir and Mandeng are surrounded by swamps and meandered by Sobat river, this makes speed boat the only safe means of transportation. Over loaded Canoes and sometimes reeds which are of security concern were observed being used as means of transport. 3

4 Some vulnerable community members cannot afford to pay for Canoe transport and are suffering due lack of food, water and sickness. Jikmir and Mandeng health facilities are reported to be lacking drugs as the partners operating have not secured funds to run the facilities effectively Accessibility: Jikmir and Mandeng are accessible by air and by boat from the Ethiopia border. There are no roads to and out of the area.. Jikmir has a small air strip which is land able by a helicopter only while Mandeng has an air strip which is land able by small fixed wing aircraft. Movement of people between Jikmir, Mandeng, Makak and other nearby villages is by water transport (speed boat, canoe, reeds) Specific context: The Humanitarian assistance provided earlier to Nasir County payams of Jikmir and Mandeng is observed not to be moderate for the host population and the IDPS, calling for need for more assistance. During the assessment, the need for food was observed as dire as it was raised in all the meetings with different stake holders, partners and community and also most of the families visited were observed cooking wild vegetation and fruits. This is as a result of the displacement in neighboring areas coupled with the floods that destroyed all the crops before they are ready for harvest. All the groups met reported that they last received relief food in the area November 2015.Other sectors like health, Shelter and NFI are also needed to respond as most of the displaced lost all their house hold items during the July clashes that spread throughout the country, yet the host community have limited capacity to accommodate their new relatives. According to ROSS, the total number of people in Nasir is as follows as in the table below Summary of affected IDPs and Host Community in the Following Payams Location IDPs are Payam County No of No of Total Total displaced to the Host IDPs Individuals Households Kuetrengke Kuetrengke Nasir ,000 Mandeng Kuetrengke Nasir ,000 Nyetot Jikmir Nasir ,500 Torkech Kuetrengke Nasir Jikmir Jimir Nasir ,500 Makak Makak Ulang ,500 Total IDPS 30,000 15,000 45,000 9,000 4

5 3.0. ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW Objective The objective of the assessment is to establish overview information of resources and humanitarian needs of vulnerable populations in order to inform area of response Methodology Data collection consisted of a combination of: Household surveys using RRM Structured questionnaire managed by trained enumerators, Key informant interviews, observation and meetings of both local authorities as well as community members. The primary data gathered during this assessment is combined with available secondary data to analyze specific sectoral needs and provide holistic situational information for analysis. Secondary data was obtained from ROSS (Relief Organization of South Sudan) assessment report previously conducted in the area and humanitarian organizations operating in Nasir County (Nile Hope, ADRA. VSF-Germany and UNKEA). The main limitation in this survey was Numerical information about population figures which have not been verified; therefore the assessment does not include a verification of population data. Verification of the population data and disaggregation (gender, age, host/idp/returnee) taking into account various sources remains a gap and therefore an independent assessment/registration will likely be necessary to clarify the population figures in the area CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION ON JIKMIR AND MANDENG Jikmir and Mandeng are located in Nasir County of Upper Nile State. It comprise of several villages connecting then along the Sobat river. The areas lie on loamy soil and flat low-lying terrain and surrounded by swamps. The areas are accessible by air transport facility of WFP/UNHAS during both dry and wet seasons and the only means of transport between the areas is by river using canoes and speed boats in both dry and rainy season. Jikmir air strip is land able by chopper only while Mandeng air strip is land able by chopper and fixed wing air craft/ caravans. Chattered flights were also seen landing in Mandeng. Population data from ROSS previous assessments of September 2016 estimated the population of about 9000 HH. The movement of IDP s and host community out of the Payam has not been tracked and during the assessment there were reports of some IDP s and Host community members moving to Gambela-a refugee camp in Western Ethiopia in search of food and education. The current hunger in the area has been attributed to flooding as well as the political climate in South Sudan after July 2016 incident h 5

6 Security situation The Security in Jikmir and Mandeng is relatively calm and the inhabitants including IDP arrivals consider the area as a safe heaven. The Sobat River and the Swamps surrounding these areas make it difficult for the army from Nasir to easily infiltrate into the region Economic situation The economy and livelihood systems of Nasir in general and Jikmir and Mandeng in particular is characterized by subsistence farming, fishing and pastoralism. Most households have tens of cattle in their homestead except for IDPS a. The markets in both location have witnessed a sharp decline in commodities as all supply routes have been closed because of insecurity as well as floods. The only open route is by river transport from to Burbir and Matar at the Ethiopian Boarder TECHNICAL SECTOR Summary of Findings and recommendations Food security and livelihoods Key findings There is generally hunger and limited or no food available at the household level ( Score Card 17.7) Generally, there were no farms observed (including kitchen gardens) with crops in most locations and according to the community, the crops were swept away by water The communities visited were observed feeding on wild vegetation and fruits. The community has survived by Fish in the past but according to the community the floods swept away the fish as well and the little available is sold at high price. The market has very limited stocks and variety. Households also lack cash to purchase food and non-food items from nearby Ethiopian border. The main traders who were from Ethiopia were reported to have left the areas owing to devaluation of south Sudanese pound. Community members were observed travelling by canoe to Ethiopia in search of food and education. Priorities for Immediate Humanitarian response General food distribution for all households Provide variety of vegetable seeds and tools (can farm all season)and training of various farming methods. 6

7 Food Consumption Provide fishing kits to all households (fishing is possible all season) Household Food consumption score 17.7 Average change in Adults 1.4 the number of meals eaten by households before Children 1.8 and after the event Proportion of 1 meal 71% households by 2 meals 8% number of meals 3 meals and per day for adults more 1% Proportion of 1 meal 41% households by 2 meals 52% number of meals 3 meals and per day for children more 3% % of households consuming food items at least once a week (16) Condiments (salt / cube Maggi ) (2) Roots and tubers (14) Fish (7) Beans (13) Meat / Poultry (12) Sugar / Honey (10) Fruits (6) Eggs (9) Pulses / Nuts (8) Peanuts (4) Rice (5) Potato 4.37% 3.88% 3.40% 2.91% 24.27% 23.30% 19.42% 19.42% 16.99% 16.02% 42.23% 79.13% 7

8 Copying strategies Reduced number of meals 27% Selling household items 5% Selling firewood and charcoal 24% Selling livelihood assets like livestock Sending members of the family to live with relatives 20% 11% Borrowing 9% Other 3% Wild vegetation and fruits currently being used by the community NFI/SHELTER Key findings The communities have temporary shelters with traditional designs and build-up with local materials like grasses, poles and bamboos and commonly use nets as tiring ropes. The number of IDPs with no shelters were not visible as the community claimed most of the IDPs crossed to Ethiopia seeking for humanitarian support more importantly food. The existing shelters are in fair condition for human living despite cases of water flood that affected some parts of community but there is high progress as it has not being raining for somedays. 8

9 Shelter The shelter building materials are not commonly available, no market available for shelter construction materials it is assumed that most of building materials comes from Ethiopia side,such as bamboos and some poles commonly used by communities. The number of persons in each shelter seems to be rational though some big and well build shelters are reserved for animals. The number of NFIs per households seems to be inadequate as some use watering can to fetch water for domestic use which is supposed to be use for watering crops. (Jeri cans, buckets and cooking pots/sauce pans, Mosquito nets, blankets) The few available local markets are not fully functional making it hard for local communities to have access to some of the basic NFIs. The lack of market accessibility by most communities make them difficult to possess adequate NFIs in their households couple with far distance of functional market and limited means to reach the market that require boats to cross the river. The results shows that the entire beneficiaries interviewed have almost no NFI ( Score card 4.4) Priorities for Immediate Humanitarian response General distribution of some items (Mosquito nets, Blankets, sleeping mats and Jericans) to the entire population and IDP s to be added plastic sheets for shelter construction. NFI NFI scoring 4.4 Proportion of households living in a shelter in a bad shape compared to local standards 82% Proportion of households hosting more than one other household 51% Average number of hosted persons 10.3 Distribution of Owner 26% households per status of Hosted but own occupation of shelter shelter 20% Hosted 12% Collective sites 9% Camp 1% Hosted with no shelter 7% Own compound, no shelter 3% Under the tree 20% Distribution of households per m2 per person using the same shelter 9 0.4

10 Table 2 - HH distribution per score Score = 0 Score = 1 Score = 2 Score 3 Score = 4 Score = 5 Article Score Total 0% 0% 0% 7% 33% 60% Bucket or jerrycan 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 100% Pan/cooking pot 2% 3% 11% 0% 73% 12% Sleeping mats 0% 1% 1% 8% 22% 68% Mosquito net 1% 0% 0% 5% 20% 74% Blanket / sheet 0% 1% 1% 3% 24% 70% The above score cards indicates the entire population interviewed lacks bucket/jericans while 74%, 70% and 68% lack Mosquito nets, blankets and sleeping mats respectively WASH Key findings Water There is one agency (UNKEA) which is actively involved in WASH activities in Nasir County currently dealing with borehole rehabilitation and hygiene promotion. There are 11 Indian Mark II hand pumps accessed with 2 in Jikmir and 9 in Mandeng. In addition, there is a water yard operated by UNKEA in Mandeng. Out of the 12 water points in Mandeng and Jikmir, all are functional The team visited only 2 hand pumps and a water yard which were within the vicinity During the assessment, there were no long queues observed at the water points especially at the few boreholes visited which are in the two areas, while at some times of the day, the water points were empty with no people to fetch. The other main source of water for the population is river water. Members of the community close to the river were observed fetching water from the river even when there were no long ques and sometimes the boreholes are free with no people pumping water The community also prefers to wash their clothes and at the same time fetch water for domestic use instead of washing clothes at the river and then move to the hand pumps for domestic use water. There are 5 pump mechanics in the two locations of Jikmir and Mandeng, 2 WASH committee members for each location, 2 hygiene promoters and a Water Supervisor in Jikmir only. 10

11 There are few hand pump equipment/parts available in Jikmir and Mandeng (with UNKEA in Mandeng and ADRA in Jikmir). Key moments for hand washi Sanitation Generally the community seemed aware of WASH practices, however few makeshift household latrines were observed. The latrines were constructed by the community using local materials. This showed the community is sensitized on sanitation but due to lack of resources coupled with the loamy loose soil structure; they are not in position to have latrines in all the homes as the pit has to be lined to prevent collapse. There is random open defecation. This is practiced by majority of the population as feaces can be seen all over the area. No specific area has been designated for Open defecation. Disposing of solid waste was observed to be next to their homes with no clear system in place. No rubbish/waste pits were seen and waste was observed littered at household level. Hygiene Few available water storage containers and containers for carrying water were observed to be dirty. Majority of the population were able to demonstrate key hand washing moments although they didn t seem to practice it. There is a general knowledge of the hygiene practices among the community. There is generally lack of hygiene products like soap in the market. Generally there is poor hygiene. Recommendations: Water Provide water purification tabs and training for safe use Sanitation Sensitization of the community on the dangers of Open Defecation Sensitization of the community by Trained Hygiene Promoter on the dangers of poor solid waste disposal/management 11

12 Access to water Hygiene and sanitation Hygiene Training of community Hygiene promoters in the villages Need for for more sensitization on hygiene practices as to the community. Prevalence of Diarrhea Diarrhea rates among children under 5 over the last 2 weeks Proportion of households with access to hygienic latrines Proportion of households with access to latrines Percentage of households having soap or ash for hand washing Percentage of Households citing at least 3 key moments for hand washing Percentage of households who say washing hands with soap or ash Proportion of households using an improved source of drinking water Average number of liters of drinking water used by the household per day. Proportion of households with easy access by distance (<500m) and time (<15 minutes) to a protected water resource 18% 1% 15% 5% 45% 42% 19% % 64.24% 52.98% 36.42% 31.79% 19.21% 0.00% 0.00% After the toilet or latrine After washing or changing the child's diapers Before preparating food Before eating Before breastfeeding child After work in agricultural fields Others (Ablution, after eating ) Key moments for hand washing Key moments for hand washing 12

13 0.00% 1.32% 0.00% 1.32% 0.00% 1.99% 3.31% 0.66% 13.91% 76.82% Main sources of drinking water drunk by household members Education Key findings/observations Children were observed playing during daytime when theyr are supposed to be in class and communities interviewed reported lack of learning materials and teachers as the reason for limited education services. Households interviewed mentioned that some of their members have travelled to Ethiopia refugee camp in search of education services. This clearly indicates that the community is ready to learn if educational materials are availed and there are trained teachers available to teach. How many children between 6-11 (from HH surveys) Row Labels Sum of 6-11 Boys Sum of 6-11 Girls Grand Total Among the 6-11, how many are attending school actually? Row Labels Sum of 6-11 Boys Sum of 6-11 Girls Grand Total 10 6 Recommendations There is need for back to school campaign in the entire area as well as provide school supplies. 13