As the conflict in Syria entered its third year, intense fighting was reported across the country, in particular in Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, Idlib, and the area stretching between Damascus and the Golan Heights. The number of Syrian refugees continued to rise, amounting to a total of 1,129,019 as of 18 March.

French and African troops continued their offensive in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains in northern Mali, where rebels have regrouped. Meanwhile, the risk of reprisal attacks remains high in the main northern towns and aid activities in parts of the north are limited due to insecurity.

In Central African Republic, an armed faction of the Seleka rebel coalition attacked Gambo and Bangassou, two southern towns on the border with the DRC in a continued breach of the recent peace accord. According to the UN, an estimated 1,500,000 people are estimated to be affected by the current crisis in the Seleka controlled areas, and have been without access to basic services for over two months.

Floods in Mozambique have cumulatively affected 478,892 people and displaced some 186,238 people as of 11 March, according to OCHA. The number of affected people has thus doubled from 243,671 people as of 22 February since the beginning of the rainy season in October 2012. The majority have been affected since January 2013.

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Only four out of the 16 midwives active at a Sudanese refugee camp in eastern Chad are still in service, the women's head coordinator at the site says.

Hawa Issa explained on Monday to Radio Dabanga the Treguine camp is “in desperate need” of more midwives.

She claims to have discussed the issue with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is “in charge of the camp”, but the organization said this was a responsibility of the UNHCR.

The head coordinator is urging the UN agency to solve the problem of midwives’ shortage at the camp.

Water shortage

Separately, Issa reported that last year’s flood during the rainy season in July destroyed Treguine’s water station and its residents do not have access to drinking water.

Red Cross used to transport water to the camp until last December, she said, “but they have stopped now”.

The agency also tried drilling five wells in Treguine, although none of them have reached water so far, according to Issa.

She is appealing to the UNHCR to find a solution to the water issue and “alleviate the suffering of the refugees”.

HIGHLIGHTS

• More than 460,000 Malians displaced throughout Sahel Region

• U.N. estimates more than 10 million at risk of food insecurity in 2013

• U.S. Government commits additional $51 million to food-insecure and conflict-affected Sahelian populations

The situation in Syria continues to revolve around insurgents and Government troops bitterly fighting for the control of the main accesses to the capital Damascus. Meanwhile, the conflict has also intensified around other urban centres such as Aleppo, Homs, Deir-ez-Zor and Idleb. As of 7 April, the overall number of Syrian refugees in the neighbouring countries continued to rise, reaching over 1.25 million people, according to the UNHCR.

In Mali, concerns regarding the ability of regional African troops to assume France’s armed intervention resurfaced, as the latter reiterated its intention to start withdrawing its military at the end of the month. A UN peacekeeping force is being assembled to fill the gap and South Africa has already committed to an intervention. Following the high profile attack and infiltration of Timbuktu by the Islamists, the risk that the rebels will definitely switch to mostly terrorist attacks to harass the coalition forces is high.

In the Central African Republic, Michael Djotodia who claimed the Presidency after the coup that ousted Francois Bozizé agreed - under the pressure of the international community - to hold elections within 18 months including the appointment of an interim leader in the meantime.

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Highlights

Global acute malnutrition in the Chadian Sahel is chronically hovering around emergency thresholds. Severe Acute Malnutrition rates remains above emergency levels in the Sahel belt regions. The results of the last nutrition survey with SMART methods conducted by UNICEF and the Ministry of Health on January 2013 (Post Harvest season) shows that the Global Acute Malnutrition Rate (GAM) in 6 regions of the Sahel belt is at or above the emergency threshold of 15%, while in the other regions, the GAM rate is critical (10% – 15%); in fact the 2012 harvest does not translate into a better nutrition outcome for children.

Around 12,500 Sudanese refugees fleeing inter-ethnic violence in the troubled Darfur region have crossed into East of Chad over the last four weeks. In addition, around 4,000 new Central African Refugees also crossed into South of Chad near Belom, an old CAR refugee’s camp.

Heavy fighting continued throughout Syria, with shelling reported from all but two of the Governorates in the country. The violence in densely populated places, including Aleppo, Homs, Deir-ez-Zor, Idleb and central Damascus remained intense. More than 400,000 people have fled Syria since 1 January, bringing the total number of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries to around 1.32 million as of 14 April, according to UNHCR.

In the north of Mali, France led a major offensive on 9 April in an attempt to establish control over the northern territories before the deployment of UN peacekeepers and as French troops start withdrawing. Meanwhile, the security situation remains volatile with continued asymmetric attacks carried out by Islamist militants in the main northern towns.

Fresh tribal clashes in central and southern Darfur in Sudan erupted despite the signing of a peace treaty between leaders of the Misseriya and Salamat tribes on 10 April. Some 50,000 refugees arrived in Chad following the clashes in the past week alone, marking the largest influx of refugees from Sudan to Chad since 2005, according to UNHCR.

The humanitarian crisis linked to violence and the related power struggle in the Central African Republic is now affecting the whole population of 4.6 million people in the country, according to UNICEF. More than 2.3 million of these are children. In Bangui, violent clashes erupted between supporters of the new authorities and armed youth loyal to the former President Bozizé, killing 20 people.

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Overview

During the reporting period, the Red Cross of Chad and the IFRC country office have been providing humanitarian assistance to populations affected by food insecurity, floods, and cholera. They have also been providing support to refugees in eastern Chad with a community resilience project as well as a health project on communicable diseases. These activities:

• Continuation of the humanitarian assistance to the 54,874 Sudanese refugees hosted in eastern Chad through the delivery of basic needs (food distribution, water and sanitation and shelter) in bilateral partnership between the National Society (NS) and UNHCR. A community resilience project was implemented in both camps and provided 730 families with agricultural materials, livestock distribution, support in shelter construction and support to the water and sanitation sector. The project was funded by the Finnish and the Swedish Red Cross Societies. A financial contribution from the Japanese Red Cross contributed to train volunteers and disseminate awareness raising campaigns about HIV/AID and its consequences.

• Extension of cholera emergency appeal launched in 2011 for two months. The timeframe extension enabled the construction of 40 latrines in the targets areas and 10 water points.

• Response to the recurrent food crisis in the Sahel part of the country. The emergency appeal launched in February 2012 enabled to provide food to 581,165 beneficiaries (through blanket feeding project and general food distribution) in the region of Hadjar Lamis, Lac and Kanem. Improved seeds, agricultural materials and water irrigation material and material for income generating activities were distributed to some 80 local initiatives in the field. The emergency appeal was extended for 45 days to enable staff monitor the implementation of water points in different marshland areas.

• Response to one of the most severe flooding in the country through an emergency appeal. The emergency appeal aims at providing 4,400 families with NFIs, training of volunteers, and dissemination of hygiene promotion campaigns as well distribution of sanitation kits.

The eastern part of the country that has been for the last five years a hot spot has been experiencing a relative calm. This was the result of peace agreement brokered between Chad and Sudan followed by a joint military force to secure the common border. In all the intervention areas, no major security incident was recorded during the reporting period. The whole RCC intervention area was stable. The main challenges encountered included difficult access to beneficiaries due to bad roads and flooding.

The community resilience project for both refugees and host populations was delayed and started in May. Negotiations with WFP to secure food for drought affected victims took longer than expected and started only in late June.

Cereal prices remain generally stable with small increases in localized areas

KEY MESSAGES

• Between April and the end of June, all areas of the country will face Minimal/None (IPC Phase 1) acute food insecurity (Figure 1). However the earlier than normal depletion of food stocks, coupled with seasonally normal cereal price increases, will propel households in Kanem, Bahr-El-Gazal (BEG), Batha Est, Logone Oriental, Tandjilé, Logone Occidental, and greater Mayo Kebbi into Stressed (IPC Phase 2) acute food insecurity between July and September.

• Due to last year's good rainfall conditions, the availability of pasture and water resources has been good, although these resources are beginning to deteriorate with the approach of the pastoral lean season (April through June). However despite the recession of pastures and the drying up of semi-permanent watering holes, animal body conditions remain at seasonally normal levels.

• Household food stocks in the Sahelian zone are starting to decline, but are still at high levels compared to a normal year. Household food consumption is also stable due to the availability of milk and market garden produce and the start-up of humanitarian assistance programs in Kanem, BEG, Lac, and Hadjer Lamis.

Highlights

• Following ethnic violence in Darfur, Sudan, more than 27,000 refugees and 25,000 returnees fled to Chad in the border town of Tissi.

• 6,500 refugees from CAR registered in Southern Chad.

• 9,659 new SAM admissions on March 2013; 25,593 total admissions for the first quarter of 2013.

La situation alimentaire des menages très pauvres reste globalement satisfaisante

MESSAGES CLÉS

• Le niveau actuel des stocks céréaliers des ménages pauvres et très pauvres est au-dessus d’une année normale grâce à la bonne production céréalière de 2012/2013 et aux bonnes récoltes de cultures de contre saison ; ce niveau de stock leur permet de couvrir les besoins alimentaires de base avec moins de difficultés. Les ménages de toutes les zones de moyens d’existence sont en Phase 1 de l’IPC 2.0 et y resteront jusqu'à juin.

• A partir de juillet, certaines régions (Mayo Kebbi Ouest, Logone Oriental, Tandjilé, Logone Occidental, Kanem, Bahr El Gazal, Batha Est et le Nord Guera) seront en situation de Stress (Phase 2 de l’IPC 2.0) jusqu’à septembre à cause de l’épuisement de stocks comme en année normale et de la hausse atypique des prix.

• Les premières pluies signalées en mars dans la zone soudanienne semblent être précoces qu’en année normale. Par conséquent, les semis généralisés qui s’observaient en mi-mai au cours d’une année normale sont observés tôt par endroits (Moyen Chari, Mandoul, Mayo Kebbi Ouest).

SITUATION ACTUELLE

• La situation agricole : Elle est dominée par les labours à la charrue et au tracteur qui se poursuivent dans presque toute la zone agricole du Tchad. Les semis sont en cours dans presque toute la zone soudanienne grâce aux pluies précoces qui ont commencé un mois plutôt qu’une année normale. A cet effet, on observe de germination des variétés précoces (sorgho et arachide) par endroit dans le Moyen Chari, le Mandoul et la Kabbia. Les défrichements et les nettoyages des champs se poursuivent dans la zone sahélienne.

• La situation pastorale : La situation alimentaire du bétail est globalement satisfaisante. Comme en année normale, les points d’eau pour abreuver les animaux se raréfient de plus en plus dans la zone sahélienne. La situation zoo-sanitaire est stable en cette période de l’année et aucune épizootie majeure n’a été signalée à l’exception des maladies telluriques qui sévissent par endroit.

Snapshot 27 May – 03 June

In Syria, the government military continued its offensive on opposition-controlled Qusayr, a strategic city in Homs province connecting the capital to the Mediterranean coast. Humanitarian agencies expressed alarm over the fate of thousands of civilians still trapped in the city. The UN estimates that over 6.8 million people are in need of humanitarian aid in Syria. While an estimated 5 million people are internally displaced, the number of Syrians registered or awaiting registration in host countries has surpassed 1.6 million.

Following fighting between the government forces and the Islamist group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria in May, UNHCR stated that at least 2,400 people have fled to Niger. Humanitarian agencies reportedly expect more displacement in the coming weeks as fighting is ongoing. On 31 May, President Goodluck Jonathan renewed his offer of amnesty to any Boko Haram’s member ready to surrender on the advice of a peace resolution committee he set up in April.

Sectarian and ethnic strife opposing Muslims and Buddhists in various parts of the country continues to plague Myanmar. On 29 May, fighting reignited in Lashio town in eastern Myanmar where a mosque and an orphanage were torched by mobs roaming the streets. According to OCHA, at least 1,400 people have been displaced by the recent clashes.

Iraq is facing widespread intersectarian strife and is plagued by daily terrorist attacks while the situation in the country is becoming increasingly volatile. According to the UNAMI figures released on 1 June, 1,045 civilians people were killed last month, significantly more than the already high 712 killed in April, making it the deadliest month since June 2008.

Last Updated: 03/06/2013 Next Update: 10/06/2013

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Satisfactory food security situation for very poor households

KEY MESSAGES

• Due to the good 2012/2013 cereal harvest and good off-season crop production levels, very poor and poor households currently have above-average cereal stocks, enabling households to more easily meet their basic food needs. Households in all livelihood zones will experience Minimal/None (IPC Phase 1) acute food insecurity between now and the end of June.

• Between July and September, the normal depletion of food stocks and atypically large price increases will produce Stressed (IPC Phase 2) food security outcomes in certain regions(Western Mayo Kebbi, Eastern Logone, Tandjilé, Western Logone, Kanem, Bahr El Gazal, Eastern Batha, andNorthernGuera).

• In the Sudanian zone, the first reported rainsstarted earlier than normal in March. As a result, there are reports of early, widespread planting activities - which normally start in mid-May - in localized areas of Moyen Chari, Mandoul, and Western Mayo Kebbi.

Au menu:

· L'Union européenne augmente son aide pour les déplacés de Tissi au Tchad (RFI, 18/06/13)

· UNICEF intensifies emergency response for refugees in eastern Chad (UNICEF, 19/06/13)

· Chad: UNHCR Completes Relocation of Thousands of Darfur Refugees to Chad Camp (All Africa, 14/06/13)

· Preparing for floods in West Africa (IRIN, 14/06/13)

· World's poorest will feel brunt of climate change, warns World Bank (Guardian, 19/06/13)

· Life without education doesn’t make sense (CORD, 18/06/13)

· Associer intervention précoce et alerte précoce au Sahel (IRIN, 20/06/13)

1. SUMMARY

Chad continues on its path towards stabilisation and sustainable recovery. Peace dividends such as an improved security environment and political stability have reinforced the country’s status as a host nation for people affected by conflict in neighbouring countries in a region marked by political turmoil.

Around 150,000 Chadian returnees from Libya have arrived in Chad since the beginning of hostilities in Libya in 2011. Sporadic arrivals continue, as reported by IOM, in localities such as Faya-Largeau and areas of difficult humanitarian access in the northern Tibesti region. Following tribal clashes in Darfur, Sudan, a new influx of 30,448 refugees and 20,640 Chadian returnees has arrived at the border town of Tissi in the east of the country, impacting the livelihoods of the local population and requiring a major multi-sectoral emergency rapid response. Additionally, following the deposition of the Central African Republic (CAR) President on 24 March 2013 and the violent activity of rebel groups in that country, a new wave of 7,500 refugees has been integrated into the already existing UNHCRmanaged camps in southern Chad, bringing the total amount of CAR refugees present in Chad to 69,889. More than 1,000 Chadian returnees fleeing the same crisis in CAR have also arrived in Tissi. The situation of 90,000 IDPs and 91,000 former IDPs who have been relocated or reintegrated into local communities continues is still a serious concern considering their lack of access to minimum basic social services. Military raids against armed groups in northern Nigeria have caused an influx of more than 1,500 returnees and are likely to cause further cross-border displacement in the Lake Chad region.

Despite agricultural production of 3.1 million tons of cereals in the 2012/13 season—an increase of 54% of the five-year average—2.1 million people remain food-insecure in Chad, including 1.2 million people at risk of extreme food insecurity. This situation is mainly due to the debt that families have accumulated over consecutive crises and to higher global food prices in 2013.

Vulnerable communities still require assistance to protect their livelihoods and build resilience to face future recurrent environmental shocks.

Following a yellow fever outbreak in eastern Chad, the Ministry of Public Health, with the support of the Health cluster and other humanitarian partners, mobilized a major vaccination campaign for 872,919 people between February and March 2013. As the rainy season approaches, activities related to the prevention, preparedness and response to possible epidemics of cholera and other waterborne diseases are being accelerated. The reinforcement of contingency stocks of WASH and health items remains a priority to ensure rapid response.

As is often the case in situations of massive displacement like the on-going crisis in Tissi, girls and boys are particularly affected by the disruption of their school year and it is a challenge for them to integrate into different educational systems and curricula. As the prospect of continued and irregular displacement from Nigeria, Libya, CAR and Sudan towards Chad remains high, education in emergencies will play a key role in ensuring that the basic needs of children affected by conflict are covered.

This is the first review of the 2013-2015 humanitarian strategy aiming to address the immediate life-saving needs of people affected by disasters while improving their resilience to face future shocks, in synergy with national development priorities and ensuring conflict sensitivity in emergency programming. With little change in the situation and needs in the last six months, programming and funding requests are similarly little changed after this mid-year review.

As of 21 June 2013, the 2013+ Chad Consolidated Appeal has received US$185 million4 (36% of the required funding). Some sectors remain largely underfunded, including Education, Protection,
Early Recovery, Health and WASH. The revised consolidated appeal identifies as priorities the humanitarian needs in WASH, Health and multi-sectoral support to refugees, returnees and other populations affected by displacement. Education in emergencies, child protection and genderbased violence issues are addressed here. Balanced funding among sectors remains essential to enable complementarity and support a comprehensive response.

To achieve the strategic objectives outlined in this appeal, 9 UN Agencies, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and 25 NGOs in consultation with the Government of Chad and local actors are appealing for $510 million.

1. Summary

NEEDS REMAIN HIGH

Food security and nutrition in the Sahel have improved somewhat since the acute crisis in 2012, following better rains and harvests. However, the effects of the recent crisis are not so quickly erased.

Assessments, trend analysis and price monitoring in 2013 suggest that the food security and nutritional situation remains precarious for the most vulnerable and crisis affected populations in the Sahel. Over 11 million people across the region continue to live in food insecurity. Five million children under five and pregnant or lactating women remain at risk of acute malnutrition, particularly in high risk areas such as Northern Mali and among Malian refugees in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger. Cereal prices remain very high: in some areas as high as 50 per cent more than the five year average.

As crises in the Sahel become more frequent, families are forced to increasingly adopt negative coping strategies to deal with the stresses. For example children are taken out of school, less quality food or seeds are consumed and animals are killed for sale that might have been intended for reproduction. These negative coping strategies have long-term consequences which cannot be reversed with one good harvest.

Conflict and insecurity continue to affect several Sahel countries, negatively impacting market trade and the access to and the quality of basic services. Moreover, one million people remain displaced, as internally displaced or refugees, living in camps or with host communities.
Furthermore, ahead of the approaching the rainy season, activities related to the prevention, preparedness and response to possible floods and epidemics of cholera and other waterborne diseases now need to be accelerated.

FOCUS ON REGIONAL COHERENCE

The 2013 Sahel Strategy provides a summary of humanitarian needs, as articulated in the consolidated appeals (CAPs) of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger and in the humanitarian strategies of Cameroon, The Gambia, Nigeria and Senegal. The strategy aims to present a common approach that includes: a shared regional situation analysis, common regional strategic goals and objectives, and performance indicators and systematic monitoring that provides evidence-based needs and gaps analysis.

At mid-year, the objective of the original 2013 Sahel Strategy remain valid: to respond to the ‘triple crisis’ currently affecting the Sahel: i) the continued humanitarian impact of acute food security and nutrition crisis of 2012; ii) the underlying chronic nature of food insecurity, malnutrition and the erosion of resilience in the region; and iii) the on-going current Mali crisis, which has resulted in the significant displacement of IDPs within the country and an exodus of refugees to neighbouring countries.

ADDITIONAL AND MORE BALACED FUNDING IS NEEDED

As of 30 June, activities covered by the 2013 Sahel Strategy have received US$1 607 million.
Several sectors remain largely underfunded, including Education, Agriculture under food Security,
Health, Protection and WASH. Balanced funding among sectors remains essential to enable complementarity and to support a comprehensive response.

Following the mid-year review, requirements have been revised to $1.72 billion, leaving $1.1 billion to be raised for 2013.

0 . MAJOR CHANGES SINCE PREVIOUS VERSION OF THE HIP

Following a thorough assessment of the proposals received, the proposed selection, based on compliance with our strategy and quality of proposals, implies a shift between the two budget lines. A reinforcement of the humanitarian budget line associated with a decrease of the food aid budget line is required. This is partly explained by the fact that a significant number of projects are multi-sectoral and can therefore not be considered under the food aid budget line.

Changes introduced with the HIP modification n°1 dated 07/06/2013

The level of food insecurity of the most vulnerable households in the Sahel is of great concern with the situation expected to deteriorate over the coming months as the lean season approaches and the spillover of the crisis in Mali and continuing instability in northern Nigeria. Prices of staple foods are already very high in northern Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso and are eroding the purchasing power of the poorest. Prices of millet in Niamey and Maradi are 34 and 53% above the five year average respectively. This is abnormal in a year of good production. This can be partly explained by the replenishment of the national reserves and by pressure on cereal markets from neighboring Nigeria whose markets play a critical role in supplying other markets across the region.

A recent evaluation in Nigeria has shown that the damage caused by severe flooding (July-October 2012) is more severe than initially expected, thus reducing the availability of food at regional level and limiting capacities to export food to neighboring Sahel countries. Cereal production in Nigeria is estimated to be 26% below the five year average. Considering that Nigeria is the main supplier of cereal in the West Africa region, this shortfall considerably reduces the positive impact of good harvests in most other Sahel countries. According to Dispositif Régional de Prévention et de Gestion des Crises Alimentaires (PREGEC) consolidated data (March 2013), cereal production in the region is only 1% above the five year average while the population keeps increasing and hence also the demand for cereal.

Niger and Chad are likely to bear the brunt of this disruption as they depend heavily on cereal imports from Nigeria. With operations to replenish national stocks and seasonal trends, prices are only expected to rise. This is of great concern as the poorest people in the Sahel are dependent on food purchases in local markets to survive. As well as struggling to access staple foods, the level of debt among the poorest - a carryover of the 2012 crisis - is reported to be particularly high. For example in Burkina Faso, it is estimated that 40% of households are highly indebted. It is also evident that the conflict in Mali, regular terrorist attacks in northern Nigeria and the overall climate of insecurity are reducing economic activities and therefore day labour opportunities in many parts of the region and further aggravating the socio-economic difficulties of the most vulnerable populations, already weakened by repeated food crisis.

According to available data and some estimates (Nigeria), more than 15 million of people are food insecure of which 7.6 million are in need of emergency food assistance. These figures could increase dramatically as a function of the evolution of the situation in northern Nigeria which needs to be monitored very closely.

The nutrition situation remains alarming across the region. Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) rates surpass emergency thresholds in the Sahel band of Chad, in four regions of Niger, in Sokoto State in Nigeria, in the south east of Mauritania and in north east of Senegal. In 2012, a record number of children (926,880 under five years of age) suffering from SAM were treated in nutrition therapeutic centres as a consequence of the considerable scale up in 2012 of humanitarian aid operations in the Sahel. This is the highest caseload of SAM children worldwide being treated.

For 2013, UNICEF is warning that 1.42 million children under five will probably suffer from severe acute malnutrition when 1.08 million children are targeted for treatment in nutrition therapeutic programmes. The scale up of such interventions remains a challenge in Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Burkina Faso, northern Nigeria and northern Cameroon.

In the first months of 2013, the number of SAM children treated in therapeutic centres is 20% above the number treated at the same time last year and 52% above the number of children treated in 2011 at the same period. In Burkina Faso and Mali, the increase of admissions (respectively 39% and 102%) can be explained by the scaling up of nutrition activities but in Niger where humanitarian agencies have been active for several years the increase is a signal of alarm.

Based on the above reported needs, DG ECHO has decided to allocate an additional 43 MEUR under this HIP to meet outstanding needs described above.

Stable food security, localized Stress in the southwest

KEY MESSAGES

• With the green harvest, normal milk availability, and income from farm labor, most of the population is able to meet basic food consumption needs and are facing Minimal food insecurity (IPC Phase 1).

• Food security in Logone Oriental, Tandjilé, Logone Occidental, and Mayo Kebbi Ouest is still Stressed (IPC Phase 2), where seasonal cereal prices are above the five-year average and household cereal stocks were depleted one to two months earlier than usual following floods in 2012.

• The expected average October harvests will enable households to more easily meet their food needs between October and December. Normal supplies of milk and market garden produce diversify household food and income during this period. By October, acute food insecurity will be Minimal (IPC Phase 1) country-wide.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

• The overall situation in the Sahel has improved since the food insecurity and acute malnutrition crisis in 2011/2012, with the majority of households across the region experiencing stable food security conditions in 2013, according to the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). Nonetheless, pockets of food insecurity and acute malnutrition persisted during the year, and the U.N. estimated that approximately 11 million people throughout the Sahel remained food-insecure.

• In 2013, sporadic insecurity flared across the Sahel, particularly in Mali and Nigeria. In northern Nigeria, escalating violence since May has displaced thousands and negatively impacted regional markets. In Mali, however, the situation has improved significantly after nearly 20 months of instability, although incidents of violence continue in the north.

• To aid more than 3 million food-insecure and conflict-affected people in the Sahel, the U.S. Government (USG) provided approximately $231 million in humanitarian assistance in FY 2013. USG support included cash transfers, food distributions, and agricultural, nutritional, and livelihoods activities, as well as assistance for displaced populations.

In Syria, fighting has intensified in October with the Government gaining control of strategic areas around Damascus and south of Aleppo. Meanwhile, while the number of Syrian refugees has reached almost 2.2 million people, parties to the conflict and international actors are increasingly focused on the Geneva II conference scheduled to take place in November after having been postponed several times. Although the Syrian National Council has not yet made a decision on its participation to the peace talks, several armed groups fighting the Government have already publicly rejected the idea of travelling to Geneva. Meanwhile in mid-October, WHO confirmed 10 cases of wild poliovirus out of 22 suspected cases detected since the beginning of the month in Deir-ez-Zor governorate. This is the first outbreak of polio in the country since 1999.

In Nigeria, heavy fighting continues between the Government troops and Boko Haram Islamist insurgents, focusing on the northeastern border states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. According to an interagency assessment conducted in September, an estimated 5.9 million people, including 3 million women and children, were severely affected by the conflict across seven states. Borno state is reportedly the most affected area with over 4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

A major political crisis is growing in Bangladesh with violent protests escalating since 25 October. Throughout the country, street battles have left at least 16 dead and over 500 people injured. Thousands of supporters of the authorities clashed with the opposition, which is demanding the resignation of the prime minister and the establishment of a caretaker government until the general elections in January 2014.

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Updated: 29/10/2013 Next Update: 5/11/2013

This report covers the period 1 January to 31 December 2013.

Overview

The Chad country office representation despite beginning the year 2013 with a financial deficit and no commitment from donors for funding, supported the Red Cross Society of Chad (RCSC) to deliver humanitarian assistance to persons affected by the various disaster during the year including floods, population movements and food insecurity. The main activities implemented during the year include continued provision of assistance persons affected by flooding in the south of the country, continuation of food security activities as well as response to a new influx of refugees in the east and continuation of the second phase of the community resilience aimed at improving the living conditions of refugees in the camps.

The notable achievements are:

• Extension of the Floods Emergency Appeal which made it possible to distribute non-food items to up to 3,160 persons in 12 target areas in the region of May Kebbi Est. Through this operation, a total of 200 flood affected families in the outskirts of Bongor were provided with semi-durable shelters and latrines.

• Through the Food Insecurity response operation, long-term activities such as the distribution of agricultural tools and materials, construction of hand operated water pumps and cash voucher distributions were implemented. A total of 80 local initiatives have benefitted from the distribution of agricultural tools, materials and motor pumps enabling them to launch off-season cultural activities in marshland areas. Income-generating activities for local initiatives composed mainly of women were ensured through the distribution of mills. A total 10 local benefitted from cash vouchers distribution to support boosting their income-generating activities.

• In early February 2013, armed conflicts erupted between two Sudanese tribes living in an area near the Chadian border leading to an influx of 30,000 refugees and 20,000 Chadian returnees into the eastern region of Sila. The Red Cross Society of Chad and the IFRC country office responded with the support of the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to assist 1,200 families for three months. The DREF allocation enabled the construction of emergency latrines, NFIs distribution and training volunteers for mass sensitization campaigns. An Emergency Appeal was subsequently launched to further support the National Society to provide NFIs such as mosquito nets, jerry cans and soap to 3,000 families as well as provide basic shelter to identified most vulnerable families.

• The second phase of the community resilience project funded by the Finnish RC was kicked off with a six months delay due to late arrival of funds. In November 2013, the NS distributed livestock to identified vulnerable families, provided the water and sanitation sector with working material as well supporting families with the construction of their own latrines. In addition, the Finnish RC procured and