UNJLC Bulletin Contents

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1. HIGHLIGHTS

2. GENERAL

3. DARFUR SECURITY / ACCESS

4. DARFUR COMMON NFI PIPELINE

5. SURFACE TRANSPORT-North and Darfur

6. AIR OPERATIONS-North

7. FUEL

8. LOGISTICS ASSESSMENTS

9. SOUTHERN SUDAN

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1. HIGHLIGHTS

Ramadan: The pace of logistics operations is expected to slow down during the Ramadan period.

CARE to stop common transport services in and to Darfur:  Due to lack of funding, CARE will stop the common transport service in support of the humanitarian community as of 15 October 2005.  Transports services for the NFI Common Pipeline will remain unaffected.

UNJLC opens office in Juba: UNJLC has just recently opened an office in Juba following the UN wide agreement that all agencies be present in Juba by the end of October.

Recommencement of NFI flights to the Darfurs: UNHAS has confirmed receipt of funding from USAID/OFDA necessary for the recommencement of a dedicated NFI air freight service.

Darfur Security: The past month of September bore witness to a series of security incidents in Darfur, with widespread violence against villages, commercial and humanitarian convoys as well as IDP camps.  This rendered the work of the humanitarian agencies and NGOs in the area difficult. In some cases, they were forced to suspend their activities.

 2. GENERAL

UNJLC Bulletin: The format of UNJLC bulletin has been revamped into a more user-friendly format for email circulation within Sudan however it will continue to be posted on the UNJLC website www.unjlc.org

Ramadan starts on 4 October and is expected to finish on 2 November.   During this period, logistics operations will slow down.  Port Sudan is now operating on 2 shifts instead of the normal 3 shifts of 8 hours.  Customs offices are still maintaining their regular working hours from 08:00 to 15:00, but are operating on reduced staffing level.  The transit time of cargo between Port Sudan and Khartoum will increase from the normal 2-3 days to 4 days as truck drivers stop more often during the way to rest.

Work Plan (WP) 2006 Submissions: UNJLC submitted two main objectives for the 2006 WP, a national logistics-oriented objective and NFI CP objectives for the eight regional planning areas.

The national logistics objective is to facilitate effective coordination and de-confliction of humanitarian logistics operations, logistics information management, and provide an effective operational/logistics level Civil-Military Coordination linkage between the UNMIS and the Humanitarian Community and to facilitate common logistics services.

The NFI objectives vary according to the region of planned operations. For South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Abyie, a NFI CP is being proposed by UNJLC, OCHA, CARE, UNHCR and UNICEF to support returning IDPs. For the East, Khartoum and Northern states, the proposal is to pre-position emergency buffer stocks of NFI to cover needs of vulnerable owing to natural disasters and refugee returnees.  UNJLC will assist in the set-up of these mechanisms, if approved by the UNCT.

The 2006 NFI CP operations will procure, transport and distribute the NFI basket as a pre-packaged kit. It is anticipated that this will streamline NFI CP operations and assist in facilitating a UNJLC NFI CP exit strategy.

3. DARFUR SECURITY / ACCESS

North Darfur: A series of attacks on 21 villages southwest of El Fasher, in the region south of Tawila and northwest of Tabit, were reported during the month of September causing the displacement of large numbers of people. Rapid inter-agency assessments place the figure of newly displaced people who have entered neighbouring IDP camps at around 12,000 beneficiaries. 1,100 households (HH) of newly displaced people have arrived in Zamzam Camp, 419 HH to Dali Camp and 400 HH to Shangil Tobayi. Although no attacks took place in Tawila town itself, many residents have fled into the countryside due to insecurity in the region. Their current locations remain unknown.

South Darfur: During the month of September fighting and coordinated offensive operations between armed militia have been reported north of Nyala in Manawashei, Manal and Shearia.   AMIS troops are closely monitoring the situation in Kabkabiya, Rokiro, Golo and Nertiti where increased activities of bands of militias are reported. Operations in Golo, which is located in the Jebel Marra, are currently being supported by CARE surface transport from El Fasher. Alternative access routes to Golo from Nyala and Geneina are currently blocked owing to the insecurity in the region.

West Darfur: The majority of agency operations have been suspended in and around El Geneina due to increased reports of insecurity and direct attacks on the humanitarian community. Many compounds have reported security breaches and agencies are currently bolstering their physical boundaries in attempts to quell repeated burglary attempts. UNHAS/UNJLC has assisted in the rapid dispatch of security items, such as barbed wire, to assist agencies without which would be considering withdrawing their personnel and ceasing operations. All transport routes surrounding El Geneina are reported to be NO GO unless convoys are accompanied by AU escorts.  

4. DARFUR COMMON NFI PIPELINE

UNJLC continues to coordinate the Darfur NFI CP:  Despite wanting to hand-over NFI common pipeline coordinating role to another UN agency by mid 2005, UNJLC continues the overall coordination with support from OCHA.  UNICEF remains as the appealing and procuring agency while CARE provides the transport and storage.  An NFI advisory panel was set-up to improve programmatic input into the NFI sector.  Members of the Advisory panel include senior programme staff of UNHCR, UNICEF, OCHA and WHO.

240 day plan review:  Distribution targets were reviewed for the NFI sector.  Planning assumptions for this period were: 1) To target 75% IDP’s ideally prior to the rainy season with NFI’s , 2) Planning figures were 333,333 households for a total population of 1.5 million.  The following table shows the NFI coverage from 1 January to 31 August.  The data below includes other NGO pipeline distribution figures (OP)

240-day Review of NFI sector (Jan-Aug cumulative)

*OP-Other pipeline data may be incomplete as this data depends upon NGOs reporting on their distribution

** some states were only distributing 2 blankets as part of the basket-coverage would 94%

*** soap ration changed to 1.5kg/HH/month in June 2005 from 1kg/HH/month

NFI distributions to Newly Displaced in North Darfur: Most NGOs and INGOs operating in camps surrounding Tawila have suspended operations and evacuated staff due to the volatile insecurity in the region. Prior to evacuation, distribution of NFIs were completed by: Spanish Red Cross to 1,190 HH of newly displaced persons in Zamzam Camp; Relief International to 419 HH in Dali Camp; and by Oxfam to 400 HH in Shangil Tobayi.

NFI CP September-December 2005:  UNJLC requested all implementing partners of the NFI CP to submit their anticipated needs until year’s end. This data was analysed with current stock figures and stocks anticipated to arrive in the CP prior to the end of 2005. Stock allocation plans for the remaining months of 2005 are complete. Shortfalls are anticipated for the all items, excluding sanitary materials (owing to their late arrival in the CP).     

Common Pipeline Stock Position:

5. SURFACE TRANSPORT-North and Darfur

Commercial traffic continues to operate throughout the Darfurs despite the raise in reported incidents of banditry, attacks and hijacking. Delays are being experienced owing to insecurity and continued difficulty crossing seasonal wadis. Current transit times reported by CARE from El Obeid to the three state capitals are as follows: 8-12 days to El Fasher, 10-14 days to Nyala and 15-21 days to El Geneina.

CARE Surface Transport: For the months of August and September, CARE transported approximately 2,087 MT with their NFI surface transport service. Approximately 25% of total cargo moved was NFI CP cargo, with the remaining 75% being other agencies’ cargo.

Change in CARE’s Common Transport Service:  CARE, as the designated service provider for common pipeline NFI logistics in Darfur, had some spare capacity and had extended the surface transport facility free of charge to all the agencies working in Darfur for non-common pipeline items. It turned out to be a very popular service amongst the user community. However, the CARE service carried more than anticipated loads, especially when NFI air service was suspended. Consequently, this had a bearing on its fund availability and CARE is faced with a situation where it can no longer provide the surface transport facility for non-common pipeline items. While CARE will continue to provide services for the common pipeline items, surface transport facility for non-common pipeline items will not be available effective 15 October 2005. All agencies are hereby requested to make their own arrangements from 15 October onwards.

6. AIR OPERATIONS-North

Cargo Services

Recommencement of NFI flights to the Darfurs: UNHAS has confirmed receipt of funding from USAID/OFDA necessary for the recommencement of a dedicated NFI airfreight service. The initial flight serviced the three Darfur state capitals on 17 September. UNHAS/UNJLC and the NFI User Group decided that initial recommencement of flights should consist of one scheduled flight per week to one or more of the Darfur state capitals. The flight's Darfur destination(s) shall be determined depending on demand and the prioritization of cargo movement requests. Flights shall be scheduled to depart every Monday. Cargo Movement Requests (CMRs) are to be submitted to the UNJLC Khartoum e-mail address no later than c.o.b the prior Wednesday.

The following table demonstrates the amount of NFI cargo moved since the beginning of NFI flights in August 2004 to date, organised by HAS in support of the humanitarian community in Darfur, and in coordination with UNJLC and the User Group that sets the cargo priorities.

UNMIS: UNJLC has requested an UNMIS representative to attend the next NFI/Logistics meeting to share information on UNMIS logistics plans and air capacity.

UNMIS Fasher:  UNMIS, in consultation with UNJLC, has agreed to offer a small package transport service on space available basis for airlift from El Fasher to the other Darfur state capitals. Packages may not exceed 300kgs. In case of an emergency, an UNMIS helicopter is available for transport of medical supplies and agency personnel within the Darfur states.   

HAS Passenger Service North - Nominal Cost Contribution to flights:  Taking effect 1 October 2005, a nominal charge on all WFP HAS passenger flights is to be levied. Introduction of this charge will enable WFP HAS to illustrate improved cost effectiveness to donors and extend the life of the project; it will also encourage agencies to ensure better planning of personnel movements and reduce the no-shows to flights.

US$100 is to be levied on all eligible agencies for travel on WFP HAS fixed wing flights and US$40 on helicopters. Readers may view the WFP HAS memo and an accompanying document explaining payment mechanisms and guidelines on the UNJLC website www.unjlc.org under the Sudan tab.

HAS Assets:  A fourth helicopter to the UNHAS fleet arrived in Khartoum on 29 September. It will undergo Sudan Civil Aviation procedures before being positioned in El Geneina.

An additional Caravan airplane based in Nyala will cover passenger transportation between Nyala and Zaleingei and Ed Dein. It will assist in alleviating current demands on the helicopter schedules in the region.

Sudan Airways: Commencing 1 October, Sudan Airways will resume flights for the routes Khartoum-Entebbe-Nairobi-Khartoum (every Saturday) and Khartoum-Juba-Nairobi-Juba-Khartoum (every Wednesday).

7. FUEL

Fuel Prices in Northern Sudan

All prices in Sudanese Dinar (unless otherwise stated) per Imperial Gallon / Litre. NB: 1 IG = 4.546Litres. One US$ is approximately SDD250 .Fuel is not sold by the litre in El Fasher.

Jet A1: Shortages in jet fuel supplies into El Obeid and Khartoum continued to hamper WFP's air operations during August and September. Coinciding with the onset of the rainy season and increased requirements to move food and non-food commodities into the Darfurs the shortages imposed serious constraints on all humanitarian operations. The shortage was largely a result of planning of import requirements to cover the period of closure, the receipt of imported Jet A-1 that was below specification, delays in reversing the export oil pipeline to enable it to carry the import fuel to Khartoum and a lack of tanker truck capacity to transport the fuel from Port Sudan.

In an effort to improve the situation, WFP approached the Sudan Petroleum Company to increase allocations of WFP's two jet fuel suppliers so that they adequately meet WFP's requirements. As at October the Jet A1 fuel supply has stabilized. (Source: WFP)

Diesel Fuel:  Severe diesel shortages were experienced in Khartoum and throughout Northern Sudan during August to mid-September owing to the Khartoum and El Obeid refineries annual maintenance closures. The government was required to import fuel during this period to meet the country’s diesel requirements, which have increased nation wide over the previous year and will continue to increase. Other influencing constraints upon diesel availability include inadequate fuel transport capacity from Port Sudan to cope with transportation of imported fuels and in the Darfurs the deterioration of the security situation shall continue to affect supply.

As a reaction to shortages experienced in Khartoum, the Khartoum State Ministry of Finance and Economy-Directorate of Transport and Petrol employed a restriction on buying bulk diesel.  Guidelines were posted on the UNJLC website for agencies to obtain a waiver to bulk buying restrictions, which were lifted with the re-opening of the Khartoum refinery on 10 September and El Obeid refinery on 15 September.

Although diesel supply has started to regularise throughout Northern Sudan, the UNCT have asked UNJLC to look at solutions to avoid further problems of diesel supply to UN agencies.  This work is ongoing and decision from the UNCT will be shared in the next bulletin.

8. LOGISTICS ASSESSMENTS

Fuel Assessment Sudan: An independent report submitted to UNJLC outlines recent events and issues surrounding the current fuel shortages experienced in Sudan with recommendations to the humanitarian community. The full report can be found on the UNJLC website under the Sudan link.

THW is scheduled to open a workshop in the coming months in El Geneina. They have acquired a venue for the workshop and three international personnel left El Fasher bound for El Geneina on 25 September. UNJLC/CARE is facilitating the transportation of THW materials from El Fasher to El Geneina.

9. SOUTHERN SUDAN

UNJLC has opened an office in Juba during September 2005 at the request of the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator-South to support the UNCT-South on logistics issues and information.

UNJLC Logistics Services: UNJLC South Sudan has collected information on the availability of accommodation in Juba, which is now posted on our website and is titled "Snapshot – Accommodation in Juba, Sudan."  

UNJLC Juba office is also, on behalf of the Ministry of Housing and Utilities, in the process of preparing and printing both application forms and procedure forms which will facilitate requests for the use of government lands and buildings in Equatoria State.  These forms should be available for distribution to the government and to the humanitarian community shortly. 

Juba office is also in the process of gathering similar information from local solicitors and land agents for the acquisition and use of privately held land and buildings.  UNJLC in Juba has also produced a DRAFT Snapshot on Humanitarian air services, serving south Sudan.  This product will be placed on the UNJLC website shortly.   A similar product is also being prepared for commercial air carriers.  UNJLC Juba is also attempting to produce a map of Juba city and surrounding area to assist with the planning by government and humanitarian organisations.

NFI: UNJLC has undertaken an assessment and are developing recommendations, including information on storage areas and logistical hubs for an NFI common pipeline (as was operated in Darfur) in the South and Transitional areas. This assessment is being conducted to see how better and more efficiently NFIs can be supported for the spontaneous returns to the South and Transitional areas. The context of the South Sudan is quite different to the Darfurs. Also, the current NFI systems and infrastructure, which already exist in the South, are also being factored in. The concept paper with planning assumptions and recommendations will be submitted within the coming weeks.