Menu ENN Search

Bahr-el-Ghazal Nutritionists Meet

Nutritionists from six NGOs working in Bahr-El-Ghazal, South Sudan, met in Lokichoggio in August 1998 to act on their mounting concern over the management of nutrition responses to the current crisis. Signatories to the resulting document (20/8/98) recognised the substantial efforts already made by agencies to address the crisis. In particular, the quantity and quality of the WFP general ration had improved and distributions were now better organised, while the UNICEF supported measles campaign has reduced mortality risk among the malnourished. The nutritionists also identified room for improvement in the OLS (Operation Lifeline Sudan) operations in Bahr-el-Ghazal in the following areas:

General food distribution

In spite of improvements in the general ration there was still a need to plug food gaps until the next harvest at the end of the year and maybe even longer in some areas. Furthermore, general ration targeting needed to be both refined and informed by food economy data and information from NGOs

Selective feeding programming

Concern was expressed regarding nutritional needs assessment methodologies and the way in which data are being used. Though recognising that it is difficult to conduct standard nutritional surveys in the state, the group nevertheless found worrying the use of the UNICEF/OLS planning figures based on nutritional data of varying reliability on self selected populations at unrepresentative sites.

The following methodologies and activities were considered unacceptable by participants:

As the pattern of malnutrition was believed to be uneven the group urged that the response should be flexible. Instead of implementing selective feeding programmes for 38,000 people at pre-identified sites, participants recommended that OLS:

Feeding programmes

Standard reporting to an OLS focal point on process and outcome indicators of each feeding programme was recommended, so that the progress of all feeding interventions could be monitored in a standardised manner. Also, before on-site supplementary feeding is undertaken fully adequate sanitation, water, and hygiene precautions should be assured.

Exit strategies

It was recommended that prior to the harvest late this year, discussions should be held with local farmers, herders, fishers, traders, administrators and other locals on how best to phase out feeding programmes, and how to establish local emergency preparedness. In September, the OLS monthly Emergency Nutrition Co-ordination Meeting, usually held in Nairobi, met in Lokichoggio instead, 21/9/98. In addition to addressing the above concerns expressed by the nutritionists, participants also established a task force to review and make recommendations on nutrition programme quality in South Sudan, following up one of the recommendations of a recent OLS/SPLA Targeting and Vulnerability Task Force. We will include reports of these activities in the next issue of RNN.

More information contact: Judith Appleton,
Senior Nutritionist, Oxfam, 274 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DZ, England.
E-mail: jappleton@oxfam.org.uk

More like this

FEX: Co-ordinating a Humanitarian Response in Sudan

A man unloading a sack of 'Super Unimix' - a protein-rich nutritional supplement - supplied by UNICEF, from a World Food Programme plane. Paul Murphy, Regional Policy Adviser,...

FEX: An Ongoing Omission: Adolescent and Adult Malnutrition in Famine Situations

By Peter Salama and Steve Collins. (December '98) A boy sits under a tree awaiting a distribution by the UN World Food Programme in the southern village Acum Cum. The food is...

FEX: CTC from Scratch - Tear Fund in South Sudan (Special Supplement 2)

By Ed Walker (Tearfund) Beneficiaries collecting their general ration in South Sudan. Tearfund has been working in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, southern Sudan, in the nutrition...

FEX: Task Force Review

Summary of a Report by SPLM/SRRA-OLS Bahr el Ghazal Displaced people arriving from Wau In response to the humanitarian crisis which unfolded in Bahr El Ghazal (BEG) last...

FEX: How many Hok does a poor man have?

By Anna Shotton Anna Shotton is the Reports Officer and Gender Focal Point on the WFP Southern Sudan Programme. In the past year, she has produced a range of materials on...

FEX: WFP Assessment Mission

Children Posing next to a flag made out of the sacks used by WFP to drop food in Koch, upper Nile A three month assessment mission to Bahr El Gazal Region in Southern Sudan...

FEX: CTC in South Sudan - A Comparison of Agency Approaches and the Dilemmas Involved (Special Supplement 2)

Tanya Khara (Valid International), Jennifer Martin (Concern Worldwide), Ed Walker (Tearfund) Introduction In 2003 both Concern Worldwide and Tearfund asked Valid...

FEX: Food Preparation an Obstacle to Education

This article is written by Betty Kidan Muni who is a field officer working for SCF with women's groups in south Sudan*. Background Betty Kidan (author of the article)...

FEX: WFP Southern Sector OLS Monthly Report January 1999

Highlights During January 1999, WFP provided 7,099 MT of relief food to 1,050,310 targeted beneficiaries in Southern Sector OLS. The tonnage distributed represents a 23%...

FEX: OLS Review

Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) is a political and organisational arrangement which allows humanitarian assistance to reach war-affected populations. It was established in 1988....

FEX: A fragile situation in Sudan: review of the 2001 nutritional situation

By Mutinta Nseluke-Hambayi Mutinta Nseluke-Hambayi is a nutritionist who has been working as a Nutrition Emergency Officer for the past 3 years, supporting all WFP emergency...

FEX: Addressing chronic malnutrition in South Sudan

Summary of technical paper1 A dry season waterpoint in Koch, South Sudan CARE South Sudan have recently conducted an analysis of nine years of nutrition data provided by...

FEX: References for Special Supplement 1

Women selling food in South Sudan AbuSaleh A, 1993. Cost effectiveness of feeding programs in Hartisheik A camp, for Somali refugees, Ethiopia 1988-1989. Unpublished report...

FEX: Advocacy from Eritrea: working with WFP

By Hassan Taifour Hassan Taifour is the Emergency Response Nutritionist for SC(UK). He graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum in 1985 and completed...

FEX: Technical and Management issues within CTC (Special Supplement 2)

4.1 CTC from Scratch - Tear Fund in South Sudan By Ed Walker (Tearfund) Beneficiaries collecting their general ration in South Sudan. Tearfund has been working in Northern...

FEX: Issue 06 Editorial

Dear Readers, This issue of field exchange heralds the second phase of the ENN. Our first two years appear to have been sufficiently successful to prompt continued support...

FEX: Summary of the Meeting of the Working Group on Nutrition in Emergencies

by Annalies Borrel The 26th ACC/SCN meeting was held from the 8th to 15th of April in Geneva. The Working Group on Nutrition in Emergencies, made up of NGO, bilateral and UN...

FEX: Participation by the Affected Population in Relief Operations

Draft report for ALNAP At its fourth meeting in October 1998, The ALNAP (the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Assistance) noted that a...

en-net: Concern seeking consultant to evaluate South Sudan nutrition programme

Draft Terms of Reference for post project Evaluation of ECHO supported ‘Provision of Effective and Integrated Nutrition Care for Children Under Five Years’ project in Aweil...

FEX: The right to nutrition

Summary of unpublished paper Urban Jonsson, (the UNICEF regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa) presented a paper on 'The Right to Nutritional Status in Conflict...

Close

Reference this page

Bahr-el-Ghazal Nutritionists Meet. Field Exchange 5, October 1998. p14. www.ennonline.net/fex/5/bahr

(ENN_3360)

Close

Download to a citation manager

The below files can be imported into your preferred reference management tool, most tools will allow you to manually import the RIS file. Endnote may required a specific filter file to be used.