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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 and participation from partner agencies and donors. In order to launch the second two year phase of the ENN Fiona O'Reilly visited Nairobi to meet many of the agencies working in East Africa. This was an interesting and useful trip in that it brought more agencies and personnel into the network while informing the ENN about the types of emergency programme currently being implemented in the region. More field trips will be undertaken in future. We would like to thank all those who took time out of busy schedules to talk with Fiona about your projects and will be following up with many of you to encourage your contributions to Field Exchange on project experience.

This edition of field exchange highlights the southern Sudan 1998 crisis. David Keene provides an historical and political analysis of events leading up to the southern Sudan crisis. Paul Murphy and Peter Salama wrote an overview of the crisis and resulting interventions focusing in particular on the difficulties around co-ordinating the humanitarian response. There is also an article about the inattention to providing emergency selective feeding programmes specifically for severely malnourished adolescents and adults in southern Sudan The authors, Steve Collins and Peter Salama, analyse why there is a history of neglecting the specific nutritional needs of this demographic group during acute emergencies. Another field article by Cassandra Chapman describes the evolution of general ration distribution methods in southern Sudan and the gradual, and generally successful move towards targeting general rations to women.

Our research section includes the SCF vulnerability study in southern Sudan which gives us a better understanding on how the Dinka themselves define vulnerability and the implications for targeting food aid resources - a perennially difficult issue in the context of southern Sudan. This study, in line with another piece by Kay Sharpe on targeting experiences in Ethiopa also included in this edition of Field Exchange, pragmatically advocates selftargeting within communities but area selection by 'objective' outsiders. Caroline Gullick writes about the importance of wild foods and addresses head on what she sees as many of the myths and stigmas associated with these foods. She also provided the wild food photos for which we added colour inside pages to Field Exchange in order to do them justice.

We have two evaluation pieces in this edition. The first is the SRRA-OLS Task Force Review of the southern Sudan intervention while the second is a WFP Nutrition Assessment which focuses on the nutritional adequacy of the emergency food aid ration allocated during this emergency.

Our two agency profiles are on agencies working in southern Sudan - SUPRAID and SRRA.

Finally, although the vast majority of this edition of Field Exchange is connected with southern Sudan, there are some un-related pieces. For example, we have an article by Tracy McGhee on SCF's response to the recent floods in Bangladesh where the experience of mounting a response through local partners is highlighted. Another article by Lourdes Vasquez examines the MSF Spain strategy of prioritising selective feeding programmes in Mandera, north east Kenya. The author asserts that the area has been in the grip of a chronic multi-causal nutritional emergency for a number of years and that nutritional security cannot be addressed through feeding programmes alone. Implications for emergency feeding guidelines are clearly spelt out. Enjoy this issue of Field Exchange and look out for yourself on the back page. Once again thanks to all who facilitated me (Fiona) in Nairobi.

Looking forward to reactions and correspondence on this issue. Pictures always welcome. If you write do send a picture of either yourself or something to do with your article.

Editors,
Fiona O'Reilly
Jeremy Shoham

Reference this page

Fiona O’Reilly and Jeremy Shoham (). Issue 06 Editorial. Field Exchange 6, February 1999. p1. www.ennonline.net/fex/6/fromtheeditor

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