FREETOWN, June 13 2018 - Sierra Leone has become the latest country to join the Global Quality of Care Network, which aims to ensure that every pregnant woman, newborn and child can receive quality healthcare, and to halve maternal and newborn deaths in targeted health facilities within five years.

Sierra Leone continues to experience high rates of child and maternal deaths, and strengthening quality alongside access to healthcare at all stages of the lifecycle, including adolescence, pregnancy, deliveries and the early childhood years, will be critical for saving lives.

To implement the ambitious Quality of Care agenda in Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation is in the process of establishing a dedicated Secretariat under the leadership of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO).

“We will do everything possible to support and promote equity, quality and dignity in our health services. We will give quality of care the highest priority. And we will work with partners to maintain the international momentum around the goal of reducing death of mothers and children in 2018 and beyond,” said Dr. Sarian Kamara, speaking on behalf of the CMO at a kickoff event in Freetown.

Through the programme, she said, a technical working group and steering committee will oversee Quality of Care activities including those implemented at selected learning sites. Further to this, a Quality of Care policy and strategy, tools, manuals and standards are also being developed with the support of WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF and other partners.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Kamara called for collaboration from health workers and across the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in implementing the activities under the programme, saying that it will require increased team-work, a shift to person-centered care, strong community participation, and investment in data for decision making.

Improving quality of health services is a critical part of the agenda for saving lives in Sierra Leone, and achieving ‘Health for All’. With assistance from the UK Government, WHO is prioritizing efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of maternal and child health services, reduce delays and barriers to access, and throughout the lifecycle, to support timely, appropriate care, with a particular focus on reducing preventable deaths of women and children.

For Additional Information or to Request Interviews, Please contact:
KEENAN, Laura
keenanl@who.int

GBORIE, Saffea
Communications Officer
Email: gboriesa@who.int
Tel: +232 76 77 78 78

OVERVIEW

MIGRANT BASELINE

The 19th round of data collection took place in April 2018. IOM identified 690,351 migrants in Libya. Migrants were identified in all the baladiyas, within 550 muhallas and originated from more than 41 countries.
As displayed in the maps on page 6-7, out of the total number of migrants identified, 645,659 individuals (94%) originate from 32 different African countries with 44,232 individuals (6%) from 9 Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The remaining 460 individuals were recorded with unknown/other country of origin.
The top 5 nationalities identified were Nigerien, Egyptian, Chadian, Sudanese and Ghanaian, together these nationalities account for up to 65% of Libya’s migrant population.
Out of the 645,659 individuals from Africa, 447,086 (69%) originate from Sub-Saharan countries and 198,573 individuals (31%) from North African countries.
Two-thirds of both African and Asian migrants were identified in Libya’s western mantikas, with the highest concentration in Tripoli and surrounding areas. Other identified African migrants were split between East and South (20% and 16% respectively), while the remaining Asian migrants were identified largely in the East (33% in the East, 1% in the South).

The quarterly Sierra Leone Market Price Bulletin provides updates on price changes for staple food commodities in Sierra Leone. This information can be used to guide programme and policy decisions by development actors. It can also assist smallholder farmers to plan agricultural and marketing activities.
To compile the Bulletin, the Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) unit of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Sierra Leone works with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) to collect vital information on food security indicators throughout the country.
This is the sixth issue of the Bulletin, and covers the period January to March 2018.

Highlights

• The Sierra Leonean Leone (SLL) depreciated by 1 percent compared to the United States Dollar (USD), including a continuous depreciation during the last two months of the quarter. This could be attributed to a decrease in exports and an increase in demand for USD.

• The Terms of Trade (ToT, the amount of a commodity that can be purchased by the daily wage of an unskilled laborer witnessed a decreasing trend for the main staples, due to decrease in the wage rates of unskilled laborers compared to the previous quarter.

• The prices of the main staple rice, both imported and locally produced, remained relatively stable compared with previous quarter, as this period coincides with the harvest and increased local production.

Health sector response mounted, including preparations for targeted vaccine campaign

FREETOWN, June 14 2018 - The Ministry of Health and Sanitation today declared a measles outbreak in Koinadugu district in the northern part of Sierra Leone. There have been a total of 19 confirmed cases this week in the Chiefdoms of Sulima (14 cases) and Mongo (5 cases), close to the border with Guinea.

A measles outbreak is defined as three or more laboratory confirmed cases in a community or district in one month.

“We are doing everything in our power to bring this outbreak under control, with teams already on the ground leading the response,” said Dr. Brima Kargbo, Chief Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. “Given the location of the affected communities, we are working with our counterparts in Guinea to ensure continued collaboration on measles vaccination efforts, community engagement and surveillance.”

Measles is a serious but vaccine-preventable disease that is caused by a virus. When children are unvaccinated, the virus can spread quickly and cause severe illness, disability and deaths. A safe, free and effective vaccine is available to protect children against measles virus, with two doses given as part of the routine vaccination schedule in Sierra Leone (the first dose at 9 months and the second at 15 months).

“While we are planning an emergency vaccination campaign within Koinadugu, we want to encourage all caregivers everywhere in the country to ensure children aged under 2 years have received their two doses of the measles marklate, which provides lasting protection against the disease,” said Dr. Kargbo. “Vaccination is the only reliable way to ensure your child is protected against this life-threatening illness, which can be devastating in its effects.”

With support from WHO, MSF, UNICEF, UK Aid and other partners, the response to the recent cases will include a targeted vaccination campaign for children in affected and most at-risk areas in Koinadugu district, cross-border collaboration and community engagement, contact-tracing and enhanced surveillance for suspected measles cases. Parents and caregivers are also being reminded to ensure their children’s routine vaccines are up to date.

“Across the country, vaccination uptake has recovered following the Ebola outbreak,” said Dr. Kargbo. “However there are still areas where vaccination coverage is sub-optimal, especially in communities that are very remote and where populations are mobile and travelling across borders. This will require concerted efforts not only from our health workers but also caregivers, communities, local authorities and health partners to ensure that every child, everywhere is reached with their necessary vaccines.”

The Koinadugu vaccine campaign is expected to start within the next two weeks.

This is a press release from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and WHO.

Contacts

At MoHS

Harold Thomas: haroldthomas2007@yahoo.com, +232 76 602 460

Kadri Koroma: kadriekoroma@yahoo.com, +232 76 762 962

At WHO

Laura Keenan: keenanl@who.int, +232 786 33952  

Study points to new ways to reduce conflict in fragile states

A major research project by the UK's Stabilisation Unit explores the vital role of political deal-making in reducing violent conflict.

The Elite Bargains and Political Deals research indicates that greater focus on the politics of conflicts, and those who control power and resources on the ground, is crucial to reducing violence.

The Minister for the Middle East and for International Development Alistair Burt said:

“This research report sets out to answer two of the most difficult questions in foreign policy today: How can we help reduce levels of violent conflict? And how do we deal with the often unsavoury groups and individuals that sustain them?

Today, thousands are suffering in seemingly intractable conflicts across the world. We must do what we can to reduce their plight and minimise the dangers that conflict and instability pose to our own national security.

We need to keep reviewing our approach in light of experience, and that is what this report seeks to do.”

The report is the result of 18 months of research by cross-government and independent academics and was launched on 14 June at Chatham House.

The study seeks to provide a more robust evidence base for the UK’s approach to stabilisation and to help policymakers provide more effective interventions in conflict contexts. Lessons from global conflicts, past and present, are identified in the report.

Further information

The Stabilisation Unit is an agile, cross-government unit that provides advice and expertise to prevent and de-escalate conflict and meet national security challenges in high-risk environments.

Follow Minister Burt on Twitter @AlistairBurtUK

Media enquiries

For journalists, email r-burley@dfid.gov.uk

Health sector response mounted, including preparations for targeted vaccine campaign

FREETOWN, June 14 2018 - The Ministry of Health and Sanitation today declared a measles outbreak in Falaba district in the remote northern part of Sierra Leone. There have been a total of 19 confirmed cases this week in the Chiefdoms of Sulima (14 cases) and Mongo (5 cases), close to the border with Guinea.

A measles outbreak is defined as three or more laboratory confirmed cases in a community or district in one month.

“We are doing everything in our power to bring this outbreak under control, with teams already on the ground leading the response,” said Dr. Brima Kargbo, Chief Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. “Given the location of the affected communities, we are working with our counterparts in Guinea to ensure continued collaboration on measles vaccination efforts, community engagement and surveillance.”

Measles is a serious but vaccine-preventable disease that is caused by a virus. When children are unvaccinated, the virus can spread quickly and cause severe illness, disability and deaths. A safe, free and effective vaccine is available to protect children against measles virus, with two doses given as part of the routine vaccination schedule in Sierra Leone (the first dose at 9 months and the second at 15 months).

“While we are planning an emergency vaccination campaign within Koinadugu, we want to encourage all caregivers everywhere in the country to ensure children aged under 2 years have received their two doses of the measles marklate, which provides lasting protection against the disease,” said Dr. Kargbo. “Vaccination is the only reliable way to ensure your child is protected against this life-threatening illness, which can be devastating in its effects.”

With support from WHO, MSF, UNICEF, UK Aid and other partners, the response to the recent cases will include a targeted vaccination campaign for children in affected and most at-risk areas in Koinadugu district, cross-border collaboration and community engagement, contact-tracing and enhanced surveillance for suspected measles cases. Parents and caregivers are also being reminded to ensure their children’s routine vaccines are up to date.

“Across the country, vaccination uptake has recovered following the Ebola outbreak,” said Dr. Kargbo. “However there are still areas where vaccination coverage is sub-optimal, especially in communities that are very remote and where populations are mobile and travelling across borders. This will require concerted efforts not only from our health workers but also caregivers, communities, local authorities and health partners to ensure that every child, everywhere is reached with their necessary vaccines.”

The Koinadugu vaccine campaign is expected to start within the next two weeks.

This is a press release from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and WHO.

Contacts

At MoHS

Harold Thomas: haroldthomas2007@yahoo.com, +232 76 602 460

Kadri Koroma: kadriekoroma@yahoo.com, +232 76 762 962

At WHO

Laura Keenan: keenanl@who.int, +232 786 33952  

Gulf of Guinea is abnormally dry, while areas of Kenya remain at risk for flooding

Africa Weather Hazards

1. Poorly-distributed rain during the March-May rainfall season has led to large moisture deficits in southeastern Tigray and eastern Amhara regions of Ethiopia.

2. A slow onset to seasonal rainfall and consistent limited rain over the past several weeks has maintained moisture deficits and caused abnormal dryness over the Gulf of Guinea countries.

3. Despite an increase in rainfall over some areas, abnormal dryness has persisted over parts of Sierra Leone and Liberia.

4. Many consecutive weeks of heavy rainfall in several regions of central Kenya has resulted in severe flooding. The forecast additional rain next week may exacerbate ground conditions. In Somalia, there is a moderate risk of flooding in parts of Jubba and Shabelle Rivers due to wetness during the previous month.

5 New events

52 Ongoing events

46 Outbreaks

9 Humanitarian crises

• This Weekly Bulletin focuses on selected acute public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 55 events in the region. This week’s edition covers key new and ongoing events, including:

Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Measles in Liberia
Hepatitis E in Namibia
Humanitarian crisis in north-east Nigeria
Humanitarian crisis in Cameroon.

• For each of these events, a brief description, followed by public health measures implemented and an interpretation of the situation is provided.

• A table is provided at the end of the bulletin with information on all new and ongoing public health events currently being monitored in the region, as well as events that have recently been closed.

• Major issues and challenges include:

  • The Ministry of Health and WHO continue to closely monitor the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with cautious optimism. The situation in Bikoro and Wangata (Mbandaka city) health zones has remained calm since mid-May 2018 when the last confirmed EVD cases were reported. Much attention is now focused on Iboko Health Zone, especially remote communities in Itipo health area, where the last confirmed case-patient developed symptoms on 2 June 2018. Efforts have been made to identify all potential transmission chains and all new suspected cases and alerts are promptly investigated, and contacts monitored. It is critical that the ongoing interventions are sustained until the outbreak is contained.

  • Liberia has been experiencing recurrent measles outbreaks since the beginning of 2018. Similarly, 12 other countries in the African Region are currently experiencing measles outbreaks. Despite the remarkable progress made in measles control, premised on the Measles Initiative, outbreaks continue to occur even in highly vaccinated populations. This situation needs to be carefully examined and effectively responded to in order to halt the current trend. Immunization programmes in many countries are well-developed and should be able to stand up to this situation.

Geneva – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, reports that 40,073 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea through the first 24 weeks of 2018.

That total compares to 80,683 at this time last year, and over 215,000 at this time in 2016.

In other words: Mediterranean arrivals at this point in 2018 are running at under half last year’s level on this date, and about 18 per cent of 2016’s volume at this point in the year. Deaths, too, are much lower than at comparable periods of the past two years. In 2017, IOM’s Missing Migrants Project reported 2,106 deaths through 19 June; at this time in 2016 the figure was 2,999 – or over three times 2018’s estimated total of 857.

This past weekend saw a surge of activity in Spanish waters, which so far this year have seen the arrival of 12,063 men, women and children, reports IOM Madrid’s Ana Dodevska. Spanish arrivals in June are now nearly 4,000, by far the heaviest volume of the year so far (see charts below).

Dodevska reported the following developments between Friday and Monday (15-19 June):

• 15 June: 682 people rescued on the Western Mediteranean Route.
• 16 June: 304 people rescued on Western Mediterranean Route.
• 17 June: A total of 934 arrivals, including the 630 people travelling on the Aquarius. Another 152 individuals (146 men, 3 women and 3 minors) were rescued on the Western African Route and were transferred to Arguineguín (Canary Islands). The remaining 152 were rescued by Salvamento Maritimo on the Western Mediterranean Route and disembarked on the ports of Almeria, Motril and Melilla.
• 18 June: A total of 419 individuals arrived on the Spanish coast during the first day of this week. Some 379 were rescued by Salvamento Maritimo and other 41 arrived by their own means at the Alboran Island. The last update was done at 18:30h.

She also reported these points from the arrival of the rescue vessel Aquarius on 17 June:

• Five members from the IOM office in Madrid travelled to Valencia to assist on the arrival.
• The first ship ("Datillo") arrived around 06:30 on the Port of Valencia with 274 migrants. The Aquarius ship carrying 106 individuals (the most vulnerable from a health point of view), arrived in Valencia few hours later (around 1100h). The third ship was the Italian naval vessel “Orion” with 250 people on board. According to the information provided by the Spanish Ministry of Interior, there were 26 different nationalities on board. The 10 main nationalities were from Sudan, Nigeria, Eritrea, South Sudan, Algeria, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Gambia.

IOM Libya’s Christine Petré reported that on Sunday the Libyan Coast Guard returned to Libyan shores 76 migrants (62 men, 12 women, two children) who received emergency primary health assistance including pregnancy care for two women. Food was also provided at the disembarkation point and all migrants were registered by the Libyan Coast Guard. The migrants, the majority from Nigeria, Guinea and Senegal, departed from Azzawiyah in one rubber boat. Following the assistance, the migrants were transferred to Tajoura detention centre, where IOM will follow up with further assistance including protection and Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) screenings.

No fatalities were reported. Petré said that so far this year, 7,243 migrants have been returned to Libyan shore by the Libyan Coast Guard and added that last Thursday (14 June), IOM assisted 157 stranded migrants returning home to Nigeria on one chartered flight. Among the migrants were 14 medical cases and one unaccompanied migrant child. IOM Libya has assisted 14,785 since the scale-up phase started 28 November 2017 and a total of 27,916 migrants have returned home from Libya with IOM’s assistance since 1 January 2017.

Nonetheless, the Mediterranean remains a dangerous place for irregular migrants. In 2018, some 857 people have lost their lives at sea since the beginning of January.

In the Central Mediterranean, the NGO Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) reported that two people went missing in the rescue conducted by the Aquarius ship off the coast of Libya on the night of 9 June. MSF staff interviewed survivors and learned that two young men, a Senegalese and a Nigerian, were lost at sea during a complicated rescue in which one of the boats broke apart.

While the Aquarius was sailing to the Spanish port of Valencia, the Guardia Costiera vessel “Diciotti” disembarked 937 survivors and the remains of two migrants in Catania, Italy on 11 June.

On 12 June, the US Navy ship “Trenton” rescued 41 people from a boat in distress off the coast of Libya, and observed approximately 12 bodies in the water which, unfortunately, could not be recovered during the rescue operation. The 41 survivors were transferred to an Italian Coast Guard ship on 17 June and will disembark in Italy soon. Additionally, the Italian Coast Guard ship “Dattilo” arrived to Catania on 17 June and disembarked 523 migrants and the remains of one person who had died after being rescued off the coast of Libya.

In the Western Mediterranean, at least 48 people lost their lives since last Thursday. On 14 June, the Spanish maritime safety agency, Salvamento Marítimo, recovered the body of a young man and rescued 11 survivors in the Gibraltar Strait. On Friday, the remains of four migrants were retrieved during multiple rescue operations conducted in the Gibraltar Strait. On Sunday, four migrants were rescued from a sinking boat 18 miles south of Cabo de Gata, Almería. According to their testimonies, 47 people were on the boat when they departed from Morocco. A merchant vessel retrieved one body in the Alboran sea on Sunday evening; therefore, an estimated 42 people remain missing and are presumed dead.

IOM Greece’s Antigoni Avgeropoulou reported Monday that over five days (13-17 June) the Hellenic Coast Guard reported at least seven incidents requiring search and rescue operations off the islands of Lesvos and Samos. The Hellenic Coast Guard rescued 137 migrants off the island of Samos and 100 migrants off the island of Lesvos, and rescued a total of 237 migrants and transferred them to those respective islands.

Avgeropoulou reported that besides those 237, another 191 irregular migrants arrived during the five days, landing in Chios, Rhodes, Oinouses and Kos, bringing to 12,353 the total number of irregular migrants entering Greece via sea since 1 January – an average of around 74 persons per day (see charts below).

Worldwide, IOM’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded 1,508 people who died or went missing while migrating in 2018.

There were several additions to the Missing Migrants Project database since last week’s update. On the US/Mexico border, three people drowned in the Rio Grande while trying to cross into the US from Mexico: on 10 June, the remains of a man were found near Campo Las Águilas in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, while on 13 June another body was recovered in Piedras Negras, near Éjido El Moral. Mexican civil protection authorities recovered the remains of another migrant on 17 June near International Bridge III in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.

In southwest Texas, at least five people were killed and several others injured in a vehicle accident on Sunday, 17 June. Four migrants died in the crash, which took place near Big Wells, Dimmit County, about 50 miles from the border with Mexico. A fifth person died later at the hospital.

Missing Migrants Project data are compiled by IOM staff but come from a variety of sources, some of which are unofficial. To learn more about how data on migrants’ deaths and disappearances are collected, click here.

Download the Latest Mediterranean Update infographic here.
For latest arrivals and fatalities in the Mediterranean, please visit: http://migration.iom.int/europe
Learn more about the Missing Migrants Project at: http://missingmigrants.iom.int

For more information, please contact:

Joel Millman at IOM HQ, Tel: +41 79 103 8720, Email: jmillman@iom.int
Flavio Di Giacomo, IOM Coordination Office for the Mediterranean, Italy, Tel: +39 347 089 8996, Email: fdigiacomo@iom.int
Hicham Hasnaoui, IOM Morocco, Tel: + 212 5 37 65 28 81, Email: hhasnaoui@iom.int
Kelly Namia, IOM Greece, Tel: +30 210 991 2174, Email: knamia@iom.int
Ivona Zakoska, IOM Regional DTM, Austria, Tel: + +43 1 5812222, Email: izakoska@iom.int
Julia Black, IOM GMDAC, Germany, Tel: +49 30 278 778 27, Email: jblack@iom.int
Christine Petré, IOM Libya. Tel. +216 29 240 448 Email : chpetre@iom.int
Ana Dodevska, IOM Spain, Tel: +34 91 445 7116, Email: adodevska@iom.int
Myriam Chabbi, IOM Tunisia, Mobile: +216 28 78 78 05, Tel: +216 71 860 312 (Ext. 109), Email: mchabbi@iom.int

Geneva – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, reports that 40,944 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea through the first 171 days of 2018. That total compares to 84,675 at this time last year, and over 215,997 at this time in 2016.

In other words: Mediterranean arrivals at this point in 2018 are running at significantly below half of last year’s total to date, and some 19 per cent of 2016’s volume at this same point during that year. Deaths, too, are much lower than at comparable periods of the past two years. In 2017 IOM’s Missing Migrants Project reported 2,133 deaths through 21 June; at this point in 2016 the figure was 2,911 – or over three times 2018’s estimated total of 960.

The largest shortfall since last year has been on transit via the so-called Central Mediterranean route linking North Africa to Italy. IOM Rome’s Flavio Di Giacomo notes that this year’s traffic towards Italian ports – 16,228 men, women and children through 20 June – is at a level nearly 78 per cent below that recorded through 20 June last year.

With the year swiftly approaching its mid-point, IOM notes that in none of the past four years have irregular migrant sea arrivals fallen short of 119,000 – last year’s total.

This year migrant arrivals to Italy by sea are below 17,000 – a remarkable turnaround for a country that has witnessed an annual average arrival rate of 156,000 migrants per year over the last four years.

June arrivals to Italy, Di Giacomo recorded, are running now at less than 25 per cent of their 2017 rate, and less than 33 per cent of 2016’s volume.

Nonetheless, the perils faced by migrants remain daunting. IOM Rome’s Flavio Di Giacomo notes that Italy’s most recent landing was recorded on 19 June in Pozzallo, where the ship of the Italian Coast Guard "Diciotti" brought a total of 523 migrants saved during the previous days in the Mediterranean.

Among them were survivors of a shipwreck that occurred on 12th June, migrants who had been rescued by the US Navy ship USS Trenton. Those, mostly sub-Saharan Africans, said they had left Zuwara, in Libya, during the night of 11 June, sailing on a dinghy carrying 117 people, including 20 women and a one-year-old child. After seven hours of navigation, the boat began to deflate and many migrants fell into the water. The US Trenton, patrolling nearby, intervened and managed to bring 41 people to safety. Overall, 76 migrants lost their lives, survivors said, including 15 of the 20 women and the one-year-old child.

Upon arrival in Italy, these migrants were exhausted by the stress and the trauma they experienced; many also reported being victims of terrible violence perpetrated by their smugglers: kept locked for months in a house near the sea, where men reportedly were beaten and women were raped.

Early Thursday (21 June) IOM Libya’s Christine Petré reported on several ongoing search and rescue operations unfolding along Libya’s coastline. The Libyan Coast Guard, she said, returned 301 migrants (252 men, three women and 46 children – all boys); the majority from Guinea, Cameroon, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire were transferred to Trig al Seka detention centre. IOM offered emergency assistance.

The migrants said they started their journey in Garaboli, leaving on two rubber dinghies. The migrants received emergency primary health assistance, and protection screenings were provided at the disembarkation point.

Petré added that on Wednesday (20 June), the Libyan Coast Guard returned 42 migrants (36 men, four women and two children) who also received IOM emergency assistance. The migrants started their journey in Garaboli on one rubber dinghy.

All migrants were registered by the Libyan Coast Guard. The migrants, the majority from Guinea, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria, were then transferred to Ain Zara detention centre.

Tragically, the body of a Guinean national was retrieved during the operation. Later that day, 20 migrants (19 from Mali and one from Guinea) were returned to Basis disembarkation point by the Libyan Coast Guard and transferred to Tajoura detention centre.

For the week, IOM Libya is reporting 936 migrants returned to shore by authorities. The latest incident occurred Friday morning when 85 migrants were returned near Tripoli. Most were from Pakistan and Algeria.

So far this year, 8,310 migrants have been returned to the Libyan shore by the Libyan Coast Guard, Petré reported. A total of 37 corpses were retrieved on Libyan soil this week after washing ashore. Additionally, there are reports of a capsized dinghy on Tuesday (19 June) north of Almaya. Survivors reported most passengers were from Sudan.

"We know there were five survivors taken to hospital," said Ms. Petré. "There were life vests found on the beach, which would indicate other survivors. But we don't know how many to consider missing."

IOM Madrid’s Ana Dodevska reported Thursday Spanish arrivals in June through the 20th of the month are 3,993, by far the heaviest volume for any month this year so far, and on track to be the busiest month off Spain in over four years of the current Mediterranean emergency.

IOM's team in the Balkans reported this week that during the first two weeks of June, authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina registered 1,076 new migrants and asylum seekers which totals to more than 6,600 arrivals since the beginning of 2018 (almost six times the 1,119 reported for all of 2017).

Pakistan is the most commonly reported origin country by irregular migrants and asylum seekers registered this year in Bosnia and Herzegovina (27% of all cases), followed by Syrian Arab Republic (18%), Afghanistan (13%) Iran (11%) and Iraq (8%).

Authorities in Montenegro reported 285 irregular apprehensions in the first two weeks of June, adding up to a total of 1,733 migrants and asylum seekers intercepted by the authorities in Montenegro since the starts of this year. This shows nine times increase in arrivals to Montenegro when compared to 187 registered in the same period in 2017 and increase of more than double when compared to the 807 registered arrivals in the whole of 2017. Migrants and asylum seekers registered in Montenegro are mostly of Syrian origin (45%), followed by those declaring Pakistani (16%), Algerian (11%) and Iraqi (8%) origin.

In Albania, another 46 irregular apprehensions on entry were reported in the first two weeks of June 2018 giving a total of 1,733 since the beginning of the year. Further on, another 421 migrants and asylum seekers were registered on exit from the country on the border with Montenegro between April and June. More than a third of the overall registered population were of Syrian origin and another 28% reported Algerian origin and 13% Libyan.

According to available data, intensified movements have been observed also in Slovenia where in May only, authorities apprehended 1,158 irregular migrants, almost double than the 573 reported in April 2018. Between January and May authorities registered a total of 2,383 migrants and refugees, four times increase compared to the 567 registered in the same period 2017. One quarter of individuals declared themselves as nationals of Pakistan (27%), followed by Algeria (19%), Syrian Arab Republic (9%), Afghanistan (7%) and Morocco (7%).

IOM Greece’s Christine Nikolaidou reported Thursday that over three days (18-20 June) the Hellenic Coast Guard reported at least three incidents requiring search and rescue operations off the islands of Samos and Lesvos. The Hellenic Coast Guard rescued 48 migrants off the island of Samos and 38 migrants off the island of Lesvos – a total of 86 migrants – and transferred them to the two islands.

IOM Greece further reported that besides those 86, another 75 irregular migrants arrived during the three days, landing in Oinouses and Kos, and bringing to 12,514 the total number of irregular migrants entering Greece via sea since January 1 – an average of around 73 persons per day.

IOM Greece also reports that “Omed,” a three-year-old boy, lost his life in the open accommodation site located at Thiva, Greece. The boy, who was found dead in the sewage tank, was from Iraq. The incident took place Monday evening (18 June), just hours after his family reported his disappearance. Greek authorities have started an investigation; IOM has no update regarding autopsy results or the investigation.

Worldwide, IOM’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded 1,592 people who died or went missing while migrating in 2018 (see chart below).

In the Mediterranean alone, 960 people have lost their lives at sea since the beginning of the year. In the Central Mediterranean, at least 12 people have died in the past four days off the coast of Libya.

On 18 June, the remains of five people, including two women, were recovered from a sinking boat 8 miles of Melittah area in Tripoli, Libya. The day after, a boat capsized north of Al Maya. Five survivors were rescued and transferred to the Janzour Hospital, while the remains of six people, including two children, were retrieved on the shore. On 20 June, the Libyan Coast Guard intercepted 82 migrants and recovered one body from a boat north of Tajura, Libya.

There were several other additions to the Missing Migrants Project database since Tuesday’s update.

On the US/Mexico border, the remains of a young man who died from dehydration were recovered on 18 June on the side of highway 131 between Eagle Pass and Brackettville. Previously, on 10 June, the remains of one migrant were found in a ranch near Falfurrias in Brooks County, Texas. The same day, a man drowned in the Río Bravo – his body was recovered in McAllen, Hidalgo County.

In Europe, a 20-year-old Guinean man was crushed by a bus near Brussels, Belgium. The young migrant was clinging to the axle underneath the bus, which was bound for the UK, when he was tragically killed as the vehicle stopped.

Missing Migrants Project data are compiled by IOM staff but come from a variety of sources, some of which are unofficial. To learn more about how data on migrants’ deaths and disappearances are collected, click here.

Download the Latest Mediterranean Update infographic here.

For latest arrivals and fatalities in the Mediterranean, please visit: http://migration.iom.int/europe

Learn more about the Missing Migrants Project at: http://missingmigrants.iom.int

For more information, please contact:

Joel Millman at IOM HQ, Tel: +41 79 103 8720, Email: jmillman@iom.int
Flavio Di Giacomo, IOM Coordination Office for the Mediterranean, Italy, Tel: +39 347 089 8996, Email: fdigiacomo@iom.int
Hicham Hasnaoui, IIOM Morocco, Tel: + 212 5 37 65 28 81, Email: hhasnaoui@iom.int
Kelly Namia, IOM Greece, Tel: +30 210 991 2174, Email: knamia@iom.int
Ivona Zakoska, IOM Regional DTM, Austria, Tel: + +43 1 5812222, Email: izakoska@iom.int
Julia Black, IOM GMDAC, Germany, Tel: +49 30 278 778 27, Email: jblack@iom.int
Christine Petré, IOM Libya, Tel : +216 29 240 448, Email : chpetre@iom.int
Ana Dodevska, IOM Spain, Tel: +34 91 445 7116, Email: adodevska@iom.int
Myriam Chabbi, IOM Tunisia, Mobile: +216 28 78 78 05, Tel: +216 71 860 312 (Ext. 109), Email: mchabbi@iom.int

I’ve lived in Sierra Leone all my life, including during the Ebola outbreak in 2014 that left communities battered and hopelessness. Today people here are finding a way to heal and to address community issues, which is leading to resiliency, and, ultimately, stronger community-based systems that meet people’s needs.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa had the same psychological effects on individuals as war.

Not only did many people lose family and friends, but many survivors experienced stigmatization and discrimination once they were able to return to their communities. These stresses increased mental health problems in Sierra Leone, where there are very few mental health providers and little information about psychological pain.

COMMUNITY HEALING DIALOGUES

Nearly 30 kilometers from the district headquarters of Kailahun, in the heart of Kissi Teng Chiefdom, sits Koindu town, on the Sierra Leone border with Guinea. Before the civil war began in 1991, Koindu was a vibrant business hub, but was set ablaze by the rebels during the conflict.

People had barely recovered when Ebola struck. As the epicenter of the virus, the city was gripped with fear as families were obliterated and community relations shattered.

Recognizing the stigma Ebola survivors faced, the USAID Advancing Partners & Communities project introduced community healing dialogues (CHDs) to help communities hardest hit, like Kailahun, to address their problems head-on.

As part of the National Mental Health Strategy, CHDs offer psychosocial support that is having a positive effect on the lives of survivors as well as their communities.

The CHDs were readily received because so many people had ongoing frustrations and were ready for solutions. When I visited, I spoke to 25-year-old Taiwa, who spoke of her multiple traumas and how the CHDs helped her.

“When my husband died of Ebola, my children and I were thrown out of the house because everybody thought we carried Ebola,” Taiwa told me. “When I returned to my own family, they too shunned us, fearing we would spread the virus to them. We could not share anything, let alone eat together; it was a difficult situation for my children and me.”

Community healing dialogues are led by trained facilitators who bring community members together to air concerns and think of ways to settle them. The facilitators also refer community members to higher-level mental health or social welfare services as needed. Through these efforts, Ebola survivors who were stigmatized and ostracized are now being accepted back into their communities again.

In Koindu, the discussion groups gave Taiwa a chance to explain her concerns in front of other family members and the community as a whole. With the community group’s support and counseling, they found a solution. Today, Taiwa is reunited with her family. “My children and I are back in my husband’s house, getting along very well with his family. We work his farmland and are happy to carry on his legacy.”

After Koindu, I visited neighboring Kondeboithu, where community members use the CHD sessions to raise awareness about serious problems affecting group members—like economic and livelihood challenges—and find solutions within the community. A woman named Bintu explained how a small microenterprise group came together and helped pay her daughter’s school fee.

“My daughter passed the Basic Education Certificate Examination and was to progress to high school. But my husband had died during Ebola and I had no money,” she said. “I explained the situation to this group and they helped me.”

She said that other members have also benefited from the microenterprise group through different interventions.

To date, more than 705 community members in 45 communities have benefitted from this psychosocial intervention.

I could only admire the spirit and perseverance of this community—once a hot spot of war and Ebola—as it finds answers to the numerous mental health challenges and broader community issues.

I am encouraged to see communities recovering and demonstrating so much resilience in the aftermath of Ebola. With USAID support, communities are being transformed and poised for a better future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abdul Samba Brima is a communications coordinator at John Snow, Inc./Advancing Partners & Communities Project.

Overview

This Weekly Bulletin focuses on selected acute public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 54 events in the region. This week’s edition covers key new and ongoing events, including:

• Rift Valley fever in Kenya
  
• Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  
• Cholera in Uganda
• Cholera in north-east Nigeria
• Humanitarian crisis in Central African Republic.
  

For each of these events, a brief description, followed by public health measures implemented and an interpretation of the situation is provided.

A table is provided at the end of the bulletin with information on all new and ongoing public health events currently being monitored in the region, as well as events that have recently been closed.
Major issues and challenges include:

The Ministry of Health and WHO continue to closely monitor the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Over one month into the response, further spread of EVD has largely been contained. The situation in Bikoro and Wangata (Mbandaka city) health zones remains stable, while the situation in Iboko Health Zone is being closely observed. In spite of this progress, there is a need to continue with intense response interventions, without any complacency, until the outbreak is controlled.

Kenya is experiencing an outbreak of Rift Valley fever (RVF), with three counties being affected. This outbreak followed heavy rainfall and floods that occurred in several parts of the country, resulting in increased vector density and RVF virus activity. Recent risk assessment showed that eight counties have a high risk of RVF outbreak. The national authorities and partners in the country have responded promptly to the outbreak. While the country has past experience and ample capacity to respond to this outbreak, there is a need to accelerate implementation of effective control measures to avoid further propagation and likely spread of the disease within the subregion.

Highlights

• In May, with the approach of the lean season and the peak of consumption during Ramadan, demand and commercial transactions are rising strongly.

• Decline of local stocks especially for millet, sorghum and maize.

• Consumer prices are above average particularly in Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.

THE ISSUE OF MENTAL HEALTH

The value of mental health in humanitarian settings is still underestimated. When War Trauma broaches the subject with our humanitarian partners we often find mental health comes as an afterthought. Even aft er twenty years, our task remains to convince aid workers and donors of the value of investing in a healthy mind in a healthy body.

Only when people confronted by war, conflict and other humanitarian disasters are able to cope with what they have gone through, will they be able to rebuild their lives, families, societies and economies.

In our annual magazine you will read stories of what WarTrauma has done to improve the psychosocial well-being of people around the world. We set up a discussion between an NGO director, a psychiatrist and an anthropologist on the future of Global Mental Health. And we discuss the value of scientific research in improving mental health interventions. In additi on, there are reflections from people from around the world who have benefitted from the work of WarTrauma.

We hope you will enjoy our magazine and will fi nd enough reason in these stories to continue to support War Trauma Foundation.

Thank you for your trust.

Leonti en Ruttenberg Director, War Trauma Foundation

IOM works with national and local authorities and local partners to identify and understand migration movements in West and Central Africa. Population flow monitoring (FMP) is an activity that quantifies and qualifies flows, migrant profiles, trends and migration routes at a given point of entry, transit or exit. Since February 2016, IOM Niger has been monitoring migration flows at two points in the Agadez region of Niger. Flow monitoring points are found at two points in the region of Agadez in Niger,
Séguédine and Arlit.

The data collected provides an overview of migratory movements in the region. The information is collected from primary sources. However, this monitoring of migration flows does not replace border surveillance. Similarly, the results presented in this report do not reflect the total flow through the Agadez region due to the vastness of the Sahara Desert which covers more than 700 000 km2 and has a multitude of roads crossing the region.

The daily average of the number of individuals observed at the two Niger flow monitoring points increased by 40% compared to April.
During this month, Agadez, Sebha, Arlit, Arlit, Assamaka, Tamanrasset and Nguezzam were the main departure cities of flows transiting through Niger's two FMPs, while Arlit, Agadez, Sebha, Assamaka and Algiers were the main destination cities.

The number of individuals in the outgoing flow has known four important peaks during the month.
Individuals transiting through the FMPs travelled mainly by car (74%), as well as by truck (12%), by bus (10%), or by other means of transportation, including motorcycle by foot or by camel (3%). Nigeriens,
Malians and Guineans were the main nationalities observed during this month.

METHODOLOGY : Population Flow Monitoring (FMP) is an investigative work that aims to highlight areas that are particularly vulnerable to cross-border and intraregional migration. Areas of high mobility are identified across the country. DTM teams then conduct assessments at the local level to identify strategic transit points. Enumerators collect data from key informants at the flow monitoring point: they may be staff at bus stations, police or customs officials, bus or truck drivers, or migrants themselves. A basic questionnaire mixed with direct observations makes it possible to collect disaggregated data by gender and nationality. In Niger, the flow monitoring points were chosen after consultation with national and local stakeholders involved in migration management, according to the locations and characteristics of the flows transiting through the Sahara Desert. The data collection is done at times where the flows are the most important.

LIMITS : The data used in this analysis are estimates and represent only a part of the existing flows on these axes : Agadez - Arlit - Assamaka, and Agadez - Séguédine - Sebha. The spatial and temporal coverage of these surveys is partial and, although the collection is done daily and during periods when flows are important. Finally, no information is collected on existing flows outside the time slots covered.
Vulnerability data is based on direct observation by the enumerators and should be understood only as an indication.

During the period under review, five regional working groups met: Food Security and Nutrition (1 March, 5 April), Cash Transfer (7 March), Emergency Response and Preparedness (28 March), Health (29 March, 26 April) and Resilience (through March). Below are the main points of discussion of the meetings.

1. Food Security and Nutrition Regional Working Group

1 March

• The seasonal regression of biomass continues across the Sahel region, leading to a deterioration of the health status of animal herds. On the cattle market, the situation is characterized by a large supply of small ruminants (sheep, goats), however a very low demand is causing a drastic fall in prices and a worsening of trade terms for livestock/cereals.

• Some of the confirmations that came from the pastoral meeting organized by CILSS in Niamey on 25 February included i) forage deficits and low filling of watering points in some pastoral areas following sporadic rain distribution, ii) increasing transhumance activity, iii) civilian insecurity, which limits movement to certain areas despite grazing availability, and iv) the vulnerability of populations in areas of both departure and arrival, among other points.

• Nutritional situation in the Sahel: it has been estimated in 2018 that 3.6 million children aged 6-59 months will suffer from acute malnutrition in the six Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Chad and Senegal); of whom 1,058,428 will present the most severe form of malnutrition. Of the different scenarios developed, the least optimistic one suggests that the number of children aged 6-59 months that are suffering from Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) will be 3,387,774 and for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) will be 1,573,347; bringing the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) to 4,961,121.

• The Health Regional Working Group presented impacts of drought on the health sector, such as increase in acute malnutrition levels, morbidity related to malnutrition, infectious diseases related to water (RIFT Valley fever) and strain on the healthcare system. The need for a multi-sectoral approach, including health, was stressed for drought preparedness and response.