In November 1999, UNDP, through the UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia received a donation of US $6,000 (equivalent to Birr 48,597) from a private individual who wished the money to be used to assist victims of the 1999 drought. After making some preliminary enquiries it was decided to channel the funds through the relief branch of the Mekane Yesus Church to the Konso Special Wereda in the Southern Peoples’, Nation’s and Nationalities Region.

Following three years of poor harvests, upwards of 60,000 people in Konso were determined by the regional and federal authorities as being in need of urgent relief assistance in 1999. Assessment missions conducted by the UN Emergencies Unit and others during the third quarter of the year highlighted the fact that the relief response had been inadequate and more aid was needed to halt the rise in malnutrition and to help the most vulnerable individuals to survive the crisis.

In discussions with Mekane Yesus, it was agreed that the bulk of the funds should be used for the procurement and distribution of food assistance, which was considered to be of the highest priority. A second priority was the provision of blankets as it had been observed that a number of people in the district had become almost completely destitute to the point where they had even sold clothing in order to buy food and were therefore suffering during the cold nights. It was agreed that identification of recipients would be conducted through the Konso office of Mekane Yesus which had considerable knowledge of the situation and was well-placed to identify the neediest individuals. Based on this understanding UN-EUE released part of the fund (Birr 30,000) to cover the purchase of at least 10 metric tonnes of maize and to cover the transport and management costs, including organizing and documenting the actual distribution of the food. The remaining balance (Birr 18,597) was earmarked for purchase and transport of 200 blankets.

Due to some delays in organizing the food purchase, during which time grain prices began to fall as a result of the new harvest coming onto the market, Mekane Yesus was able to buy a total of 20 metric tonnes of maize from Arba Minch and with the balance of funds arrange transport of this amount to Konso. At the same time, through the government-owned local manufacturers, UN-EUE was able to purchase a total of 270 blankets and arrange with the owner of a small truck the transport of the blankets direct from Addis Ababa to Konso where they were transferred to Mekane Yesus for distribution.

Distribution of both food and blankets was organized by Mekane Yesus in coordination with the wereda Disaster Management Committee (DMC). Accordingly, Mekane Yesus and wereda committee identified a total of 1,600 disabled and elderly people residing in four Peasant Associations/Kebeles as being among some of the most vulnerable in the district and therefore eligible for this additional assistance. These Pas/Kebeles were selected by the wereda DMC because they were not previously included in a food-for-work programme being implemented by the NGO, FARM Africa, as they had been considered as in a relatively better off position but since the drought had suffered a loss of income and productive assets and household food stocks had become exhausted.

A team from UN-EUE visited the distribution of the relief food at Gewada PA on 22 January and recorded some of the activity on video tape. Our observation confirmed that the food was being well targeted to what clearly appeared to be some of the most needy in the community. From information provided by Mekane Yesus, details of the Gawada distribution and distributions in the other three Pas is summarized in the table below:

In addition to the blankets received through this private donation, a total of 600 blankets were dispatched to Konso by the federal Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC). In consultation with Mekane Yesus, the wereda DMC agreed that a combined distribution plan would be developed to identify needy families in all PAs and Kebeles in the wereda. After conducting a joint needs assessment to identify the eligible beneficiaries, the 270 blankets (from this private donation) were distributed to selected destitute households in 5 PAs simultaneously with the government donation which was used to cover needs in the remaining PAs and Kebeles. Assuming that at least 2 persons may use the blanket in the nighttime, it was considered that as a result of this intervention a minimum of 540 people were assisted in addition to those who would have benefited from the government donation alone. The distribution of the private donation was as follows.

Due to the recent increase in fuel price in the country, truck owners in Konso are requesting for a higher transportation fee than the wereda DMC anticipated in their preliminary discussions with the Konso branch of Mekane Yesus (the DMC was responsible for arranging transport within the wereda). This coupled with the limited options for transport in Konso, the wereda faced a budget constraint in covering local transportation costs (only Birr 759 remained after the purchase and delivery of the food and blankets to Konso town). The wereda thus asked Mekane Yesus to cover this additional cost (a few hundred Birr) which the organization duly agreed to cover over and above the original budget agreed with UN-EUE. An outline financial statement for the private donation is given in the table below: