Grozny: Rapid Needs AssessmentBackground
Following a security assessment conducted by United Nations Security Coordinator (UNSECOORD) and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) field security officers on Tuesday 5 September 2000, the United Nations carried out its first rapid needs assessment in Grozny on 9 September. Officials from UNHCR, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and UNSECOORD participated. In Grozny, Deputy Mayor Umalatov briefed the team, which travelled throughout much of the centre of the city accompanied by officials, as well as by members of two non-governmental organisations, People in Need Foundation (PINF) and Polish Humanitarian Organisation (PHO).
Visits
The team visited hospital 9, a marketplace, school 14, a kindergarten, the Ministry of Emergencies' compound, PINF's office, and residential 'buildings'. A scheduled visit to a water pumping station did not materialize because the guards had no instructions to allow the team in.
Overall Findings
The sheer devastation that marks the city and its residents struck the team, members of which noted that it outweighed anything they had seen in other cities, such as Kuito or Sarajevo. As the team's shelter specialists noted after just five minutes, 'There is no need to look into shelter; the whole city needs rebuilding'. The team's education and medical specialists echoed the statement: the scale of need is simply vast. The oil refineries around the city continue to burn, billowing smoke into the sky. The environmental consequences could be significant.
While federal authorities have announced that much assistance is being directed into Chechnya and some infrastructure has improved, the team was given the impression that such efforts do not have the expected impact to address the emergency in Grozny. Almost everyone the team met pleaded for more resources, not for themselves (although some salaries have not been paid since May) but to help others.
Population figures for the city vary and given the team's limited time it was difficult to verify the different figures provided. Officials estimated that up to 140,000 people were now living in the city although they explained that the figure was of 'registered' people and that not all of them were necessarily present. Danish Refugee Council data indicates that some 90,000 persons now live in Grozny. Regardless of how many people live there it was clear that all were striving to survive and many were managing to rebuild their lives from an all but shattered existence. The residents' resilience was utterly remarkable.
There was an almost surreal 'hustle and bustle' about town. Cars, vans, and busses trundled along the pot-holed streets and people walking along the roads did so purposefully. Small marketplaces have sprung up in some parts of the city and sell a range of goods similar to that found in the neighbouring Republic of Ingushetia. (The team monitored prices of primary and manufactured goods. Fruit and vegetables were found to be more expensive than in Ingushetia, whereas manufactured goods were roughly the same price.)
Sectors
Comments are of a general nature. Team members with specific expertise are submitting more details to their respective agencies. Recommendations follow the section, on page 3.
Food
It was clear to the team that almost all people living in Grozny would benefit from some form of food aid, if for no other reason than to provide income support and allow them to use whatever resources they have to try to rebuild their lives. There is an acute need, also, for the twenty-four soup kitchens and bread distributions managed by Emercom from March to May. These were an important source of nourishment for vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and invalids and children who cannot always cope with dry food distributions.
Shelter and Relief
The shelter situation, which is of primary concern given the onset of winter in two months, is catastrophic. Some families were seen to be living in a few of the remaining high-rise apartment blocks that continue to stand; the extent to which such an environment is safe is dubious at best. Families in the city's outlying areas where smaller blocks and houses are more the norm have a better chance of reconstructing part of their homes to create one dry and warm place for the winter. There is a massive need for cement, wood, plastic sheeting, roofing, and doors. Clothing and shoes, mattresses and blankets, wood stoves, jerry cans, and cooking sets are the primary relief items required.
Health and Nutrition
The status of hospital 9, which serves the entire Republic of Chechnya and was described as 'the best' hospital in the region, was dire. Somehow, much of the building has survived and one international NGO is providing support to reconstruct one of the wings. The hospital lacked running water and heating. The electricity supply was irregular. There was no food for patients. War related trauma appears to be the major cause of mortality. The trauma wing has a thirty-five-bed capacity and is fully stretched, with insufficient essential medicines, surgical tools, and anaesthetics. From four to six victims of mines or exploding ordnance were reported daily. Five people had died from UXO or mine related incidents during the two days before the team's visit. The head doctor stated that he had no staff available to track information about the profile of disease or even of patients. Support is needed to systematize basic information. The Emercom field hospital has a five-person surgery unit with a single operating room, and transfers patients either to Mozdok or hospital 9 after surgery. No information was available on the population's nutritional status. While the team did not see any signs of malnutrition, more information is required regarding micronutrient sufficiency.
Water and Sanitation
Most of Grozny lacks running water. 1 of 3 pumping stations works, providing part of one of Grozny's four district's (Zavodsky) running water. People living in other areas depend on well-water or buy water for 3 roubles per container from water tankers. There are no real checks of water quality and one woman told the team, 'The water stinks of oil'.
Emergency Education
The team visited one of the three functioning schools although authorities reported that ad hoc sites function also. The 'school' used to accommodate 860 students. It lies a virtual ruin, without any windows, doors, running water, electricity, or heating. Yet, in its midst, parents and teachers had reconstructed two small classrooms where lessons take place. A poster "Grozny: City of Flowers and Oil" hung from one wall. Desks and chairs had been salvaged but there was a complete lack of basic educational materials. A kindergarten, run by PINF and a local organisation, Berkat, provides a sense of normalcy for some 25 children. The staff stated that there was scope for opening many more such places but resources were needed.
Psychosocial Support
The hostilities and their consequent social and material destruction have had a visible impact on the survivors in Grozny. Immediate and simple steps need to be taken to provide people space where they feel safe and can begin to express their feelings. Children, in particular, need urgent support to address posttraumatic stress syndrome.
Protection
Many residents complained about continued insecurity and harassment, particularly at night. Several people stated that moving around the city is very difficult, not only because of numerous checkpoints but also because of the mine and UXO problem. The team met two women who were hospitalised after incurring severe injuries from mines next to their homes. Some people cited problems of military units purchasing market goods 'on credit'.
Security
The team felt that the security environment, despite its complexities and volatility, would allow the UN to mount a response within the parameters outlined by UNSECOORD. (A more detailed report is being submitted.) The numerous checkpoints and the lack of efficient command and control mechanisms directing them are an obstacle to humanitarian action. The team bore first-hand experience of this at one checkpoint were a junior officer took it upon himself to block the team's passage for fifty minutes despite senior officers having cleared the mission.
Main Recommendations
In the context of the UN providing increased humanitarian assistance to civilians in the Republic of Chechnya, the international community should recognize the UN security assessment and needs assessment in Grozny as a valid basis on which to mount an urgent response to civilians' needs in and around the city. The two assessments should be valid until further notice.
UN agencies, in particular UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO, are to send food and non-food supplies to Grozny immediately. During this response, UNHCR is to focus on shelter and relief items, UNICEF on education and water and sanitation issues, WHO on the provision of essential medicines and surgical kits, and WFP on food in particular for institutions such as hospital 9 and schools. After this response, UN agencies are to work on issues such as emergency repairs to hospital 9 and school buildings, and distributions of shelter materials to enable people to create one dry and warm space in their homes.
UN emergency relief is to be distributed by a blend of local authorities and local and international NGOs. The UN is to return to Grozny shortly to monitor the use of the relief.
The UN response, which is to be closely coordinated with federal and local authorities as well as with NGOs and local communities, could include a mine and UXO awareness component.
The international community is to encourage the authorities to increase assistance for Grozny.
The international community needs to continue to encourage authorities and the local population to establish and ensure a culture of respect and tolerance.
Written by OCHA and endorsed by UN team members, 11 September 2000
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