Increasing needs anticipated

UN agencies are preparing a regional humanitarian contingency plan in anticipation of rising relief needs in the coming months. "Chances are that needs will probably be even greater next year," an OCHA official told a briefing of donors on Wednesday following a two-day UN planning workshop held in Nairobi. Reasons for the anticipated increase included greater humanitarian access in some areas, continued instability and the increasing vulnerability of populations. "We don't have an optimistic viewn of the situation," he added. The meeting brought together UN agency officials from Angola, the DRC, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia and the Republic of Congo to identify potential emergency "scenarios" and discuss how to integrate short- and medium-term expectations into a global regional strategy.