ERITREA

FACTSHEET
January 2014

HIGHLIGHTS
34

603

77

10

Identified separated
children

Households provided with

cash grants in year 2014

Household items
distributed since January

Shelters distributed since

January

Population of concern
A total of

Funding

2916 people of concern

USD 5,247,571.33 requested

By country of origin
Country

Total PoC*

Somalia

2778

Others

138

Gap
70%

2916

Note: *PoC stands for persons of concern

UNHCR Presence
Staff:

Offices:

12 national staff
3 international staff
8 affiliate staff (National and international)

Asmara and Field presence in Umkulu, Massawa

EXTERNAL

UNHCR FACTSHEET

Total

Funded
30%

UNHCR Factsheet-ERITREA

WORKING WITH PARTNERS

A tripartite Project Agreement was signed between UNHCR and the Government PartnersMinistry of National Development and Office of Refugee Affairs (ORA) on 20 January 2015.
The purpose of the Partnership Project Agreement is to ensure the provision of International
Protection for the 2,820 Somali refugees in Eritrea.

MAIN ACTIVITIES
International Protection

During the regular continuous registration mission of January 2014: 16 new born and 34 Separated
Children were registered in the ProGres Database.
Food Security and Nutrition

UNHCR Eritrea undertook planning activities related to an intended Nutrition Assessment for Feb 2015,
in Umkulu Refugee Camp.
Shelter and NFIs

The construction of the six additional permanent shelters and one new warehouse in the camp is ongoing and expected to be completed by the end of Feb 2015. Upon completion, six more households will
be allocated with new permanent houses in the camp and, refugees will directly be able to receive their
monthly food rations from the camp warehouse, as opposed to getting it through the refugee zone
representatives. This arrangement will avoid the risk that the minimum daily nutritional requirement is
not received by each beneficiary, thereby increasing the risk of malnutrition in the Umkulu camp.
Camp Coordination and Camp Management

The Government of the State of Eritrea (GoSE) through the Office of Refugee Affairs (ORA) manages
Umkulu refugee camp and is the sole Implementing Partner. UNHCR and ORA jointly work together to
ensure that international protection and assistance is effectively delivered to the persons of concern.
Regular Coordination meetings take place every month at the central level during which all technical
issues are discussed and agreed for implementation.
Community Empowerment and Self-Reliance

As part of the empowerment of the Somali women and girls in the camp through strengthening the
capacity of the Women Association, all women and girls of a reproductive age (13-49yrs) in the camp
received Sanitary Pads (1 pkt of 10 pcs) each at affordable prices. The current retail price of one packet of
sanitary pad (containing 10 pcs) ranges between ERN 50-80.00 in Massawa. The Association is granting
them at ERN 40/beneficiary. Earlier on, beneficiaries had become unable to buy the pads from the market
as it was not affordable. Against each sanitary pack sold by the Women`s Association, a profit of 5 ERN is
earned, and will go towards a joint kitty for other income generating initiatives of the Association in the
long run.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) www.unhcr.org

UNHCR Factsheet-ERITREA

The first batch of Computer Training participants graduated on 4 December 2014. The graduates were 20
high school students who attended a three months course on basic computer skills. The purpose of the
training is to help refugees develop their computer literacy skills so that they will be able to cope with the
growing technological and job market demands.

Durable Solutions

UNHCR finalized the Resettlement 2014 Statistics; 356 individuals departed for resettlement to third
countries in the course of 2014. In specific 159 individuals were resettled in the US, through the Emergency
Transit Facility in Slovakia), 8 individuals to France, 35 individuals to Canada and 154 individuals to
Australia.

During the month of January 2015, UNHCR Eritrea submitted 2 resettlement cases to France. One case was
submitted under the submission category of Legal and/or Physical Protection Needs and one case was
submitted under the category of Survivor of Violence and/or Torture.

UNHCR Eritrea was informed by IOM that a Medical Team will undertake a mission to Eritrea from 9
February 2015 until 24 March 2015 to undertake medicals for more than 600 refugees in the resettlement
process with Canada and Australia.

Access to Energy

UNHCR submitted the final environmental cooking stoves report to the Swiss Embassy in Khartoum, the
funders of the project.

Logistics

UNHCR Eritrea successfully conducted a public auction for the disposal through sale of three vehicles
from the Implementing Partner and two from the UNHCR Office. A similar sale of two additional vehicles
should take place during the course of February. UNHCR Eritrea is committed to complying with the
requirements of the Global Fleet Management (GFM), and to gradually replace the Operations old fleet
by the end of 2015.

Four old generators from the Office for Refugee Affairs (ORA) were disposed off mid-January.

UNHCR is grateful for the generous contributions of donors who have given earmarked and broadly
earmarked contributions to UNHCR this year as well as the following donors who have directly
contributed to the operation:
| CERF UF Eritrea I German DAFI tertiary Scholarship fund |
Contacts:
Bernadette Muteshi, Protection Officer/OIC, Muteshi@unhcr.org, Tel: +291 1 182 484
Monica Modici, Communications Specialist, modici@unhcr.org, Tel: +291 1 182 484, Cell +291 7 307044

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) www.unhcr.org