UNRWA LAUNCHES NEW USD 93.7 MILLION EMERGENCY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 007304

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR PRM AND NEA; PLEASE PASS TO USAID

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2012
TAGS: PREF PREL EAID KPAL KWBG IS JO
SUBJECT: UNRWA LAUNCHES NEW USD 93.7 MILLION EMERGENCY
APPEAL; TOUCHES ON CONTINGENCY PLANNING AND TERMS UNRWA
STAFF FATALITY RATE "COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE"


Classified By: A/DCM Tom Young per 1.5 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary and comment: At December 10 and 11 briefings
in Jerusalem and Amman, UNRWA ComGen Hansen launched UNRWA's
new USD 93.7 million appeal to cover six months of emergency
programming in the West Bank and Gaza. The majority of the
appeal would cover expanded food assistance programs (USD
32.5 million) and temporary jobs programs (USD 29.3 million).
Excluding UNRWA's one-time costs of USD 27 million to
rebuild portions of Jenin refugee camp, this new six-month
appeal represents a 30 percent increase over 2002 emergency
programming. UNRWA's combined 2002 appeals remain funded at
only fifty-four percent, with USD 93.6 million pledged to
date. UNRWA still has nearly USD 60 million of 2002
emergency cash on-hand, funds Hansen said have been obligated
for programming that will continue into 2003. Hansen urged
donors to contribute early to the new appeal, to allow UNRWA
to stockpile food and supplies to respond to any new crises
in the region. Hansen also told donors that UNRWA's staff
fatality rate -- six killed in 2002 -- represents the
"deadliest year in relative terms for any UN humanitarian
agency." To compensate for these risks, UNRWA has increased
its emergency program support costs to the standard UN rate
of 12 percent to provide hazard pay for its West Bank and
Gaza staff. Hansen also told donors that while the IDF had
completed its own investigation into Iain Hook's death, it
had not shared the report with UNRWA. Finally, Hansen
touched only briefly on the UN-wide consolidated appeals for
the West Bank and Gaza and did not address the UN's proposed
new coordination mechanisms, to be implemented by OCHA.
Given the importance of enhanced humanitarian coordination
mechanisms, we urge the Department to make a significant and
early contribution to OCHA's 2003 appeal. End summary and
comment.


2. (SBU) At December 10 and 11 donor briefings in Jerusalem
and Amman, UNRWA Commissioner General Peter Hansen launched
UNRWA's new six-month appeal for emergency programs in the
West Bank and Gaza, totaling USD 93.7 million. Regional
refcoord attended the Amman launch. Hansen told donors that
the new six-month appeal represents only an 8.5 percent
increase in programming on an annual basis (combined UNRWA
emergency appeals for 2002 total USD 172 million),but
UNRWA's calculations are based on the inclusion of presumably
one-time USD 27 million in costs to rebuild significant
portions of Jenin refugee camp. Absent the Jenin-related
costs, the new 2003 appeal represents an increase in funding
requirements of nearly 30 percent. UNRWA's combined 2002
appeals currently are funded only at fifty-four percent, with
USD 93.6 million pledged to date. (Comment: Given an
overall decline in donor support for UNRWA in 2002, it is
unlikely that this first six-month appeal for 2003 will be
fully funded.)

Food Aid and Jobs Programs Majority of New Appeal
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3. (SBU) Hansen told donors most of the increase in
emergency funding requirements was due to increased food
assistance needs in the West Bank and Gaza. Following the
USAID-funded study of malnutrition in the West Bank and Gaza,
UNRWA determined that it needed to increase its food
assistance programs and include protein and iron-fortified
flour in its food packages. Food assistance needs (projected
at USD 32.5 million) account for slightly more than 30
percent of the appeal. UNRWA plans to distribute food to
90,000 families in the West Bank and 132,000 families in Gaza.


4. (SBU) Funding for temporary employment programs (USD 29.3
million) constitute slightly less than 30 percent of UNRWA's
emergency programming. Hansen told donors UNRWA would prefer
to provide more job creation programs and less food aid, but
that continuing closures and curfews -- particularly in the
West Bank -- hindered UNRWA's ability to undertake such
projects. In Jenin refugee camp, for example, UNRWA
employees were unable to work on 27 of 30 days in a recent
month. (Comment: Temporary employment programs in the Gaza
field include a request for USD 684,000 to fund short-term
employment in "institutions outside UNRWA, including
municipalities, community rehabilitation centers supported by
UNRWA and other local institutions providing relief and
social aid to the community." Expansion of temporary
employment programs to non-UNRWA institutions would make it
difficult to ensure that UNRWA and the USG have complied
fully with section 301(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act. We
recommend that any US contributions to the new appeal
specifically prohibit any USG funds from supporting this
program.)

Significant Cash on-Hand; Obligated for Existing Programs
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5. (SBU) Given that UNRWA is projected to have nearly USD 60
million in emergency appeal cash on-hand as of December 31,
refcoord asked Hansen to explain UNRWA's planned programming
for the existing contributions. Hansen said that slightly
more than USD 40 million of this cash balance has been
obligated for emergency programming that will continue into
the first quarter (or, in some cases, even first half) of

2003. Such programming includes longer term projects, such
as direct employment programs, infrastructure improvements,
school construction projects and even food aid programs.
Hansen told donors that several large construction projects
in both the West Bank and Gaza have been delayed due to
curfews and closures. Yet UNRWA nevertheless has contractual
obligations to pay for services that have not yet been
delivered. Hansen said that UNRWA therefore cannot obligate
the funds for other programs. UNRWA's West Bank and Gaza
Directors added that unobligated funds raised under the 2002
emergency program are limited to USD 12.5 million in the West
Bank and 6.8 million in Gaza.

Early Contributions Urged to Allow UNRWA to Stockpile Goods
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5. (C) Noting the possibility of new conflict in the region,
Hansen urged donors to make early contributions to UNRWA's
new emergency appeal. Although UN-wide contingency planning
is still under discussion, individual UN agencies have not
yet been given authorization to approach donors on their
projected needs. Early contributions to UNRWA's new 2003
appeal, Hansen said, would allow the agency to stockpile food
and supplies to respond to further violence in the West Bank
and Gaza, an influx of Palestinians from the West Bank into
Jordan, or perhaps even a movement of the estimated 100,000
Palestinians believed to be resident in Iraq. Hansen
confirmed that if Palestinians fleeing Iraq could prove their
eligibility for UNRWA services, the agency would provide
services to them. (NOTE: UNRWA officials previously told
refcoord that it would need USD 30 million to stockpile food
and non-food items in the region.)

UNRWA Staff Fatalities "Completely and Totally Unacceptable"
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6. (C) Hansen told donors that UNRWA's staff fatality rate
-- six employees killed in 2002, including two killed in the
line of duty -- is of "particular concern" to the agency. He
said that 2002 had constituted the "deadliest year in
relative terms for any UN humanitarian agency." As an
example of the dangers faced on a daily basis by UN staff,
Hansen told donors about the December 9 attack on a clearly
marked UNRWA school bus in Gaza. After waiting at a
checkpoint for "several hours," the IDF soldiers on the
ground gave the bus permission to move. Yet as soon as the
bus started, Hansen said, it was shot from behind, with one
bullet moderately wounding an UNRWA student. Such incidents,
Hansen told donors, are "completely and totally unacceptable,
yet they take place with frequency and impunity." He added
that UNRWA is waiting to see what judgment, if any, is
rendered against the IDF soldier who shot UNRWA employee Iain
Hook on October 28.


7. (SBU) Although UNRWA employees are required to work in
"the most dangerous situation," Hansen said that they are the
only UN employees not receiving hazard pay in the West Bank
and Gaza. To provide hazard pay for the days on which West
Bank and Gaza staff actually are able to make it to work,
UNRWA has increased its program support costs (PSC)
associated with emergency programs from the previous rate of
five percent to the standard, UN-wide rate of 12 percent (the
same rate applied to UNRWA general fund programs and special
projects).

Further on UN and IDF Investigations of Hook's Death
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8. (C) In response to a question from refcoord, Hansen told
donors that UNSECOORD's report on its investigation into the
November 22 death of UNRWA employee Iain Hook was finalized
on December 9. He was not sure whether the report would be
publicly available, but said the circumstances of Hook's
death were clear: an IDF sniper shot an unarmed UN employee
in a clearly marked UN compound. Hansen said there was "no
way" an IDF sniper shooting from 25 meters could have
mistaken a mobile phone for a weapon. Hansen also noted that
although the IDF report on its own internal investigation
into the shooting had been finalized and shared with certain
diplomatic missions, the Israeli Government had not shared
its report with UNRWA.

Comment -- Need for Enhanced Humanitarian Coordination
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9. (C) Comment: While Hansen briefly mentioned that UNRWA's
new six-month appeal was included in the new UN-wide
consolidated appeal for the West Bank and Gaza launched in
Bern on November 19, he addressed neither UNRWA's role
vis-a-vis overall UN programming nor the need for enhanced
humanitarian coordination in the West Bank and Gaza. We hear
from senior UNRWA officials that Hansen continues to resist
the coordination recommendations included in both the Bertini
report and the November report of the UN interagency
technical assessment mission; his neglect of this important
issue during the launch seems to further confirm his
reluctance to cooperate with other UN agencies. Given the
difficulties of implementing new coordination mechanisms, it
is essential that OCHA's presence in the West Bank and Gaza
be augmented as quickly as possible. A significant and early
PRM contribution to OCHA's 2003 appeal would signal the
importance we attach to enhanced cooperation and OCHA's
critical role in the current crisis.


10. (U) ConGen Jerusalem cleared this message.
GNEHM