CONCERNS VOICED ON THE U.N. WORLD FOOD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000303

SIPDIS

FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME

ISLAMABAD FOR DART
TASHKENT FOR DART
ASHGABAT FOR DART
GENEVA FOR RMA NANCE KYLOH
USUN FOR LSHESTACK
USEU FOR KFULLER AND KDEBLAU

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID EAGR AORC PREF EU WFPO UN AFGHANISTAN
SUBJECT: CONCERNS VOICED ON THE U.N. WORLD FOOD
PROGRAM'S SOON TO BE RELEASED NEW EMERGENCY OPERATION
FOR AFGHANISTAN

REF: ROME 00001


1. SUMMARY. U.S. MISSION/ROME OFFICERS MET ON
THURSDAY, JANUARY 17 WITH THE U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAM
(WFP) ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (AED) AND DIRECTOR
OF OPERATIONS, MOHAMED ZEJJARI TO EXPRESS U.S. CONCERNS
ABOUT THE SOON TO BE RELEASED NEW EMERGENCY OPERATION
(EMOP) FOR AFGHANISTAN. THE PRIMARY POINTS CENTERED
AROUND A LACK OF SUPPORTING DATA FOR THE PROPOSED
PROGRAMS AND THE NEED TO CONTINUALLY MONITOR THE
EFFECTS OF FOOD AID AND MAKE NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS TO
WFP PROGRAMS. WFP INCORPORATED THE SUGGESTED ADDITIONS
INTO THE EMOP WHICH IS TO BE RELEASED IN THE COMING
DAYS. WFP REPORTED THAT U.S. REQUESTED SPOT-CHECKS TO
THE VAM FINDINGS ARE PLANNED FOR FEBRUARY. END
SUMMARY.

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BACKGROUND
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2. WFP PROVIDED THE U.S. MISSION/ROME AND
USAID/DCHA/FOOD FOR PEACE OFFICE (FFP) WITH AN ADVANCE
COPY OF WFP'S NEW EMOP, WHICH BEGINS ON APRIL 2002 AND
ENDS DECEMBER 31, 2002. THE VERSION PROVIDED WAS DATED
JANUARY 8. AFTER READING THE DOCUMENT, THE U.S.
MISSION/ROME AND USAID/FFP HAD SOME CONCERNS. ON
THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, U.S. MISSION/ROME OFFICERS
LAVELLE AND DAVIS MET WITH WFP'S ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR (AED) AND DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, MOHAMED
ZEJJARI, AND WFP'S CHIEF OF THE OFFICE OF HUMANITARIAN
AFFAIRS (OHA),FRANCESCO STRIPPOLI, TO REVIEW U.S.
CONCERNS.

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CONCERNS VOICED
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3. SENIOR EMERGENCY COORDINATOR (SEC) DAVIS RELAYED
TWO PRIMARY CONCERNS AND LEFT BEHIND A MEMO THAT
OUTLINED MORE DETAILED COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT EMOP. THE
PRIMARY POINTS WERE THE FOLLOWING:


A. WFP PROPOSES A VARIETY OF PROGRAMS IN THE NEW EMOP.
SOME ARE REVIVED PROJECTS FROM PRE-SEPTEMBER 11; OTHERS
ARE A CONTINUATION OF CURRENT RELIEF ACTIVITIES; AND
SOME ARE COMPLETELY NEW. THESE PROJECTS ARE OUTLINED,
HOWEVER, WITH LITTLE TO NO SUPPORTING DATA TO JUSTIFY
THE NEED. STATEMENTS ARE MADE ABOUT HIGH MORTALITY
RATES, HIGH MALNUTRITION RATES, AND THE NEED FOR
CONTINUED FOOD AID, BUT NO ACTUAL DATA IS PROVIDED.
ONE WOULD SURMISE FROM READING THE DOCUMENT THAT ONLY
ANECDOTAL INFORMATION EXISTS.
THE VULNERABILITY AND ANALYSIS MAPPING (VAM) UNIT HAS
ACCUMULATED A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF DATA, AND EVEN
THOUGH SEVERAL MONTHS OLD, NONE OF THAT DATA IS
UTILIZED. THE PROGRAMS MAY INDEED BE VERY MUCH NEEDED
IN AFGHANISTAN, BUT THEY SHOULD BE SUBSTANTIATED.


B. THERE IS NO MENTION AS TO HOW THE AFGHANISTAN FOOD
SECURITY UNIT (AFSU, FORMER VAM) FINDINGS WILL BE
FOLDED INTO THE PROGRAMMATIC ACTIVITIES OR HOW PROGRAMS
MAY BE ADJUSTED EACH MONTH ON THE BASIS OF THE AFSU'S
FINDINGS. AND NO MENTION IS MADE OF TRACKING THE
IMPACT OF FOOD AID ON THE MARKETS TO ENSURE THAT FOOD
AID IS NOT HAVING A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON THE ECONOMY.


4. ZEJJARI TOLD THE OFFICERS THAT MANY OF OUR DETAILED
CONCERNS HAD ALSO BEEN SHARED BY HIM AND HE HAD TWICE
REQUESTED RE-WRITES TO THE EMOP SINCE THE JANUARY 8
VERSION. ALTHOUGH HE DID NOT SHARE THE MOST-RECENT
VERSION WITH THE OFFICERS, HE DID READ PARTS THAT
CONFIRMED THAT SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES HAD TAKEN PLACE.


5. ZEJJARI WAS VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THE NEED TO ADD
LANGUAGE TO THE EMOP ABOUT POINT B ABOVE, HOWEVER HE
ARGUED THAT PROVIDING ALL THE DATA (POINT A) TO JUSTIFY
WFP'S PROGRAMS WOULD MAKE THE EMOP DOCUMENT TOO LONG.
THE SEC COUNTERED THAT THERE IS A HAPPY MEDIUM BETWEEN
NO DATA AND AN OVERWHELMING QUANTITY. COPIES OF THE
MEMO WITH THE DETAILED POINTS WERE LEFT WITH HIM AND
STRIPPOLI AND HAVE BEEN SENT TO USAID/FFP AND
USAID/DART/ISLAMABAD.

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SPOT-CHECKING THE VAM RESULTS
--------------


6. AS RELAYED IN REF TEL, MISSION OFFICERS HAD
ENCOURAGED WFP TO CONDUCT "SPOT-CHECKS" OF THE VAM
RESULTS IN A FEW DISTRICTS OF AFGHANISTAN THAT ARE
CURRENTLY ACCESSIBLE. IN THE MEETING, THEY ASKED ABOUT
THE PROGRESS OF THIS EFFORT.


7. ZEJJARI STATED THE VAM UNIT HAD RECENTLY BEEN
EXPANDED BY THREE STAFF. THE UNIT IS TAKING JANUARY TO
PREPARE AND DO RESEARCH, AND IN FEBRUARY THE FIELD WORK
WOULD BEGIN. THE FIELD WORK IS TO INCLUDE THE
REQUESTED SPOT CHECKS. USAID/DART CONTINUES TO FOLLOW
THIS ISSUE WITH WFP STAFF IN ISLAMABAD.

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PROGRESS MADE
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8. ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, U.S. MISSION OFFICERS TALKED
WITH ZEJJARI DURING THE LUNCH AT WFP WITH CONGRESSIONAL
DELEGATION KOLBE. HE SHOWED THE SEC WHERE WFP ALREADY
HAD INCORPORATED THE PRIMARY CONCERNS INTO THE EMOP.
WFP IS HOPING TO RELEASE THE NEW EMOP CONCURRENTLY WITH
THE TOKYO PLEDGING CONFERENCE ON AFGHANISTAN.


9. MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. HEILEMAN


2002ROME00303 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED