WFP'S WEST AFRICA REGIONAL AIRCRAFT EXPANDS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 005788 SIPDIS FROM AMEMBASSY ROME GENEVA FOR RMA NSC FOR JDWORKEN USAID FOR DCHA AA, OFDA, FFP STATE FOR AF/W, IO, PRM FOR THOME USDA FOR FAS/EC/PDD TILLSWORTH AND FAS/ICD FOR KRAMER, LEBLANC USUN FOR MLUTZ NAIROBI FOR REDSO AND OFDA/ARO DAKAR FOR FFP NESTES AND KSTURR USEU FOR PLERNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID EAGR AORC PREF EAGR AORC PREF EAGR AORC PREF EU WFP UN EU EAID WFP UN EU EAID WFP UN SUBJECT: WFP'S WEST AFRICA REGIONAL AIRCRAFT EXPANDS ITS ROUTING TO INCLUDE COTE D'IVOIRE BUT SOON MAY HAVE TO SHUT DOWN OPERATIONS DUE TO FUNDING SHORTFALLS REFS: A) CONAKRY 1042 B) ROME 5454 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. THE U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAM (WFP) HAS ISSUED A NEW SPECIAL OPERATION (SO) FOR ITS WEST AFRICA PASSENGER UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 ROME 05788 01 OF 03 021338Z AIRCRAFT SERVICE AND LAST WEEK ISSUED A DONOR'S ALERT FOR THE SO. THE NEW SO REQUESTS 1.2 MILLION USD FOR TWELVE MONTHS OF SERVICE. SINCE EARLY NOVEMBER, WFP HAS EXPANDED THE FLIGHT SCHEDULE TO INCLUDE COTE D'IVOIRE IN ADDITION TO GUINEA, SIERRA LEONE, AND LIBERIA. IN THE LAST YEAR, A TOTAL OF 5,481 PASSENGERS FROM MORE THAN 152 ORGANIZATIONS USED THE PLANE. IN ADDITION, 17 MEDICAL EVACUATIONS WERE FLOWN. CURRENT FUNDING FOR THE SO WILL SUPPORT THE AIR OPERATION ONLY THROUGH MID-DECEMBER. IF NO NEW FUNDING IS PLEDGED WITHIN THE COMING DAYS, WFP WILL BE FORCED TO SHUT DOWN THE OPERATION IN DECEMBER. SEE FINAL PARA FOR RECOMMENDATION. END SUMMARY I CANNOT GET RID OF THIS STUPID LINE. CAN YOU?? -------------- BACKGROUND -------------- ¶2. AS REPORTED IN REF TEL A, IN OCTOBER 2001 WFP LAUNCHED A SPECIAL OPERATION (SO) FOR PASSENGER AIRCRAFT SERVICE TO GUINEA, SIERRA LEONE, AND LIBERIA TO SUPPORT HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS. THE COST FOR THE FIRST YEAR WAS BUDGETED AT 1.2 MILLION USD (10/07/01- 10/06/02). IN FISCAL YEAR 2002, STATE/PRM PROVIDED 400,000 USD AND USAID/DCHA/OFDA GAVE 225,000 USD TO THE SO. THE IRISH AND SWISS ALSO CONTRIBUTED $108,070 AND $134,230 RESPECTIVELY. THE FLIGHT OPERATION IS MANAGED BY THE WFP/GUINEA COUNTRY OFFICE AND IS BASED IN CONAKRY. UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 04 ROME 05788 01 OF 03 021338Z ¶3. IN LATE SEPTEMBER, 2002, WFP ISSUED A FOLLOW-ON SO TO BEGIN ON OCTOBER 7 FOR ANOTHER YEAR. THE BUDGET REQUESTS 1.2 MILLION USD FOR THE SECOND YEAR. -------------- NEW ROUTING -------------- ¶4. UNTIL RECENTLY, THE WFP REGIONAL PLANE HAD BEEN FLYING INTERNALLY TO SITES IN GUINEA FOUR DAYS A WEEK AND ONCE A WEEK MADE A REGIONAL ROTATION TO LIBERIA, SIERRA LEONE, AND GUINEA. ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, WFP ADDED FLIGHTS TO COTE D'IVOIRE, SERVICING ABIDJAN AND YAMOUSSOUKRO, AND MAY SOON ADD BOUAKE, IF NEEDED. ¶5. UNDER THE CURRENT SCHEDULE, THE PLANE FLIES ON MONDAYS FROM CONAKRY TO KISSIDOUGOU AND N'ZEREKORE IN THE FOREST REGION OF GUINEA. FROM N'ZEREKORE IT GOES TO YAMOUSSOUKRO AND ABIDJAN, WHERE IT BEDS FOR THE NIGHT. ON TUESDAYS IT FLIES THE SAME SCHEDULE IN UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PTQ6153 PAGE 01 ROME 05788 02 OF 03 021338Z ACTION AF-00 INFO LOG-00 AID-00 AMAD-00 CIAE-00 COME-00 CTME-00 SRPP-00 EAP-00 EB-00 EUR-00 E-00 UTED-00 FDRE-01 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-00 L-00 NSAE-00 OES-00 OIC-02 OMB-01 SSO-00 STR-00 TEST-00 TRSE-00 USIE-00 PRM-00 SAS-00 /004W -------------- 1144A3 021422Z /38 P 021211Z DEC 02 FM AMEMBASSY ROME TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7128 INFO USMISSION GENEVA NSC WASHDC USDA FAS WASHDC 2447 AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN AMEMBASSY CONAKRY AMEMBASSY FREETOWN AMEMBASSY MONROVIA AMEMBASSY ABUJA AMEMBASSY BAMAKO AMEMBASSY NAIROBI AMEMBASSY DAKAR AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU AMEMBASSY LONDON AMEMBASSY TOKYO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK USEU BRUSSELS 2977 JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J3/J4/J5 HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ4-ID-HA UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 ROME 05788 02 OF 03 021338Z UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 03 ROME 005788 SIPDIS FROM AMEMBASSY ROME GENEVA FOR RMA NSC FOR JDWORKEN USAID FOR DCHA AA, OFDA, FFP STATE FOR AF/W, IO, PRM FOR THOME USDA FOR FAS/EC/PDD TILLSWORTH AND FAS/ICD FOR KRAMER, LEBLANC USUN FOR MLUTZ NAIROBI FOR REDSO AND OFDA/ARO DAKAR FOR FFP NESTES AND KSTURR USEU FOR PLERNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID EAGR AORC PREF EAGR AORC PREF EAGR AORC PREF EU WFP UN EU EAID WFP UN EU EAID WFP UN SUBJECT: WFP'S WEST AFRICA REGIONAL AIRCRAFT EXPANDS ITS ROUTING TO INCLUDE COTE D'IVOIRE BUT SOON MAY HAVE TO SHUT DOWN OPERATIONS DUE TO FUNDING SHORTFALLS REVERSE: ABIDJAN TO YAMOUSSOUKRO TO N'ZEREKORE TO KISSIDOUGOU AND RETURNS TO CONAKRY. WEDNESDAYS ARE DEDICATED TO THE REGIONAL FLIGHT TO FREETOWN, KENEMA, MONROVIA, AND CONAKRY. THURSDAY THE PLANE FLIES FROM CONAKRY TO KISSIDOUGOU, N'ZEREKORE AND ABIDJAN. FRIDAY IT BEGINS IN ABIDJAN AND GOES TO YAMOUSSOUKRO, N'ZEREKORE, KISSIDOUGOU AND RETURNS TO CONAKRY FOR THE WEEKEND. UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 ROME 05788 02 OF 03 021338Z ¶6. WFP/GUINEA DISTRIBUTES THE SCHEDULE WIDELY AND PRIDES ITSELF IN MAINTAINING THE ANNOUNCED SCHEDULE. BUT AWARE OF THE CHANGING NEEDS IN THE REGION, WFP IS WILLING TO ADJUST THE SCHEDULE AS NEEDED TO BE RESPONSIVE TO EMERGING NEEDS. -------------- PASSENGER INFORMATION -------------- ¶7. IN THE LAST YEAR (OCTOBER 2001 TO OCTOBER 2002), A TOTAL OF 5,481 PASSENGERS FROM MORE THAN 152 ORGANIZATIONS USED THE PLANE FOR A TOTAL OF 981 FLIGHT HOURS. 2,520 PASSENGERS WERE FROM INTERNATIONAL NGOS AND 2,223 FROM U.N. AGENCIES, INCLUDING 882 FROM UNHCR, 849 FROM WFP AND 195 FROM UNICEF. IN JULY, THE PLANE TRANSPORTED 648 PASSENGERS: ITS HIGHEST NUMBER OF PASSENGERS IN ONE MONTH. IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS, THE MONTHLY PASSENGER AVERAGE WAS 572. ¶8. WFP OPERATES A LET-410 THAT IS REGISTERED IN BULGARIA AND IS FLOWN BY BULGARIAN PILOTS. THE AIRCRAFT HAS A 17-SEAT CAPACITY, HOWEVER FOR SAFETY REASONS RELATED TO THE TEMPERATURE AND ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS IN WEST AFRICA, WFP ALLOWS ONLY 12 PASSENGERS PER FLIGHT. ¶9. WFP'S SPECIAL OPERATION COVERS PASSENGER COSTS SO THERE IS NO CHARGE TO PASSENGERS. WFP MAINTAINS UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 04 ROME 05788 02 OF 03 021338Z STRICT PASSENGER APPROVAL PROCEDURES SO THAT ONLY LEGITIMATE HUMANITARIAN-RELATED PERSONNEL AND MISSIONS ARE ALLOWED TO USE THE PLANE. ¶10. THE PLANE IS ALSO USED ON AN EMERGENCY BASIS FOR MEDICAL EVACUATIONS AND TO DELIVER FOOD OR NON-FOOD ITEMS, AS IT DID IN EARLY OCTOBER TO COTE D'IVOIRE. WITHOUT DISRUPTING ITS NORMAL SCHEDULE, WFP AIRLIFTED FOUR METRIC TONS OF HIGH-PROTEIN BISCUITS FROM STOCKS IN CONAKRY TO YAMOUSSOUKRO TO BE USED FOR THE COTE D'IVOIRE CRISIS. IN THE LAST YEAR, IT HAS FLOWN 17 MEDICAL EVACUATIONS. -------------- OTHER PLANES -------------- ¶11. AS REPORTED IN REF A, THE U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) OPERATES A REGIONAL AIRCRAFT WITH A 10-SEAT CAPACITY. THE SCHEDULE IS COORDINATED WITH WFP'S FLIGHT SCHEDULE, HOWEVER MANY USERS UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PTQ6157 PAGE 01 ROME 05788 03 OF 03 021339Z ACTION AF-00 INFO LOG-00 AID-00 AMAD-00 CIAE-00 COME-00 CTME-00 SRPP-00 EAP-00 EB-00 EUR-00 E-00 UTED-00 FDRE-01 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-00 L-00 NSAE-00 OES-00 OIC-02 OMB-01 SSO-00 STR-00 TEST-00 TRSE-00 USIE-00 PRM-00 SAS-00 /004W -------------- 1144BE 021423Z /38 P 021211Z DEC 02 FM AMEMBASSY ROME TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7129 INFO USMISSION GENEVA NSC WASHDC USDA FAS WASHDC 2448 AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN AMEMBASSY CONAKRY AMEMBASSY FREETOWN AMEMBASSY MONROVIA AMEMBASSY ABUJA AMEMBASSY BAMAKO AMEMBASSY NAIROBI AMEMBASSY DAKAR AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU AMEMBASSY LONDON AMEMBASSY TOKYO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK USEU BRUSSELS 2978 JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J3/J4/J5 HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ4-ID-HA UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 ROME 05788 03 OF 03 021339Z UNCLAS SECTION 03 OF 03 ROME 005788 SIPDIS FROM AMEMBASSY ROME GENEVA FOR RMA NSC FOR JDWORKEN USAID FOR DCHA AA, OFDA, FFP STATE FOR AF/W, IO, PRM FOR THOME USDA FOR FAS/EC/PDD TILLSWORTH AND FAS/ICD FOR KRAMER, LEBLANC USUN FOR MLUTZ NAIROBI FOR REDSO AND OFDA/ARO DAKAR FOR FFP NESTES AND KSTURR USEU FOR PLERNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID EAGR AORC PREF EAGR AORC PREF EAGR AORC PREF EU WFP UN EU EAID WFP UN EU EAID WFP UN SUBJECT: WFP'S WEST AFRICA REGIONAL AIRCRAFT EXPANDS ITS ROUTING TO INCLUDE COTE D'IVOIRE BUT SOON MAY HAVE TO SHUT DOWN OPERATIONS DUE TO FUNDING SHORTFALLS COMPLAIN THAT UNHCR'S PUBLISHED SCHEDULE IS UNRELIABLE. IN ADDITION, UNHCR PERSONNEL ARE PRIORITY PASSENGERS FOR THE PLANE, CONSEQUENTLY, NGO AND OTHER U.N. AGENCY STAFF ARE OFTEN BUMPED FROM THE FLIGHT. INTERESTINGLY, 882 UNHCR STAFF FLEW ON THE WFP PLANE IN THE LAST YEAR--THE LARGEST NUMBER OF STAFF FROM ANY ONE ORGANIZATION. UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 ROME 05788 03 OF 03 021339Z ¶12. THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS (ICRC) ALSO FLIES A REGIONAL AIRCRAFT. ICRC HAS TOLD WFP STAFF THAT THEY MAY USE IT IN EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES SUCH AS MEDICAL EVACUATION, BUT IT IS NOT AVAILABLE TO NGOS AND OTHER U.N. AGENCIES. THE ICRC PLANE (10-PASSENGER CAPACITY) IS BASED IN FREETOWN, AND FLIES TO THE FOREST REGION OF GUINEA TWICE A WEEK. -------------- COSTS AND POSSIBLE SHUT-DOWN OF SERVICE -------------- ¶13. THE COSTS OF MAINTAINING AND FLYING THE WFP AIRCRAFT ARE 100,000 USD PER MONTH OR 1.2 MILLION USD FOR 12 MONTHS, AS WFP'S NEW FLIGHT SCHEDULE INCREASES THE FLIGHT HOURS TO 100 HOURS PER MONTH. IN THE LAST YEAR, WFP AVERAGED 80 FLIGHT HOURS PER MONTH OR APPROXIMATELY 75,000-80,000 USD PER MONTH, WHICH ALLOWED WFP TO STRETCH ITS FUNDING (OF APPROXIMATELY 867,300 USD) TO COVER THE 12 MONTHS. ¶14. BESIDES THE DONATIONS IT RECEIVED, WFP BORROWED DURING THE SUMMER SOME FUNDS FROM OTHER OPERATIONS IN ORDER TO COVER GAPS IN FUNDING AND CONTINUE THE SERVICE FOR A FEW MONTHS. WFP HAS NOW REACHED A POINT WHERE IT EITHER MUST RECEIVE ADDITIONAL DONATIONS OR PLEDGES BY DECEMBER 7 OR SHUT DOWN THE OPERATION. -------------- UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 04 ROME 05788 03 OF 03 021339Z COMMENT -------------- ¶15. THE WFP REGIONAL AIRCRAFT SUPPLIES A VALUED SERVICE TO THE REGION'S HUMANITARIAN COMMUNITY. ITS DISCONTINUANCE WOULD SEVERELY HAMPER HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS, AS HUMANITARIAN WORKERS AND DONORS WOULD BE FORCED TO DRIVE LONG DISTANCES. (THE DISTANCE FROM CONAKRY TO N'ZEREKORE IS 950 KILOMETERS AND TAKES 15 HOURS TO TRAVEL, ONE WAY, BY VEHICLE.) ¶16. AS PROBLEMS IN THE WEST AFRICA REGION CONTINUE TO GENERATE REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS, THE USEFULNESS OF THE PLANE IN REACHING AND SERVICING THESE POPULATIONS IS CLEAR. U.S. MISSION/ROME SUGGESTS THAT STATE/PRM AND USAID/DCHA STRONGLY CONSIDER ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THIS SO IN FY03. ¶17. MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. HALL UNCLASSIFIED > 2002ROME05788 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED