UNRWA LAUNCHES 2004 EMERGENCY APPEAL FOR WEST BANK

1. (U) UNRWA Commissioner General Peter Hansen launched the
agency's 2004 emergency appeal for the West Bank and Gaza in
separate donor briefings in Amman and Jerusalem on December
11 and 12. The USD 196 million appeal focuses on temporary
employment (USD 62 million) and food security programs (USD
55.6 million), and is the seventh emergency appeal issued by
UNRWA since September 2000. The appeal also requests USD
32.9 million to cover shelter repair and reconstruction
costs, including USD 30.6 million to rebuild 1,100 demolished
refugee shelters in Gaza alone, where housing demolitions
have averaged 73 per month. The appeal is available on
http://www.un.org/unrwa/emergency/7Appeal.



2. (SBU) Characterizing the 2004 appeal as "extremely modest
and minimalist," Hansen told donors UNRWA had prioritized
previous emergency programs in order to reduce costs from


2003. For example, UNWRA reduced its emergency food parcels
to provide only 40 percent of refugees' daily nutritional
needs, down from the 60 percent provided in emergency food
parcels distributed under previous appeals. Hansen warned
that poor donor response could force UNRWA to reduce
emergency programs still further, citing as an example the
West Bank's mobile clinic program that will end on December
31 if new funds are not quickly pledged. (In a separate
December 4 meeting, West Bank Deputy Director Guy Siri told
refcoord that poor donor response to the 2003 appeals had
left UNRWA without its customary three-month "cushion," a
reserve of funds that could be programmed to ensure
continuation of essential services in the first months of a
new appeal. Only services already contracted under the 2003
appeal, e.g. the Operations Support Officer program, the
first 2004 food distribution and some temporary employment
programs, will continue after December 31.)



3. (SBU) In the new appeal, UNRWA reports that 88,284
Palestinian refugees in the northern West Bank already have
been affected by the separation barrier while another 70,000
refugees in the greater Jerusalem area will be affected by
the barrier's "Jerusalem envelope." UNRWA West Bank Director
Anders Fange told refcoord December 4 that UNRWA has just
begun quantifying the impact of the barrier on UNRWA
operations, planning how staff and resources could be
redirected to provide services in areas now completely cut
off from UNRWA services. Fange predicted that hospital
access could be the most difficult problem for the agency, as
UNRWA's Qalqiliya hospital is now completely encircled by the
barrier and the Augusta Victoria hospital in East Jerusalem
(UNRWA's primary contractor) will be inaccessible to West
Bank residents after completion of the "Jerusalem envelope."
Hansen confirmed to donors that the 2004 appeal does not
contain new programs or additional service delivery costs
required to meet refugees' basic needs in areas affected by
the barrier. He said the agency plans to issue an addendum
to the emergency appeal to cover new barrier-related programs
and costs "within the next three months." Hansen added that
he was unable to preview these expected costs, as he had just
returned from several weeks of travels abroad and had not yet
been briefed on the West Bank field's calculations to-date.
GNEHM