Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
03AMMAN8136 | 2003-12-14 16:23:00 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Amman |
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available. |
UNCLAS AMMAN 008136 |
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 |