Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ANKARA1739
2003-03-19 15:02:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

DART: UNICEF'S TAKE ON HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN NORTHERN IRAQ

Tags:  AA EAID EFIN IZ MOPS PHUM PREF PREL TU WFP 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 ANKARA 001739 

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA, IO AND SA/PAB
NSC FOR DWORKEN, MANN, KHALILZAD, QUANRUD AND BRYZA
DEPT PASS USAID FOR NATSIOS; DCHA/OFDA FOR GARVELINK,
MCCONNELL, MARX, AND FARNSWORTH; ANE/AA FOR CHAMBERLAIN;
USAID/A, DCHA/AA,
DCHA/RMT, DCHA/OFDA, DCHA/FFP, DCHA/OTI, DCHA/DG, ANE/AA
AND USAID/AA
ROME FOR FODOG; GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH
EUCOM FOR J3, J5, SOJ7 AND POLAD
CENTCOM FOR J3, J5 AND POLAD
PACOM FOR POLAD
GENEVA FOR RMA


E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2013
TAGS: AA EAID EFIN IZ MOPS PHUM PREF PREL TU WFP
SUBJECT: DART: UNICEF'S TAKE ON HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN
NORTHERN IRAQ

Classified by DART Information Officer for
Reasons 1.5(B) and (D).


This cable was draft by Disaster Assistance Response
Team (DART) Field Office/North and cleared by Embassy
Ankara.


This is an action cable; please see paragraph 9.


-----------
Summary
-----------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 ANKARA 001739

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA, IO AND SA/PAB
NSC FOR DWORKEN, MANN, KHALILZAD, QUANRUD AND BRYZA
DEPT PASS USAID FOR NATSIOS; DCHA/OFDA FOR GARVELINK,
MCCONNELL, MARX, AND FARNSWORTH; ANE/AA FOR CHAMBERLAIN;
USAID/A, DCHA/AA,
DCHA/RMT, DCHA/OFDA, DCHA/FFP, DCHA/OTI, DCHA/DG, ANE/AA
AND USAID/AA
ROME FOR FODOG; GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH
EUCOM FOR J3, J5, SOJ7 AND POLAD
CENTCOM FOR J3, J5 AND POLAD
PACOM FOR POLAD
GENEVA FOR RMA


E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2013
TAGS: AA EAID EFIN IZ MOPS PHUM PREF PREL TU WFP
SUBJECT: DART: UNICEF'S TAKE ON HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN
NORTHERN IRAQ

Classified by DART Information Officer for
Reasons 1.5(B) and (D).


This cable was draft by Disaster Assistance Response
Team (DART) Field Office/North and cleared by Embassy
Ankara.


This is an action cable; please see paragraph 9.


--------------
Summary
--------------

1. (C) On March 13, DART Field Office/North personnel
met with Andre Lapierriere (Protect Source),UNICEF,s
Head of Northern Operations for Iraq. UNICEF
contingency plans are based on providing emergency
relief to more than 250,000 people, with 40 percent
of that population being absorbed
into the homes of local communities. UNICEF is
concerned that, at present, pre-positioned
commodities in northern Iraq will only meet 30
percent of the potential needs of 250,000 displaced
people. Lapierriere identified the need
for additional pre-positioning of blankets, tents,
emergency supplies for hospitals, clothing for children,
and water bladders. UNICEF Head of Northern Operations
for Iraq indicated that if hostilities last longer than
30 days and/or more than 250,000 people are displaced,
there will be significant food and medicine shortages
in the three northern provinces of Dehuk, Irbil, and
Sulaymaniyah.
End Summary


--------------
UNICEF Activities in Northern Iraq
--------------

2. (C) UNICEF,s role in northern Iraq focuses on the
primary health care, shelter, and water and sanitation
sectors. In the water and sanitation sector, UNICEF has

installed more than 1,000 km of pipes and dug hundreds
of wells throughout most of the three northern Iraqi
provinces. UNICEF,s Head of Northern Operations for
Iraq reported that 95 percent of the northern areas
have access to potable water. In the primary health
sector, UNICEF is focusing on providing medicine and
technical support to health clinics
in the three northern provinces of Dehuk, Irbil, and
Sulaymaniyah.



3. (C) UNICEF reported that, based on a planning
figure of 250,000 displaced during a potential
conflict, only 30 percent of shelter needs (blankets,
tents, etc.) have been pre-positioned in northern
Iraq to date. This pre-positioned cache includes
50,000 blankets and an
undefined number of cooking sets and tents. While
UNICEF has the mechanism in place to pre-position,
warehouse, and distribute non-food items in
northern Iraq, UNICEF does not have additional
funds available to do so. DART Field Office/North
has identified UNICEF as the only
international organization with the capacity to
distribute non-food items in northern Iraq from
Turkey. To date, no NGOs are registered with
the Government of Turkey (GOT) to transit
humanitarian supplies.



4. (C) UNICEF,s Head of Northern Operations for Iraq
indicated the United Nations Office of Project Services
(UN OPS) has the jurisdiction over generators and power
sources in northern Iraq. However, under the regulations
of the Oil-for-Food program, UN OPS is unable to train
local Iraqi,s on maintenance of these power systems.
UNICEF Head of Northern Operations for Iraq in concerned
that if the Oil-for-Food program is broken, the power
supply system in northern Iraq could be in jeopardy.



5. (C) Lapierriere identified a need for local medical
officials in northern Iraq to receive information on
responding to a Chemical, Biological, Radiological,
Nuclear, or Explosion (CBRNE) attack. UNICEF,s Head
of Northern Operations for Iraq indicated that a
workshop for local staff on CBRNE in northern Iraq
for first responders could calm concerns of the northern
Iraqi population.


--------------
UNICEF,s Concerns
--------------

6. (C) UNICEF identified the need for additional
non-food items to be pre-positioned in northern Iraq
as soon as possible, including, in order of priority,
more than 100,000 blankets, 1,000 tents, emergency
supplies for hospitals, clothing for children, and
water bladders. DART Field Office/North discussed
the idea of pre-positioning emergency relief supplies,
such as blankets, tents, etc., in northern Iraq with
UNICEF. UNICEF indicated that they are in a
position to facilitate the delivery of emergency relief
supplies to warehouses in northern Iraq. Additionally,
the availability of fuel for cooking and operating
vehicles is a concern. If the Oil-for-Food program
stops, local UNICEF staff will not receive salaries
because of lack of funds, raising concerns of UNICEF,s
ability to maintain its network of employees over a
long period of time. UNICEF Field Representative
indicated that if hostilities last longer than 30 days
and/or more than 250,000 people are displaced, there
will be significant food shortages in the three northern
provinces.



7. (C) UNICEF, in consultation with U.N. Joint Logistics
Center (UNJLC),has identified four logistical contingency
plans to bring medicine to the people of northern Iraq
in the event of hostilities. UNICEF,s first option is to
transport medicine and emergency relief supplies by truck
from the Turkish port of Mercin to the three northern
provinces. UNICEF currently has $4 million worth of
emergency medicine in Mersin waiting transport to
northern Iraq. If transport through Turkey becomes
more problematic, then UNICEF contingency plans call
for the medicine to be airlifted into secure
locations in northern Iraq. In the event that airlifting
medicine is not an option, UNICEF plans call for emergency
relief supplies to be transported through Syria and Iran.
UNICEF,s Field Representative reported that UNICEF
personnel are currently conducting an assessment in Syria
to assess conditions for transport from Syria to northern
Iraq.
--------------
NGO Presence in Northern Iraq
--------------

8. (SBU) UNICEF,s Head of Northern Operations for Iraq
identified eight international NGOs that have established
programs in northern Iraq, as well as the sectors that
they work in: Save the Children/United Kingdom (shelter,
protection of IDPs),PeaceWinds Japan (health, water and
sanitation),STEP (education),Yanconia (protection of
IDPs),Premerogance (education),Qandil (water and
sanitation, protection of IDPs),Mines Advisory Group
(demining),and Response, Relief, Resettlement, and
Rehabilitation (advocacy). According to UNICEF, all
international staff for these organizations have been
evacuated from northern Iraq. UNICEF representative
singled out Save the Children/UK as having a
significant presence in northern Iraq with
knowledgeable local staff to conduct emergency response
operations.


--------------
DART Field Office/North Requests for Action
--------------

9. (C) Request for Action. DART Field Office/North
requests that additional international disaster assistance
funds be made available to UNICEF for the pre-positioning
of 50,000 blankets and 1,000 tents in northern Iraq
through Turkey. Additionally, DART Field Office/North
requests that these commodities be purchased in Turkey
as a visible indication to the GOT that the USG and
international community is actively working on
contingency plans to stabilize the northern Iraqi
population in place, minimize movement of displaced
persons, and reduce the potential humanitarian burden
on the GOT.


PEARSON