SECOND REGULAR SESSION OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM

UNCLAS ROME 002657

SIPDIS
AIDAC

FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME

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STATE FOR AS/PRM, PRM/P, EUR/WE, EUR/NE AND IO/EDA
USAID FOR A/AID, AA/DCHA, AA/AFR, DCHA/FFP LANDIS, PPC/DP,
PPC/DC
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NAIROBI FOR REFCOORD
KAMPALA FOR REFCOORD
ISLAMABAD FOR REFCOORD
BRUSSELS FOR USAID PLERNER AND PRM REP
USUN FOR MLUTZ
NSC FOR JDWORKEN
OMB FOR TSTOLL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID EAGR AORC PREF KUNR WFP UN
SUBJECT: SECOND REGULAR SESSION OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM
EXECUTIVE BOARD, ROME, JUNE 2, 2003

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.
NOT SUITABLE FOR INTERNET POSTING.

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SUMMARY
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1. (U) In an abbreviated Board session (one day),the
Executive Board approved a country program for Pakistan, a
school feeding intervention for Lesotho, and protracted
relief and recovery operations for Kenya (Somali and
Sudanese refugees),Uganda (refugees and internally
displaced),and the Central African Republic. USDEL
conducted a number of productive side meetings dealing with
WFP's relationships with NGOs, UNHCR, and updates on WFP
interventions on Pakistan, Uganda and parts of the Great
Lakes region of Central Africa. End Summary.

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Pakistan Country Program and Lesotho school feeding
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2. (U) The Board approved the 2004-2008 Pakistan country
program with a five-year funding approval amounting to USD
77.9 million. USDEL lauded WFP's efforts to "focus and
concentrate" its proposed efforts in 34 districts. Other
USDEL comments were as follows:

-Stronger capacity for monitoring poverty and the impact of
anti-poverty programs needs to be developed;

-WFP and its UN sister Agencies are encouraged to work
closely with host government partners related to the
honoring of stated commitments to protect women and
minorities against legal, political and social
discrimination;

-USDEL strongly agrees with WFP's focus and attention to
"promoting safe motherhood" in conjunction with WFP-assisted
health programs, especially the emphasis on factors that
affect low birth weight, timing of first births, inter-birth
intervals, and maternal nutrition;

-WFP is encouraged to expand its relationship with NGOs that
need to be increasingly recognized as a useful and
potentially significant part of Pakistan's development;

-We are particularly concerned with beneficiaries, such as
Afghan refugees, and ask that WFP focus on pipeline issues.


3. (SBU) In a side meeting with WFP Country Director German
Valdivia, implementation of the WFP-UNHCR MOU (whereby WFP
assumes responsibility for food deliveries directly to the
refugee populations) was discussed as well as the problems
resulting from a poorly resourced food pipeline. Valdivia
indicated that WFP was dropping 27,500 refugees from the
program as the tripartite process had decided (GOP, UNHCR
and WFP) to close one camp and repatriate the refugees.
(Comment: it was not clear whether this action in cutting


off distribution may be de facto coercing the refugees to
return to Afghanistan. Refcoord and PRM/ANE may wish to
follow up with UNHCR. End comment.)


4. (U) On Lesotho, the Board approved a four year (2004-
2007) school feeding support to the GOL's Free Primary
Education undertaking, with a total cost to WFP of USD 14.45
million. The project will assist 285,300 beneficiaries.
USDEL noted that Lesotho remains dramatically food insecure
and that the "drag" of AIDs on economic growth will further
reduce the ability of the government to handle the rising
social and healthcare costs. USDEL suggested that where
appropriate WFP and its sister UN Agencies should consider
revisiting previous methods of shoring up governments and
populations in crisis -- including direct support to
ministries, organizations and institutions that are losing
the human resources and skilled professionals required to
function effectively. Note: U.S. Ambassador in Maseru was
reportedly thanked profusely by GOL officials for U.S.
support of school feeding in Lesotho. End note.

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Protracted relief and recovery (PRRO) operation - Kenya
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5. (SBU) WFP'S protracted relief and recovery operation
(PRRO) for Kenya (10258.0) - Food assistance to Somali and
Sudanese refugees, from October 2003 through September 2005,
covering 230,358 beneficiaries, with a total cost to WFP of
USD 57.46 million - was approved by the Board. WFP Country
Director Tesema Negash commented that at present "about 15
percent of the food delivered to the camps is sold or
bartered due to the inability of the other UN Agencies to
supply non-food items." He also estimated that some 6
percent of the refugees were presently engaged in income
generating activities but this was exceedingly difficult to
document. Negash concluded that at present the camps were
reasonably secure, given that the UN had supplied patrol
vehicles to the local police. Germany stated that it was
willing to consider placing experts into Kenya's "line
ministries" to strengthen implementation efforts.

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Protracted relief and recovery (PRRO) operation - Budget
increase Uganda
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6. (U) A budget increase for PRRO Uganda 10121.0 - Targeted
Food Assistance for Relief and Recovery of Refugees,
Displaced Persons and Vulnerable Groups in Uganda, from
April 2002 through March 2005, with a revised total cost to
WFP of USD 178.9 million and an additional beneficiary
caseload is 567,276, which brings the overall caseload to
1,596,691 persons - was approved by the Board.


7. (SBU) In a USDEL side meeting, Uganda Country Director
Ken Davies gave an overview of WFP operations for 154,000
refugees, over 800,000 IDPs, and now an additional 535,000
drought victims and 6,000 especially vulnerable new


Congolese refugees (out of 30,000 recent new arrivals). Of
the 6,000 vulnerable new arrivals, most of them are women
and children, and about half are expected to accept UNHCR's
offer to relocate to a refugee camp. A contribution from
the European Commission is expected to prevent a break in
the PRRO pipeline before September. Furthermore, USAID/FFP
plans to contribute to the PRRO through an approved call-
forward this month.

8. (SBU) Davies said that resourcing a PRRO with such a
diverse caseload has been especially difficult over the last
year. Many donors diverted contributions to southern Africa
and other crises while attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army
(LRA) and instability in the north exacerbated needs for
IDPs in particular and resulted in increased acute
malnutrition among IDP children under five years old.


9. (U) As for the refugees, Davies felt that despite some
difficulties, the Self Reliance Strategy (SRS) had been
successful in many respects and enabled WFP to remove 40,000
refugees from its caseload, as they received land and became
self-sufficient. He added that the best land had already
been distributed, and other refugees included in the SRS
would need to rely on WFP to meet 10-40 percent of their
food needs. As the largest buyer of food in Uganda, WFP has
had a positive impact on small-scale agricultural
production. In effect, it has supported small farmer
cooperatives and greatly strengthened Uganda's commercial
agricultural sector. WFP purchased USD 9 million of cereals
and pulses locally in 2002 and plans to purchase USD 20
million this year.


10. (SBU) Regarding efforts to prevent exploitation, Davies
described how WFP distributes food to clusters of
households, many of which are headed by women, and relies
upon traditional leaders within each cluster for the
allocation to individual households. In refugee camps, WFP
plans to move towards family-based distributions. Security
conditions preclude advance announcement of distributions.
WFP-UNHCR-NGO-GOU joint assessment missions are conducted in
66 settlements every six months.


11. (U) Davies was especially appreciative of PRM's recent
cash contribution towards refugee needs in Uganda. He said
that the refugees were an easy caseload for WFP to target
there. Asked how the local purchase process worked and the
timelines involved, he said that upon learning of a PRM
contribution, he could immediately issue a tender and then
sign a contract within two weeks. The contract would
require delivery within four weeks, and the refugees would
actually receive the food another two weeks after that.
Therefore, the food will be distributed to the refugees no
later than two months after the contribution is made.

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Other USDEL side meetings - NGOs/UNHCR MOU/ICRC-related
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12. (SBU) USDEL met WFP Deputy Executive Director Shiela

Sisulu and Deputy Director of Operations Francesco Strippoli
regarding WFP's nascent task force to improve its relations
with the NGO community. Sisulu commented that after WFP
Executive Director Morris met in April with NGOs in Kansas
City, he said he wanted to come out of WFP's October 2003
conference for NGOs "with his head still on." Sisulu comes
from the NGO community, and she is making this initiative
one of her immediate and top priorities. She acknowledged
that WFP and NGOs view each other not only as partners but
also as competitiors, and she asked for USDEL views.


13. (SBU) FFP Director Lauren Landis suggested that WFP
focus not only on technical issues but also partnership
issues with NGOs. WFP and the NGO community could work on a
joint framework and ensure its implementation in the field.
Strippoli agreed, admitting that country offices have little
clear guidance from WFP Headquarters and considerable
discretion in how they deal with NGO partners. As part of
his efforts to rationalize WFP's guidance and instructions
to the field, he has invited NGOs to a meeting in Rome on
June 20 to further discuss WFP's draft strategic plan and
report out on progress of the WFP-NGO working group.
Special focus will be put on a revised risk management plan.
For example, in some cases, NGO partners are reimbursed for
warehouse costs on the basis of tonnage delivered, though
deliveries may be disrupted for reasons beyond their
control. Also, WFP's contracts with NGO partners are
usually short-term - 3-6 months - due to the vulnerability
of pipelines, but Strippoli would like to extend contracts
through the period of the PRRO or EMOP, subject to
availability of funding.


14. (U) USDEL/PRM commented that this would go part-way to
addressing NGO concerns around implementation of the WFP-
UNHCR MOU, but that WFP also needed to consider coordination
at the field/camp level, especially since some of UNHCR's
NGO partners provide other services to beneficiaries, aside
from food distribution.


15. (SBU) While Sisulu and Strippoli are leading WFP's
initiative to improve relations with NGOs, Morris has
specifically indicated his desire to establish an NGO unit
headed by a senior level coordinator by October 2003.
Sisulu added that NGOs are also valuable partners in
building local capacity in recipient countries.


16. (U) On WFP's relationships with UNHCR, USDEL met with
Francesco Strippoli, his Interagency Branch Chief Zlatan
Milisic, West Africa Regional Director Manuel Aranda da
Silva, Uganda Country Director Ken Davies, and Pakistan
Country Director German Valdivia. Each shared their views
on the pilot programs under the UNHCR-WFP MOU. Sierra
Leone, Uganda, and Pakistan represent three of the five
pilot programs whereby UNHCR has transferred all
responsibilities for refugee feeding, including end-
distribution, to WFP. Zambia is expected to be the fourth
pilot when the WFP PRRO is renewed and the costs incorporate
WFP's new responsibilities. WFP has proposed Kenya as the
fifth pilot to UNHCR.



17. (SBU) Overall, coordination between WFP and UNHCR was
characterized very positively. WFP Deputy Executive
Director and Director for Operations Jean-Jacques Graisse
and UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner (AHC) Morjane and
their staffs are in frequent contact on a range of issues.
Strippoli again requested PRM support for two joint UNHCR-
WFP field workshops to help ensure that this progress
translates into training and coordination at the field level
and that the respective headquarters get feedback from their
country directors and staff. Strippoli said that the
implementation of the MOU, particularly in Sierra Leone, has
highlighted the need for WFP to re-vamp and improve its
relations with NGO partners.


18. (SBU) WFP West Africa Regional Manager Aranda da Silva
noted that there had been some rough spots in the
implementation of the MOU in Sierra Leone. The West Africa
Coastal PRRO did not adequately cover WFP's additional costs
in taking over end-distribution, and WFP and UNHCR have used
different cost structures and different NGO partners in the
region. Both Strippoli and he said that WFP needs to take
into account the impact of the transfer on camp management;
some UNHCR implementing partners have had other critical
responsibilities in the camps, and their presence in some
cases became economically feasible only by doing food
distribution. Furthermore, WFP wants to find a way to ease
some of the pressure on NGO partners in the region by
negotiating food distribution contracts for a longer period,
rather than the standard 90-days. This
effort is part of ED Morris' broader efforts to: (1) improve
relations with NGOs, (2) shift risk from beneficiaries to
WFP, and (3) strengthen coordination with other UN
organizations.


19. (U) Implementation of the MOU seemed to go more smoothly
in Pakistan and especially Uganda. Uganda Country Director
Davies noted that WFP and UNHCR had the same four major
implementing partners. The existing tripartite agreement
with the GOU was also useful and provided transparency in
costs and negotiating new contracts. WFP has also been able
to realize some of the savings anticipated by the MOU and
has negotiated lower rail and trucking costs. These savings
have helped WFP offset increased security costs.


20. (SBU) Pakistan Country Director Valdivia said that the
tripartite agreement and good relations with his UNHCR
counterpart helped make the pilot a success thus far. He
said that he had negotiated costs with UNHCR's NGO partners
downwards, as their costs and international staff had been
inflated post-9/11 and were now more in line with rates of
other implementing partners.


21. (SBU) On ICRC, Strippoli has begun discussing the
revision of their 1996 exchange of letters on cooperation,
making these instruments more operational by replicating a
number of measures refined in the WFP/UNHCR MOU. He said
that WFP and ICRC have cooperated closely and effectively in
Iraq, Afghanistan, and other emergencies. The two


organizations already consult on dividing up food
distributions, coverage of different regions and
beneficiaries, hand-off of operations, and other activities.
Strippoli wants to work more closely with ICRC on early
warning, preparedness, and operational issues. (Note:
Strippoli asked us to be discreet in discussing this
initiative, in the event the U.S. wishes to sound out ICRC
on its views. End note.)

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Comment
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22. (SBU) WFP clearly has a lot on its plate. The next six
months will deeply test its ability to cope with a myriad of
crises and widespread (ambitious) management improvements.
"The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few."
Hall
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2003ROME02657 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED