US Mission/Rome visit to Ethiopia June 26-July 5,

UNCLAS ROME 003162

SIPDIS


AIDAC

FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME

AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA FOR AMBASSADOR BRAZEAL AND USAID
DIRECTOR LEWELLEN
USAID/W FOR ADMINISTRATOR NATSIOS, D/A SCHIECK, AA/DCHA
WINTER, AA/AFR NEWMAN AND DAA/AFR BROWN, DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS,
D/OFDA MCCONNELL, AA/GLOBAL PETERSON
STATE FOR IO A/S HOLMES, A/S PRM DEWEY, A/S AFR KANSTEINER,
AFR/EA, IO/EDA WINNICK
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN AND CHAMBLISS
USDA/FAS NAIROBI FOR KESSLER
USMISSION GENEVA FOR AMBASSADOR MOLRY AND USAID/KYLOH
BRUSSELS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS AND USAID/LERNER
NSC FOR JDWORKEN AND AFRICA DIRECTORATE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID AORC PREF EAGR EU WFP UN
SUBJECT: US Mission/Rome visit to Ethiopia June 26-July 5,
2003 - Part II - Review of UN Agency disaster response
efforts in SNNPR, Omomiya and Afar

--------------
Summary
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1. In visits to the Southern Nations (SNNPR) (the epicenter
of the present emergency in Ethiopia),Oromiya and Afar
regions, US Mission/Rome's Humanitarian Attache witnessed
local authorities, UN personnel, NGOs, and others trying to
"get ahead" of the widespread and deep humanitarian crisis
still unfolding, where the number of people throughout
Ethiopia at serious risk of death due to starvation and
related diseases presently stands at 14 million. End
summary.

--------------
Background
--------------


2. US Mission/Rome Humanitarian Attache visited Ethiopia
June 26-July 5, 2003, and traveled to Southern Nations
(SNNPR),Omomiya and Afar regions, initially with DCHA/FFP
Director Lauren Landis and subsequently with the United
Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization's (FAO)
emergency agricultural unit personnel from Rome and Nairobi.

-------------- --
World Food Program (WFP) Interventions in SNNPR
-------------- --


3. In parts of Ethiopia (including SNNPR),it is generally
acknowledged that the process of decentralization has
resulted in a mismatch between administrative responsibility
and institutional capacity. As recounted by a DCHA/OFDA
staffer posted there, "In some drought-stricken woredas
(districts) with a population of several hundred thousand,
some 10,000 are signed up for emergency food assistance. In
many areas, there is little capacity at the local level to
produce accurate numbers of those in need. Simply, you have
to be totally destitute to qualify."


4. One "hotspot" of food shortage and severe malnutrition
was recently detected by UN OCHA-EUE (UN Emergency Unit for
Ethiopia) in Gemma-Bossa woreda of Dawro zone, in a gorge
along the Omo river valley (as reported in their newsletter
of June 30, 2003). Due to the inaccessability of the area,
the distribution was made in a place called Gessa-Chere in
the adjacent Looma woreda where most of the weaker
beneficiaries had difficulty making the journey which was as
far as 70 kilometers. Some made transport arrangements with
highland farmers who own donkeys and charged one-third of
the relief ration as a transport fee. As a result, the
designated beneficiaries were left with a ration, depending
on family size, of a maximum of 8 kilograms per person.


5. Moreover, in the UN OCHA-EUE Report on a visit to Sidama
and Welayta (Rift Valley, SNNPR, May 2003) the following:
"The OCHA-EUE mission witnessed a government distribution in
Yirba kebele (Sidama zone). Several farmers interviewed
complained that `rich' people, traders and owners of large
numbers of cattle, went off with 50 kilo bags of USAID-
provided food aid. DPPC and the Rural Development Bureau
have confirmed some of these unacceptable practices but seem
unable to do much about them."


6. Finally, the UK's DFID representative in Ethiopia, has
recently commented that targeting food assistance toAND DAA/AFR BROWN,
DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS,
D/OFDA MCCONNELL, AA/GLOBAL PETERSON
STATE FOR IO A/S HOLMES, A/S PRM DEWEY, A/S AFR KANSTEINER,
AFR/EA, IO/EDA WINNICK
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN AND CHAMBLISS
USDA/FAS NAIROBI FOR KESSLER
USMISSION
Ethiopia's most vulnerable is at present and historically
"notoriously problematic".

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FAO emergency agricultural interventions in Oromiya, SNNPR,
and Afar
-------------- --------------


7. FAO's emergency unit in Ethiopia has a working 2003
budget of USD 4.1 million, largely provided by The
Netherlands, Canada, and FAO's core Technical Cooperation
Project (TCP) budget. Note: USAID/OFDA has contributed USD
118,975 to coordinate NGO and GFDRE efforts related to
emergency agricultural interventions. End note.


8. The GFDRE has relied on the United Nation's Appeal system
to address their non-food needs. However, the April 2003
non-food appeal requested only a proportion of non-food
needs (e.g., 40% of seed requirements and 20% of water needs
according to some UN and Government estimates). The
assumption was made that GFDRE and Non-Governmental
Organization resources would be able to fill the gap.


9. With some exceptions for the better-off farmers, the
drought-stricken areas are having serious difficulties
meeting planting requirements for a reasonable harvest. As a
general rule, the amount of attention devoted to emergency
agricultural interventions has been minimal. It has been
reported that some 38 percent of Ethiopian small-farmers
were assisted by government agricultural extension schemes
in 2001; this dropped to 18 percent in 2002.


10. As previously reported, the GFDRE's Ministry of
Agriculture pointed out in June that a sizable gap existed
related to the opportune supply of seed for the main growing
season, especially for Amhara, Tigray and Oromiya regions.
Several factors were involved:

- The UN Appeal in December 2002 and the subsequent Addendum
(March 2003) were based only on the MOA and FAO souring of
priority needs, while assuming that the respective Regional
governments and NGOs would effectively meet the broader
demand;

- Because of the previously poor history of donor responses
in the emergency agricultural sector, the choice was made to
aim for a lower, more achievable level of funding, rather
than an accurate estimate of overall actual needs;

- the gap was further exacerbated by a general
underestimation of seeds at the woreda level, the worsening
general conditions of farmers affected by drought, and an
largely unsatisfactory Belg production in many areas this
year.


11. There is an obvious need for the introduction of a wide
variety of seeds, chosen for their drought-resistance and to
allow farmers to diversify their risks, given increasingly
erratic rains.


12. To minimize livestock losses in Miesso woreda (Oromiya)
and Awash Fentale (Afar),FAO (with Canadian funding)
implemented a supplementary feeds and vaccination campaign
for 5,632 livestock. 16 feeding sites have been established
and approximately 1,226 households were benefited.2

AIDAC

FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME

AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA FOR AMBASSADOR BRAZEAL AND USAID
DIRECTOR LEWELLEN
USAID/W FOR ADMINISTRATOR NATSIOS, D/A SCHIECK, AA/DCHA
WINTER, AA/AFR NEWMAN AND DAA/AFR BROWN, DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS,
D/OFDA MCCONNELL, AA/GLOBAL PETERSON
STATE FOR IO A/S HOLMES, A/S PRM DEWEY, A/S AFR KANSTEINER,
AFR/EA, IO/EDA WINNICK
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN AND CHAMBLISS
USDA/FAS NAIROBI FOR KESSLER
USMISSION GENEVA FOR AMBASSADOR MOLRY AND USAID/KYLOH

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Other UN organizations in drought-affected regions -
UNICEF/WHO - "In a normal year, every day the equivalent of
a commercial jet filled with children under five crashes in
Ethiopia. In an emergency, the equivalent of a Jumbo jet
filled with small children crashes." UNICEF expert
-------------- --------------


13. Non-food aid needs are not systematically estimated
based on vulnerabilities. Up until recently, the UN has not
had any "problem-solving" mechanisms in-place at the
regional and woreda levels. This is now changing as UNICEF,
OCHA and WHO have begun deploying staff to SNNPR.


14. Far too many children have not been vaccinated and are
now at high risk to the lethal combination of malnutrition
and endemic malaria, measles, acute respiratory infections
and diarrhea. Characteristics of an emergency measles
vaccination campaign are a rapid vaccination of the most
vulnerable children aged 6 months to 15 years; vaccination
of newcomers and revaccination at nine months for those
children vaccinated at age six to eight months; and
vaccination of all children upon entry to a selective
feeding program (therapeutic or supplementary) along with
vitamin A distribution. All children in zones with less
than an 80 percent measles vaccination coverage rate should
be revaccinated regardless of prior vaccinations. If this
is not feasible, mobile `mop-up' vaccination teams should
return to remote areas or villages with low coverage to
revaccinate children.


15. Note: Under the guidance of UNICEF, a step-by-step
guideline called the Protocol on the Management of Acute
Malnutrition, for the identification of severe malnutrition,
has been adapted to Ethiopia in an attempt to standardize
the treatment of acute malnutrition. UNICEF estimates that
80,000 children in Ethiopia could be acutely malnourished,
and in need of therapeutic feeding. For children,
therapeutic feeding centers are the last line of defense
before death. In the last few weeks, 15 therapeutic feeding
centers have been opened in the SNNPR, and another 15 are
presently being opened. With more than half the children in
Ethiopia already stunted from chronic malnutrition, good
nutrition presents an enormous challenge under the best of
circumstances. End note.

--------------
Recommendations
--------------


16. US Mission is concerned about hit-or-miss targeting,
dilution of rations and low beneficiary estimates,
particularly in SNNPR, an area where the source of food aid
is from WFP/DPPC. Food aid deliveries throughout Ethiopia
need to be at the level of international standards.


17. US Mission will urge WFP to bring in additional human
resources and logistics assistance to support the UN and
Southern Nations operation for the second half of 2003.


18. US Mission stresses the importance of WFP/DPPC provision
of full-rations (15 kilos/month),i.e., a full ration of
2100 kilocalories, and if necessary include supplemental
rations beyond this level to ensure that those most in need
survive. The historic 12.5 kilogram of wheat ration may
have been appropriate in normal years when most families had03162

AIDAC

FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME

AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA FOR AMBASSADOR BRAZEAL AND USAID
DIRECTOR LEWELLEN
USAID/W FOR ADMINISTRATOR NATSIOS, D/A SCHIECK, AA/DCHA
WINTER, AA/AFR NEWMAN AND DAA/AFR BROWN, DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS,
D/OFDA MCCONNELL, AA/GLOBAL PETERSON
STATE FOR IO A/S HOLMES, A/S PRM DEWEY, A/S AFR KANSTEINER,
AFR/EA, IO/EDA WINNICK
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN AND CHAMBLISS
USDA/FAS NAIROBI FOR KESSLER
USMISSION GENEVA FOR AMBASSADOR MOLRY AND USAID/K

some degree assets with which to supplement their rations.
However, at present, many families have been left completely
destitute and are completely dependent upon food rations.


19. We also underline the importance, for both the UN and
international donors, of giving equal priority to food and
non-food needs to ensure the most complete emergency
response possible.

Note: the disaster response effort to date has not been
adequate in preventing the emergence of acute malnutrition
or rates of accelerating mortality. End note.


20. There is general concern about the lack of the current
health system and the potential for out-of-control epidemics
- malaria, measles, meningitis, etc. In other words, the
current situation is "prime-time" for an epidemic outbreak.
Immediate and medium to long-term assistance must focus more
intensely on supporting health, public nutrition and disease
surveillance systems.


21. US Mission would like to pursue with WFP the development
of a "close-monitoring" contingency blended food aid, pulses
and vegetable oil stock of up to 20,000 mts that can be
tapped while on-going assessments and other non-food
assessments continue to be carried out throughout the
remainder of this calendar year.


22. WFP should actively encourage government to undertake an
immediate campaign to give top priority to feeding children.


23. The UN needs to directly recognize that decentralization
in Ethiopia is now so extensive that it can exacerbate
effective emergency response in a number of regions, meaning
that more needs to be done to effectively increase capacity
at the district level.


24. US Mission will work with WFP Headquarters to promptly
fill the key post of national logistics officer. WFP
Ethiopia should accelerate its hiring and placement of field
monitors.


25. US Mission will work with FAO Headquarters to strengthen
its emergency outreach in Ethiopia. FAO Ethiopia needs to
focus its attention on a more complete and comprehensive
emergency seeds needs assessment and on developing with its
government and NGO partners a common methodology for
emergency seeds interventions.


26. The UN should support the implementation of therapeutic
feeding programs where these can be properly supervised,
tied to supplementary feeding programs, and in turn tied to
an adequate general ration.


27. Targeting of blended foods (such as CSB) is not
presently done though health personal or through screening
for malnutrition. This is partly due to lack of capacity and
the large territory covered by the drought. However, partner
agencies could assist the MOH to play a far greater role in
screening for targeted supplementary feeding, which would
also provide an opportunity for immunization and basic
health service delivery to those most in need. CSB is
expensive, in short supply and should be reserved for
targeted supplementary feeding programs and should, along
with vegetable oil, be given in sufficient amounts.5 ROME 003162

AIDAC

FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME

AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA FOR AMBASSADOR BRAZEAL AND USAID
DIRECTOR LEWELLEN
USAID/W FOR ADMINISTRATOR NATSIOS, D/A SCHIECK, AA/DCHA
WINTER, AA/AFR NEWMAN AND DAA/AFR BROWN, DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS,
D/OFDA MCCONNELL, AA/GLOBAL PETERSON
STATE FOR IO A/S HOLMES, A/S PRM DEWEY, A/S AFR KANSTEINER,
AFR/EA, IO/EDA WINNICK
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN AND CHAMBLISS
USDA/FAS NAIROBI FOR KESSLER
USMISSION GENEVA FOR AMBASSADOR MOLRY AND



28. Emergency water interventions are saving lives even
where food rations are inadequate to support nutritional
status. Priorities must include providing clean water for
health centers and therapeutic feeding centers.
Rehabilitation of existing wells or construction of new
wells for the general population should be considered as
well as consideration of providing point of source water
treatment (e.g. residual chlorination).


29. Finally, in the medium-term, there is a compelling need
to directly address the problems of under-nutrition in
infants and expectant mothers. Unlike other countries such
as India, Ethiopia has no program that delivers a
combination of services (food supplements, micro-nutrients,
health inputs, immunizations, etc.) targeted to the most
nutritionally disadvantaged groups in the population (e.g.,
infants and pregnant women). This is an area WFP and its UN
Agencies partners might profitably explore.


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Comment
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30. We believe the naming of the new UN Special Envoy ex-
Finnish President Mattai Ahtisaari will greatly assist the
coordination efforts of the United Nations and provide the
necessary (and previously lacking) leadership and vision.
Hall
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2003ROME03162 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED