Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
04AMMAN1632 | 2004-03-04 07:12:00 | UNCLASSIFIED | Embassy Amman |
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available. |
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001632 |
1. THIS CABLE HAS BEEN CLEARED BY CONGEN JERUSALEM AND EMBASSY TEL AVIV. 2. Summary: At a February 10 meeting, UNRWA identified food assistance as its top emergency program priority for the West Bank and Gaza. In 2003, 61.8 percent of refugee families in the West Bank and 64 percent in Gaza received emergency food aid from UNRWA. However, declining donor response to the emergency appeals has forced UNRWA to cut the nutritional value of its food basket from 1600 to 1200 calories and reduce the number of food recipients by 1.7 percent in the West Bank and 2.3 percent in Gaza in 2003. UNRWA also complained that it is unable to meet growing food aid needs among its Special Hardship cases (SHC). None of the participating donors announced new food aid contributions at this meeting. End summary. 3. In an effort to generate more donor support for its food aid programs, UNRWA held a half-day technical meeting on February 10 to brief donors on its emergency and regular food aid programs. As part of its overall outreach to new and minor donors, UNRWA also invited Poland, Malaysia, Turkey and Brazil to attend the meeting. 4. UNRWA focused on its emergency food aid needs in the West Bank and Gaza. Due to closure and curfew-induced restrictions on refugee access to jobs and food, UNRWA identified food assistance, rather than temporary job creation, as its top emergency program priority. In 2002, 63.5 percent of refugee families in the West Bank and 66.3 percent in Gaza received emergency food aid provided under UNRWA's emergency appeal. However, due to poor donor response to the emergency appeals (funds earmarked for food aid decreased from USD 12.9 million in the first appeal to USD 1.4 million in the sixth appeal), UNRWA reduced the nutritional value of its emergency food basket from 1600 calories to 1200 and reduced the number of food recipients by 1.7 percent in the West Bank and 2.3 percent in Gaza. 5. While UNRWA refugees have been surveyed as part of nutrition studies conducted by CARE, MARAM and Johns Hopkins University, UNRWA has not yet conducted its own comprehensive survey of nutritional needs in the West Bank and Gaza or the impact of decreasing donor response to emergency food programs. UNRWA's most recent study, a rapid assessment conducted in October 2002, shows a worrying increase in anemia among pregnant women and infants. Anemia rates among pregnant women grew from 44.3 to 48.5 percent in Gaza and from 32.6 to 33.5 percent in the West Bank between 2000 and 2002, while anemia among infants increased from 58.8 to 72.8 percent in Gaza and from 33.7 to 41.4 percent in the West Bank during the same period. 6. Due to continuing access problems in the West Bank and Gaza, UNRWA has cooperated with WFP, ICRC and local Palestinian NGOs to ensure emergency food aid is available to the most needy families. Under these cooperative arrangements, 5 percent of UNRWA's emergency food aid beneficiaries are non-refugees who reside in areas where no other relief agencies can provide assistance. UNRWA reports that the cooperative arrangements work only one way; UNRWA is the sole food aid provider to the refugees due largely to its comprehensive coverage of the community. 7. UNRWA's Special Hardship Case (SHC) food assistance program (part of the General Fund operations) also has suffered from decreased funding levels. UNRWA reported that earmarked food assistance contributions decreased from USD 23 million in 1998 to USD 19.3 million in 2003, forcing the agency to dip into unearmarked funds to avoid cutting the nutritional value of SHC food aid. UNRWA also reported that it needs greater support from donors to maintain an annual increase of 2.5 percent in the number of beneficiaries eligible for special hardship assistance. In order to make scarce food aid contributions go further, UNRWA removed animal protein from the SHC food basket two years ago. UNRWA's regular food aid budget is facing a 17 percent shortage for 2004. 6. UNRWA told donors that delays in payment of pledges and in-kind contributions cause ruptures in the food pipeline and increase refugee anxieties and complaints about the reliability of food assistance. UNRWA urged donors to pay pledges promptly and, to the greatest extent possible, contribute unearmarked funds to UNRWA as they give the agency the most flexibility to respond to refugees' needs. None of the participating donors announced any new food contributions to UNRWA, although the EU, Japan and Belgium expressed interest in continuing their General Fund food assistance, and ECHO expressed interest in continuing its emergency food assistance. GNEHM |