SECOND REGULAR SESSION OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM

UNCLAS ROME 002243

SIPDIS


FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME

STATE FOR AS/PRM DEWEY, A/S IO HOLMES, PRM/P, EUR/WE, EUR/NE
AND IO/EDA BEHREND/KOTOK
USAID FOR DA/USAID SCHIECK, AA/DCHA WINTER, AA/AFR NEWMAN,
DCHA/FFP LANDIS, PPC/DP, PPC/DC
USDA/FAS FOR CHAMBLISS/TILSWORTH/GAINOR
GENEVA FOR AMBASSADOR MOLEY, RMA AND NKYLOH/USAID
NAIROBI FOR REFCOORD AND REDSO
KAMPALA FOR REFCOORD AND USAID
DAKAR FOR USAID/OFDA
BRUSSELS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS AND USAID/LERNER
NSC FOR JDWORKEN AND AFRICA DIRECTORATE
OMB FOR TSTOLL
USUN FOR TAMLYN AND MLUTZ

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, MAY 26-27, 2004

REF: (A) ROME 2196

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SUMMARY
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1. In an abbreviated Board session (one and a half days),
the Executive Board approved country programs for Sierra
Leone and Madagascar, a budget increase for WFP's
development efforts in Uganda, and protracted relief and
recovery operations for Myanmar (Returnees and vulnerable
groups in northern Rakhine state and Magway division),
Ethiopia (Somali, Eritrean and Sudanese refugees),Great
Lakes region, and Algeria (assistance to Saharawi refugees).
Ambassador Hall informed the Board of his recent trip to
Ethiopia commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the
Great Famine of 1984-1985. USDEL conducted a number of
productive side meetings dealing with WFP's relationships
with southern Africa, HIV/AIDS, UN partnerships and updates
on WFP emergency interventions in sub-Saharan Africa. In US
Mission's view, WFP's work plate is full. The massive Darfur
and eastern Chad crises will sorely test its already heavily
stretched humanitarian outreach capacity. End Summary.

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Sierra Leone and Madagascar Country Programs and budget
increase for WFP development portfolio in Uganda
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2. Sierra Leone: The Board endorsed the draft 2005-2007
Sierra Leone country program with a funding approval
amounting to USD 20.6 million (34,518 mts),targeting
302,000 beneficiaries per year. USDEL lauded WFP's efforts
to collaborate with the Consortium for Rehabilitation and
Development (CORAD),composed of Africare, CARE, Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) an World Vision International, in a
three-year trasition assistance program beginning in 2004,
focued on restoring livelihoods and improving the healh
and nutrition status of rural households in 31chiefdoms in
Bonthe, Tonkolili, Kono, Koinadugu nd Kailahun. WFP's
regional manager commented tht his office plans to purchase
70,000 metric tons of cereals in the West Africa region this
year.


3. Madagascar: The Board endorsed the draft 2005-2009
Madagascar country program with a funding approval amounting
to USD 24 million(47,523 mts),targeting 191,000
beneficiaries per year. USDEL noted that Madagascar was one

of the first sixteen nations selected to benefit from the
new U.S. Millennium Challenge Account; and that, in a
ceremony at the White House on May 10, President Bush lauded
Madagascar for "aggressively fighting corruption."


4. Uganda development budget revision: The Board approved a
budget revision of USD 7.47 million, to extend the life of
the country program by 18 months, from July 2004 to December

2005. The extension will allow WFP's program to conform to
the Government of Uganda's planning cycle. USDEL noted that
the GOU had contributed USD 536,000 to WFP's developmental
efforts in 2003, and nothing thus far in 2004 - and that the
U.S. would like to see a growing GOU financial commitment in
support of WFP development activities. The WFP Country
Director responded that, in the proposed expanded school
feeding undertaking, GOU intended to contribute 50 percent
of the value of the program.

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Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) - Myanmar -
Assistance to Muslim (Rohingya) Returnees and Vulnerable
Groups in North Rakhine State and Magway Division
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5. WFP'S Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) for
Rohingya returnees and vulnerable groups in North Rakhine
State and Magway Division, (July 2004-June 2006),valued at
USD 12.07 million (provision of 38,100 metric tons and
assisting 416,000 beneficiaries),was approved by the Board.
USDEL commented that:

-As a rule, USDEL is supportive of efforts by the UN to
expand humanitarian assistance to ethnic minority areas and
we encourage development of plans for post-conflict
reconstruction;
-As per the U.S. State Department's 2003 Human Rights Report
"Forced labor of Muslims continued to be widespread in
Rakhine State." USDEL noted the May 2003 agreement between
the host government and the UN's International Labor
Organization (ILO) related to an action plan to eliminate
forced labor and suggested that WFP make special efforts to
strengthen its coordination with ILO.


6. WFP spoke of working constraints in Myanmar. WFP is
obliged to buy rice only from a government controlled
commercial agency, and has experienced delays in deliveries
due to transport restrictions to North Rakhine State imposed
by the State authorities.


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Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) - Algeria
10172.1 - Assistance to Western Sahara refugees
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7. The Board approved a September 2004-August 2006 WFP PRRO
to assist Western Sahara refugees (158,000 beneficiaries) at
a total cost to WFP of USD 39.5 million. The operation
benefits from funding by UNHCR, the European Community
Humanitarian Organization (ECHO),NGOs, and private
donations. The Algerian Red Crescent plays a key
implementation role. USDEL's intervention stressed the
following:

-U.S. Government was pleased to participate in the January
2004 assessment mission that visited all four camps in the
Tindouf region. UN personnel assured us that, after
reviewing child vaccination records, primary school
attendance levels, the UN Mission for the Referendum in
Western Sahara (MINURSO) list of eligible voters, the last
general registration exercise, etc., that the UN was quite
confident that the number of refugees living in these camps
(165,000) was accurate. Nevertheless we continue to urge all
relevant parties to undertake soonest a new refugee census;
-Both UNHCR and WFP have stepped up their physical presence
in the four camps. WFP is conducting post-delivery
monitoring, albeit to date on a modest scale. We urged that
post-delivery monitoring be intensified;
-Far too many children have not been vaccinated and are now
at high risk to the lethal combination of malnutrition,
acute respiratory infections and diarrhea. UNICEF is
strongly encouraged to establish a presence in the camps
focused on supporting health, public nutrition and disease
surveillance systems.

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Budget increase to Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation
(PRRO)- Great Lakes Regional 10062.1
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8. The Board approved a budget increase of USD 26.34 million
in food aid for Relief and Recovery in the Great Lakes
Region, covering an additional 196,400 beneficiaries (47,022
metric tons). USDEL encouraged UNHCR/Burundi and the GOB to
improve transportation of returnees from transit centers in

Burundi to the returnees' place of origin. Due to lack of
transportation, returning refugees are reportedly selling
some or all of their return rations to pay for transport,
sadly threatening their already precarious position.

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Ambassador Hall intervenes on Protracted Relief and Recovery
Operation - Ethiopia 10127.1 - Food Assistance to Somali,
Sudanese and Eritrean Refugees
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9. The Board approved the Ethiopia PRRO for two years,
January 2005 - December 2006, at a total cost to WFP of USD
26.74 million. The total food requirement is 50,085 metric
tons (93,350 beneficiaries). Having toured Ethiopia in
April, Ambassador Hall commented:

"I am pleased to report that we saw an Ethiopia that has
improved since last year - it even rained on us while we
were there. But, the country is still in trouble. Last
year, working together, we averted a major famine. There
was no repeat of the Great Famine of 20 years ago, despite
the fact that 13 million people were seriously threatened -
50 percent more than in 1984-85. Food aid was necessary and
absolutely essential in preventing another famine. I am
proud of what the United States and all of us did through
WFP, the government and NGOs, to save the lives of millions
of Ethiopians.

This year, things are better, and there are ONLY seven
million people at risk. We cannot spend too much time
patting ourselves on the back, when ten percent of the
population will struggle to meet their families' minimum
food needs.

I am encouraged that Ethiopia's government has recognized
the severity of the situation and formed the Coalition for
Food Security - with donors, UN Agencies and NGOs. It is
only by working together in true partnership, based on
mutual trust, that we can defeat the tragedy of hunger that
looms over this country so often. As I said at our final
press conference in Addis Ababa, they are on the right
track. Now, they must stay the course.

(In addition to visits to the Oromiya and SNNPR region),I
also met people living with HIV/AIDS in Addis Ababa and AIDS
orphans at a home run by Mother Theresa's Missionaries of
Charity. It warmed my heart to see people in their home for


the sick and dying eating American food, donated through a
program administered by Catholic Relief Services.

I was also touched by the young AIDS orphans they cared for
at their new "Gift of Love" home. All of them were
sentenced to die before they became teenagers, but they all
demonstrated the dignity of children who knew that they were
loved.

Unfortunately the stigma of AIDS is just as deadly as the
disease. An Ethiopian poster illustrated the situation best
- when it comes to AIDS, people do not want to see it, speak
about it or hear about it. It is not as simple as "see no
evil, speak no evil, hear no evil." AIDS will not simply go
away. In fact, it will just get worse if it is not
addressed forcefully on all levels.

In addition to supporting this WFP operation, I am working
with my government to ensure that ending hunger and breaking
the cycle of famine in the Horn of Africa receives
particular attention in a couple of weeks at the G-8 Summit
in the United States.

It is clear that each time famine strikes, the number of
hungry and destitute rises, along with the toll of human
suffering and disease. To rectify this, the Ethiopian
government needs to undertake substantial policy change (and
has begun to do this) and the donor community needs to
address the underlying causes of famine. We hope to work
with WFP and their UN partners in support of actions that
better track potential famines and streamline responses. For
2005, USAID's development assistance request alone for
Ethiopia in over USD 80 million.

Ethiopia is close to my heart. I long for a time when they
are self-sufficient and their people are able to feed
themselves. Until that point, we must all do whatever we
can to provide adequate food aid and more. We have to think
more about preventing famine, because we cannot prevent
drought. We cannot fix all of Ethiopia's problems
overnight, but we can help them get closer to where they
need to be." End of Ambassador Hall's intervention.

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USDEL side meetings - southern Africa, HIV/AIDS, UN
partnerships and updates on WFP emergency interventions in
Africa and DPR Korea
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10. On southern Africa, the food security situation in
Lesotho is most precarious with the cereal harvest there
estimated to be about 50 percent down from 2003 and 60
percent less than the five year average. Malawi and
Swaziland have suffered poor harvests. Zambia, on the other
hand, has had a windfall harvest, and WFP has purchased
almost 50,000 mts of cereals there in the first four months
of 2004.


11. In northern Uganda, brutal attacks on civilians by the
Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have resulted in a
current displacement of approximately 1.6 million people.
These individuals have been forced to flee from their homes
and farms and to seek security in 104 overcrowded camps that
lack adequate water, sanitation and health services. The
number of displaced people has tripled over the past two
years. WFP urgently requires additional contributions to
meet needs under its relief operation. In total, 106,000
metric tons of food valued at USD 56 million will be
required from now until the end of the year.


12. WFP has received less than half the funding needed for
its West Africa program, which covers Liberia, Sierra Leone
and Guinea. Contributions to date amount to USD 32.4
million, against the requested USD 77.7 million. Unless
further donations are forthcoming soonest, WFP will be
compelled to start cutting food rations to beneficiaries in
Liberia as early as July. WFP's Air Support Service for the
West Africa Coastal Region is also seriously underfunded,
with a 60 percent shortfall. Note. WFP beneficiaries
assisted in the region as of April 2004 follows: Liberia,
318,500 internally displaced and 13,300 refugees from Sierra
Leone; Sierra Leone, 61,000 refugees from Liberia and 7,300
returnees; and Guinea, 108,000 refugees - 90,000 (from
Liberia),11,000 (from Sierra Leone),and 7,000 (from Cote
d'Ivoire). End note.


13. In Cote d'Ivoire, WFP was assisting (April 2004) a total
of 595,100 beneficiaries as follows: refugees, 22,000;
internally displaced, 7,600; returnees, 25,500; curative
interventions, 4,800; emergency school feeding, 470,000;
institutional feeding, 5,200; and self-reliance activities,
60,000. WFP reports a political stalemate in the
implementation of the Marcoussis peace accords, noting that
Fources Nouvelles and other parties have pulled out from the
reconciliation government. WFP concludes that the crisis in
Cote d'Ivoire and other conflicts in West Africa (Liberia,


Guinea and Sierra Leone) are inter-related. The factors of
instability, particularly the circulation of, and
trafficking in, small arms and light weapons, the phenomenon
of child soldiers and the use of mercenaries, all have a
regional dimension.


14. On HIV/AIDS, WFP is working with World Health
Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS on the recently launched
"Three by Five" campaign, calling for life-saving anti-
retroviral (ARV) drugs to 3 million people in developing
countries within 2005. WFP will be starting work this
summer with WHO on the `3 by 5' in the following countries:
Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe.


15. On Angola, due to the low level of contributions
received, the return and resettlement caseload was put on
half rations from April 1. The Food for Education program is
assisting only 40,000 children compared with the build up to
220,000 that WFP was planning by the end of 2004.


16. Sudan's Darfur region. WFP is in the process of
deploying 52 international and 251 local staff into the
Darfur region. WFP has opened new field offices in Kutum,
Kabkabiya, Zalengi, Mornie, Mukjar, Jebel Mara, Tina,
Kulbus, Habila and Ed Daein. WFP storage facilities are
being set up in each area. WFP has received for Sudan USD
59.7 million towards its USD 200 million appeal for two
million displaced Sudanese people. Contributions so far are
from: the United States (USD 46 million); EC-EuropeAid (USD
4.7 million); UK (USD 4 million); Canada (USD 1.5 million);
Australia (USD 1.4 million); Germany (USD 1.2 million); New
Zealand (USD 637,000) and Luxembourg (USD 118,000).


17. Eastern Chad. WFP's partner UNHCR is reportedly
seriously underfunded which has limited their field
deployment to date. At present, the total approximate camp
caseload in Chad amounts to 81,280. Access to water and
tensions with the host community has hampered the
identification of campsites. Lack of water continues to be
problematic in the existing camps, with UNHCR supplying the
minimum of six liters per day to refugees compared to the
recommended daily intake of 20 liters. For Chad, WFP has
received USD 12.7 million towards its USD 19.4 million
appeal. A budget revision to cover the needs of an
additional 80,000 beneficiaries is under issuance. Note.
These numbers are admittedly tentative given the extreme
isolation of the area, the continuing violence, the fact
that many of the refugees are not in camps, the lack of


substantive UN presence on the ground, etc. End note.
Contributions so far are from: United States (USD 6.5
million); UK (USD 1.8 million); Canada (USD 1.6 million);
Switzerland (USD 800,000); Germany (USD 609,000); Norway
(USD 593,000) Japan (USD 405,000); and Finland (USD
248,000).


18. Finally, for North Korea, reportedly more than two
million beneficiaries, including pregnant and nursing women
and children in kindergartens and primary schools on the
west coast, will be without cereal rations in June and July.
The situation will temporarily improve in August with the
expected arrival of 34,000 metric tons of wheat. By October
however, distribution cuts will again affect three million
beneficiaries. Unless additional contributions are pledged
immediately, by November, cereal distributions to all
beneficiaries and FFW programs for the autumn season will
have to be suspended. Only USD 23.5 million has been
received to date, out of a total requirement of USD 170
million for 2004 (15 percent). Note. WFP reports talking
with the DPRK Government, explaining that the government
also has a responsibility for raising resources and that
WFP's ability to do so depends partly on government
flexibility toward WFP monitoring and operating criteria.
End note.

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Comment
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19. WFP's work plate is full. The massive Darfur and eastern
Chad crises will sorely test its already heavily stretched
humanitarian outreach capacity.


20. Khartoum and Bujumbura minimize considered. Hall


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2004ROME02243 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED