INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SHOWS TURKEY,S GROWING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000693

SIPDIS

PLEASE PASS TO THE FOLLOWING: USAID/DCHA/AA FOR GARVELINK,
USAID/OFDA FOR GOTTLIEB AND USAID/PPC/DCO FOR
MENGHETTI/NICHOLSON AND USUN FOR MALY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC IR PHUM PREL TU
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SHOWS TURKEY,S GROWING
HUMANITARIAN ROLE



1. (U) Summary: The Governments of Turkey and the United
States co-chaired a high-level conference in Istanbul April
27-28, 2006 on international cooperation for disaster relief
and humanitarian assistance. The conference, attended by
twelve nations and the leadership of the United Nation,s
Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),
considered lessons learned from past disasters with a view to
improving international cooperation and coordination in the
future. There was broad consensus that the UN,s OCHA should
provide the framework for this cooperation, and that the
elements should be put in place before countries are called
on to respond to disasters. By co-chairing and hosting the
gathering, the Government of Turkey (GOT) clearly signaled
the importance it attaches to the issue and its desire to
play a leading role in the region. End Summary.

--------------
Bilateral Pre-Meeting
--------------


2. (U) The U.S. and Turkish co-chairs met bilaterally on
April 26 to set the stage for the conference. Hasan Ipek,
General Director of the Turkish Emergency Management Agency
(TEMA),described how Turkey carried out humanitarian relief;
Musa Kulaklikaya, Vice President of the Turkish International
Cooperation Administration (TIKA),explained the increase in
international development assistance from Turkey over the ten
years. TEMA described its organization as &a little baby,
just born, and now starting to walk,8 and looked to USAID,s
OFDA with admiration for being &a very old agency.8 TIKA
outlined its growing presence in international development
since its founding in 1992, with recent expansion in the
Middle East over the last two years.


3. (U) William Garvelink, USAID Deputy Assistant
Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian
Assistance and Greg Gotlieb, Acting Director of the Office of
US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA),in turn laid out the
US approach to disaster response. Significantly, when USAID
commented that TIKA is &very active in your area,8 the Vice
President of TIKA (corresponding to the Deputy Administrator
of USAID) responded ¬ just in this area,8 underlining
that Turkey sees itself as increasingly playing a role on the
international stage. Overall, the bilateral sounded a
collaborative tone that resonated throughout the entire
conference.

--------------
Conference Objectives
--------------


4. (U) Garvelink, who chaired the sessions, explained that
the objective of the conference was to exchange information
and discuss concrete ways nations could learn from one
another in the area of disaster relief. He went on to
express support for the OCHA Donor Support Group (ODSG),the
informal governing body for OCHA that currently has 19
members, with the aim of getting more nations to join.
Through more nations joining the ODSG and coordinating their
assistance through OCHA, he explained humanitarian assistance
would be more efficient and effective. By the end of
two-days of meetings, all participants had expressed support
for the OCHA framework and five countries -- India, Republic
of Korea, People,s Republic of China, Russia, and Turkey --
had indicated a possible interest in becoming members of the
ODSG.

--------------
Lessons from the Field
--------------


5. (U) The Government of Pakistan (GOP) related its
experience in dealing with the 2005 earthquake, which killed
73,000 people and affected half a million families. Major
General Farooq Ahmed Khan, Head of the Pakistan Federal
Relief Commission, outlined the assistance Pakistan received
from 88 nations and 200 NGOs, including significant aid from
Turkey. This experience showed how the UN,s cluster
approach, whereby resources are concentrated according to
function, can be an effective mechanism for disaster relief.
However, Farooq cautioned that agencies in the lead within
these clusters may not have leadership ability, and may have
a vested interest in distributing funds. To deal with these
concerns, it is important to have a one roof, one window,
operation that consolidates information and decision-making.


6. (U) Farooq and others emphasized that it is especially
crucial to have an agency and plan in place before a disaster
strikes. By having such a plan in place, Turkey was able to
immediately mobilize relief for Pakistan even before
receiving an official request for assistance. The U.S. then
related its experience with Hurricane Katrina, and the
lessons it had learned.

--------------
Working through the OCHA Framework
--------------


7. (U) Yvette Stevens, Assistant United Nations Emergency
Relief Coordinator, set out the three UN guiding principles
for humanitarian assistance: strengthened coordination;
strengthened response capacity; and predictable funding.
Stevens also described OCHA,s current challenges and
weaknesses, and participants used these three guiding
principles to discuss how to improve upon these weaknesses.
All delegates agreed that OCHA provides the proper framework
for coordinating disaster relief.

--------------
Looking Forward and Comment
--------------


8. (U) The UN representatives defined their coming
objectives. One area of future work is OCHA,s funding.
Currently, OCHA depends for 90% of its budget on donor
contributions, which renders impossible a long-term strategy
for disaster preparedness. The UN also stated it needs to
&do more working with countries that we do not traditionally
do business with8 and invite them to work within the OCHA
framework. This is especially true of many Middle Eastern
countries, which to date have not played as active a role in
disaster relief (UAE and Jordan being exceptions).


9. (SBU) Comment: The conference spurred action for pressing
countries to translate verbal support into actual OCHA Donor
Support Group membership. Given the leading role that the UN
is playing, and will increasingly play, in coordinating
disaster relief and donor assistance, it is also important to
insure that OCHA has the necessary resources to successfully
carry out this function. Getting new participants to join
the OCHA framework could help improve OCHA,s economic
viability and lead to better coordination among donor
countries in the field. USAID is drafting a Joint Chairs
Summary of the meeting that will include several concrete
steps for follow-up action. The summary will be sent to
Washington once it has been approved by the Turkish
delegation. OCHA will undertake a stock-taking, exercise
on behalf of the ODSG after six months to determine progress
towards implementing the recommendations. End Comment.
JONES