Sudan - USAID/OFDA and Partners Meet in Juba

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001457 SIPDIS AIDAC SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AFR/SP NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/USAID/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS USMISSION UN ROME GENEVA FOR NKYLOH NAIROBI FOR SFO NSC FOR JBRAUSE, TSHORTLEY USUN FOR TMALY BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV TBIO PHUM SOCI SU SUBJECT: Sudan - USAID/OFDA and Partners Meet in Juba and Khartoum to Plan for FY 2007 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. On June 9 and 13, 2006, the USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) convened meetings in Juba and Khartoum, Sudan, to discuss the upcoming publication of an Annual Program Statement (APS) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007. USAID/OFDA shared information with interested parties regarding plans to focus on key sectors and priority geographical areas. The meetings brought together more than 80 participants, including potential partners, USAID/Sudan staff, other donors, and government ministries. The transition of the health sector activities from emergency relief to longer-term development mechanisms generated the most discussion. End summary. -------------- APS To Be Issued for Non-Darfur Sudan -------------- ¶2. As the peace process in Southern Sudan progresses, USAID/OFDA is planning to target assistance to non-Darfur Sudan in FY 2007 to meet ongoing emergency needs, with a strong emphasis on transitioning these programs from emergency to longer-term development. USAID/OFDA will focus programs on supporting the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and mitigating the drivers on conflict through both traditional humanitarian interventions as well as creative new approaches. To target funding accordingly, USAID/OFDA plans to program the majority of the FY 2007 non-Darfur Sudan budget via an Annual Program Statement (APS). The APS will help focus programs in key sectors and geographic areas, attract new partners and creative response methodologies, and still allow for flexibility in programming and rapid emergency response capacity. ¶3. On June 9 and 13, 2006, USAID/OFDA convened meetings in Juba and Khartoum, Sudan, to discuss the APS approach for FY 2007 with all interested parties. The meetings brought together more than 80 participants, including potential partners, USAID/Sudan health development assistance staff and contractors, other donors, and government ministries, who provided valuable feedback on the APS approach. USAID/OFDA representatives explained current FY 2006 programming and described the rationale, process, and timeline for the upcoming FY 2007 APS. ¶4. USAID/OFDA has prepared and posted online a FY 2007 APS Statement of Intent (located at www.grants.gov, keyword "APS"),detailing USAID/OFDA's proposed approach for six sectors: health, nutrition, water and sanitation, food security, income generation, and relief commodities. Meeting participants provided feedback on the Statement of Intent and asked questions during the discussion of each sector. -------------- Key Sectors and Priority Geographical Areas -------------- ¶5. Important considerations incorporated in the sector approaches under the APS Statement of Intent are as follows: ¶A. Health: Proposed programs should focus on counties not already covered by USAID development assistance funding through the Sudan Health Transformation Program (SHTP) and should demonstrate close coordination with the SHTP process in order to promote even coverage and effective transitioning from relief to development in this critical sector. In FY 2007, USAID/OFDA anticipates that clinic staff salaries and procurement of drugs will no longer be funded. ¶B. Nutrition: USAID/OFDA will consider funding programs that promote a holistic approach to the prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition, focusing as much on the root causes as on treatment. ¶C. Water and Sanitation: Water and sanitation will continue to be a key sector in FY 2007 due to its importance for human health and reducing conflict among rural communities. Under the APS, USAID/OFDA will consider applications for water and sanitation programs in Equatoria, the Three Areas, Eastern Sudan, and southern capitals only, as forward planning and ongoing mechanisms will provide coverage in other regions. ¶D. Food Security: USAID/OFDA is most interested in high- impact emergency activities that increase local production, strengthen local market systems, build local capacity, and train communities. ¶E. Income Generation: Programs should focus on small, quick-impact projects that give immediate benefits to communities and support nascent markets (for instance, through voucher interventions); in past fiscal years, these programs have been more rural development-oriented. In FY 2007, USAID/OFDA will support income generation and food security activities that directly target emergency needs. ¶F. Relief Commodities: USAID/OFDA will support relief commodity activities that directly assist highly vulnerable families through the distribution of basic household and hygiene items, targeting those displaced by conflict or recently returned from displacement. ¶6. The APS Statement of Intent also explains geographic priorities, including Red Sea and Kassala States in Eastern Sudan, the Three Areas (Abyei, Nuba Mountains, and Southern Blue Nile),and eight of the ten states in Southern Sudan. Given the needs in these locations, USAID/OFDA will place less priority on funding programs in other areas (Khartoum, Lakes and Western Equatoria States) in FY 2007, although activities in these non- priority areas may continue. -------------- Potential Gaps in Health Sector a Concern -------------- ¶7. Participants made several useful comments for USAID/OFDA to consider as the final APS is drafted, especially with regard to the health sector. The majority of each meeting was spent discussing the transition of the health sector from emergency relief to longer-term development mechanisms. USAID's Sudan Health Transformation Program (SHTP) has significantly changed its approach and geographic coverage under the new USAID Sudan Strategy. The SHTP will now work in the three conflict areas of the transition zone and four urban centers in the South, rather than in the original 20 focus counties. This shift has created some gaps in coverage, placing greater pressure on the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) Ministry of Health (MOH) and other development mechanisms (for example, the Multi-Donor Trust Fund) to fill gaps. Based on examination of USAID/OFDA's current health program coverage and the USAID/SHTP new priority areas, eight counties in the South may lose USAID health program support. The GOSS MOH expressed concern about assuming responsibility for these activities so quickly, as planning for the next few years was based on the old SHTP coverage arrangement. The Acting GOSS Under Secretary for Health urged USAID to allow more time to prepare for the transition, as the ministry does not yet have the capacity to take on the operation of health facilities in these counties. ¶8. At the conclusion of the second APS meeting in Khartoum, USAID/OFDA met with health partners and USAID development assistance health staff to discuss planning for the transition of some health projects now funded by USAID/OFDA to USAID's SHTP and to work to minimize potential gaps in coverage for the sector. USAID/OFDA has four main partners currently operating in the new geographic priority areas of USAID's health development assistance program: the Three Areas (Abyei, Nuba Mountains, and Southern Blue Nile) and the southern cities of Malakal, Juba, Yei, and Wau. During the meeting, participants agreed that representatives from USAID/Sudan and the SHTP contractor will convene a follow- up meeting in Khartoum before mid-July to formulate concrete steps for the transition of programs and examine ways to avoid further coverage gaps. ¶9. Meeting participants, including the Acting GOSS Under Secretary for Health in Juba, also expressed concern that next year is too early for USAID/OFDA to cease support of clinic staff salaries since the GOSS will not be ready to assume the responsibility in the timeframe provided. USAID/OFDA representatives agreed that there will need to be a flexible approach to funding clinic salaries under the APS. With respect to USAID/OFDA's plans to cease funding for drug procurement in FY 2007, meeting attendees agreed that the GOSS MOH will organize a meeting in Juba before the end of June to plan a more centralized and coordinated approach for next year. HUME