Darfur - Supplemental Provides Opportunity to

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 001789 SIPDIS AIDAC SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AFR/SP NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS GENEVA FOR NKYLOH NAIROBI FOR SFO NSC FOR JBRAUSE, NSC/AFRICA FOR TSHORTLEY USUN FOR TMALY BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI SU SUBJECT: Darfur - Supplemental Provides Opportunity to Expand Humanitarian Services KHARTOUM 00001789 001.2 OF 003 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. From July 5 to 19, a USAID/OFDA Sudan Disaster Operations Specialist (DOS) traveled to Darfur to meet with USAID/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) implementing partners and monitor existing programs. In addition to meeting the critical needs of newly displaced families, USAID/OFDA partners continue to provide services and goods to camp residents that will be transferable to their home communities should they decide to return. USAID/OFDA is currently evaluating proposals to meet gaps in area coverage. End summary. -------------- New Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) -------------- ¶2. From July 5 to 19, a USAID/OFDA Sudan DOS traveled to Darfur to meet with USAID/OFDA implementing partners and monitor existing programs to the extent possible given time and security constraints. From July 10 to 12, the DOS visited El Fasher, North Darfur, and area camps Zam Zam, Abu Shouk, and Al Salaam. From July 15 to 16, the DOS visited Kass, South Darfur, and from July 13 to 14 and on July 17, the DOS visited Nyala and area camps Otash, Kalma, and Alintifada. (Note: Alintifada is a settlement and not a designated IDP camp. It was the original planned site for Kalma camp. End note.) The DOS also met with representatives from the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS),the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF),and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in El Fasher, North Darfur. ¶3. The DOS visited three camps near El Fasher, two of which, Zam Zam and Al Salaam, are currently registering new arrivals displaced by recent fighting in the Tawila/Korma/Kafod areas west and southwest of El Fasher. In Zam Zam camp, more than 1,600 people or approximately 437 households arrived between July 8 and 10, and more people were arriving daily. OCHA reported on July 13 that they expect an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 new arrivals will be registered in Zam Zam or Al Salaam camps in the coming weeks due to the increased fighting in the abovementioned areas. On July 18, OCHA reported that more than 14,000 new arrivals have been registered in camps in El Fasher. ¶4. The DOS spoke to several IDP families who were waiting to register with the camp coordinating agencies in Al Salaam and Zam Zam camps. Through these conversations, the DOS learned that one village sheik received a letter from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) Commander in the region stating that that there would be fighting in the area, and the sheikh and villagers should leave if they wanted to avoid the violence. These families were able to pack up some belongings and traveled by donkey for two to three days to El Fasher. Another IDP family recounted how violence erupted around their village, and they gathered supplies and left the area. One man reported that his family was able to leave, but while at the fringe of the town, a soldier in a Sudanese government uniform took away all their food. One man who fought with the soldier over this issue was shot and killed. The woman he was with continued to the camp with other families from the village. USAID/OFDA partners are responding in Zam Zam camp with critical shelter, relief commodities, and health services. In Al Salaam camp, USAID partners are responding in the areas of camp coordination, relief commodities, and health services. -------------- Continuing Services -------------- ¶5. In addition to meeting the critical needs of newly displaced families, USAID/OFDA partners continue to KHARTOUM 00001789 002.2 OF 003 provide services to camp residents and provide services and goods that will be transferable to their home communities should they decide to return. Several USAID/OFDA partners are working with women's groups to provide basic education and income-generating activities. The DOS visited women's centers in Zam Zam camp in North Darfur and Kass in South Darfur where women were making fuel-efficient stoves, improving their skills to make local handicrafts and traditional cheese products, and receiving basic education. One USAID/OFDA implementing partner has a community center in Zam Zam camp where men improve sewing and tailoring skills while creating clothing for children that is then distributed to IDP children in the camp. ¶6. The DOS met with USAID/OFDA partners working throughout North and South Darfur. Current program activities of implementing partners include camp coordination and management, primary health care services, therapeutic and supplementary feeding centers, food security and agricultural programs, water and sanitation, and programs focusing on women and children. ¶7. As the rainy season begins, health clinics in El Fasher, Kass, and the Nyala areas continue to see cases of acute respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases, the main cause of clinic visits; however cases of malaria are also increasing. All USAID/OFDA implementing partners were asked about their preparation for any cholera response given the cholera cases reported at the end of June 2006. USAID/OFDA implementing partners stated that operating medical clinics were appropriately prepared to respond to a potential cholera outbreak in their areas of operation through both clinical treatment and hygiene campaigns designed to reduce and prevent the transmission of cholera through water and latrine sources. -------------- Expansion of Work -------------- ¶8. As USAID/OFDA begins to program USD 66.2 million from the supplemental for program activities, many implementing partners are proposing to expand in new areas and will meet the needs of a diverse population including multiple ethnic groups, pastoralists, agriculturalists, and nomads. New locations for activities include areas along the Darfur border with Chad and the Central African Republic. Implementing partners also plan to expand activities in current program locations to reach more rural areas and home communities. ¶9. One critical location where programs will be implemented is Gereida, South Darfur. Fighting in Gereida between March and May 2006 caused displacement of people from their homes as well as the re- displacement of IDPs in Donkey Dereissa, Dito, and Joghana. Gereida is now thought to house the largest IDP camp in Darfur, with more than 120,000 residents. USAID/OFDA is examining funding partners in programs in the areas of water and sanitation, health care, and camp management; all are critical sectors that are not currently being addressed. USAID/OFDA partners are now able to access some of the home areas of these IDPs and are working to establish services such as health, education, and agriculture for those who are interested in returning. ¶10. USAID/OFDA partners are also planning to work with host communities, IDPs, and nomads to address much needed basic services in areas such as food security, health, and water and sanitation, while programming activities through a conflict mitigation lens. For example, proposed activities include new boreholes that both reduce the time and distance for water collection, but also reduce tensions by locating the boreholes in areas where communities historically compete for water services. A USAID/OFDA partner in Kass is working to support peace agreements between sheiks in rural KHARTOUM 00001789 003.2 OF 003 communities by providing equal services to the home community, IDPs, and nomadic groups that "compete" for resources. USAID/OFDA partners have had success through this type of programming for the past several months and propose to expand these services in the coming year. ¶11. USAID/OFDA is currently evaluating proposals to meet gaps in area coverage as partners move out of cities and into rural areas and re-enter places such as Jebel Mara. USAID/OFDA anticipates that many of the programs that will be funded will be for up to one year ensuring that IDPs have basic services met through mid- fiscal year 2007. STEINFELD