Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06NIAMEY1133
2006-10-10 12:31:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Niamey
Cable title:  

TSCTP FUNDED REINSERTION OF EX-COMBATANTS

Tags:  PGOV PREL PTER EAID SOCI NG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4170
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHNM #1133/01 2831231
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 101231Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2980
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUFGCIN/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 001133 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR AF/W, BACHMAN; PASS TO USAID FOR AMARTIN; INR FOR
BOGOSIAN; ACCRA FOR AID/WA, SCHULMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER EAID SOCI NG
SUBJECT: TSCTP FUNDED REINSERTION OF EX-COMBATANTS
PROGRESSES IN TAHOUA

REF: NIAMEY 1023

Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER ZACH HARKENRIDER FOR REASON 1.4 (D)

-------
SUMMARY
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 001133

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR AF/W, BACHMAN; PASS TO USAID FOR AMARTIN; INR FOR
BOGOSIAN; ACCRA FOR AID/WA, SCHULMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER EAID SOCI NG
SUBJECT: TSCTP FUNDED REINSERTION OF EX-COMBATANTS
PROGRESSES IN TAHOUA

REF: NIAMEY 1023

Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER ZACH HARKENRIDER FOR REASON 1.4 (D)

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) Reftel reported on the first phase of project
implementation for the partly TSCTP funded Tuareg
ex-combatant reinsertion program. Further information was
forthcoming at the second and final ceremony, held in Tahoua
on October 6. Poloff represented the mission at an event
targeting ex-combatants from the Azawak - the region north of
Tahoua along the Malian border where the rebellion first
began. To all appearances, the successes of the Air (northern
Niger near Agadez and Algeria) have been replicated in
Tahoua, where 100% of registered ex-combatants have completed
the program and received their micro-credit checks. UNDP's
reinsertion program sheds light on the challenges of working
in the nomadic zone, and underscores the continued importance
of this turbulent region to Mission CT concerns. END SUMMARY

--------------
THE IMPORTANCE OF NORTH
TAHOUA REGION: THE AZAWAK
--------------


2. (U) The northern part of Niger's Tahoua region is known as
the Azawak (alternatively spelled Azaouagh). Bordering Mali
and Algeria it is home to diverse nomadic and sedentary
groups - Arabs as well as Tuaregs, Hausas, Djermas, and
Fulanis. It was here that the Tuareg rebellion began; here
that the Arab vs. Tuareg element of that conflict flared most
violently; and, here that the reinsertion program has found
the largest number of participants. Tahoua region (which for
the purposes of this program also includes the Filingue
district of Tillaberi region) counts seven ex-rebel fronts to
Agadez's six, and 1,630 registered ex-combatants to Agadez's
1,472. UNDP's efforts have proven even more successful here
than in Agadez region. The UN has organized 100% of the
ex-combatants into viable cooperatives, compared to 73% in

Agadez. To the extent that this signals a peace "buy in" on
the part of ex-rebels in the Azawak, it is a good augury for
peace and stability in the zone of Niger closest to the
Malian towns of Kidal and Gao.

--------------
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF EX-COMBATANTS
CONFIRMS "HOT SPOTS," FOR MISSION MONITORING
--------------


3. (C) The names Tchintabaraden, Abalak, and Tassara all
figure prominently in the history of the Tuareg rebellion.
They figure prominently too, in UNDP's list of ex-combatants'
zones of residence. Post-rebellion economic dislocations
(most prominently the drought, locust, and food crisis
combination of 2004 - 2005) apparently did not dislodge as
many Tuaregs as did the famines of the 1980s, which led many
nomads, their flocks decimated, to head for cities and towns
to find a living. Aside from small numbers in Niamey (26),
and Tahoua city (38) most ex-combatants remain concentrated
in just a few places. Add to the aforementioned the Arab town
of Tillia, and the town of Tamaya, and one gets a complete
picture of the zone at the source of most of our security
concerns.


4. (C) Bordering Mali's Kidal region, the site of a recent
manifestation of Tuareg discontent, the Azawak also touches
Algeria in the north. Its Arab community, a "minority within
a minority," has a troubled history with the Tuaregs - the
former supported the GON during the rebellion - and
cultural-linguistic links to the population of southern
Algeria. The Arabs are also beneficiaries of this program.
Given the ethnic antagonisms of the past, the turbulence of
Mali's north and Algeria's south today, weak governance and a
lack of economic opportunity, these Azawak towns remain areas
of concern from a CT perspective. Ensuring fairness (both
actual and perceived) and transparency in the administration
of the program is essential, as any perception of partiality
along ethnic or sub-regional lines would cause real problems.
While the stakes for success in these towns are high, and the
cultural / historical terrain rough, UNDP seems to have done
a good job in ensuring that the cooperatives from each of
these areas get their fare share of microcredit.


5. (C) Of the 1,630 ex-combatants in the Tahoua region, 387
(24%) hail from Abalak; 116 (7%) from Tamaya; 383 (23.5%)

NIAMEY 00001133 002 OF 002


from Tchintabaraden; 108 (6.6%) from Tillia; and, 466 (29%)
from tiny Tassara. Each town's share of the microcredit pot
corresponds to these percentages, ensuring fairness in both
appearance and fact.

--------------
MAKING THE PROGRAM FIT: TAILORING TO
THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF NIGER'S NOMADS
--------------


6. (U) With 145 cooperatives spread across eleven communes
from the Algerian border to Niamey (where 26 resident
ex-combatants were organized into three collectives),
management of the Tahoua branch of the project is a
logistical challenge. UNDP seems to be stretching donor
dollars as far as possible, managing the project out of a
small and modestly furnished office in Tahoua. United Nations
Volunteer (UNV) project staff, charged with training and
monitoring the activities of each of the cooperatives, are
equipped with dirt bikes that enable them to travel as much
as 2,000 kilometers a week as they make their rounds. Their
responsibilities divided geographically, each trainer is
responsible for between nine and twenty-nine cooperatives;
108 and 361 ex-combatants; and, between 10,164,000 and
35,145,000 million CFA (approximately $19,890 - $68,777) in
funds.


7. (U) Grouped into cooperatives, each ex-combatant will
eventually receive 165,000 CFA (approximately $323.00) in
micro-credit finance. The cooperatives received eighty
percent of this money up front, at the October 6 ceremony. At
the rate of 132,000 CFA per participant (approximately
$258.00),that totals 215,160,000 CFA (approximately
$421,056). The remaining twenty percent will only be freed up
once UNDP evaluates progress on each micro-project. There is
reason to believe that the vast majority of cooperatives will
be successful enough to obtain the second installment of
funds. The activities they propose to engage in - vetted
prior to approval by UNDP, and monitored by the itinerant UNV
trainers - seem realistic and within the participants'
capacities.


8. (U) Sixty-two cooperatives will receive support for animal
husbandry activities; thirteen for granary operations;
forty-six for cooperative village stores; and, a dozen more
for rice and grain sales, among other activities. Each is a
good fit given local economic realities and the existing
skills of the participants. The ex-combatants themselves have
money at stake in these activities, providing anywhere from
CFA 70,000 ($137.00) to 660,000 ($1,292.00) from their own
collective pockets in order to support their new businesses.

--------------
COMMENT:
--------------


9. (C) UNDP's approach to the reinsertion activity seems to
satisfy all actors from the GON to the ex-combatants. While
the latter would appreciate more money, and were not hesitant
to say so, UNDP res. rep. assured the audience at Friday's
event that his organization was exploring ways to follow up
on this activity. Ensuring calm in the Azawak is one of the
most important preventive actions we can undertake via TSCTP,
and, given the multi-donor commitment, it need not even be
that expensive. Post has requested another $200,000 in ESF
for the next fiscal year to augment these efforts.
Microcredit lending - geared to the economic realities of the
region and vigorously monitored by a flexible and efficient
UNDP presence - seems the best tool to help the nomadic
communities of the Air and Azawak build a peaceful future
that they will have a real stake in maintaining. END COMMENT
KORAN