COTE D'IVOIRE: THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD TO THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABIDJAN 000326

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

GENEVA FOR RMA
DAKAR FOR USAID/OFDA/RDAVIS
DEPT FOR AF/W AND PRM/AF/CACHANG
DEPT PASS TO USAID/OFDA/DDEBERNARDO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2017
TAGS: PREF EAID PHUM UNHCR IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD TO THE
PROTECTION CLUSTER

REF: A. STATE 17135


B. ABIDJAN 293

C. 06 ABIDJAN 1245

D. 06 ABIDJAN 838

Classified By: NICK HILGERT FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D.


1. (C) Summary: The Abidjan-based Refugee Coordinator
(RefCoord) and Regina Davis, USAID/OFDA's Principal Regional
Advisor for West Africa (PRA),met in Abidjan with UN-OCHA,
other UN agencies, NGOs, and donor Embassies to discuss
opinions on UNHCR's handling of its Protection Cluster
responsibility to date, as well as its proposed activities on
behalf of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Cote
d'Ivoire. RefCoord and PRA also stressed to UNHCR that it
needs to re-engage on promotion of Liberian repatriation
leading up to the June 2007 deadline. There is general
consensus that the Protection Cluster's objectives remain
vague and that UNHCR should improve its working relationship
with its UN and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners.
End Summary.


2. (U) The Abidjan-based Refugee Coordinator (RefCoord) and
Regina Davis, USAID/OFDA's Principal Regional Advisor for
West Africa (PRA),met in Abidjan with UN-OCHA, other UN
agencies, NGOs, and donor Embassies to discuss opinions of
UNHCR's handling of its Protection Cluster responsibility to
date, as well as its proposed activities on behalf of
internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Cote d'Ivoire.
RefCoord and PRA also met with UNHCR to deliver the joint
message (ref. A) that UNHCR needs to re-engage on promoting
Liberian repatriation leading up to the June 2007 deadline.

Other Donors Upset with UNHCR Approach
--------------


3. (C) RefCoord and PRA first met with representatives from
the Embassies of Canada, Germany, Norway, and Sweden at the
U.S. Embassy on March 12. There was a general consensus that
the role of the Protection Cluster in Cote d'Ivoire, more
than one year after Jan Egeland's visit, was not well defined
and that the objectives behind UNHCR's proposed IDP
activities in Cote d'Ivoire remain vague. Participants also
agreed that UNHCR's confrontational and independent style
appeared to discount other organizations that have been
working with internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Cote
d'Ivoire for many years. Kerstin Cisse, the Representative
for the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) based
in Dakar, described Saber Azam, the UNHCR Representative, as
a "free electron" and that he had alienated many of his UN
and NGO colleagues.


4. (C) Kjetil Schie, Embassy of Norway, complained of
UNHCR's authoritarian approach to working with NGOs and
confirmed that although Norway would continue to support the
Norweigan Refugee Committee (NRC) and the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) in Cote d'Ivoire, they did
not plan to contribute to UNHCR's IDP project. RefCoord
explained PRM's concern that UNHCR's promotional work on
Liberian repatriation had suffered recently as it had turned
most of its attention to IDPs, and described the PRM and OFDA
demarche with UNHCR in Geneva (ref. A). PRA added that UNHCR
was possibly creating unreasonable expectations among IDPs
and government agencies through its repeated promises in the
national media "to take care of IDPs" in Cote d'Ivoire, which
could have negative repercussions on UNHCR if donor resources
are not forthcoming.

Message Communicated to Acting Humanitarian Coordinator
-------------- --------------


5. (U) RefCoord, PRA, and the SIDA representative spoke to
Youssouf Oomar, Acting Humanitarian Coordinator (UNICEF),to
convey some of the concerns expressed during our meeting on
the Protection Cluster. Oomar explained that he and Kazimiro
Rudolf-Jocondo, Head of UN-OCHA, are working on the terms of
reference (TOR) for the Protection Cluster, together with
UNHCR, and that he hopes the new TOR will allow the UN
Country Team to refocus its efforts. However, Oomar
described a very different role for the Protection Cluster
(stating it should focus on coordinating operational agencies
working on IDP issues) than the objectives outlined in the
draft TOR he shared with us. He also believes the Protection
Network, already in existence for two years, should continue
on as a technical advisor and that Clusters were only created

ABIDJAN 00000326 002 OF 003


to address emergency situations.


6. (U) During a larger meeting with members of the
Inter-Agency Humanitarian Coordination Committee (IAHCC),
Azam presented the draft TOR and again referred to UNHCR's
IDP activities as directly linked to four "gaps" identified
in IDP protection that served as the basis for their Cluster
activities: profiling of the IDP caseload; documentation and
protection monitoring for IDPs; resolution of property
rights; and improving coordination with public officials.
PRA pointed out that these gaps appeared in contradiction
with the objectives of their role as Protection Cluster lead,
which aimed for a broader coordination of protection needs
for both IDPs and civilian populations. Jacques Seurt, Chief
of Mission for the International Organization for Migration
(IOM),also mentioned that other organizations had, in fact,
already been working on documentation issues prior to the
UNHCR proposal.

Saber Rattling
--------------


7. (SBU) RefCoord and PRA met with Azam on two further
occasions to discuss progress on the June 2007 deadline for
Liberian refugee repatriation and to express our concern over
progress in implementing the Protection Cluster in Cote
d'Ivoire. Regarding refugees, Azam assured RefCoord and PRA
that UNHCR has been active promoting Liberian repatriation.
However, the figures he shared with RefCoord on UNHCR convoys
in 2006 showed an overall decrease in the number of persons
returning since his arrival. Azam's staff outlined a
promotion campaign strategy and shared relevant documents
with RefCoord (see also Ref. B for UNHCR progress on Liberian
repatriation).


8. (SBU) Concerning IDPs and UNHCR's Protection Cluster, PRA
asked Azam bluntly to describe what UNHCR had achieved since
taking on the Cluster lead in September and questioned
whether or not a Protection Cluster was even necessary at
this point. Azam insisted that much improvement had been
made and that attention to IDPs was included in the recently
signed Ouagadougou Peace Agreement. PRA pointed out that
since spring 2006, OCHA's Protection Network had organized
several activities that focused on IDP rights and the
government's responsibility to meet IDP protection needs, all
activities that enjoyed strong participation from government,
UN agencies, and NGO partners. PRA also pointed out that the
Ministry of Solidarity has had a return and reintegration
project in place for IDPs since at least last July, before
Azam's arrival. PRA stressed that UNHCR needs to stay
focused on more immediate needs and demonstrate concrete
success before taking on additional activities. PRA stated
that the most urgent protection issues are in western Cote
d'Ivoire and not in Grand Bassam, where UNHCR is conducting
its IDP profiling exercise.

Fitting a Cluster Into a Network
--------------


9. (U) The UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)
established in September 2005 nine "cluster leads" to help
identify gaps in humanitarian response and to ensure greater
predictability and accountability. At the country level, the
IASC's November 2006 Guidelines state that the "cluster
approach" is also supposed to raise the standards of
partnership in all areas of activity. Although not limited
to situations of internal displacement, the cluster approach
is supposed to improve the quality of response in such
situations. Although UN Country Teams are encouraged to turn
to organizations with global cluster responsibilities to lead
country level responses in setting up clusters, they are not
required to do so and may take advantage of existing
capacities of those organizations already present on the
ground. The IASC identified three cluster leads for UNHCR in
conflict situations: Protection, Camp Management, and
Emergency Shelter.


10. (U) Much of the confusion in Cote d'Ivoire relates to
UNHCR's effort to establish a Protection Cluster alongside
the pre-existing UN-OCHA managed "Protection Network." The
Protection Network has been organizing IDP related activities
in Cote d'Ivoire since the spring of 2006, drawing on the
support and participation of governmental bodies, UNHCR, and
other organizations. However, following Azam's arrival in
Cote d'Ivoire in July 2006, UNHCR formally announced the

ABIDJAN 00000326 003 OF 003


establishment of what UNHCR and the UN Country Team called
the "IDP Cluster," and UNHCR thus proceeded to define a
series of IDP protection and assistance activities that in
many cases were already being implemented by other agencies.
This led to often acrimonious discussions between UNHCR and
these same agencies. However, in December 2006, UNHCR,
UN-OCHA, and other international and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) agreed to redefine UNHCR's protection
role and established what they now refer to as, the
"Protection Cluster," thus incorporating the Protection
Network into their activities. As a result, depending on who
you talk to, the Protection Cluster was established in either
August, September or December 2006, or in January 2007.
Either way, the new "Protection Cluster" will have a much
different focus than UNHCR's limited view of its role in
September of 2006.

Comment
--------------


11. (C) Despite UNHCR's best intentions, the Protection
Cluster in Cote d'Ivoire appears to be in disarray. There is
no direct link between UNHCR's proposed IDP activities and
its management of the Protection Cluster as currently
conceived, and confusion still reigns over the objectives of
this Cluster more than one year after Jan Egeland declared
Cote d'Ivoire to be a "protection crisis." The fundamental
reasons for this confusion cannot be placed wholly on UNHCR's
doorstep; the basis for establishing the Protection Cluster
in Cote d'Ivoire (Note: this is the only Cluster that was
established in Cote d'Ivoire. End note.) is weak and this
decision pre-dates Azam's arrival. But Azam's own
difficulties working with his UN and NGO colleagues have
clearly exacerbated the situation. Those organizations
already working with IDPs in Cote d'Ivoire continue to
conduct their activities as before and, unfortunately, UNHCR
is not really involved in these activities to ensure a
protection element. In the meantime, UNHCR's promotion
efforts with Liberian refugees has shown renewed vigor in
March (ref. B) and Azam and other members of the UN Country
Team have committed to improve coordination under the
Protection Cluster. Progress on this point still remains to
be seen.
Hooks