SOMALIA DART SITUATION REPORT 7 NON-FOOD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 NAIROBI 000448

SIPDIS

AIDAC

USAID/DCHA FOR MHESS, WGARVELINK, LROGERS
DCHA/OFDA FOR KLUU, GGOTTLIEB, AFERRARA, ACONVERY,
CGOTTSCHALK, KCHANNELL
DCHA/FFP FOR WHAMMINK, JDWORKEN
AFR/AFR/EA FOR JBORNS
STATE/F FOR ASISSON
STATE FOR AF/E AND PRM
STATE/AF/E FOR NGARY
STATE/PRM FOR AWENDT, MMCKELVEY
NSC FOR TSHORTLEY
USUN FOR TMALY
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
USMISSION UN ROME FODAG FOR RNEWBERG

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREF PHUM PREL SO

SUBJECT: SOMALIA DART SITUATION REPORT 7 NON-FOOD
HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMS

REFS: A) NAIROBI 00206 B) NAIROBI 00294

NAIROBI 00000448 001.2 OF 005


SUMMARY


1. In fiscal year (FY) 2006, USAID's Office of U.S.
Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) provided $6.9
million in non-food humanitarian assistance to agencies
focused on drought response and recovery within the
health, nutrition, livelihood, and water, sanitation,
and hygiene sectors. OFDA funds three UN agencies and
five non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Somalia.
In FY 2007, OFDA plans to continue supporting existing
partners and initiate support for several new agencies
working in priority sectors. End Summary.

BACKGROUND


2. In 2007, the humanitarian community plans to
prioritize assistance to southern and central regions
in Somalia (REF A). Regions of particular concern in
the south include Middle Juba, Lower Juba, Gedo, Middle
Shabelle, several districts in Bay Region, as well as
Galgadud and Mudug regions in central Somalia. Despite
the recent conflict ending six months of Islamist rule
in Somalia, the majority of humanitarian needs are
among the drought and flood-affected communities.


3. OFDA has supported non-food humanitarian
programming in Somalia since 1991. Many of the OFDA-
funded programs are designed to address chronic
problems associated with drought, flooding, and
conflict, including high malnutrition rates, poor
access to health care services, inadequate access to
safe drinking water, and limited livelihood
opportunities. In FY 2006, OFDA provided $6.9 million
and $3.4 million to date in FY 2007 for Somalia. This
cable provides an overview of ongoing non-food
humanitarian programming. (USG-funded food aid programs
are reviewed in REF B)

UN AGENCY PARTNERS


4. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF $2.5 million in FY
2006 and $1.7 million to date in FY 2007),the UN World
Health Organization (WHO $200,000 in FY 2006),and the
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO $700,000 in
FY 2006 and $850,000 to date in FY 2007) are OFDA's
current UN agency partners in Somalia.


5. UNICEF programming in the health, nutrition, and
water, sanitation, and hygiene sectors assists nearly
1.8 million beneficiaries countrywide. To enable
UNICEF to reach isolated communities via the Juba and
Shabelle rivers during the flooding in December 2006,
OFDA provided 12 Zodiac boats and motors valued at
$250,000. UNCEF is the cluster lead in nutrition,
protection, and water, sanitation, and hygiene. UNICEF
also has access to stockpiles of relief supplies and a
wide distribution network of local and international
NGOs. While not the formal lead in the health cluster,
UNICEF has played a major role in primary health care
and maternal and child health. With OFDA support,
UNICEF supplies health facilities with essential
medicine, medical equipment, and consumable supplies.


6. OFDA supports the UN Common Air Service (UNCAS),
which is operated by the UN World Food Program (WFP),

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via a grant to UNICEF. Air transport of UN and NGO
staff and relief supplies to communities in Somalia is
a critical component of the humanitarian operation
because insecurity, periodic flooding, and a poor road
network limit the ability of aid agencies to access
beneficiary populations in many areas. Security
concerns have caused UNCAS to curtail operations since
December, hampering movement of UN and NGO staff and
program supplies. Regular UNCAS flights have resumed
to Wajid Airport in Bakool Region and Baidoa Airport in
Bay Region. UN security officers are in the process of
evaluating security and landing conditions of other
airstrips (including Kismayo, Jowhar, and Belet Weyne)
in flood and conflict-affected regions.


7. The FAO Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU) provides
evidence-based analysis of food security, nutrition,
and livelihoods in Somalia. Within FSAU, OFDA funds
the nutrition surveillance program that conducts
nutrition surveys, rapid assessments, and monitors
nutrition sentinel sites throughout Somalia. FSAU
reports provide critical data on malnutrition rates,
crop yields, livestock prices and terms of trade, and
agricultural patterns. FAO is also leading the
livestock sector response for Rift Valley fever (RVF)
in Somalia, collecting livestock samples, facilitating
surveillance teams, and training animal health workers
through partnerships with local and international
animal health organizations.


8. WHO is the lead health sector agency in Somalia and
works with hospitals to train staff, provides medical
supplies, undertakes vaccination programs, and
coordinates emergency health responses with other UN
agencies and NGO partners, concentrating on acute
health care services. WHO is coordinating the response
to RVF on the human health side in close cooperation
with UNICEF, the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC),and local and international NGOs.

NGO PARTNERS


9. Most NGOs working in Somalia have limited
operational coverage. The working environment in
southern Somalia prohibits rapid start-up of new NGOs
in districts or regions without exhaustive community-
based negotiations with community leaders and local
authorities. Access to vulnerable communities has been
the greatest challenge to all agencies in recent years
due to chronic insecurity and limited capacity of local
partners.


10. OFDA partners currently working in southern and
central regions have stable national work forces that
have been accepted by local community leaders and good
track records implementing program activities, often
under difficult circumstances. The Adventist
Development and Relief Agency (ADRA $1.3 million),
International Medical Corps (IMC $638,000),Action
Contre la Faim (ACF $852,000),World Concern
($399,000),and World Vision ($250,000) are OFDA's
current NGO partners in Somalia.


11. IMC implements livelihood and nutrition
initiatives in Bakool Region targeting 10,000
beneficiaries. IMC is expanding its efforts into Bay
Region to provide emergency vaccination coverage and

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support supplemental feeding programs. In January, IMC
reported that the conflict had further delayed
implementation of emergency health and nutrition
programs in Dinsor District. In December, IMC
relocated four international staff from Somalia to
Nairobi, where the staff remained. However, IMC's
programs continue to be implemented by national staff
in Bakool and Hiraan regions. Additionally, the
closure of the Kenya-Somalia border prevented transport
of IMC's cholera response supplies to Belet Weyne and
biological samples for cholera testing to Nairobi for
laboratory analysis.


12. ADRA also works in Bakool providing water,
sanitation, and hygiene assistance to 30,000
beneficiaries. Despite the conflict, ADRA's program
continues, however, the flooding delayed implementation
of some activities. Insecurity has suspended
implementation of ADRA's planned activities in the
Dinsor, Bay Region, since last July. ADRA has
scheduled a mission to Dinsor to negotiate access and
program implementation issues with local authorities
for January 22, after which program implementation may
be able to resume.


13. ACF provides water, sanitation, and hygiene
services in Bakool and Gedo regions targeting 65,000
people. In December and January, operations were
uninterrupted, although, international staff did leave
Somalia during the holiday period. As UNCAS flights
have resumed to Wajid, ACF's international staff have
returned to Bakool and Gedo project sites.


14. World Concern implements food security,
agriculture, and water, sanitation, and hygiene
programs for 80,000 beneficiaries in the Middle Juba
Region. In October, World Concern curtailed operations
in Jilib and Kismayo due to fighting. World Concern's
national staff continue program implementation, but
without international staff, capacity building training
for village water committees and other program
components have been delayed. In December, the NGO
conducted a rapid assessment of the impact of flooding
on riverine communities. World Concern expects that
operations will return to full capacity once UNCAS
flights to Middle Juba Region resume.


15. World Vision provides water, sanitation, and
hygiene assistance to 25,000 beneficiaries in Middle
Juba Region. World Vision has not had international
staff in Middle Juba since late December. However, its
national staff continue to implement programs in
Somalia. The absence of international staff has
impacted some programs, such as engineering components
of water and sanitation activities. As a result of the
conflict, World Vision reports that it has not been
able to complete repairs to damaged water points as
scheduled. Additionally, humanitarian flights have not
flown into Buaale since the end of December. World
Vision's international staff have not been in Middle
Juba Region since late October, except for a three-day
monitoring and evaluation trip in mid-December.

COMMON CHALLENGES


16. OFDA partners coordinate closely on the ground,
dividing regions into areas of operation to avoid

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overlaps, and work with other organizations to identify
gaps. Humanitarian coordination in Somalia is
undertaken using the UN "cluster" system, which is
slowly being integrated into the already existing NGO
coordination structure under the auspices of the
Somalia Support Secretariat with positive results.


17. OFDA partners sometimes experience problems in
monitoring program implementation and moving staff and
materials into Somalia and within the regions as a
result of insecurity. However, most partners report
that assistance continues through the efforts of Somali
national staff, although often without the technical
support, guidance, and authority of international
program managers who remain in Kenya.


18. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) has raised concerns regarding the lack
of current information on evolving health and nutrition
situations in south and central Somalia, as even local
staff are experiencing restricted movement, making
assessments impossible. The paucity of information is
making long-range response planning difficult. OCHA is
keeping NGOs appraised of access opportunities and
coordinating advocacy for security and humanitarian
access with the Somali Transitional Federal Government
(TFG).


19. WHO and several health NGOs have reported that
local residents, including the war-wounded, are
reluctant to travel to health facilities for fear of
harassment by local bandits, freelance gunmen, and
reconstituted warlord militias, which accounts for low
turnout at clinics and hospitals over the past month.
Lack of access has also hampered surveillance and
sampling efforts needed to respond to the suspected
outbreak of RVF in Gedo and Lower Juba regions.


20. Additionally, agencies have reported that
distributions of relief supplies and health kits have
been interrupted, primarily in and around Kismayo,
Lower Juba Region, due to insecurity, and in Hiraan
Region due to flood-damaged airstrips.

FY 2007 FUNDING PRIORITIES


21. OFDA's geographic priorities are locations hardest
hit by successive years of drought, flooding, and
recent conflict and include all regions in southern
Somalia and Hiraan, Galgadud, and Mudug regions in
central Somalia.


22. Sectoral priorities are shelter, basic social
services such as health care and nutritional support
for vulnerable women and children, and water,
sanitation, and hygiene. Protection is becoming a
priority sector, especially with increasing concern
over newly laid landmines in conflict regions and the
recruitment and abandonment of child soldiers. OFDA
also prioritizes livelihood activities that improve
household income and access to resources.


23. In FY 2007, OFDA plans to continue support for
UNICEF, FAO, and WHO, and initiate support for OCHA's
coordination activities. USAID expects to continue
supporting the activities of its FY 2006 NGO partners
and initiate support for several new partners in

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priority assistance sectors.


24. Other humanitarian donors, such as the UK
Department for International Development (DFID) and the
Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission
(ECHO),are proceeding cautiously, waiting to evaluate
the full impact of the recent conflict. In the
meantime, donor priorities continue to be flood and
drought recovery activities. The UN does not
anticipate a revision of the 2007 Consolidated Appeals
Process (CAP) or issuing a Flash Appeal at this time.
(REF A)

RANNEBERGER