ETHIOPIA: SOMALI REGIONAL PRESIDENT DISCUSSES

UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 000606

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR AF/E, USAID FOR AFR AA EGAST, AFR/EA CTHOMPSON,
AND DCHA FOR DDIKERMAN AND JBORNS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV EAID ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: SOMALI REGIONAL PRESIDENT DISCUSSES
HUMANITARIAN ACCESS WITH U.S. AND UN DELEGATION

Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) Newly-appointed Somali Regional President Dawood
Mohammed told the Ambassador and delegation that Ethiopia's
Somali region wants U.S. and international support for
long-term development, especially in exploiting water
resources. Security is still a major issue in the Somali
region, Dawood said, but added that most zones in the region
are peaceful and his administration would like to see more
donor support for peaceful but underdeveloped areas. For
emergency relief work, Dawood and his cabinet acknowledged
donor and non-governmental organization (NGO) concerns that
there is still no consistent mechanism to ensure access to
contested areas. Dawood pledged to chair monthly meetings,
beginning on March 26, of all stakeholders -- NGOs,
international organizations, the regional government and
donors -- to begin a dialogue to resolve the many outstanding
issues, particularly regarding access. Dawood indicated his
administration would seek to vet local staff employed by
NGOs. Somali regional state cabinet members expressed great
mistrust of NGOs and their activities, while at the same time
underscoring the region's need for international assistance.
End Summary.


2. (U) Somali Regional President Dawood Mohammed met for
several hours with the Ambassador, UN Coordinator and
delegation in Jijiga on March 5. Dawood was accompanied by
Head of Regional Security Abdi Mohamed Umar (a.k.a Abdi
Illi),Head of the Bureau of Finance and Economic Development
(BoFED) Umar Haji, Somali People's Democratic Party (SPDP)
General Secretary Abdu Fatah and the following Somali
regional cabinet members: Head of the Health Bureau Ahmed
Mohamed, Head of Agricultural Bureau Ahmed Mohammed,
Secretary to the Regional President Guled Abdullahi, Head of
the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau (DPPB) Guled
Ali, and the Head of the Education Bureau. The USAID Mission
Director, USAID Senior Policy Advisor, RSO and PolOff also
participated, along with representatives from the United
Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(UNOCHA),Save the Children-UK and Mercy Corps. Separately,
the Ambassador and UN Coordinator and delegation also met
with NGO implementing partners.

Somali Region Open for Development Assistance
--------------


3. (SBU) "We want to work with all donors, aid agencies and
non-governmental organizations," Dawood told the Ambassador.
"Over the past year the Somali region experienced a severe
drought and tense politics - and the donors helped save
people - but we need long term development," Dawood said,
emphasizing that "we are behind other regions developmentally
but we have the capacity to develop now." Dawood noted that
the Prime Minister has directed the federal government to
give "special attention" to Somali region and that more than
2,000 officials have been deployed in support of that
objective, including a federal advisor to each woreda.
Although capacity-building projects have begun, Dawood said,
"we lack the capacity to develop by ourselves because we
don't have the skilled manpower or (other) institutional
capabilities." Dawood added that "food aid saves lives, but
now we are thinking of the future. We are committed to
investing our budget in (long-term) development." SPDP Head
Abdu emphasized that the Ethiopian government has undergone a
"paradigm shift: we want to develop long-term, although we
will not exclude quick fixes (for pressing problems). We
have gone from 'defensive' to 'receptive' and there is now a
conducive environment for development in the Somali region."
As for emergency relief, Dawood acknowledged "we have
problems with implementation. Our DPPB office cannot manage
monitoring and evaluation. Training would help." (Note:
Dawood surprisingly did not realize that most food aid
through the World Food Program (WFP) and larger NGO projects
was U.S. assistance. End Note.)

Pledge to Coordinate with NGOs on Access
--------------



4. (SBU) For emergency relief work, Dawood and his cabinet
acknowledged donor and NGO concerns that there is still no
consistent mechanism to ensure access to contested areas.
Dawood pledged to convene monthly meetings, with the first to
be chaired by himself on March 26, of all stakeholders --
NGOs, international organizations, the regional government
and donors -- to begin a dialogue to resolve the many
outstanding issues. Dawood also pledged to support
technical-level coordination meetings between his government
and NGOs on as often a basis as necessary. Dawood noted that
one item on the agenda on March 26 would be the Somali
regional state's need to "scrutinize" lists of local
employees of NGOs operating in the Somali region, explaining
that "development assistance is meant for the most
vulnerable, not for anti-peace elements. Some local staff
looted our budget but landed with NGOs. Some have been
involved in (terrorist) bombings. You don't know the
anti-peace elements as we do. Some are ex-Siad Barre
generals."

Mistrust and Mixed Messages on NGOs
--------------


5. (SBU) Cabinet members criticized NGOs whom they believe
undermine state authority. SPDP Head Abdu remarked, "the
region's security situation has always been politicized.
Some NGOs align with our objectives, some cross lines."
Health Bureau Head Ahmed said, "some NGOs are problematic.
Their security reports are erroneous, and they enter into
politics and insurgent activities. There is a clash between
access and breaching rules. Paradoxically, the safest areas
get the least development assistance. NGOs are not
interested in developing the peaceful areas where the
majority of the population lives. Security issues are not
the mandate of most NGOs. If a security issue arises, the
government has a responsibility to deny access temporarily to
ensure safety. We want NGOs to be neutral; if they can't be,
why should we let them in? We don't want NGOs involved in
political issues." Security Head Abdi added that "we need
your support, but anti-peace elements disturb our development
agenda and steal food rations." SPDP General Secretary Abdu
stressed his view that some NGO staff are biased in favor of
the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and that, while
the Ethiopian government welcomes NGO contributions, "some
NGOs really are doing negative activities." Moreover, Abdi
contended, "some people the regional government has fired
have been hired by NGOs: they will hire you so long as you
are anti-government. Some NGO staffs don't follow their
mission statements. Some work in (contested areas) to hide
their activities." Abdi divided NGOs into "good" and "bad"
and said "we need support from good NGOs, but many NGOs
exaggerate for marketing purposes - they describe the Somali
region like Darfur, otherwise they would lose business." Abdi
added that "(Many) NGOs are terrible in our region. You
can't see what they do. They just write reports and spend
their budgets."

The Security Problem
--------------


6. (SBU) "Development and security cannot be separated, and
our problem is security," Dawood underscored. While careful
to state that most of the Somali region is peaceful, Dawood
said that in Degahabur and Denan "the insurgents are killing
people, (and) elders I have spoken to have told me they are
afraid." Security Head Abdi asserted that the ONLF is a
terrorist organization, not a nationalist insurgency, and
that the ONLF has a "relationship" with al Shabab. SPDP
General Secretary Abdu contended that "the majority of ONLF
are Al Ithad Al Islami (AIAI) or al-Shabaab. Some are even
American citizens. (Still),our top officials and the Somali
region people are together 100 percent. The people
themselves are fighting the ONLF." Abdi criticized the U.S.
State Department's 2009 Human Rights Report as too partial to
the ONLF and denied that Ethiopian state security has killed
anyone in the Somali region. Abdi said that if state
security members are caught stealing food rations, they are

prosecuted. "I am elected," he spoke rhetorically, "so why
would I stand between the people?" Abdu said accusations
against the Ethiopian National Defense Force's (ENDF) alleged
actions only take root because "ONLF propaganda is very
fast." Abdu nonetheless expressed the "hope (that) we will
soon abolish the ONLF once and for all, whether the U.S.
supports us or not."

The Priority is Water
--------------


7. (SBU) President Dawood and his cabinet members emphasized
that their first priority is to develop the region's water
resources, which may include significant underground aquifers
that can be exploited for irrigation. Dawood said his
administration has established two related steering
committees for land use and ground water management. Many
Somali region communities failed to take advantage of their
proximity to groundwater, Dawood added, which, he said, is
equivalent to being "married to a woman, but you can't see
her." German Agro-Action will dig 100 boreholes in the
region, Dawood said. Another official said that the
government is looking at three "development corridors":
rivers, aquifers and pastoral. Livestock is a second
priority.

Somali Region to Align with Federal Development Goals
-------------- --------------


8. (SBU) Dawood said the Somali region would more closely
align its development objectives with those of the federal
government. Toward that end, Dawood said the Somali regional
government has signed an agreement with the federal
government to take advantage of the Somali region's
comparative advantages, such as its abundant livestock
(although Dawood acknowledged productivity in all sectors
must be "scaled up" to maximize the benefits of inter-region
trade). Cabinet members also noted that the federal
government intends to encourage Somali region residents to
forgo nomadic lifestyles in favor of agriculture and
business. Cabinet members stressed the Somali regional
government wants technical support for its five year
development plan, so long as it is "constructive and
politically neutral support."

Improved Conditions, Waiting for Rain
--------------


9. (SBU) DPPB Head Guled remarked that conditions for
livestock and other indicators have improved over the past
few months, while malnutrition has decreased. Recent
improvements in implementation of the "hub and spoke" system
for food distribution have been particularly beneficial.
Although March is dry season for Somali region, rains have
been better and people who had crowded into towns to find
food during last years' drought largely have returned to
their villages, Guled noted. Health Bureau Head Ahmed noted
that mobile health clinics supported by donors have performed
well and that, despite an epidemic of rabies among wild foxes
and a smattering of meningitis cases, the Somali region has
had no major outbreaks of communicable diseases in recent
months.

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


10. (SBU) Dawood's pledge to host a meeting between his
administration, NGOs, international organizations and donors
to discuss NGO work in Somali region and access to contested
areas could be a positive first step in clearing up
misunderstandings between the government and NGOs and in
establishing mechanisms for enhanced communication and
cooperation. Mistrust of NGOs runs deep within the cabinet,
however, and follow-through will be important. In response
to the opportunity evident in the meeting, USAID has
established a special Somali Region Task Force with
participation by all sectors and OFDA. USAID will host a
pre-meeting with the UN agencies and relevant NGOs next week.

Also, agreements with the regional government are not always
respected by the ENDF. As the largest donor to the Somali
region (via World Food Program and implementing partners),
the U.S. will have a leading role in the March 26 meeting.
End Comment.
YAMAMOTO