UN REPORTS IMPROVEMENT IN DARFUR HUMANITARIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000554 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A A/S, AF/C, AF/E NSC FOR MGAVIN AND CHUDSON DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2019 TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO UN AU SU SUBJECT: UN REPORTS IMPROVEMENT IN DARFUR HUMANITARIAN SPACE, POSITIVE GOVERNMENT ACTIONS REF: A. USUN NEW YORK 414 ¶B. USUN NEW YORK 413 Classified By: CDA Alberto M. Fernandez, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) In a private meeting April 23, UNMIS D/SRSG for Humanitarian Affairs Ameerah Haq told key donors that the Government of Sudan has taken several key steps to improve humanitarian access in Darfur. She noted that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs issued a decree April 16 formalizing new regulations for NGOs regarding multiple entry visas (for all NGOs registered in Sudan, not just Darfur),travel notification only for Darfur (not permits),signature of all pending technical agreements before April 30, and reactivation of the Joint Technical Committees at the state level (to implement what has been decided at the national level). She also noted that the ministry is preparing to issue a second decree reconfirming the government's commitment to an enhanced High Level Committee, which oversees implementation of the 2007 Joint Communiqu. Haq said the government had confirmed to her that the strengthened HLC will be composed of key donors and representatives (UN, US, UK, EC, AL, and AU) and key GOS entities (MFA, Military Intelligence, NISS, MOI, and MOF) and will be tasked with actively resolving problems. Haq acknowledged that since the Joint Communiqu and the High level Committee apply just to Darfur, a different mechanism will need to be created for other parts of Sudan. Haq also acknowledged that there is a difference between the good intentions of government officials in Khartoum and the attitude of state-level officials in Darfur, but noted that State Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Harun has been in Darfur this week pressing on implementation of the decrees with all HAC officials. ¶2. (SBU) Haq reported that the UN is moving forward with the "cluster approach" to technical agreements by sector. She said that government officials have expressed some reservations that this may create a new layer of bureaucracy, but individual ministries like the cluster approach because it helps them coordinate programs more easily with the donors and NGOs, via the UN. However, she said some of the NGOs are somewhat resistant to the concept because they are wary of relying on the UN to represent their interests and because they are used to having their own individual technical agreements as a guarantee of their right to operate in Sudan. Haq said the country-level agreements and registrations that each NGO signs in order to operate in Sudan should serve this large administrative function. Haq's deputy Toby Lanzer pointed out that the cluster approach is becoming standard practice in many developing countries and that although NGOs are often resistant to the concept at first, eventually it helps streamline and facilitate their interaction with the government. Haq acknowledged that this will place much more responsibility on the UN and that the UN will need to increase its capacity in order to play the coordination role required by the cluster approach. She said WFP and UNICEF are ready to lead their respective clusters. ¶3. (SBU) Haq and Lanzer reported that the situation is now improving in Kalma IDP camp in South Darfur, as a result of negotiations with the pro-SLM camp sheiks and with SLM leader Abdulwahid al Nur. The formerly obstructionist sheiks have now agreed to allow for food distributions in the camp, and have allowed IDPs to walk to vaccination points just outside of the camp. In addition, the American Refugee Council (ARC) has built additional hand pumps in the camp to improve access to water until an NGO can get access to restart the mechanized pumps. Haq noted that UN U/SYG Holmes will be in Sudan May 7-9 and plans to raise the issue of additional land for the 42,605 new IDPs at Zam Zam IDP camp with the government during his visit. Haq said that the UN is still negotiating with the government to allow UNHCR to play the camp coordination and displaced-population protection role that it traditionally has in most countries, even in the context of IDP populations. The government still has not accepted this in principle (insisting that UNHCR should service refugee populations, not IDP populations). (Note: This will likely be a point of discussion during the Holmes visit. End note.) ¶4. (SBU) Referring to the earlier briefing to all donors regarding the overall humanitarian situation in Darfur KHARTOUM 00000554 002 OF 002 (reftel),Haq pointed out that although there have been some improvements in the last few weeks, it will take several months to see considerable progress. It will take time for existing NGOs to take over projects (although WFP has already signed new contracts for food distributions),it will take time for new NGOs to enter Darfur, and it will take time for the UN to implement the new cluster approach to technical agreements with the government. ¶5. (C) Comment: While not acknowledging the U.S.-Sudan negotiations directly in front of the other donors, it was clear to everyone from this briefing that the recent gains in the humanitarian operating environment in Darfur are due entirely to SE Gration's engagement with the government of Sudan. The UN will need to act swiftly to capitalize fully on these gains, and the USG under the leadership of SE Gration will need to engage continuously to measure progress and ensure that the government follows through on its commitments. Improving the operating environment will allow existing NGOs to fill gaps quickly, and will encourage new NGOs to consider taking on operations in Darfur and other parts of northern Sudan. It was also clear from the briefing that the UN intends to use this crisis to play a much larger role in the coordination (and in some cases the delivery) of humanitarian assistance in Darfur. This means that UN agencies also need to rapidly mobilize and beef up their presence in Darfur. If that means facilitated access to affected populations, that could be a positive development, although the UN does not always have the best reputation for moving quickly when required. However, enabling UNHCR to assume the coordination and protection role at IDP camps in Darfur would probably be a good move over the long term given decreased access by NGOs and the government's insistence that NGOs should not play a "political" role. Attaining approval for UNHCR to play this role will likely require intervention by the US with the government of Sudan in the context of our overall engagement. End comment. FERNANDEZ