UNMIS PRINCIPAL DONOR MEETING - DARFUR HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000555 DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A A/S CARTER, AF/C NSC FOR MGAVIN AND CHUDSON DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU SUBJECT: UNMIS PRINCIPAL DONOR MEETING - DARFUR HUMANITARIAN CRISIS UPDATE, NEXT STEPS REF: KHARTOUM 554 KHARTOUM 00000555 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On April 22, 2009, CDA Fernandez and Embassy staff attended the Donor Principals Meeting at UNMIS to review the humanitarian situation in Darfur following the expulsion of INGOs in March. According to the UN's assessment, gaps in humanitarian service delivery continue but are narrowing due to remaining INGOs, GOS and the UN agencies moving to fill these gaps. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss key developments in four major sectors: food security; health; water and sanitation; and non-food items/emergency shelter. UN OCHA provided a summary of the recent donors' conference in New York and discussed progress made with the Government of Sudan (GOS) on the cluster approach for NGOs and steps taken by the government to facilitate NGO access. END SUMMARY. -------------- SECTOR REPORT: FOOD SECURITY -------------- ¶2. (U) WFP provided an update on food distribution measures. Although food aid was distributed for March and April, the absence of some NGOs prevented the supplemental feeding for children and mothers. WFP has called for swift action on Track III implementation, including unhindered food distribution and the need for the GOS to issue visas quickly. WFP noted some positive steps in this regard given the April 16 decree issued by the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry. WFP will continue to provide food distribution in May and June and negotiations are continuing to bring in new NGOs to fill distribution gaps in the food sector. WFP also indicated that they will lead part of the proposed long-term cluster approach in the area of food security. -------------- SECTOR REPORT: HEALTH -------------- ¶3. (U) Closing gaps in the health sector remains a top priority for the UN. According to the UN, approximately 460,000 people are still without health services due to access problems, service issues and flooding (down from almost a million after the March 4 expulsions). Twelve health clinics remain closed, impacting community screening and nutritional data monitoring. As was expected, children and women of child-bearing age have borne the brunt of the gaps in care. The UN has been focusing on a number of IDP problematic camps including Kalma, Kabkabya and Zalingei; South Darfur is the most impacted of the three Darfur states. The UN health representative indicated that plans have been made for the GOS to cover some gaps, but funding issues remain. The UN is pushing for better field coordination and monitoring capabilities and will continue to work with NGOs, the GOS, and other organizations on the ground to avoid a crisis. The UN estimates that 800 staff will need to be recruited for the UN and other partners to bring health care up to pre-crisis levels (400 of the pre-March 4 total of 1200 remain on the job). Despite these problems, the UN believes opportunities exist to develop a clear strategic plan to revamp health service delivery with less reliance on the international community. Further, the UN views adoption of the cluster approach as a key opportunity to improve present conditions in the health sector. -------------- SECTOR REPORT: WATER/SANITATION -------------- ¶4. (U) The UN representative for the water/sanitation sector reported on recent developments. A joint WES/SWC and UNICEF team meets with partners on a daily basis in the three Darfur states to monitor progress and is updating 2009 sector plans. To date, approximately 1,000,000 people have been impacted by the expulsion of the NGOs. The GOS has committed to provide funding and as a stop gap measure, UNICEF is supporting 18 locations for water supply services and four locations for sanitation services. However, severe challenges exist; for example, Kalma camp is still not fully accessible because of a suspicious and politicized camp leadership. However, there have been negotiations to allow some NGOs into the camp and ARC (American Refugee Council) has installed additional hand pumps. Gaps remains in rural areas where the population is scattered and only hand pumps are available. Although there are long-term plans for local NGOs to take over activities, the upcoming rainy season and funding issues will hamper operations. The opportunity exists for local communities to take over responsibilities (for example, the maintenance of the pumps) and for better coordination between the GOS, the UN and NGOs. -------------- -------------- KHARTOUM 00000555 002 OF 003 SECTOR REPORT: NON-FOOD ITEMS and EMERGENCY SHELTER -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) The non-food items and emergency shelter sector (led by the UN Joint Logistics Center - JLC) reported on its current efforts to address emergency measures, focusing primarily on newly-displaced populations in the Zam Zam IDP camp. JLC reported that the GOS has made four commitments: it will return all warehouses to the UN; it will not set any preconditions before turning over the warehouses; JLC will serve as the primary pipeline for partners; and JLC and partners will be given unrestricted access to communities for their distribution efforts. With the recent handover of warehouses in El Obeid and El Geneina, only the El Fasher warehouse remains in government hands -ironically the need is greatest there because of the growth of Zam Zam. Although the GOS attempted to select some new NGO partners, the JLC made it clear to the GOS that the UN will make the selection of NGO partners, and tentative partners have already been identified. Despite service gaps, temporary solutions have been identified for the largest camps in North and West Darfur, however South Darfur, which has a particularly hostile and obstructionist local government, remains an area of special concern. -------------- UN OCHA HUMANITARIAN UPDATE FOR DARFUR -------------- ¶6. (U) UN OCHA provided an update on the humanitarian situation in Darfur, first commenting on the GOS's recent decision to allow 40 Egyptian doctors access to impacted populations. While welcomed, OCHA was concerned that the doctors had lower-than-expected levels of technical expertise, were not adapting well to living in difficult circumstances, and were not establishing the same level of rapport with suspicious local communities as their predecessors. OCHA also remarked on the need for the GOS to return all INGO assets, but remarked that some progress has been made. For example, the GOS has returned warehouses and used seized some financial assets to pay local staff salaries. In addition, UN OCHA welcomed the GOS's funding commitments but warned about the need for transparency and funding confirmation, noting that the GOS staff won't deploy until they are paid. Insecurity remains a key issue, especially in light of the recent kidnappings targeting NGO workers. The UN has called on the GOS to foster a secure environment, provide positive messages regarding the international aid community, and stop negative media remarks against NGOs; the negative media campaign has largely stopped. UN OCHA's primary concerns in the immediate future concern vulnerable populations, preparing for the rainy season, monitoring rural areas, coordinating financial plans, simplifying administrative procedures, encouraging positive humanitarian messages, and ensuring coordination of timely payments to staff. -------------- TRACK III AND THE MINISTERIAL DECREE -------------- ¶7. (U) OCHA representative Hansjoerg Strohmeyer provided an update on Track III and the recent Ministerial decree on expedited humanitarian access. He considers the April 16 decree (which is the result of US SE Gration's discussions with the Khartoum regime) "a breakthrough" and reinforced the need to: rebuild trust in the operating environment, especially concerning security; increase the degree of accountability in the new humanitarian architecture; and develop a more robust aid delivery system. Strohmeyer opposes creating new protocols. Rather, he supports focusing on full implementation of the 2007 Joint Communiqu and cutting back on bureaucracy. He also emphasized the need to focus on field/state levels by incorporating NISS and military intelligence in discussions in the format of High Level Committee (but at the state level). Further, he underscored his support for assigning permanent donor representatives to the High Level Committee with a new agenda centered on issues not resolvable at the field level. He remarked on recent and useful discussions with the GOS, especially regarding the rollout of the cluster approach reiterating its advantages in developing coherence in planning, advocacy, and monitoring. There will be ongoing discussions with NGOs, GOS and the UN to reinforce the Joint Communiqu and the recent decree. Discussions will also advance formalization of the new accountability structure at state and local levels. UN U/SYG for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes will likely attend the next Level Committee in Khartoum (o/a May 7) which will be at the ministerial level and incorporating new players. OCHA believes the GOS understands the advantages of the cluster approach as a one-stop shopping entrepot with a clear decision-making hierarchy. KHARTOUM 00000555 003 OF 003 -------------- UNAMID UPDATE -------------- ¶8. (U) Toby Lanzer provided a UNAMID update on its continuing support for humanitarian efforts. It continues to provide vehicle escorts to camps and provides water trucks delivering 45,000 liters of water a day in ZamZam (for three thousand people). UNAMID recently provided airlift support for the Ministry of Education, making it possible for children to complete required exams. As of April 22, UNAMID completed 67 percent of its targeted deployment for military, 50 percent for police and 31 percent for Formed (armed) Police Units (FPUs). However, UNAMID still lacks light tactical helicopters that are expected from Ethiopia as well as military transport helicopters. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (SBU) While it was clear from this briefing that significant gaps in humanitarian delivery remain, six weeks after the expulsion of the NGOs those gaps seem to be narrowing thanks to quick work by the UN, remaining NGOs, and a slightly-chastened GOS. To improve access to water, food, shelter, and health, donors and the UN will need to identify existing NGOs that are willing to expand their programming, and new NGOs that are willing to step forward. If the donors and the UN (led by the U.S. effort) can improve the operating environment for NGOs in Darfur, this will encourage existing and new NGOs to take up the slack. While the UN has stepped up monitoring, particular care needs to be taken to gather information on isolated rural areas of Darfur. The UN is eager to implement the cluster approach, which has been successful in other countries and will give the UN more of a central role in the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Darfur. NGOs have significant reservations about such an approach, particularly regarding current UN capacity. Despite NGO reservations, the UN is likely to move forward with this approach, which is being adopted worldwide. This could eventually be a positive development, because the government would prefer to deal with the UN and the cluster approach would reduce the number of tense interactions between the GOS/HAC and the NGOs. While the reported progress on closing the humanitarian gap is to be lauded and encouraged, the situation in Darfur remains fragile and volatile. It will be several months before it is clear that the current ad hoc dispensation is working as it should, let alone improving on the humanitarian situation to the point where it stood on March 3rd. FERNANDEZ