DEMARCHE: OUTREACH FOR ASSISTANCE TO WFP IN PAKISTAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 126694 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR EAID ECON ETRD IO PGOV PHUM PK PREF PREL SUBJECT: DEMARCHE: OUTREACH FOR ASSISTANCE TO WFP IN PAKISTAN REF: A. ISLAMABAD 002611 ¶B. ISLAMABAD 002880 ¶1. (U) This is an action request. See paragraph 6. ¶2. (U) Department requests that Posts amplify Department's outreach to key donors for USD 36 million in urgent assistance to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Pakistan. This donor assistance will cover anticipated breaks between January and April in the food pipeline for 2.7 million people, many of them still displaced from Pakistan's military operations in its border regions. WFP anticipates a shortfall in food rations beginning in January as part of food needs likely to exceed USD 250 million in 2010. Department will soon ask Posts via Septel to demarche donors on a broader array of relief and reconstruction needs in Pakistan. -------------- WFP FEARS SHORTAGE OF FOOD IN PAKISTAN -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Donor assistance estimated at USD 36 million is needed to cover shortfalls in food rations as well as processing, distribution, and storage of the supplies (ref. A and B). Pledges and immediate disbursements are needed urgently, even prior to the formal release of the UN's 2010 Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan, which will appeal for funds for all UN humanitarian agencies providing assistance to internally displaced persons in Pakistan in the upcoming year. ¶4. (U) In 2009, the U.S. has provided 66 percent of the total contributions to WFP's budget in Pakistan and nearly 50 percent of all contributions to the UN's humanitarian operations in the country. Rather than continue carrying a disproportionate burden of WFP support, Department seeks to more equitably distribute support for WFP in Pakistan. Some members of the international community have recently pledged assistance to WFP for emergency food. WFP and Embassy Islamabad are negotiating with the Government of Pakistan (GOP) to donate 35,000 metric tons (MT) of GOP wheat reserves to bridge some of the gap in food needs. On December 8, the WFP Emergency Coordinator informed Post that there has been no significant movement by the GOP toward an agreement to release the surplus wheat. -------------- OUTREACH TO POTENTIAL DONORS -------------- ¶5. (U) Department is reaching out to key international donors via phone calls and meetings in Washington to seek urgent support for the WFP in Pakistan. These donors -- Japan, the European Union's European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO),France, Denmark, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Oman -- have expressed an interest or demonstrated an inclination toward humanitarian assistance in Pakistan. -------------- ACTION -------------- ¶6. (U) ACTION REQUEST: Action addressees, guided by the following points, please reiterate this appeal with host governments. Begin talking points: STATE 00126694 002 OF 002 --The World Food Programme urgently needs USD 36 million for assistance in Pakistan to cover a forecasted shortfall of resources for January through April 2010. --Without immediate disbursement of assistance, the WFP faces the need to curtail food rations to 2.7 million people in Pakistan's frontier provinces, many of whom are still displaced. --We urge your government to respond quickly to this urgent need. -- This shortfall will also be addressed in the UN,s humanitarian appeal for Pakistan for 2010, which is expected to be issued soon. But given the immediate need to marshal resources for a likely January shortfall, we want to bring this to potential donors, attention in advance of the formal appeal. Action addresses are urged to follow up with any host governments who hedge pledging support to the WFP in Pakistan. ¶7. (U) Department requests confirmation that demarches were delivered be received by December 15 and that Embassies report any subsequent pledges as they are received. Please direct replies or questions to Oni Blair, SCA/P, (202)736-7921. CLINTON