FOLLOW-UP: DONOR SUPPORT URGENTLY NEEDED FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 096625 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PREF EAGR ET KE SO EUN SUBJECT: FOLLOW-UP: DONOR SUPPORT URGENTLY NEEDED FOR HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN ETHIOPIA, SOMALIA AND KENYA REF: A. A)STATE 70789 ¶B. B) SEOUL 1144 ¶C. C) SINGAPORE 675 ¶D. D) THE HAGUE 4750 ¶E. E) NAIROBI 1812 ¶F. F) ADDIS 1556 ¶G. G) STATE 87385 ¶H. H) STATE 58996 ¶1. This is an action request. ¶2. Action request: Ref A, transmitted July 8, 2009, requested action addressees to approach host government officials to urge them to provide support to meet urgent humanitarian needs, including food assistance, in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. If Posts have not delivered the demarche, they are requested to do so by September 26. Suggested points from that demarche are reproduced in paragrpah five for ease of reference. Please slug responses for USAID/FFP Carol Mutamba; USAID/OFDA Kasey Channell, PRM Janet Deutsch, and AF/E Joel Wiegert. End action request. ¶3. Update: The situation in each of the three countries has become increasingly serious over the summer. In Ethiopia, at least 6.2 million are now estimated to be in need of emergency food relief, up from about 5 million several months ago. In Somalia an estimated 3.8 million are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance, including food aid, up from 3.2 million several months ago. In Kenya, about 3.8 million drought-affected pastoralists and agro-pastoralists need emergency food assistance, up from previous estimates of about 3 million. Furthermore, in Kenya, an additional 6.1 million people in other areas face serious food insecurity due to poverty and HIV-AIDS. ¶4. The United States, to date in FY 2009, has provided $350 million in humanitarian assistance for Ethiopians and refugees in Ethiopia through both private voluntary organizations and the World Food Program (WFP); more than $150 million to Somalia for emergency food and non-food assistance; and more than $191 million to Kenya for both pastoralists as well as refugees in Kenya. The situation is not expected to ease until at least February 2010. Relief STATE 00096625 002 OF 003 agencies, including the World Food Program, face significant shortfalls in meeting projected demand. We welcome the September 8 announcement by the European Commission that it is providing additional food assistance of $14 million, $29 million, and $11 million to Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya respectively. �A; ¶5. Suggested Points from State 70789 Posts are requested to urge host governments to increase food and non-food humanitarian assistance, as quickly as possible, to Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya to address worsening food security conditions. Donor support to meet this food crisis in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya should be considered separate from commitments pledged in support of the Food Security Initiative referred to in Ref G (Note: ref H in this cable. End note),as a key deliverable for the July G8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy. The Food Security Initiative is an initiative to boost financial support for agricultural production in food insecure countries so that they are able to feed themselves. This demarche addresses urgent hunger and medical needs of people requiring immediate assistance. Suggested talking points follow: -- Emergency humanitarian food and non-food assistance is needed now to address the immediate needs of more than 12 million people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya who face a critical food security crisis. The number of people in the three countries in urgent need of assistance this year is higher than last year (note: this figure does not include 7.5 million chronically food insecure Ethiopians who are covered under a special GOE food assistance program). -- Rainfall in 2009 in the region has been poor to date, and comes after several years of inadequate and irregular rains that have significantly reduced crop production and withered pastoral areas. Meanwhile, food prices driven upwards by a variety of factors including shortages and fuel costs, are now well above customary levels throughout East Africa. -- In Ethiopia the number of people in immediate need of food assistance is significantly higher than the GOE estimate of 4.9 million; USAID and other donors believe in reality 6.6 million people require food aid. Donor governments should urge the Ethiopian government to prioritize and accelerate movement of food and non-food humanitarian supplies up from STATE 00096625 003 OF 003 Djibouti port, instead of permitting relief supplies to be displaced by less urgent items such as cement and fertilzer, which cannot be used until the next planting season in the fall. -- In Somalia, fighting between the radical Muslim group al-Shabaab and the Transitional Federal Government has displaced more than 160,000 people in the past two months and severely disrupted food distribution. Reports of exceedingly high malnutrition levels in the center of the country are alarming -- according to relief officials the rates are the worst reported in Somalia since the early 1990's. Fighting has destroyed vaccines and other necessary medical supplies, prompting relief officials to warn of cholera and measles outbreaks among the displaced. -- Failed rains and ongoing repercussions of the 2007-2008 post-election violence have helped drive up the number of Kenya's food insecure to 3.5 million this year, an increase of 1.4 million over the number in 2008. A break in the "pipeline" of food aid deliveries has forced the World Food Program to reduce emergency rations throughout the country. -- The USG has provided approximately $500 million thus far to address the urgent humanitarian needs of drought victims, internally displaced and refugees, far more by far than any other donor country. -- We urge other donors to join us in stepping up contributions to avoid further deterioration of the serious humanitarian situation in these countries. -- This request should be considered apart from support for our Food Security Initiative at the G8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy. The Food Security Initiative is a call for more support to food insecure countries in order to improve their agricultural output so that they can feed themselves. This request is for immediate food and medical assistance. -- We urge those states unfamiliar in helping alleviate food/medical emergencies to contact either the World Food Program or UNICEF for information on how to contribute funding or food and medicines. End suggested points from State 70789. CLINTON