VZCZCXRO8539
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0289/01 0381422
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071422Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1322
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KHARTOUM 000289 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W 
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AF/EA, DCHA 
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS 
USMISSION UN ROME 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
NAIROBI FOR SFO 
NSC FOR JMELINE, TSHORTLEY 
USUN FOR TMALY 
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PGOV PHUM EAID SOCI SU
SUBJECT:  Sudan:  Source of Fragility - USAID visit to 
Malakal 
 
REF:  (A) Khartoum 019141 (B) Khartoum 02138 (C) Khartoum 
 
02140 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  From January 23 to 30, a USAID Bureau for Democracy, 
Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/DCHA) team 
visited Malakal town, capital of Upper Nile State, and 
the surrounding areas to discuss priority needs and plan 
immediate activities that will promote stability.  The 
team traveled up the Nile River to meet the King of the 
Shilluk community.  Factors affecting stability include: 
conflicts at both community and political levels over 
Upper Nile's abundant resources; an uneasy political 
setup led by a governor from the National Congress Party 
(NCP); pervasiveness of small arms; large numbers of IDPs 
and returnees without adequate services; and high 
expectations of the peace process.  USAID's Office of 
Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) will return to Malakal 
in early February to finalize plans for a series of 
priority quick impact activities.  This is the third in a 
series of cables analyzing sources of instability in the 
peace process and what actions can be taken through USAID 
programming to mitigate the likelihood of instability. 
Previous cables reported on Eastern Upper Nile, the Nuba 
Mountains, and Abyei.  End Summary. 
 
---------- 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2.  As part of a series of field visits to assess the 
effectiveness of USAID/DCHA programming to support the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), address sources of 
instability, and build local capacity, a USAID/DCHA team 
visited Malakal and environs from January 23 to 30. 
(Previous visits to Eastern Upper Nile, Nuba Mountains, 
and Abyei, are reported in reftels a, b, and c).  The 
team visiting Malakal included OTI and Office of U.S. 
Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) staff from the DCHA 
team in Nairobi, the FSN internally displaced person 
(IDP) focal point from the USAID/Khartoum office, as well 
a representative from OTI's implementing partner 
Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI). 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Major Factors Affecting Stability in Upper Nile State 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶3.  Upper Nile, due to its rich economic potential, 
geographic location, and site as one of the major areas 
for IDP returns, is highly vulnerable to instability. Key 
factors are detailed as follows: 
 
a. Resource/Economic Factors:  Conflict recurs at both 
community and political levels over Upper Nile's abundant 
resources:  water, pastures, fishing, petroleum, gum 
Arabic, and the agricultural land in the north of the 
state that has been allocated by the Government to 
outsiders.  The state has allocated monopoly control over 
the sale of fish and gum Arabic to outsiders for tax 
purposes to the detriment of local populations.  The 
abundant resources of the state are not used to develop 
the state or benefit the people.  Even if the political 
factors are addressed by the CPA, the resource factors 
remain and can re-ignite conflict. 
 
b. Geographic Factors:  Upper Nile State is a Government 
of Southern Sudan (GoSS) state bordering the north, yet 
tends to be more oriented to Khartoum than to Juba - with 
mixed results.  The river provides easy economic access 
for people and goods, while the political orientation to 
Khartoum does not lend itself easily to harmonizing with 
the GOSS in Juba.  Upper Nile's location on the border 
with Ethiopia also makes for uneasy times - recently the 
Ethiopian army crossed the border in pursuit of Oromo 
opposition fighters in Maiwut. 
 
c. Political Factors:  Upper Nile is the only state in 
 
KHARTOUM 00000289  002 OF 004 
 
 
the south with a governor from the NCP.  The three 
separate systems of government that used to exist in the 
state - GOS/NCP, Sudan People's Liberation Movement 
(SPLM), and militia groups - are now combined into one 
uneasy arrangement, with unhappy losers.  There are 23 
warlords in the state.  Most have joined the SPLA, but 
some did not, and things are not yet settled - some are 
still switching sides.  At this writing, the Joint 
Integrated Units (JIU) under the CPA are not yet 
finalized. 
 
d. Proliferation of Small Arms:  Besides the unsettled 
armed groups, many civilians are armed and the 
disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration program is 
not scheduled to start until late 2006. 
 
e. Unequal Distribution of Services:  This is a frequent 
cause of inter-community conflict, and a challenge for 
humanitarians whose guiding philosophy is "do no harm." 
 
f. Returnees:  Many people displaced by conflict are 
returning to and through the state, a destabilizing 
factor that has not yet caused conflict but has the 
potential to do so.  Some areas where long-distance 
returnees would settle are currently occupied by IDPs 
displaced by local conflicts.  Malakal town has many IDPs 
from nearby villages burned during fighting in early 
¶2004.  Last rainy season, returnees slept everywhere in 
town, including in shops.  There is no program to assist 
these people to return to their home areas, nor are the 
rural areas adequately prepared with services. 
 
g. Urban Issues:  Malakal is overcrowded with IDPs, 
returnees passing through, and with job seekers. 
Services are inadequate - people defecate on the ground 
and the old rainwater drainage system does not work. 
This is a great public health hazard.  The soil in 
Malakal is a heavy clay soil that makes digging latrines 
particularly challenging and expensive due to the linings 
that must be constructed.  During the rains, parts of the 
town are flooded for weeks with a meter of water and 
movement around the city is impossible by car.  Water and 
electricity do not reach all, and there are few 
generators.  High unemployment exists, although 
USAID/OFDA's partner Adventist Development and Relief 
Agency (ADRA) has launched a town clean-up campaign 
designed to give hundreds of people cash-for-work 
opportunities. 
 
h. Poverty:  People are suffering from hunger and lack of 
services, making survival difficult.  Combined with the 
recent culture of violence, communities often rob their 
neighbors. 
 
i. Ignorance:  People do not know their rights or 
understand general developments and are easily 
manipulated. 
 
j. Unrealistically High Expectations:  Those who fought 
and suffered in this long war were told that there will 
be a new government and economic system and many changes, 
but no changes are yet visible.  There are still few 
services in the town, and no services at all in many 
rural areas.  This was understandable during the war, but 
people now want to see changes.  The delay in 
implementing the CPA is troubling people. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
Programs to Address the Causes of Instability/Conflict 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶4.  USAID has a significant humanitarian program in Upper 
Nile State through nine international non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs) and several U.N. agencies.  Four 
NGOs provide primary health care services in the eastern 
and central parts of the state as well as in Malakal 
town.  One NGO is drilling nearly 60 boreholes in several 
counties.  Three NGOs are improving food security through 
agricultural, veterinary, and fishing programs.  Two NGOs 
are assisting IDPs to return and resettle in their home 
areas - one focusing on returnees coming from the north 
 
KHARTOUM 00000289  003 OF 004 
 
 
to the south via the Nile river, and one focusing on 
eastern Upper Nile.  USAID's transition program has not 
yet started in Upper Nile State, but will do so very 
quickly with a focus on Malakal town. 
 
¶5. NGOs, U.N. agencies, and government counterparts in 
Malakal suggested the following areas of focus: 
 
a. Addressing public health hazards in Malakal town 
including improving the water system, repairing the town 
drainage system, building household and public latrines, 
and renovating the abattoir; 
 
b. Addressing the needs of returnees by:  helping IDPs in 
town to resettle in their nearby villages and cultivate 
their land; expanding basic services such as health, 
education, and water in rural areas; linking rural 
employment to rural infrastructure activities; and 
improving the travel conditions of the returnees using 
the Nile river corridor by providing basic health 
services, clean water, and protection for unaccompanied 
minors on barges; 
 
c. Community mobilization for peace-building programs 
through civil society and community-based organizations; 
 
d. Improve public information such as radio, internet/e- 
mail, and dissemination and discussions of the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA); and 
 
e. Training town and county government officials. 
 
------------------------ 
MEETING THE SHILLUK KING 
------------------------ 
 
¶6.  On January 24, the team traveled one hour by 
motorboat up the Nile to Aleki, the home village of the 
Shilluk King.  This king descended from a line that 
started in 1540, and is the strongest traditional leader 
in Sudan with influence over a significant ethnic group. 
The team presented the purpose of its trip to Malakal, 
provided information on current USAID programs in Upper 
Nile State, and sought the king's advice on priority 
activities for USAID in the area. 
 
a.  The king launched immediately into his most urgent 
concern.  As he explained, some people from the Uliaya 
tribe of South Kordofan that neighbors the Shilluk to the 
northwest have recently settled on Shilluk land to 
harvest gum Arabic, chasing away the local inhabitants. 
While there has not yet been fighting, many weapons are 
present in the area and conflict could result if the 
dispute remains unsettled.  In the king's view, this 
action violates the CPA and he asked that a land tenure 
team come and investigate before conflict erupts.  He 
opined that outsiders or private companies are free to 
come to the area and negotiate fairly with the owners of 
the land to harvest the gum, but it cannot be done by 
force in the New Sudan.  He further stated that the state 
government was behind this illegal land grab to benefit 
from taxes. 
 
b. The king said that Shilluk returnees do not need much 
help to re-integrate into their communities.  The key 
factor discouraging returns is that services are better 
where they are in areas of displacement, especially 
schools and health clinics.  He offered his help in 
working with international organizations to advise them 
were to build schools and clinics in villages, and in 
mobilizing communities to work with organizations. 
 
c. The king showed the team an impressive four-room 
school built, in addition to a clinic, with USD 20,000 he 
received from the Government of Sudan.  Both needed 
further support - the school needs furniture, 
blackboards, and materials; and the clinic needs general 
renovation.  USAID/OTI plans to do this in the coming 
three months. 
 
------------------------------- 
 
KHARTOUM 00000289  004 OF 004 
 
 
Returnees Along the Sobat River 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  The USAID IDP focal point visited the villages of 
Atar Ardeba and Atar Madrassa on the Sobat River and 
found that a significant number of displaced persons have 
arrived from the north and from the neighboring countries 
of Uganda and Kenya.  These returnees have managed to re- 
settle fairly easily and are welcomed by local 
communities.  The returnees expressed disappointment 
about the lack of schools, proper health structures, and 
clean water.  Residents of both villages collect all 
drinking water directly from the river. Despite these 
conditions, returnees expressed the intention to stay in 
the villages and not lose hope that the GoSS and the 
international community would eventually provide 
services. 
 
¶8. In Malakal town, the number of IDPs returning from the 
north using the river corridor is increasing, especially 
during the dry season that will end in March.  USAID/OFDA 
partner ADRA is managing a monitoring and tracking system 
that has logged the return of 42,000 people from March 
2005 to date.  The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR), the U.N. organization mandated to provide 
protection for IDPs, remains hesitant to support the way 
station at Malakal because it is located next to an SPLA 
military base.  The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) and 
ADRA are providing shelter, clean water, and latrines for 
the way station, which is ready for operation. 
 
HUME