This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000693 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO THE FOLLOWING: USAID/DCHA/AA FOR GARVELINK, 
USAID/OFDA FOR GOTTLIEB AND USAID/PPC/DCO FOR 
MENGHETTI/NICHOLSON AND USUN FOR MALY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AORC IR PHUM PREL TU
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SHOWS TURKEY,S GROWING 
HUMANITARIAN ROLE 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  The Governments of Turkey and the United 
States co-chaired a high-level conference in Istanbul April 
27-28, 2006 on international cooperation for disaster relief 
and humanitarian assistance.  The conference, attended by 
twelve nations and the leadership of the United Nation,s 
Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 
considered lessons learned from past disasters with a view to 
improving international cooperation and coordination in the 
future.  There was broad consensus that the UN,s OCHA should 
provide the framework for this cooperation, and that the 
elements should be put in place before countries are called 
on to respond to disasters.  By co-chairing and hosting the 
gathering, the Government of Turkey (GOT) clearly signaled 
the importance it attaches to the issue and its desire to 
play a leading role in the region.  End Summary. 
 
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Bilateral Pre-Meeting 
--------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The U.S. and Turkish co-chairs met bilaterally on 
April 26 to set the stage for the conference.  Hasan Ipek, 
General Director of the Turkish Emergency Management Agency 
(TEMA), described how Turkey carried out humanitarian relief; 
Musa Kulaklikaya, Vice President of the Turkish International 
Cooperation Administration (TIKA), explained the increase in 
international development assistance from Turkey over the ten 
years.  TEMA described its organization as &a little baby, 
just born, and now starting to walk,8 and looked to USAID,s 
OFDA with admiration for being &a very old agency.8  TIKA 
outlined its growing presence in international development 
since its founding in 1992, with recent expansion in the 
Middle East over the last two years. 
 
¶3. (U) William Garvelink, USAID Deputy Assistant 
Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian 
Assistance and Greg Gotlieb, Acting Director of the Office of 
US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), in turn laid out the 
US approach to disaster response.  Significantly, when USAID 
commented that TIKA is &very active in your area,8 the Vice 
President of TIKA (corresponding to the Deputy Administrator 
of USAID) responded ¬ just in this area,8 underlining 
that Turkey sees itself as increasingly playing a role on the 
international stage.  Overall, the bilateral sounded a 
collaborative tone that resonated throughout the entire 
conference. 
 
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Conference Objectives 
--------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Garvelink, who chaired the sessions, explained that 
the objective of the conference was to exchange information 
and discuss concrete ways nations could learn from one 
another in the area of disaster relief.  He went on to 
express support for the OCHA Donor Support Group (ODSG), the 
informal governing body for OCHA that currently has 19 
members, with the aim of getting more nations to join. 
Through more nations joining the ODSG and coordinating their 
assistance through OCHA, he explained humanitarian assistance 
would be more efficient and effective.  By the end of 
two-days of meetings, all participants had expressed support 
for the OCHA framework and five countries -- India, Republic 
of Korea, People,s Republic of China, Russia, and Turkey -- 
had indicated a possible interest in becoming members of the 
ODSG. 
 
---------------------- 
Lessons from the Field 
---------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The Government of Pakistan (GOP) related its 
experience in dealing with the 2005 earthquake, which killed 
73,000 people and affected half a million families.  Major 
General Farooq Ahmed Khan, Head of the Pakistan Federal 
Relief Commission, outlined the assistance Pakistan received 
from 88 nations and 200 NGOs, including significant aid from 
Turkey.  This experience showed how the UN,s cluster 
approach, whereby resources are concentrated according to 
function, can be an effective mechanism for disaster relief. 
However, Farooq cautioned that agencies in the lead within 
these clusters may not have leadership ability, and may have 
a vested interest in distributing funds.  To deal with these 
concerns, it is important to have a  one roof, one window, 
operation that consolidates information and decision-making. 
 
¶6. (U) Farooq and others emphasized that it is especially 
crucial to have an agency and plan in place before a disaster 
strikes.  By having such a plan in place, Turkey was able to 
immediately mobilize relief for Pakistan even before 
receiving an official request for assistance.  The U.S. then 
related its experience with Hurricane Katrina, and the 
lessons it had learned. 
 
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Working through the OCHA Framework 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) Yvette Stevens, Assistant United Nations Emergency 
Relief Coordinator, set out the three UN guiding principles 
for humanitarian assistance: strengthened coordination; 
strengthened response capacity; and predictable funding. 
Stevens also described OCHA,s current challenges and 
weaknesses, and participants used these three guiding 
principles to discuss how to improve upon these weaknesses. 
All delegates agreed that OCHA provides the proper framework 
for coordinating disaster relief. 
 
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Looking Forward and Comment 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) The UN representatives defined their coming 
objectives.  One area of future work is OCHA,s funding. 
Currently, OCHA depends for 90% of its budget on donor 
contributions, which renders impossible a long-term strategy 
for disaster preparedness.  The UN also stated it needs to 
&do more working with countries that we do not traditionally 
do business with8 and invite them to work within the OCHA 
framework.  This is especially true of many Middle Eastern 
countries, which to date have not played as active a role in 
disaster relief (UAE and Jordan being exceptions). 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment: The conference spurred action for pressing 
countries to translate verbal support into actual OCHA Donor 
Support Group membership.  Given the leading role that the UN 
is playing, and will increasingly play, in coordinating 
disaster relief and donor assistance, it is also important to 
insure that OCHA has the necessary resources to successfully 
carry out this function.  Getting new participants to join 
the OCHA framework could help improve OCHA,s economic 
viability and lead to better coordination among donor 
countries in the field.  USAID is drafting a Joint Chairs 
Summary of the meeting that will include several concrete 
steps for follow-up action.  The summary will be sent to 
Washington once it has been approved by the Turkish 
delegation.  OCHA will undertake a  stock-taking, exercise 
on behalf of the ODSG after six months to determine progress 
towards implementing the recommendations.  End Comment. 
JONES