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DE RUCNDT #1066/01 1441341
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241341Z MAY 06
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
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INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
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RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHTRO/USLO TRIPOLI
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0968

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 001066 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MOPS PGOV PREF PREL SU UNSC KPKO
SUBJECT: EGELAND TELLS UNSC NOW IS THE TIME TO TAKE 
PREVENTIVE MEASURES IN DARFUR 
 
REF: 05/19/2006 BRUNO-DEPARTMENT E-MAIL 
 
USUN NEW Y 00001066  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  United Nations Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 
Under-Secretary-General (U/SYG) Jan Egeland told the UN 
Security Council (UNSC) on May 19 that while 2005 was a 
'lost' year in terms of peace and reconciliation in the 
Darfur crisis, 2006 was looking up, with promises from the 
Government of National Unity (GNU) to lift restrictions on 
humanitarian access and with increased funding from new 
donors to offset the $389 million shortfall.  Egeland 
acknowledged the substantial USG contributions in this regard 
but warned that dependency on only a handful of donors was 
unsustainable, calling upon Arab, Asian and European 
countries to contribute.  Egeland noted that UNSC 'gains' on 
transition of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to a 
UN operation had been 'remarkably positive,' and he reported 
his own attempts to counter GNU's continued resistance to an 
eventual UN Darfur force by spreading the message that its 
composition would be 'predictably resourced.'  In response to 
questions from Ambassador Sanders on the situation in Eastern 
Sudan, Egeland remarked that lack of UN humanitarian access 
there was 'a bad sign.'  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) OCHA U/SYG Egeland reported to the UNSC on May 19 on 
his May 6-11 visit to Sudan and Chad, noting that while 2005 
was a 'lost' year in terms of peace and reconciliation in the 
Darfur crisis, 2006 was looking up, with 'real hope' in the 
wake of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA).  Full text of 
Egeland's remarks contained refmail.  Egeland saw as positive 
the stated intention of the GNU to lift restrictions imposed 
on the NGO and humanitarian communities in Sudan, in 
particular the reinstatement of the Norwegian Refugee Council 
in the Kalma camp (NOTE. Sudan Mission Poloff told USUN 
Poloff after the meeting that Khartoum had not officially 
confirmed this.  END NOTE).  Egeland noted that lifting 
restrictions on the humanitarian community's freedom of 
movement was especially critical in Eastern Sudan, and he 
urged the Council to review this issue with the GNU on its 
June visit to the region.  Egeland also hailed as positive 
the number of new contributions received, which reduced the 
budget shortfall to 40 percent, and the additional food 
pledges received, including a promise of 20,000 metric tons 
from the GNU in its first such pledge since the beginning of 
the Darfur crisis. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In spite of these relatively positive developments, 
Egeland continued, much needed to be done: additional funds 
were needed immediately to offset the $389 million shortfall 
in Darfur and the $179 million shortfall in eastern Chad. 
Egeland commended the U.S. contributions, which he noted 
accounted for more than 50 percent of the total assistance to 
Darfur and 80 percent Sudan-wide, but warned that dependency 
on only a handful of donors was unsustainable.  He appealed 
to Gulf/Arab countries as well as Asian and non-contributing 
European nations for donations.  Egeland decried the 
premeditated attacks by 'ethnic militias' against unarmed 
AMIS personnel in and around Darfur IDP camps that required 
better security arrangements, including a strengthening of 
AMIS' mandate.  He also noted that child recruitment in 
Chadian IDP camps was contributing to the climate of 'total 
impunity' reigning there.  Despite acknowledging Chadian 
President Deby's inability to protect civilians in eastern 
Chad, Egeland made no mention of the possibility of extending 
AMIS to that region or of establishing a separate 
peacekeeping force there. 
 
¶4. (SBU) On the eventual UN Darfur operation, Egeland told 
Members in private consultations that UNSC 'gains' on 
transition of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to a 
UN operation had been 'remarkably positive,' and he reported 
 
USUN NEW Y 00001066  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
he was trying to counter GNU's continued resistance to an 
eventual UN Darfur force by spreading the message that its 
composition would be 'predictably resourced.'  Egeland 
recommended that given the controversy in Sudan surrounding 
the force, the less Western countries spoke about the 
eventual operation, the better, quoting crowds in Nyala who 
had greeted him with shouts of, 'No to a UN force!  No to a 
U.S. force!'  Egeland urged the Council to focus on the 
near-term, which necessitated strengthening support to AMIS 
in terms of helicopters, logistics and morale, since many 
people were turning against this force for what they saw as 
its role in maintaining the status quo.  In response to 
questions from Ambassador Sanders on the situation in Eastern 
Sudan, Egeland remarked that lack of UN humanitarian access 
there was 'a bad sign' for one of the most vast and the 
poorest regions of Sudan. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Members echoed Egeland's call to strengthen AMIS but 
with the added provision, per the May 15 African Union (AU) 
Peace and Security Council communique and UNSCR 1679 (2006), 
that concrete steps toward AMIS transition be concurrently 
taken, particularly the dispatch of the joint AU-UN 
assessment mission to Darfur.  Several delegations spoke to 
the need to convene a pledging conference, and the Chinese 
rep identified the shortfall in humanitarian aid as 'the most 
pressing concern' for Sudan (NOTE. China was not listed as a 
donor on Egeland's May 4 Funding for the Work Plan for Sudan. 
 END NOTE).  Child recruitment was raised by the Danish, UK, 
Slovakian and Tanzanian reps, with the Tanzanian delegate 
citing the GNU's responsibility to protect its population and 
with the French and Argentine reps declaring that the future 
UN Darfur force must have an adequate mandate for protection 
of civilians. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Dolgov 
blamed the ongoing humanitarian crisis on the lack of a 
sustainable political settlement, and expressed his 
delegation's commitment to work toward such a settlement, 
citing the upcoming UNSC mission as a good opportunity to 
further this goal.  Slovakian PR Burian advised use of 
targeted sanctions to ensure DPA implementation, but the 
Qatari representative attributed the GNU's inability to 
exercise its 'sovereign' control over the situation in Darfur 
to the existence of the arms embargo.  The Qatari rep went on 
to say that the GNU deserved the Council's credit for its 
efforts to improve the humanitarian situation. 
BOLTON