VZCZCXYZ0016
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKH #1457/01 1721123
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211123Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3320
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001457 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W 
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AFR/SP 
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/USAID/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS 
USMISSION UN ROME 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
NAIROBI FOR SFO 
NSC FOR JBRAUSE, TSHORTLEY 
USUN FOR TMALY 
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV TBIO PHUM SOCI SU
SUBJECT:  Sudan - USAID/OFDA and Partners Meet in Juba 
and Khartoum to Plan for FY 2007 
 
 
------- 
Summary 
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¶1.  On June 9 and 13, 2006, the USAID Office of U.S. 
Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) convened 
meetings in Juba and Khartoum, Sudan, to discuss the 
upcoming publication of an Annual Program Statement (APS) 
for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007.  USAID/OFDA shared information 
with interested parties regarding plans to focus on key 
sectors and priority geographical areas.  The meetings 
brought together more than 80 participants, including 
potential partners, USAID/Sudan staff, other donors, and 
government ministries.  The transition of the health 
sector activities from emergency relief to longer-term 
development mechanisms generated the most discussion. 
End summary. 
 
------------------------------------- 
APS To Be Issued for Non-Darfur Sudan 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  As the peace process in Southern Sudan progresses, 
USAID/OFDA is planning to target assistance to non-Darfur 
Sudan in FY 2007 to meet ongoing emergency needs, with a 
strong emphasis on transitioning these programs from 
emergency to longer-term development.  USAID/OFDA will 
focus programs on supporting the implementation of the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement and mitigating the drivers 
on conflict through both traditional humanitarian 
interventions as well as creative new approaches.  To 
target funding accordingly, USAID/OFDA plans to program 
the majority of the FY 2007 non-Darfur Sudan budget via 
an Annual Program Statement (APS).  The APS will help 
focus programs in key sectors and geographic areas, 
attract new partners and creative response methodologies, 
and still allow for flexibility in programming and rapid 
emergency response capacity. 
 
¶3.  On June 9 and 13, 2006, USAID/OFDA convened meetings 
in Juba and Khartoum, Sudan, to discuss the APS approach 
for FY 2007 with all interested parties.  The meetings 
brought together more than 80 participants, including 
potential partners, USAID/Sudan health development 
assistance staff and contractors, other donors, and 
government ministries, who provided valuable feedback on 
the APS approach.  USAID/OFDA representatives explained 
current FY 2006 programming and described the rationale, 
process, and timeline for the upcoming FY 2007 APS. 
 
¶4.  USAID/OFDA has prepared and posted online a FY 2007 
APS Statement of Intent (located at www.grants.gov, 
keyword "APS"), detailing USAID/OFDA's proposed approach 
for six sectors:  health, nutrition, water and 
sanitation, food security, income generation, and relief 
commodities.  Meeting participants provided feedback on 
the Statement of Intent and asked questions during the 
discussion of each sector. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Key Sectors and Priority Geographical Areas 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Important considerations incorporated in the sector 
approaches under the APS Statement of Intent are as 
follows: 
 
¶A.  Health:  Proposed programs should focus on counties 
not already covered by USAID development assistance 
funding through the Sudan Health Transformation Program 
(SHTP) and should demonstrate close coordination with the 
SHTP process in order to promote even coverage and 
effective transitioning from relief to development in 
this critical sector.  In FY 2007, USAID/OFDA anticipates 
that clinic staff salaries and procurement of drugs will 
no longer be funded. 
 
¶B.  Nutrition:  USAID/OFDA will consider funding programs 
that promote a holistic approach to the prevention and 
treatment of acute malnutrition, focusing as much on the 
root causes as on treatment. 
 
 
¶C.  Water and Sanitation:  Water and sanitation will 
continue to be a key sector in FY 2007 due to its 
importance for human health and reducing conflict among 
rural communities.  Under the APS, USAID/OFDA will 
consider applications for water and sanitation programs 
in Equatoria, the Three Areas, Eastern Sudan, and 
southern capitals only, as forward planning and ongoing 
mechanisms will provide coverage in other regions. 
 
¶D.  Food Security:  USAID/OFDA is most interested in high- 
impact emergency activities that increase local 
production, strengthen local market systems, build local 
capacity, and train communities. 
 
¶E.  Income Generation:  Programs should focus on small, 
quick-impact projects that give immediate benefits to 
communities and support nascent markets (for instance, 
through voucher interventions); in past fiscal years, 
these programs have been more rural development-oriented. 
In FY 2007, USAID/OFDA will support income generation and 
food security activities that directly target emergency 
needs. 
 
¶F.   Relief Commodities:  USAID/OFDA will support relief 
commodity activities that directly assist highly 
vulnerable families through the distribution of basic 
household and hygiene items, targeting those displaced by 
conflict or recently returned from displacement. 
 
¶6.   The APS Statement of Intent also explains geographic 
priorities, including Red Sea and Kassala States in 
Eastern Sudan, the Three Areas (Abyei, Nuba Mountains, 
and Southern Blue Nile), and eight of the ten states in 
Southern Sudan.  Given the needs in these locations, 
USAID/OFDA will place less priority on funding programs 
in other areas (Khartoum, Lakes and Western Equatoria 
States) in FY 2007, although activities in these non- 
priority areas may continue. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Potential Gaps in Health Sector a Concern 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.   Participants made several useful comments for 
USAID/OFDA to consider as the final APS is drafted, 
especially with regard to the health sector.  The 
majority of each meeting was spent discussing the 
transition of the health sector from emergency relief to 
longer-term development mechanisms.  USAID's Sudan Health 
Transformation Program (SHTP) has significantly changed 
its approach and geographic coverage under the new USAID 
Sudan Strategy.  The SHTP will now work in the three 
conflict areas of the transition zone and four urban 
centers in the South, rather than in the original 20 
focus counties.  This shift has created some gaps in 
coverage, placing greater pressure on the Government of 
Southern Sudan (GOSS) Ministry of Health (MOH) and other 
development mechanisms (for example, the Multi-Donor 
Trust Fund) to fill gaps.  Based on examination of 
USAID/OFDA's current health program coverage and the 
USAID/SHTP new priority areas, eight counties in the 
South may lose USAID health program support.  The GOSS 
MOH expressed concern about assuming responsibility for 
these activities so quickly, as planning for the next few 
years was based on the old SHTP coverage arrangement. 
The Acting GOSS Under Secretary for Health urged USAID to 
allow more time to prepare for the transition, as the 
ministry does not yet have the capacity to take on the 
operation of health facilities in these counties. 
 
¶8.   At the conclusion of the second APS meeting in 
Khartoum, USAID/OFDA met with health partners and USAID 
development assistance health staff to discuss planning 
for the transition of some health projects now funded by 
USAID/OFDA to USAID's SHTP and to work to minimize 
potential gaps in coverage for the sector.  USAID/OFDA 
has four main partners currently operating in the new 
geographic priority areas of USAID's health development 
assistance program:  the Three Areas (Abyei, Nuba 
Mountains, and Southern Blue Nile) and the southern 
 
cities of Malakal, Juba, Yei, and Wau.  During the 
meeting, participants agreed that representatives from 
USAID/Sudan and the SHTP contractor will convene a follow- 
up meeting in Khartoum before mid-July to formulate 
concrete steps for the transition of programs and examine 
ways to avoid further coverage gaps. 
 
¶9.   Meeting participants, including the Acting GOSS 
Under Secretary for Health in Juba, also expressed 
concern that next year is too early for USAID/OFDA to 
cease support of clinic staff salaries since the GOSS 
will not be ready to assume the responsibility in the 
timeframe provided.  USAID/OFDA representatives agreed 
that there will need to be a flexible approach to funding 
clinic salaries under the APS.  With respect to 
USAID/OFDA's plans to cease funding for drug procurement 
in FY 2007, meeting attendees agreed that the GOSS MOH 
will organize a meeting in Juba before the end of June to 
plan a more centralized and coordinated approach for next 
year. 
 
HUME