VZCZCXRO6922
RR RUEHDE RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNR #0429/01 0241353
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241353Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6960
INFO RUCNSOM/SOMALIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0053
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 NAIROBI 000429 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
 
USAID/DCHA FOR MHESS, WGARVELINK, LROGERS 
DCHA/OFDA FOR KLUU, GGOTTLIEB, AFERRARA, ACONVERY, 
CGOTTSCHALK, KCHANNELL 
DCHA/FFP FOR WHAMMINK, JDWORKEN 
AFR/AFR/EA FOR JBORNS 
STATE FOR AF/E AND PRM 
STATE/AF/E FOR NGARY 
STATE/F FOR ASISSON 
STATE/PRM FOR AWENDT, MMCKELVEY 
NSC FOR TSHORTLEY 
USUN FOR TMALY 
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
USMISSION UN ROME FOR RNEWBERG 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF PHUM PREL SO
 
SUBJECT:  SOMALIA DART SITUATION REPORT 8 DADAAB 
 
REFUGEE CAMP VISIT 
 
REFS:  A) NAIROBI 00255 
 
NAIROBI 00000429  001.2 OF 005 
 
 
SUMMARY 
 
¶1.  From January 17 to January 20, the Assistant 
Administrator for USAID's Bureau for Democracy, 
Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/DCHA) 
Michael Hess visited the Somalia USG Disaster 
Assistance Response Team (DART) in Nairobi, Kenya. 
While in Nairobi, the USAID/DCHA Assistant 
Administrator (DCHA/AA) met with UN agencies, non- 
governmental organizations (NGOs), Somalis, and USAID 
staff to evaluate the current situation in Somalia and 
USAID/DCHA's response activities.  On January 19, the 
DCHA/AA and DART members visited the Dadaab refugee 
camp complex in North Eastern Province, Kenya, home to 
more than 171,000 refugees, most of whom are Somali. 
The USAID team heard differing perspectives from each 
set of stakeholders on the current situation in 
Somalia.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  This cable highlights key points from meetings that 
the DART and the DCHA/AA attended and makes 
recommendations on several issues. 
 
MEETING WITH UN AGENCIES 
 
¶3.  On January 17, the DCHA/AA and the DART met with 
the heads of the UN Office for the Coordination of 
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN World Health Program 
(WHO), UN World Food Program (WFP), UN Food and 
Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Children's Fund 
(UNICEF), and UN Development Program (UNDP).  The UN 
Somalia Country Team has high-quality representatives, 
who are engaged and aware of the critical issues on the 
ground in Somalia.  The Country Team views the next few 
months as a window of opportunity to support Somalis to 
achieve peace and stability in their country.  The head 
of OCHA had recently led a UN delegation to Mogadishu 
to assess the possibility for return of UN personnel 
and programming and said Mogadishu was the quietest 
post-conflict capital he had seen.  This contrasts with 
the perspectives of NGOs and other organizations that 
briefed the DCHA/AA and the DART and described the city 
as chaotic. 
 
¶4.  The UN Country Team presented the DART and the 
DCHA/AA with a draft six-month plan for UN priorities 
in support of stabilization in south and central 
Somalia.  The DART and the DCHA/AA found the plan to be 
reasonable, practical, and supportable.  The UN Country 
Team has not yet released the final draft of this plan. 
 
¶5.  The UN plans to prioritize security sector reform, 
supporting the transition of the Somali Transitional 
Federal Government (TFG) institutions, improving 
federal and regional governance, and professionalizing 
revenue management activities.  The UN plans to assist 
Somalia in mobilizing 3,000 police, by putting 2,400 
retired police back on duty and assigning 600 newly 
graduated police from the police academy in northern 
Somalia to south and central regions. 
 
¶6.  The UN's humanitarian priorities continue to be 
health, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene 
programs.  The UN Country Team also expressed a need to 
maintain humanitarian space, especially in Lower Juba 
 
NAIROBI 00000429  002.2 OF 005 
 
 
Region. 
 
¶7.  The UN Country Team would like to encourage a 
donor's conference for Somalia.  The DCHA/AA is not 
sure that there is enough donor commitment at this 
point for that.  The UN Country Team also requested 
that a trust fund for the TFG be established. 
 
MEETING WITH NGO REPRESENTATIVES 
 
¶8.  On January 17, the DCHA/AA and the DART met with 
World Vision, Action Contre la Faim (ACF), Adventist 
Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), CARE, 
International Medical Corps (IMC), and USAID's Famine 
Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).  In general, 
the NGOs were more negative than the UN about the 
current situation in Somalia.  NGOs said that under the 
Council of Islamic Courts (CIC), humanitarian agencies 
had better access and insecurity interfered with 
operations to a lesser extent.  With the ousting of the 
CIC and the intervention of Ethiopian forces, NGOs face 
increased insecurity, harassment of staff, and more 
limited access to project sites. 
 
¶9.  NGOs reiterated that the conflict had not caused an 
increase in humanitarian needs and that flood-affected 
and drought-affected communities continue to need 
assistance. 
 
¶10.  The DCHA/AA and the DART questioned NGOs on the 
measures they used to assess the impact of USAID-funded 
projects.  Some NGOs confidently provided information 
on their project's impact, while others did not, 
reflecting poor monitoring capacity. 
 
MEETING WITH SOMALIS 
 
¶11.  On January 18, the DCHA/AA met with a small group 
of Somalis to discuss the way forward for Somalia.  The 
Somalis stated that reconciliation is needed for peace 
to be sustainable.  They felt that the majority of the 
conflict is caused by competition between Somalia's 
four main clan families.  The groups highlighted the 
importance of revenue collection in south and central 
regions and reported that Puntland collects $20 million 
in revenue annually, a significant achievement for the 
region that could potentially be replicated in southern 
Somalia.  Additionally, the group felt that the TFG 
needs to recognize its limitations and work to include 
other groups in the transition period.  Further, they 
underscored the need to create an international 
advisory body to the TFG, including members from the 
Arab League. 
 
¶12.  The Somalis were less confident that the UN would 
be an effective interlocutor with the TFG.  The group 
asked the USG to stress the importance of transparency 
and inclusiveness to the TFG. 
 
MEETING WITH DONORS 
 
¶13.  The DCHA/AA and the DART met with representatives 
from the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European 
Commission (ECHO) and the UK Department for 
International Development (DFID) on January 18.  Donors 
are approaching the current situation in Somalia 
cautiously and expressed limited faith that the UN 
 
NAIROBI 00000429  003.2 OF 005 
 
 
would be successful in working with the TFG on good 
governance and security issues. 
 
¶14.  DFID expressed a willingness to support the TFG in 
security sector reform. 
 
¶15.  Both ECHO and DFID called on the USG to play a 
leadership role with the TFG in this transition period. 
 
DADAAB REFUGEE CAMP COMPLEX 
 
¶16.  The three Dadaab refugee camps located in Kenya's 
North Eastern Province are home to 171,000 refugees, of 
whom 98 percent are from Somalia and the other 2 
percent are from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Tanzania, Sudan, 
Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and 
Rwanda. 
 
¶17.  The team visited a food distribution, WFP 
warehouses, a USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster 
Assistance (OFDA)-funded water point, and the section 
of Hagadera camp where new arrivals are settled.  The 
team met with refugee leaders, newly arrived refugees, 
the Government of Kenya (GOK) District Officer for 
Dadaab, representatives from the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), WFP, and CARE. 
 
¶18.  In fiscal year (FY) 2006 and to date in FY 2007, 
USAID's Office of Food For Peace (FFP) provided 43,800 
metric tons (MT) of food valued at $25.4 million for 
refugee programs in Kenya.  In FY 2006, the U.S. 
Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, 
and Migration (STATE/PRM) provided $8.88 million to 
support UNHCR, WFP, and CARE's refugee assistance 
programs in Kenya, including Dadaab camps. 
Additionally, STATE/PRM provided $3.575 million to help 
respond to the 33,000 newly arrived refugees and the 
November-December flooding at Dadaab.  In FY 2006, OFDA 
provided $256,000 to CARE to rehabilitate eight water 
points in Dadaab for the local Kenyan population. 
 
¶19.  The refugee leaders requested additional secondary 
education opportunities for the Dadaab camp youth.  The 
leaders stated that their main concerns were that they 
could not leave the camp to graze animals, access 
markets, or pursue livelihood activities.  One 
spokesperson stated that they felt as though they were 
in "prison."  Additionally, the leaders expressed 
concern that since the closure of the Garissa livestock 
market (due to Rift Valley fever - REFTEL) vegetables, 
sugar, milk, and meat have not been available in Dadaab 
for sale in the market.  The leaders noted that limited 
meat and milk supply would impact the nutrition of the 
community, especially children. (Comment: Current GOK 
policies and regulations sharply restrict refugee 
movements and activities.  The DART notes that this is 
unlikely to change in the near future.  End Comment.) 
 
¶20.  The team visited Hagadera Hospital, operated by 
the NGO German Technical Corporation (GTZ), and 
observed 70 patients in Phase 1 (most severely 
malnourished) and 50 patients in Phase 2 (malnourished 
patients that have been stabilized but continue to 
receive therapeutic feeding).  According to one of the 
doctors, these numbers are down from the 75 Phase 1 
patients and 100 Phase 2 patients that were treated 
last week.  The doctor noted that the flooding had 
 
NAIROBI 00000429  004.2 OF 005 
 
 
caused an increase in diseases and patients seeking 
care at the camps' health facilities. 
 
¶21.  In each of the three Dadaab camps, there is one 
hospital that serves approximately 60,000 refugees. 
This is slightly below Sphere standards that recommend 
one central health facility for approximately 50,000 
people (health services were above Sphere standards 
prior to the recent influx of 35,000 new refugees). 
There is also a comprehensive public health system in 
Dadaab that includes public health outreach workers and 
public health posts throughout the camps, as well as 
refers patients to the hospital in Garissa. 
 
¶22.  According to UNHCR, Dadaab camp has 10,469 
latrines for the entire population, representing a 1 to 
20 latrine to user ration that meets Sphere standards. 
CARE manages the water distribution network in the camp 
that currently includes 17 boreholes that provide 
approximately 16 liters of water per person per day, 
above the Sphere standard of 15 liters per person per 
day.  There have been delays at Dadaab in extending the 
water supply to new arrival areas due to a shortage of 
materials and skilled technicians.  UNICEF and Oxfam 
International are currently supplementing the existing 
CARE water program to help meet the increased need. 
 
¶23.  According to UNHCR, new arrivals receive plastic 
sheeting, cooking pots, a full food ration, and have 
access to medical and education facilities.  However, 
many of the newly arrived households did not appear to 
have sufficient shelter or non-food items (NFIs), and 
were living in huts made of branches and bushes as a 
frame for plastic sheeting.  This is standard practice 
with the Somali refugees and is culturally appropriate 
for most rural Somalis given that this is how shelters 
are constructed in Somalia as well. 
 
¶24.  The team concluded that while food stocks are 
adequate and food distribution methods efficient, there 
are gaps in the water and shelter sectors that need to 
be addressed. 
 
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
¶25.  UNICEF should be encouraged to increase basic 
education programming in Somalia.  The UN plans to 
enroll 5,000 primary school children in the next six 
months.  Education is key to building Somalia's 
capacity for good governance, economic recovery, and 
sustainable peace. 
 
¶26.  The USG should encourage the GOK to increase 
access to local markets and land for grazing and 
farming for Dadaab refugees.  This would enable the 
refugees to expand their livelihood options and 
eventually improve the Somali refugees' health and 
nutritional status.  Additionally, the USG should 
review the current refugee bill that has passed in the 
GOK parliament and is currently awaiting President 
Kibaki's signature and determine if USG support for the 
bill is warranted.  UNHCR has endorsed the bill with 
minor changes. 
 
¶27.  The DCHA/AA and DART concluded that in Dadaab camp 
it is unclear why malnutrition rates continue to exceed 
emergency levels, despite food aid and nutrition 
 
NAIROBI 00000429  005.2 OF 005 
 
 
programs.  Further analysis of the causal factors of 
nutrition is needed to determine the direction of 
future programs. 
 
¶28.  Mr. Hess did not have the opportunity to clear 
this cable prior to his departure from Kenya. 
 
RANNEBERGER