VZCZCXYZ0003
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLM #0509 0880842
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290842Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5782
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0310
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0206
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 5063
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0807
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 3727
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 1036
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 0337
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2807
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1938
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0566
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000509 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID 
AID/W PLEASE PASS USAID/OFDA, USAID/ANE, USAID/CMM 
KATHMANDU FOR OFDA REGIONAL ADVISOR WILLIAM BERGER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PREF AORC CE
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR AND UN REACH AGREEMENT WITH GSL ON 
STREAMLINED PROCESS FOR RAISING HUMANITARIAN ISSUES AND 
GREATER BURDENSHARING 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Ambassador hosted a meeting on Thursday, March 29 
with UN Resident Coordinator Frederick Lyons and Minister for 
Disaster Management and Human Rights Samarasinghe to brief 
Samarasinghe on donor concerns about the current structure of 
the Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance (CCHA) 
and the importance of burdensharing by the Government of Sri 
Lanka.  With respect to the CCHA the Ambassador expressed 
appreciation for the continued involvement of Samarasinghe 
and Secretary of Defense Rajapaksa in CCHA meetings.  But he 
also noted that the CCHA had drifted away from its original 
mandate as a policy-making meeting for resolving problems to 
a much more operational meeting on a wide range of matters 
that could be handled by subordinates.  Ambassador, with the 
concurrence of Lyons, suggested that Samarasinghe establish 
smaller working groups in the areas of logistics, 
livelihoods, internally displaced persons, health, and 
education.  These would be co-chaired by the appropriate 
heads of UN agencies and the secretaries of the relevant 
government ministries.  The CCHA could then meet to resolve 
any issues that could not be resolved by the working groups 
and address any significant policy issues. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Samarasinghe agreed to all of the proposals and at 
a subsequent meeting of the CCHA later in the morning 
announced the formation of the five working groups and the 
decision to pare down the composition of the CCHA to include 
from the government side, Minister Samarasinghe, the Defense 
Secretary, and the Commissioner General for Essential 
 
SIPDIS 
Services.  Donors agreed they would be represented by the 
Co-Chair representative (currently the US Ambassador), the UN 
Resident Coordinator, the head of the EC Humanitarian Office, 
the ICRC, the head of the Consortium of Humanitarian 
Agencies, and UNHCR. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On the principle of burdensharing, the Ambassador 
told the Minister frankly that there was substantial 
unhappiness in the donor community that following the recent 
government military actions in Thoppigala (in eastern Sri 
Lanka) that had left large numbers of new IDPs, the 
government had turned to the international community 
expecting them to fund all of the humanitarian relief efforts 
that were needed following this military operation.  Donors 
in effect were helping to facilitate military action which in 
fact the donors all oppose.  The donors therefore wanted to 
reaffirm the importance both of avoiding conflict and 
financial burdensharing.  Lyons concurred, saying that it 
would be very important for the government to note in all of 
its communications:  a) that it has primary responsibility 
for responding to all humanitarian emergencies; b) the steps 
the government is taking to respond to such emergencies; and 
c) where the government needs the assistance of the 
international community to fill any gaps.  Samarasinghe 
understood fully and briefed CCHA participants of this 
decision in the meeting later that morning. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Samarasinghe's willingness to make 
mid-course corrections will be welcomed by all UN agencies 
and international donors and will help to both streamline the 
humanitarian coordination process and assure the government 
takes appropriate responsibility as first responder to 
humanitarian crises, many of which are of its own making. 
BLAKE