VZCZCXRO3157
OO RUEHBZ RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHGO #1155/01 3341142
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 301142Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY RANGOON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6904
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0744
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 4294
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 7835
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5395
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1265
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1193
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 001155 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, AND IO 
PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: WFP STRUGGLES TO REACH THE STARVING 
 
REF: RANGOON 1146 
 
RANGOON 00001155  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Burma's ruling military regime places 
significant restrictions on the movements of World Food 
Program (WFP) officials, as well as its cooperating partners 
and donor organizations.  Attendees at a November 29 meeting 
on WFP issues complained that, with only a few exceptions, it 
has become more difficult and time-consuming to get 
permission to deliver food to relief areas throughout the 
country this year.  Plans to expand WFP programs in Kachin 
State in 2008 will probably be postponed due to the recent 
regime closure of roads leading into restricted areas.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On November 29, the World Food Program (WFP) hosted 
a meeting with its donor and partner organizations to 
conclude the first year of WFP's three-year "Assistance to 
Vulnerable Families in Myanmar" program.  To date, the 
project has received $52 million from donor organizations, 
including $300,000 from the United States.  The WFP and its 
partner organizations work throughout Burma to establish food 
security in remote areas.  Its largest sub-project, "Food for 
Education," provides families in selected areas with 10 
kilograms of rice each month if their children attend school 
regularly.  The project has benefited 175,000 children thus 
far.  In the future, the WFP plans to enhance its 
partnerships with other organizations, to focus more on 
nutrition and HIV/AIDS, and to conduct a survey that maps the 
vulnerability and needs in particular areas of the country. 
Chris Kaye, Country Director of the WFP, contrasted the 
overwhelming need for WFP relief with the regime's claim that 
Burma has a food surplus, a point which he said "begs the 
question of why we are even here." 
 
Restrictions on Travel 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) One of the largest problems that the WFP faced in 
the past year is tighter travel restrictions.  Because it can 
takes days or weeks for organizations to receive GOB 
permission to travel, even under the umbrella of the WFP's 
MOU with the regime that permits travel to project areas, 
food often does not arrive in the neediest areas promptly. 
Chris Kaye said that while the Southwest regional commander 
granted the WFP blanket permission to travel in Northern 
Rakhine State, making travel easier this year than last, 
problems remain.  One partner organization said that since 
the September crackdown, inspections of his food trucks have 
gone from taking one day to complete to taking two or three 
days.  Other organizations said that they must use the WFP 
umbrella to access areas to carry out more complete aid 
packages, beyond food distribution.  Recent government 
closure of roads leading to restricted areas of Kachin State 
will further hinder their planned expansion of operations in 
the region (reftel). 
 
Exit Strategies 
--------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Chris Kaye and Deputy Country Director Hakan Tongul 
also noted the difficulty they have had in devising exit 
strategies.  WFP's goal in each project area is to create 
ways for people to maintain livelihoods without having to 
rely on continuing food donations by the WFP.  However, due 
to GOB travel restrictions, other organizations that might 
help them build capacity cannot come into the project areas. 
As a result, the WFP has fallen into the trap of providing 
long-term food welfare. 
 
Dialogue With the Government 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Hakan Tongul said that food security is increasingly 
constrained because of the government's top-down policies. 
The WFP and other UN organizations are unable to start and 
maintain meaningful dialogue with regime decision-makers, 
especially over recent months.  As a result, they cannot 
 
RANGOON 00001155  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
resolve ongoing problems, and conducting their projects in 
restricted areas of the country is becoming more difficult. 
Chris Kaye said that all UN organizations need to work 
together on rebuilding trust with the government, which has 
eroded significantly. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment.  Throughout the meeting, Chris Kaye and 
Hakam Tongul expressed UN organizations' frustration over 
increasingly unproductive relations with the GOB.  The Than 
Shwe regime continues to claim that Burma produces more food 
than it needs, but it also refuses to allow the WFP and other 
assistance organizations access to areas where people face 
starvation.  The malnutrition and threat of starvation in 
those areas are real.  By blocking efforts to reach them with 
vital assistance, Than Shwe demonstrates again that the 
survival of his despotic control matters more to him that the 
survival of the people of Burma.  End Comment. 
STOLTZ