O 070626Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1178
INFO AMEMBASSY ASMARA 
AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI 
AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 
AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 
USMISSION GENEVA 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY ROME 
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
DIA WASHDC
CJTF HOA
NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 001821 
 
 
STATE DEPARTMENT FOR DAS AF JSWAN, AF/E, AF/PDPA, OES, A/S PRM 
SAUERBREY, AND PRM/AFR 
AFR/AA KALMQUIST, EGAST, CTHOMPSON 
DCHA/AA MHESS, GGOTTLIEB 
DCHA/OFDA KLUU, ACONVERY, CCHAN, PMORRIS, KCHANNELL 
DCHA/FFP JDWORKEN, PMOHAN, PBERTOLIN 
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
CJTF-HOA AND USCENTCOM FOR POLAD 
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN, RTILSWORTH, AND LPANASUK 
NAIROBI FOR OFDA/ECARO JMYER, GPLATT, RFFPO NCOX 
ROME FOR AMBASSADOR, OHA, HSPANOS 
BRUSSELS FOR USEU PBROWN 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH, RMA 
NSC FOR PMARCHAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PHUM SENV EAGR PGOV ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA - USAID/HAT - UPDATE ON HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN 
SOMALI REGION, JUNE, 2008 
 
REF: ADDIS ABABA 1032 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. This cable provides a summary of the current situation in the 
Somali region based on field reporting by the Government of Ethiopia 
(GoE) regional government in Jijiga, non-governmental organizations 
(NGOs) and United Nation (UN) agencies.  The cable draws exclusively 
from second hand sources due to security restrictions which have 
precluded visits by the USAID Humanitarian Assistance Team (HAT) 
visits to partner project sites in the region. The reports include a 
regional forum led by government in Jijiga, zonal and district level 
reporting from Warder zone, Geladi and Boh districts, meetings with 
UN staff from the region, and reports from UN agencies. 
 
¶2. Overall regional government and agencies report a distressingly 
deteriorating situation with increased rates of malnutrition, 
outbreaks of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) migration of populations in 
search of food and water, and security problems. There is deep 
concern by UN and NGO partners that the crisis in Somali region is 
being forgotten by the international community in the face of the 
enormous food security crisis occurring elsewhere in the country. 
End Summary. 
 
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Security 
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¶3. Reports from the regional security meeting in Jijiga on June 24, 
2008 indicate that the security services in Jijiga are on increased 
alert with checkpoints and visible security presence throughout the 
day, most likely a reaction to the ONLF offensive west of Degehabur 
on June 10. Rumors are circulating that military action in some 
parts of the region is imminent. Information from Gode also 
indicates an increased military presence, which observers interpret 
as potential imminent action about to occur. Against this backdrop, 
an aircraft carrying MSF-Switzerland staff was detained in Fik and 
five national staff arrested by local authorities on June 19. 
Expatriates were not arrested. Up until now the 5 staff remain in 
custody without any stated reason. Further, in a communication to 
the United Nations on June 30, 2008, MSF/Switzerland informed the UN 
and donors of its decision not to continue its medical intervention 
in Fik zone. Other arrests have occurred recently in Fik following 
rebel attacks earlier in the month 
 
¶4. The UN Humanitarian Air Service which provided shuttle service to 
Dire Dawa from Addis was grounded following the MSF/S event and 
remains grounded by Ministry of Defense authorities. No specific 
reason has been given to the UN for this decision. The GoE 
authorities did permit the plane to medevac a seriously ill NGO 
staff member last week. The UNHAS plane is funded by USAID/OFDA. 
 
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Agriculture and Livestock 
------------------------- 
 
¶5.  The "Gu" rains, which should have fallen in the last months, 
were distributed unevenly across the region and described as poor by 
most stations reporting.  The result is poor pasture regeneration 
affecting livestock herds, which have migrated earlier than normal 
to greener areas of the region such as Harshin, Hamaro, Fik, Gode, 
and Filtu, where rains were comparatively better. In some areas 
there have been up to 3 failed rainy seasons, devastating the 
livestock herds. Up to 15 percent of camels, 20 percent of cattle 
and 35-40 percent of shoats have perished in some areas according to 
regional authorities. Some pastoralists have lost their entire herds 
leading to total destitution and migration of pastoralists to towns 
seeking support from relatives. Efforts are intensifying to deliver 
mobile health services to surviving animals, but the numbers of 
marketable animals has seriously declined affecting the terms of 
trade for pastoralists trying to purchase grains. 
 
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Water Situation 
--------------- 
 
¶6. The poor rainfall has affected water availability for humans and 
animals.  According to a UNICEF mission report, eleven villages in 
Warder district are in urgent need of water, but only seven are 
covered by the current emergency water tankering operation run by 
the international NGO Action Contre La Faim (ACF).  In the absence 
of water tankering in some areas, populations are abandoning their 
villages to migrate to where they can obtain water.  The District 
Education bureau in Warder reports that all 22 schools have been 
closed for the last two months due to the drought. A UN staff member 
working in the region opined that in the coming weeks, if no 
solution to the water crisis is found, i.e. through additional 
tankering, there could be mass migration of populations in the 
region searching for water. 
 
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Health and Nutrition 
--------------------- 
 
¶7.  The health situation is deteriorating rapidly, with serious 
outbreaks of AWD (likely cholera, but tests have not yet confirmed 
this) reported throughout the region, including in Warder and Korahe 
Zones with high death tolls in all areas.  Recent reports from the 
health zone in Boh indicate up to 34 children have died in some 11 
villages surveyed during the period July 13 - 17, 2008.  A UNICEF 
team was told that an additional 35 children had died in four other 
villages. Most of the deaths had occurred within the preceding 2-4 
weeks  In Geladi District, also in Warder zone, there were 58 deaths 
reported from suspected AWD, with most occurring in Saaraye village 
some 70 km north of Geladi town.  Kebredehar and Shilabo districts 
of Korahe zone have been reporting AWD since May. UNICEF mobile 
health teams, funded by USAID/OFDA, are working in the Somali region 
but able to cover only a fraction of the villages that need to be 
served. UNICEF tells USAID/OFDA there is an urgent need to invest in 
the static health centers where there are populations in order to 
ensure more consistent care. 
 
¶8.  Malnutrition rates are rising rapidly, although the data is 
difficult to obtain and surveys have either not been permitted by 
central authorities or - as in the case of Fik - results were not 
permitted by the regional government to be released.  In the case of 
Warder where the situation is known to be serious, the survey done 
in April was endorsed by the ENCU and regional authorities but 
results were disputed by federal authorities. Results are currently 
blocked until the DPPA decides what to do. In the meantime, MSF/H 
reported treating 200 children for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) 
in one week in Warder hospital. ADRA, working in Kelafo with OFDA 
funds, reports a 60 percent rise in admissions since February/March. 
 In Bare, Afder zone, SC/US reports deaths from malnutrition in the 
health center.  SC/US has dispatched a nutritionist to the region 
(including to parts of Borena that are particularly drought 
affected) to gather as much information as possible and report back 
by July 9. 
 
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Food Aid 
-------- 
 
¶9. Food availability is a very serious concern and the need for food 
aid is rising rapidly. Harvests failed in all production areas of 
the Somali region. In Fik and Hamaro markets, there is no maize or 
sorghum, and limited supplies of all other food stuffs such as rice 
and wheat flour.  Gode also is reporting rising food prices and no 
availability of locally-grown foods.  In Degehabur, severe food 
shortages are reported, exacerbated by the arrival of populations 
migrating from other zones.  Similar stories are emerging from all 
parts of the region. Poor terms of trade between livestock and food 
make it difficult for pastoralists to access what food is available. 
 WFP is currently undertaking, with DPPA as the lead, to deliver 
relief food to the region, but the amounts actually distributed to 
beneficiaries are a fraction of what should have been provided. 
 
¶10. According to a recently-released WFP report, 33 percent of the 
food dispatched between January and June was actually distributed to 
the target caseload of 1.025 million beneficiaries.  There are 
chronic delays in the turnaround of trucks between pick-up points at 
warehouses and the final distribution points.  Institutional 
inefficiencies on the part of DPPA are exacerbated by the special 
challenges of transporting and distributing food in conflict zones. 
Military escorts, required for all food distribution convoys, are 
unpredictable.  Military or local government officials frequently 
require truckers to offload in unplanned locations with no 
forewarning, usually in woreda capitals.  Reasons given are the 
migratory nature of some of the beneficiaries, as well as the 
special challenges of food destined for areas not controlled by the 
Government.  Not bringing the food to final distribution points 
makes it more difficult for populations already weakened and 
vulnerable to collect their food, some reportedly walking 30 - 50 
kilometers. The constraints identified in earlier USG HAT 
assessments have not been relieved (reftel), and food aid continues 
to fall way short of targets and needs. NOTE: To improve performance 
in food deliveries, WFP suggested a few months ago a hub-and-spoke 
concept to Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency (DPPA). 
Getting the GoE to agree to structural changes is difficult, and the 
suggestion was turned down.  However, with the food crisis 
worsening, WFP is negotiating another forward hub proposal with 
DPPA. 
 
¶11. In a briefing with USG HAT in June, UN (OCHA) staff working in 
the region said that the DPPB capacity to deliver food is 
"appalling" and is not properly targeted to the vulnerable.  The 
staff mentioned reports from the area that traders purchase food aid 
for re-sale.  NOTE: The USG HAT followed this up with WFP, who 
explained that - because of the long distances to carry their food 
-- some people actually store their food with relatives or 
commercial establishments, and that large-scale selling of food aid 
is not taking place.  End NOTE. The same OCHA staff told the USG HAT 
that unless a rapid response capacity is geared up by the 
international community "people will start dying like flies". 
During a meeting between visiting senior WFP Rome staff and USAID on 
June 27, WFP opined also that "extraordinary logistics" will very 
soon be required to pull the region back from the abyss of total 
disaster, if the current level of relief is not augmented and 
administered much more efficiently. NOTE: The GoE announced on June 
10 that it was diverting all food delivery trucks from Somali 
region, to attend to food delivery in other parts of the country. 
This decision was only reversed in late June after significant donor 
protest. 
 
¶12. USG HAT for Somali recognized as early as January and February 
2008 that a crisis was looming in the region and recommended 
immediate interventions to improve food aid deliveries, launch 
measles campaigns, improve water availability and improve security 
support for the international community (REFTEL). Over USD 6 million 
has been programmed to respond in these areas.  At present US NGOs 
funded by OFDA are working in Degabur, Kebrehahar, Gode, Kelafo, 
Warder, Afder, Fik and Jijiga. USAID/Ethiopia through the Pastoral 
Livelihood Initiative is supporting interventions to preserve 
pastoral livelihoods through the Pastoral Livelihoods Initiative. 
USAID/OFDA has contributed USD 1 million to the program to assist in 
additional emergency response in the livestock sector. Food for 
Peace has contributed substantially to food aid generally in 
Ethiopia. A contribution of over USD 100 million included a 
substantial contribution specifically for the Somali Region through 
the World Food Program and other partners. Food for Peace has also 
deployed an expert to the now country-wide USG HAT to continue 
following up on the issue of food deliveries. 
 
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Somali Region being forgotten? 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶13. NGOs and the UN are expressing concern that the disaster in the 
Somali region is fading from the front page, as the enormity of the 
food security crisis in the rest of the country is being revealed 
and tight GoE restrictions on humanitarian assessments and access 
remain in place throughout Somali region. And with logistics, 
politics and security so problematic in Somali region, it is easier 
for the international community to turn its attention to the more 
accessible regions where data is available and logistics are more 
manageable. 
 
¶14. All indicators point to dire observations coming true. Over the 
coming weeks, WFP and NGOs, as well as donors, need to step up 
attention to the Somali region, with particular focus on food aid 
distributions, nutritional support and AWD response. USAID/OFDA is 
committing additional resources in the water sector to improve 
access to water and to assist NGOs to prepare for AWD outbreaks. The 
USAID/HAT continues to monitor closely the allocation and 
distribution of food to the region reported by WFP. The team will 
make a visit to Jijiga to meet with partners on July 5-6, 2008. 
 
YAMAMOTO