VZCZCXRO5736
OO RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHIL #0078/01 0131505
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 131505Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
TO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA IMMEDIATE 3878
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 8880
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1015
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 9658
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 9414
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 4288
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI PRIORITY 0885
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE PRIORITY 6615
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR PRIORITY 5480
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHWSMRC/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000078 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PK PREF PREL PTER
SUBJECT: URGENT NEED TO IMPROVE IDP SERVICES 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 10. 
 
¶2. (U) Summary. President Asif Zardari and Chief of Army 
Staff General Kayani raised with Ambassador the urgent need 
to provide the internally displaced people (IDPs) in the 
Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and Federally Administered 
Tribal Areas (FATA) with adequate food and shelter.  While 
efforts to assist this population are ongoing, they have been 
stymied by a noticeable lack of coordination between the UN 
organizations within Pakistan and, then, with their 
headquarters in Geneva and inadequate food distribution 
mechanisms through the UN's World Food Program (WFP) to 
assist the over 200,000 displaced in these areas. End Summary. 
 
 
CURRENT SITUATION OF IDP CAMPS 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) As of January 5, the official figure of IDPs living 
in the eleven camps within the NWFP was 8,008 families, or 
approximately 50,500 individuals.  The NWFP Department of 
Social Welfare (DSW) and the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) have registered approximately 19,127 
families and 116,949 individuals. According to UNHCR, 
approximately another 100,000 will be registered in the 
southern NWFP districts once registration commences there. 
Further, the number of IDPs in cities outside the NWFP, such 
as Rawalpindi and Karachi, are unknown but appear to be over 
100,000. 
 
¶4. (SBU) From the registration exercise, UNHCR and DSW have 
determined that approximately 75 percent of the IDP 
population is currently living in rented accommodations 
instead of with host families, as was originally assumed.  As 
the conflict and military operations have been ongoing for 
over five months, the financial resources of the IDPs are 
dwindling, as is the absorptive capacity of host communities. 
 As a result, an increasing number of IDPs are living outside 
the various IDP camps, wanting to move into the camps, with 
approximately 3,000 families currently on a wait list for 
camp entry. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Space in and around the camps is severely limited, 
and there is not enough space to meet the demand from those 
living outside the camps.  In response, the DSW is trying to 
improve the delivery of services and assistance.  UNHCR, WFP, 
and other organizations are concentrating on the affected 
families. UNHCR is accelerating site development at the 
camps, notably at the Jalozai camp, creating approximately 
200 new available living spaces per day, and the WFP 
continues to provide food rations to families while trying to 
keep up with the growing demand.  Additionally, partners 
through USAID have distributed non-food item (NFI) kits to 
the 2,234 registered IDPs in Nowshera and Swabi Districts, 
and are completing NFI distributions to the IDP populations 
in Mardan, Lower Dir, Charsadda, Nowshera, and Peshawar 
Districts, along with rent subsidies in Lower Dir. 
 
 
DISCONNECT BETWEEN UN MISSION AND NEEDS OF PAKISTAN 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to many non-governmental organizations 
(NGOs) and UN offices, the UN system is stymied by several 
factors, including the recent increase in security 
restrictions.  Rather than having both a Resident Coordinator 
(RC) and Humanitarian Coordinator (HC), the RC has been given 
both roles in Pakistan.  This has led to a disjointed 
response, and key humanitarian issues remain unaddressed, 
including provisions of cooking and heating facilities. 
 
¶7. (SBU) A lack of coordination between the UN offices within 
Pakistan and then with their respective headquarters in 
Geneva is adding to the difficulty of fully assisting the 
IDPs.  The UNHCR office in Islamabad contacted Embassy 
officials, alerting them to the "strong possibility" that due 
to a lack of funds, UNHCR would be forced to close its 
operations in the FATA and NWFP on January 9.  The reason for 
the sudden lack of money, as explained, was because of a 
 
ISLAMABAD 00000078  002 OF 002 
 
 
funding appeal that was floundering in Geneva.  However, the 
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration reported that 
UNHCR Pakistan had received $13.6 million against the $15 
million from its Supplemental Budget, of which $900,000 was 
for overhead. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Food distributions by the UN World Food Program 
(WFP) in the camps have been marred by chaos and riots. 
Criticisms of the WFP food distribution include the 
following: (1) a limited range of food rations (which only 
include wheat, pulses, and oil); (2) the rations are 
considered by most to be too small and do not take the size 
of the receiving family into account at distribution; and (3) 
the food distribution is inconsistent and unreliable because 
of breaks in the food pipeline (the entire ration does not 
arrive at the same time). 
 
¶9. (SBU) Similar problems have emerged as WFP expanded to 
provide food to the IDPs outside the camps.  The Provincial 
Relief Commissioner has levied these complaints publicly at 
the WFP at the last two Provincial Coordination meetings, and 
in response, the WFP has said that it has revised its 
distribution strategy, including the establishment of 
Extended Delivery Points that will operate seven days a week. 
 These efforts have done nothing to alleviate these issues, 
however. 
 
 
ACTION REQUEST 
-------------- 
 
¶10. (U) Action: Post requests that the Department work with 
the U.S. Missions in Geneva and New York to improve 
coordination within the UN organizations internally and 
externally, to improve UN WFP food distribution, and to press 
for issuance of any appeals to sustain funding for IDPs in 
Pakistan. 
PATTERSON