VZCZCXRO0583
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0063 0201114
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 201114Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2703
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000063 
 
DEPT FOR AF A A/S CARTER, AF/SPG, AF/E 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: UNMIS DONOR PRINCIPALS' MEETING, JANUARY 15 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: UN Humanitarian officials told donor principals 
that they hope to focus less on relief and more on early recovery 
efforts in Darfur in 2009, though relief efforts will remain 
predominant and access and insecurity continue to be major concerns, 
they said. In the South, cuts in the GOSS budget mean the 
international community will have to work harder to maintain a 
social safety net, especially with regard to health issues, while at 
the same time working to enhance capacity and institution building. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On January 15, CDA Fernandez attended the monthly UN Donor 
Principals' Meeting chaired by UN Deputy Special Representative of 
the Secretary-General and Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian 
Coordinator (DSRSG/RC/HC) Ameerah Haq. Deputy Humanitarian 
Coordinator and Resident Coordinator Toby Lanzer briefed the 
principals on the outlook for UN activities in Darfur in 2009, 
stating that he hoped that 2009 would see the UN focusing less on 
relief and more on early recovery activities. (Note: DSRSG/RC/HC Haq 
later clarified that relief work will still likely account for 90% 
of humanitarian work in 2009, but that slow steps were being made 
towards recovery when appropriate without prejudicing the formal 
DJAM process which will guide eventual reconstruction and 
development efforts. End Note.) Lanzer noted that the UN is 
committed to reaching out to a broader range of stakeholders, 
particularly rural communities, Arab tribes and nomads, in the 
conduct of relief and recovery activities. He also noted that the UN 
was putting a new focus on natural resource management and 
environmental concerns going forward. He concluded by stating that 
there were three key needs to the mission's continued success: 
money, access, and collaboration. Lanzer also emphasized that 
contingency planning for the issuance of an arrest warrant against 
President Bashir was not detracting from humanitarian operations. 
"We're not planning on leaving; we're planning on working," he said. 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Daniel Augstburger, the Head of UNAMID's Humanitarian 
Recovery, Development and Liaison Section (HRDLS) told the donors 
the peacekeeping force now has 12,000 troops on the ground and over 
700 policemen with Formed Police Units (FPUs). He stated that UNAMID 
deployment was progressing and was aided by the ongoing USG direct 
airlift of Rwandan troops to Darfur. He also noted that UNAMID would 
receive five light attack helicopters from the Government of 
Ethiopia, but stated there is still no timeline yet for putting them 
into service. He stated that UNAMID has increased its number of 
patrols tremendously and now has Community Policing Centers (CPCs) 
in both Kalma and Abu Shouk camps with plans for more in other IDP 
camps. In 2009 UNAMID will pay more attention to the environmental 
impact of its deployment, including the use of natural resources and 
waste disposal, he said. 
 
¶4. (SBU) UNMIS Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident 
Coordinator Lise Grande briefed the principals on UN priorities in 
South Sudan. She asserted that implementation of the CPA, 
predictably, continues to override everything else. Other areas of 
particular concern in the South include the process of civil 
disarmament and establishing community security, which she said was 
"not going smoothly." She also cited the creation of building blocks 
for a basic public administration as a key priority for 2009, 
including decentralization, the delivery of basic services and the 
fight against corruption. Of particular concern, she said, was that 
significant government payrolls (including that of the police force) 
were scheduled to be decentralized to the state levels, but as of 
right now, no state in the South had any payroll function whatsoever 
or infrastructure to carry out this task. Massive cuts in the GOSS 
budget due to sharply declining oil revenues mean that the 
international community will have to work harder to maintain the 
precarious "safety net" in the South, especially with regard to 
health issues, she said, citing some of the abysmal health 
indicators in South Sudan which are still among the worst anywhere 
in the world. The challenge is to maintain this safety net while at 
the same time working to enhance capacity and institution building, 
she said. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: Issues of access and insecurity will continue to 
be problematic for humanitarian activity in Darfur, and could be 
further exacerbated by the potential fallout of an ICC indictment. 
The South faces a different set of problems, and while the safety 
net must be maintained, a strong emphasis on capacity and 
institution building is needed if the South decides to move on a 
path toward independence (and self-reliance) in 2011. End comment. 
 
FERNANDEZ