VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDS #0606/01 0721101
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131101Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4075
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3330
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1867
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEPADJ/CJTF HOA
RUEWMFD/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 000606 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/E, USAID FOR AFR AA EGAST, AFR/EA CTHOMPSON, 
AND DCHA FOR DDIKERMAN AND JBORNS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV EAID ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: SOMALI REGIONAL PRESIDENT DISCUSSES 
HUMANITARIAN ACCESS WITH U.S. AND UN DELEGATION 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Newly-appointed Somali Regional President Dawood 
Mohammed told the Ambassador and delegation that Ethiopia's 
Somali region wants U.S. and international support for 
long-term development, especially in exploiting water 
resources.  Security is still a major issue in the Somali 
region, Dawood said, but added that most zones in the region 
are peaceful and his administration would like to see more 
donor support for peaceful but underdeveloped areas.  For 
emergency relief work, Dawood and his cabinet acknowledged 
donor and non-governmental organization (NGO) concerns that 
there is still no consistent mechanism to ensure access to 
contested areas.  Dawood pledged to chair monthly meetings, 
beginning on March 26, of all stakeholders -- NGOs, 
international organizations, the regional government and 
donors -- to begin a dialogue to resolve the many outstanding 
issues, particularly regarding access.  Dawood indicated his 
administration would seek to vet local staff employed by 
NGOs.  Somali regional state cabinet members expressed great 
mistrust of NGOs and their activities, while at the same time 
underscoring the region's need for international assistance. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Somali Regional President Dawood Mohammed met for 
several hours with the Ambassador, UN Coordinator and 
delegation in Jijiga on March 5.  Dawood was accompanied by 
Head of Regional Security Abdi Mohamed Umar (a.k.a Abdi 
Illi), Head of the Bureau of Finance and Economic Development 
(BoFED) Umar Haji, Somali People's Democratic Party (SPDP) 
General Secretary Abdu Fatah and the following Somali 
regional cabinet members: Head of the Health Bureau Ahmed 
Mohamed, Head of Agricultural Bureau Ahmed Mohammed, 
Secretary to the Regional President Guled Abdullahi, Head of 
the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau (DPPB) Guled 
Ali, and the Head of the Education Bureau.  The USAID Mission 
Director, USAID Senior Policy Advisor, RSO and PolOff also 
participated, along with representatives from the United 
Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
(UNOCHA), Save the Children-UK and Mercy Corps.  Separately, 
the Ambassador and UN Coordinator and delegation also met 
with NGO implementing partners. 
 
Somali Region Open for Development Assistance 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) "We want to work with all donors, aid agencies and 
non-governmental organizations," Dawood told the Ambassador. 
"Over the past year the Somali region experienced a severe 
drought and tense politics - and the donors helped save 
people - but we need long term development," Dawood said, 
emphasizing that "we are behind other regions developmentally 
but we have the capacity to develop now."  Dawood noted that 
the Prime Minister has directed the federal government to 
give "special attention" to Somali region and that more than 
2,000 officials have been deployed in support of that 
objective, including a federal advisor to each woreda. 
Although capacity-building projects have begun, Dawood said, 
"we lack the capacity to develop by ourselves because we 
don't have the skilled manpower or (other) institutional 
capabilities."  Dawood added that "food aid saves lives, but 
now we are thinking of the future.  We are committed to 
investing our budget in (long-term) development."  SPDP Head 
Abdu emphasized that the Ethiopian government has undergone a 
"paradigm shift: we want to develop long-term, although we 
will not exclude quick fixes (for pressing problems).  We 
have gone from 'defensive' to 'receptive' and there is now a 
conducive environment for development in the Somali region." 
As for emergency relief, Dawood acknowledged "we have 
problems with implementation.  Our DPPB office cannot manage 
monitoring and evaluation.  Training would help."  (Note: 
Dawood surprisingly did not realize that most food aid 
through the World Food Program (WFP) and larger NGO projects 
was U.S. assistance.  End Note.) 
 
Pledge to Coordinate with NGOs on Access 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) For emergency relief work, Dawood and his cabinet 
acknowledged donor and NGO concerns that there is still no 
consistent mechanism to ensure access to contested areas. 
Dawood pledged to convene monthly meetings, with the first to 
be chaired by himself on March 26, of all stakeholders -- 
NGOs, international organizations, the regional government 
and donors -- to begin a dialogue to resolve the many 
outstanding issues.  Dawood also pledged to support 
technical-level coordination meetings between his government 
and NGOs on as often a basis as necessary.  Dawood noted that 
one item on the agenda on March 26 would be the Somali 
regional state's need to "scrutinize" lists of local 
employees of NGOs operating in the Somali region, explaining 
that "development assistance is meant for the most 
vulnerable, not for anti-peace elements.  Some local staff 
looted our budget but landed with NGOs.  Some have been 
involved in (terrorist) bombings.  You don't know the 
anti-peace elements as we do.  Some are ex-Siad Barre 
generals." 
 
Mistrust and Mixed Messages on NGOs 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Cabinet members criticized NGOs whom they believe 
undermine state authority.  SPDP Head Abdu remarked, "the 
region's security situation has always been politicized. 
Some NGOs align with our objectives, some cross lines." 
Health Bureau Head Ahmed said, "some NGOs are problematic. 
Their security reports are erroneous, and they enter into 
politics and insurgent activities.  There is a clash between 
access and breaching rules.  Paradoxically, the safest areas 
get the least development assistance.  NGOs are not 
interested in developing the peaceful areas where the 
majority of the population lives.  Security issues are not 
the mandate of most NGOs.  If a security issue arises, the 
government has a responsibility to deny access temporarily to 
ensure safety.  We want NGOs to be neutral; if they can't be, 
why should we let them in?  We don't want NGOs involved in 
political issues." Security Head Abdi added that "we need 
your support, but anti-peace elements disturb our development 
agenda and steal food rations."  SPDP General Secretary Abdu 
stressed his view that some NGO staff are biased in favor of 
the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and that, while 
the Ethiopian government welcomes NGO contributions, "some 
NGOs really are doing negative activities."  Moreover, Abdi 
contended, "some people the regional government has fired 
have been hired by NGOs: they will hire you so long as you 
are anti-government.  Some NGO staffs don't follow their 
mission statements.  Some work in (contested areas) to hide 
their activities."  Abdi divided NGOs into "good" and "bad" 
and said "we need support from good NGOs, but many NGOs 
exaggerate for marketing purposes - they describe the Somali 
region like Darfur, otherwise they would lose business." Abdi 
added that "(Many) NGOs are terrible in our region.  You 
can't see what they do.  They just write reports and spend 
their budgets." 
 
The Security Problem 
-------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) "Development and security cannot be separated, and 
our problem is security," Dawood underscored.  While careful 
to state that most of the Somali region is peaceful, Dawood 
said that in Degahabur and Denan "the insurgents are killing 
people, (and) elders I have spoken to have told me they are 
afraid."  Security Head Abdi asserted that the ONLF is a 
terrorist organization, not a nationalist insurgency, and 
that the ONLF has a "relationship" with al Shabab.  SPDP 
General Secretary Abdu contended that "the majority of ONLF 
are Al Ithad Al Islami (AIAI) or al-Shabaab.  Some are even 
American citizens.  (Still), our top officials and the Somali 
region people are together 100 percent.  The people 
themselves are fighting the ONLF."  Abdi criticized the U.S. 
State Department's 2009 Human Rights Report as too partial to 
the ONLF and denied that Ethiopian state security has killed 
anyone in the Somali region.  Abdi said that if state 
security members are caught stealing food rations, they are 
 
prosecuted.  "I am elected," he spoke rhetorically, "so why 
would I stand between the people?"  Abdu said accusations 
against the Ethiopian National Defense Force's (ENDF) alleged 
actions only take root because "ONLF propaganda is very 
fast." Abdu nonetheless expressed the "hope (that) we will 
soon abolish the ONLF once and for all, whether the U.S. 
supports us or not." 
 
The Priority is Water 
--------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) President Dawood and his cabinet members emphasized 
that their first priority is to develop the region's water 
resources, which may include significant underground aquifers 
that can be exploited for irrigation.  Dawood said his 
administration has established two related steering 
committees for land use and ground water management.  Many 
Somali region communities failed to take advantage of their 
proximity to groundwater, Dawood added, which, he said, is 
equivalent to being "married to a woman, but you can't see 
her." German Agro-Action will dig 100 boreholes in the 
region, Dawood said.  Another official said that the 
government is looking at three "development corridors": 
rivers, aquifers and pastoral.  Livestock is a second 
priority. 
 
Somali Region to Align with Federal Development Goals 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Dawood said the Somali region would more closely 
align its development objectives with those of the federal 
government.  Toward that end, Dawood said the Somali regional 
government has signed an agreement with the federal 
government to take advantage of the Somali region's 
comparative advantages, such as its abundant livestock 
(although Dawood acknowledged productivity in all sectors 
must be "scaled up" to maximize the benefits of inter-region 
trade).  Cabinet members also noted that the federal 
government intends to encourage Somali region residents to 
forgo nomadic lifestyles in favor of agriculture and 
business.   Cabinet members stressed the Somali regional 
government wants technical support for its five year 
development plan, so long as it is "constructive and 
politically neutral support." 
 
Improved Conditions, Waiting for Rain 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) DPPB Head Guled remarked that conditions for 
livestock and other indicators have improved over the past 
few months, while malnutrition has decreased.  Recent 
improvements in implementation of the "hub and spoke" system 
for food distribution have been particularly beneficial. 
Although March is dry season for Somali region, rains have 
been better and people who had crowded into towns to find 
food during last years' drought largely have returned to 
their villages, Guled noted.  Health Bureau Head Ahmed noted 
that mobile health clinics supported by donors have performed 
well and that, despite an epidemic of rabies among wild foxes 
and a smattering of meningitis cases, the Somali region has 
had no major outbreaks of communicable diseases in recent 
months. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Dawood's pledge to host a meeting between his 
administration, NGOs, international organizations and donors 
to discuss NGO work in Somali region and access to contested 
areas could be a positive first step in clearing up 
misunderstandings between the government and NGOs and in 
establishing mechanisms for enhanced communication and 
cooperation.  Mistrust of NGOs runs deep within the cabinet, 
however, and follow-through will be important.  In response 
to the opportunity evident in the meeting, USAID has 
established a special Somali Region Task Force with 
participation by all sectors and OFDA.  USAID will host a 
pre-meeting with the UN agencies and relevant NGOs next week. 
 
 Also, agreements with the regional government are not always 
respected by the ENDF.  As the largest donor to the Somali 
region (via World Food Program and implementing partners), 
the U.S. will have a leading role in the March 26 meeting. 
End Comment. 
YAMAMOTO