VZCZCXRO6870
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0409/01 0820904
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 230904Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3335
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KHARTOUM 000409 
 
SENSITIVE 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF A A/S CARTER, SE GRATION, AF/SPG, AF/C, IO, PRM 
NSC FOR MGAVIN AND CHUDSON 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN, USAID/W DCHA SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: UN AND DONORS MEET ON THE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN SUDAN 
 
REF: A) KHARTOUM 318 
B) KHARTOUM 313 
C) KHARTOUM 311 
D) KHARTOUM 306 
E) KHARTOUM 299 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) BEGIN SUMMARY.  On March 20, in a specially called meeting, 
UN humanitarian officials briefed donor principals on the current 
situation and UN efforts to facilitate addressing the humanitarian 
gaps and current crisis fueled by the Government of National Unity's 
(GNU) expulsion of 13 international organizations.  During the 
meeting, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan Toby Lanzer 
presented preliminary results from the joint UN-GNU assessment of 
affected areas in Darfur.  UN staff and international donor 
representatives discussed the current situation, the pending 
assessment, and the continued consternation, confusion, and concern 
regarding humanitarian operations in Sudan. END SUMMARY. 
 
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- - -- 
CONVERSATIONS ON CURRENT NEEDS, REALITIES, AND RESPONSES 
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¶2. (U) On March 20, CDA Fernandez attended a specially held Friday 
evening UN Donor Principals' Meeting chaired by the Deputy Special 
Representative of the Secretary General for Sudan Ameerah Haq.  Haq 
briefed Princiapls' on the current situation and UN efforts to 
facilitate addressing the humanitarian gaps and current crisis 
fueled by the GNU's expulsion of 13 international organizations 
noting that the UN is focused on finding a way for humanitarian 
agencies and donors to work within the new and ever-changing 
environment in Sudan.  Haq was joined by Hilde Johnson, the Deputy 
Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). During the 
meeting, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Darfur, Toby Lanzer, 
presented preliminary results from the joint UN-GNU assessment of 
affected areas in Darfur.  Overall, Lanzer noted strong 
collaboration across Darfur between UN country team officials and 
GOS officials tasked with the assessments and agreement on numbers 
affected in South and North Darfur, but not in West Darfur. 
According to preliminary assessment results, the expulsions have 
left significant humanitarian gaps and those gaps need to be 
addressed.  If the gaps proceed unaddressed, the international 
community will be faced with major problems on the ground in the 
next few months.  On March 21, the UN and Sudanese government 
counterparts met to consolidate findings from the visits to the 
three Darfur states. On March 22, the technical teams plan to 
present findings to the GNU Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and 
the UN and on March 23, result findings will be presented to the 
donors. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Johnson made it a point to note that the UN Secretary 
General has taken a personal engagement regarding the issues of 
non-governmental organization (NGO) expulsion, and continues to call 
for a reversal of the decision.  In addition, the Secretary General 
continues to speak to the impact the expulsions will have on the 
humanitarian situation.  Highlighting the UN's three track approach 
of (1) advocating for a reversal of the decision; (2) ensuring that 
life-saving operations continue; and (3) seeking medium and 
long-term solutions, Johnson noted that the UN continues to work to 
identify the gaps and look at how the next two to three months can 
be managed by the remaining humanitarian agencies.  The UN is 
currently focused on tracks 1 and 2. Cautioning that the current 
situation should not create paralysis, Johnson emphasized the longer 
view focusing on the overall implications and the need to ensure 
calm and that the process for implementing the Comprehensive Peace 
Agreement (CPA) gets back on track and proceeds.  Charge Fernandez 
commented that the expulsion of the NGOs effectively "shredded" 
cooperation with the SPLM and put CPA under pressure.  Prior to 
announcing the decision, the National Congress Party (NCP) did not 
even consult senior Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) 
officials in the Government of National Unity.  As a result, if 
anyone has caused the CPA to go off track it was the NCP.  As the 
situation progresses, the international community and donors need to 
be clear regarding who has put Sudan into the current tense 
situation.  According to Fernandez, this is standard NCP tactic: 
escalate and then negotiate about the escalation.  Rather than 
giving in to such machinations, Fernandez urged fellow donors and UN 
staff to be firm and tough with the NCP.  Indeed, the entire 
international and humanitarian community continues to tryto clean 
up the mess caused by the disastrous and irresponsible decisions 
made by the NCP. 
 
KHARTOUM 00000409  002 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Johnson remarked on the GNU's recent public shift to 
"Sudanization" of aid that "in an ideal world every government would 
be in a position to take responsibility for its own citizens", and 
noted that UN agencies and the international community would like to 
see that national capacity is augmented and the country and 
government can take responsibility.  However, she noted that 
problems with the proposed Sudanization is that domestic 
organizations do not have access throughout Darfur, insecurity 
exists, capacity does not exist, and essential technical capacities 
cannot be built in two- to three-month timeframe or even within a 
year.  To this the Canadian Charge asked why the international 
community had not heard about "Sudanization" until now.  If Sudanese 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had the capacity and the 
humanitarian motivation then the groups would already be taking an 
active and lead role in providing assistance and the international 
community would support them.  Rather, it is not just the question 
of capacity but also one of will and motivation. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Agreeing with Charge Fernandez, the Canadian representative 
noted that the repeated tactic of the NCP is to escalate and then 
negotiate and that, to date, the GNU has offered little detail 
regarding the funds to support the local organizations.  The British 
Ambassador asked about further clarification on the impact of 
"Sudanization" on remaining NGOs.  Recalling GNU HAC statements, UN 
staff noted that the government sees "Sudanization" as a process 
that will take longer than a year, perhaps two-to-three years. 
Returning to the issue of nationalizing the NGOs, participants noted 
that the NGO expulsion was directly a result of the arrest warrant 
and that the nationalization process sends a strong message to the 
armed opposition groups that the NCP wants more control over the 
camps.  This is consistent with statements from Bashir and 
participants noted concerns that the expulsion of international NGOs 
could lead to significant increase in tension in the camps and 
between the Sudanese government and remaining INGOs. Johnson noted 
that the UN is not advocating for Sudanization if local capacity is 
lacking.  Noting that the results of the joint assessment remain 
pending, Johnson cautioned that additional elements, such as any 
future massive population movements may encumber the humanitarian 
community's already limited ability to respond to the unfolding 
crisis. In that sense, the expulsions have already shattered the 
ability of the international community to respond quickly to future 
crises in Darfur. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Responding to a query of how donors should respond to 
questions from NGOs regarding whether the donors could consider 
specific activities for funding, Johnson said it may be too early to 
answer the question and the UN is also experiencing a limited 
ability to respond, due to the fact that many of the UN's 
counterparts are the expelled NGOs.  Despite the current 
difficulties and the uncertain road ahead, UN staff cautioned that 
humanitarians are not yet in a position to advise on medium- and 
long-term programs.  Rather, as the situation progresses, the 
international and humanitarian communities will need to have a 
coherent and coordinated approach.  Noting that no one is well 
served by individual decisions on issues affecting the entire 
community, UN staff underscored the importance of a collective 
decision on how to approach such issues. In order to facilitate 
continued communication and an overall collective approach, UN staff 
committed to have meetings with donors to develop a joint approach 
to the critical issues.  Commenting on the need for a coordinated 
position, the Japanese Ambassador noted that the Security Council is 
divided, the international community is divided, and while 
traditional donors are unified, others may have differing opinions 
on how to deal with the Sudanese government at this time. In 
addition, given the GNU's efforts to further divide the donor 
community, (NOTE: Bashir only invited the Arab and Asian Ambassadors 
to Darfur and the regime is making a special effort to woo Arab and 
Islamic NGOs to fill the gap created by the expulsions. END NOTE.) 
it remains difficult for embassies to have a unified position.  UN 
staff noted that the Secretary General continues to reach out to the 
Arab League and the African Union, out of concern that the 
international community will not be unified on the humanitarian 
imperative. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Lanzer described the situation in South Darfur as 
extremely concerning and tense for any Westerners there and called 
on donors to be as flexible as possible in their funding and 
movement of funds from one program to another in order to cover gaps 
in assistance.  Noting that donors would be flexible to the extent 
possible, the German Ambassador and DFID representative noted that 
Sudanization can not mean the Sudanization of the principles of 
humanitarian assistance and that the international donors need to be 
clear regarding the minimum standards required, particularly to 
 
KHARTOUM 00000409  003 OF 004 
 
 
safeguard against the erosion of an already limited position.  UN 
staff noted that agencies do not plan to compromise on standards or 
technical capacity.  The Sudanese will not be well served by an 
approach that compromises principles.  DFID underscored that the 
conversation of international expectations with the Sudanese 
government has to be clear, including requirements and modes of 
operation stating that the approach can not be "not at any cost in 
any way". Of particular note is that fact that not a single NGO 
currently has a technical agreement signed by the federal level HAC. 
 This absence should be at the top of the list of discussion points 
for the UN's discussions with the GNU HAC. DFID warned of a "race to 
the bottom" as the regime seeks to manipulate the international 
community's very real humanitarian concerns in Darfur. 
 
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- --- 
PRELIMINARY READ OUT FROM THE JOINT ASSESSMENT 
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- --- 
 
¶9. (U) Lanzer also provided an initial, unofficial read out from the 
joint UN-GNU assessment to Darfur. (NOTE: Particulars on the 
situation in South Darfur to follow in septel.  END NOTE.) According 
to Lanzer, the mission included all three Darfur states, examining 
food, health, nutrition, shelter, non-food items (NFI), and water, 
sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) gaps.  Lanzer noted that the team did 
not have adequate coverage of rural areas and the full impact of the 
expulsions will have to be determined by extrapolation rather than 
observation.  Staff from four lead UN agencies participated in the 
assessment, including the UN World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF, the 
UN World Health Organization (WHO), and UN Joint Logistics Center 
(UNJLC).  In addition, GNU counterparts from state ministries and 
the GNU HAC also participated. 
 
¶10. (SBU) According to Lanzer, humanitarian staff had surprisingly 
good access during the assessment, driving to Muhajeria from Nyala, 
South Darfur, and flying into eastern Jebel Marra, West Darfur (the 
regime had blocked UN access to some of these sites for months). 
During the assessment, Lanzer noted well-stocked health clinics run 
by local staff however questioned how long the staff and stocks will 
remain. Urging international support, Lanzer noted that the 
international community will have to monitor the situation closely, 
noting the importance that local insecurity will have on the access 
throughout Darfur citing examples of officials coming into the camp 
dressed as NGO staff members and incidences of GNU security 
officials driving NGO vehicles which still bear the organizations' 
logos and license plates. UN staff noted that the current situation 
may actually present the humanitarian community with some 
opportunities for closer collaboration with the Sudanese government. 
In fact, during the coming days and weeks, the international 
community may find itself collaborating more significantly with line 
ministries and the line ministries would welcome that. He described 
overwhelmed local officials as asking the UN to weigh in with 
Khartoum on providing budget subsidies and material support with one 
noting "everything will be fine if you can supply us with 39 barrels 
of fuel a day" to keep pumps working and vehicles running. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Charge Fernandez underscored the importance of watching 
Zam Zam internally displaced person (IDP) camp in North Darfur and 
asked about reports of GNU officials disguising themselves as NGO 
staff.  Lanzer noted that he had spoked to the Wali (governor) of 
North Darfur twice recently regarding additional land for Zam 
Zam-area IDPs and that this had been refused. So there are going to 
be problems in that camp. In the coming weeks, the international 
community faces possible flashpoints in Zam Zam camp, Kalma and 
Zalingei camps as well. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶12.  (SBU) It is clear that donors, the UN and NGOs are going to 
have to make the rules up as they along in this new working 
environment in Sudan.  As we await the results of the GoS and UN 
assessments in Darfur, issues of access, technical agreements and 
legal frameworks continue to be problematic for humanitarian 
activity in Darfur, and despite assurances from the GoS, could 
further exacerbate the humanitarian fallout of the ICC indictment. 
In addition to the efforts of donor countries, donors need to 
continue pressing the UN to take a much more aggressive stance with 
the GNU to resolve pending issues before the humanitarian community 
fully commits to fill the humanitarian gaps. With all of the 
unresolved issues pertaining to access, technical agreements and 
legal frameworks, the international community may reach a stage 
where they have to take a ethical stance based on humanitarian 
principals instead of going on with business as usual in order to 
 
KHARTOUM 00000409  004 OF 004 
 
 
address the humanitarian imperative. The United States also needs to 
quietly but firmly keep warning Khartoum of American redlines 
regarding a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Darfur, before 
the situation really deteriorates. 
 
 
FERNANDEZ