VZCZCXRO2790
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0555/01 1131350
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 231350Z APR 09 ZDK CTG NUMEROUS SERVICES
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3611
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000555 
 
DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A A/S CARTER, AF/C 
NSC FOR MGAVIN AND CHUDSON 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: UNMIS PRINCIPAL DONOR MEETING - DARFUR HUMANITARIAN CRISIS 
UPDATE, NEXT STEPS 
 
REF: KHARTOUM 554 
 
KHARTOUM 00000555  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On April 22, 2009, CDA Fernandez and Embassy staff 
attended the Donor Principals Meeting at UNMIS to review the 
humanitarian situation in Darfur following the expulsion of INGOs in 
March.  According to the UN's assessment, gaps in humanitarian 
service delivery continue but are narrowing due to remaining INGOs, 
GOS and the UN agencies moving to fill these gaps.  The meeting 
provided an opportunity to discuss key developments in four major 
sectors: food security; health; water and sanitation; and non-food 
items/emergency shelter.  UN OCHA provided a summary of the recent 
donors' conference in New York and discussed progress made with the 
Government of Sudan (GOS) on the cluster approach for NGOs and steps 
taken by the government to facilitate NGO access. END SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------------- 
SECTOR REPORT: FOOD SECURITY 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) WFP provided an update on food distribution measures. 
Although food aid was distributed for March and April, the absence 
of some NGOs prevented the supplemental feeding for children and 
mothers.  WFP has called for swift action on Track III 
implementation, including unhindered food distribution and the need 
for the GOS to issue visas quickly.  WFP noted some positive steps 
in this regard given the April 16 decree issued by the Humanitarian 
Affairs Ministry.  WFP will continue to provide food distribution in 
May and June and negotiations are continuing to bring in new NGOs to 
fill distribution gaps in the food sector. WFP also indicated that 
they will lead part of the proposed long-term cluster approach in 
the area of food security. 
 
---------------------- 
SECTOR REPORT: HEALTH 
---------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Closing gaps in the health sector remains a top priority for 
the UN.  According to the UN, approximately 460,000 people are still 
without health services due to access problems, service issues and 
flooding (down from almost a million after the March 4 expulsions). 
Twelve health clinics remain closed, impacting community screening 
and nutritional data monitoring.  As was expected, children and 
women of child-bearing age have borne the brunt of the gaps in care. 
 The UN has been focusing on a number of IDP problematic camps 
including Kalma, Kabkabya and Zalingei; South Darfur is the most 
impacted of the three Darfur states.  The UN health representative 
indicated that plans have been made for the GOS to cover some gaps, 
but funding issues remain. The UN is pushing for better field 
coordination and monitoring capabilities and will continue to work 
with NGOs, the GOS, and other organizations on the ground to avoid a 
crisis.  The UN estimates that 800 staff will need to be recruited 
for the UN and other partners to bring health care up to pre-crisis 
levels (400 of the pre-March 4 total of 1200 remain on the job). 
Despite these problems, the UN believes opportunities exist to 
develop a clear strategic plan to revamp health service delivery 
with less reliance on the international community. Further, the UN 
views adoption of the cluster approach as a key opportunity to 
improve present conditions in the health sector. 
 
------------------------------- 
SECTOR REPORT: WATER/SANITATION 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) The UN representative for the water/sanitation sector 
reported on recent developments.  A joint WES/SWC and UNICEF team 
meets with partners on a daily basis in the three Darfur states to 
monitor progress and is updating 2009 sector plans.  To date, 
approximately 1,000,000 people have been impacted by the expulsion 
of the NGOs.  The GOS has committed to provide funding and as a stop 
gap measure, UNICEF is supporting 18 locations for water supply 
services and four locations for sanitation services.  However, 
severe challenges exist; for example, Kalma camp is still not fully 
accessible because of a suspicious and politicized camp leadership. 
However, there have been negotiations to allow some NGOs into the 
camp and ARC (American Refugee Council) has installed additional 
hand pumps.  Gaps remains in rural areas where the population is 
scattered and only hand pumps are available.  Although there are 
long-term plans for local NGOs to take over activities, the upcoming 
rainy season and funding issues will hamper operations.  The 
opportunity exists for local communities to take over 
responsibilities (for example, the maintenance of the pumps) and for 
better coordination between the GOS, the UN and NGOs. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
KHARTOUM 00000555  002 OF 003 
 
 
SECTOR REPORT: NON-FOOD ITEMS and EMERGENCY SHELTER 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶5.  (U) The non-food items and emergency shelter sector (led by the 
UN Joint Logistics Center - JLC) reported on its current efforts to 
address emergency measures, focusing primarily on newly-displaced 
populations in the Zam Zam IDP camp.  JLC reported that the GOS has 
made four commitments: it will return all warehouses to the UN; it 
will not set any preconditions before turning over the warehouses; 
JLC will serve as the primary pipeline for partners; and JLC and 
partners will be given unrestricted access to communities for their 
distribution efforts.  With the recent handover of warehouses in El 
Obeid and El Geneina, only the El Fasher warehouse remains in 
government hands -ironically the need is greatest there because of 
the growth of Zam Zam. Although the GOS attempted to select some new 
NGO partners, the JLC made it clear to the GOS that the UN will make 
the selection of NGO partners, and tentative partners have already 
been identified.  Despite service gaps, temporary solutions have 
been identified for the largest camps in North and West Darfur, 
however South Darfur, which has a particularly hostile and 
obstructionist local government, remains an area of special concern. 
 
 
--------------------------------------- 
UN OCHA HUMANITARIAN UPDATE FOR DARFUR 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) UN OCHA provided an update on the humanitarian situation in 
Darfur, first commenting on the GOS's recent decision to allow 40 
Egyptian doctors access to impacted populations. While welcomed, 
OCHA was concerned that the doctors had lower-than-expected levels 
of technical expertise, were not adapting well to living in 
difficult circumstances, and were not establishing the same level of 
rapport with suspicious local communities as their predecessors. 
OCHA also remarked on the need for the GOS to return all INGO 
assets, but remarked that some progress has been made. For example, 
the GOS has returned warehouses and used seized some financial 
assets to pay local staff salaries.  In addition, UN OCHA welcomed 
the GOS's funding commitments but warned about the need for 
transparency and funding confirmation, noting that the GOS staff 
won't deploy until they are paid.  Insecurity remains a key issue, 
especially in light of the recent kidnappings targeting NGO workers. 
 The UN has called on the GOS to foster a secure environment, 
provide positive messages regarding the international aid community, 
and stop negative media remarks against NGOs; the negative media 
campaign has largely stopped.  UN OCHA's primary concerns in the 
immediate future concern vulnerable populations, preparing for the 
rainy season, monitoring rural areas, coordinating financial plans, 
simplifying administrative procedures, encouraging positive 
humanitarian messages, and ensuring coordination of timely payments 
to staff. 
 
------------------------------------ 
TRACK III AND THE MINISTERIAL DECREE 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (U) OCHA representative Hansjoerg Strohmeyer provided an update 
on Track III and the recent Ministerial decree on expedited 
humanitarian access.  He considers the April 16 decree (which is the 
result of US SE Gration's discussions with the Khartoum regime) "a 
breakthrough" and reinforced the need to: rebuild trust in the 
operating environment, especially concerning security; increase the 
degree of accountability in the new humanitarian architecture; and 
develop a more robust aid delivery system.  Strohmeyer opposes 
creating new protocols. Rather, he supports focusing on full 
implementation of the 2007 Joint Communiqu and cutting back on 
bureaucracy. He also emphasized the need to focus on field/state 
levels by incorporating NISS and military intelligence in 
discussions in the format of High Level Committee (but at the state 
level).  Further, he underscored his support for assigning permanent 
donor representatives to the High Level Committee with a new agenda 
centered on issues not resolvable at the field level.  He remarked 
on recent and useful discussions with the GOS, especially regarding 
the rollout of the cluster approach reiterating its advantages in 
developing coherence in planning, advocacy, and monitoring. There 
will be ongoing discussions with NGOs, GOS and the UN to reinforce 
the Joint Communiqu and the recent decree. Discussions will also 
advance formalization of the new accountability structure at state 
and local levels. UN U/SYG for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes will 
likely attend the next Level Committee in Khartoum (o/a May 7) which 
will be at the ministerial level and incorporating new players. OCHA 
believes the GOS understands the advantages of the cluster approach 
as a one-stop shopping entrepot with a clear decision-making 
hierarchy. 
 
KHARTOUM 00000555  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
------------- 
UNAMID UPDATE 
------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Toby Lanzer provided a UNAMID update on its continuing 
support for humanitarian efforts.  It continues to provide vehicle 
escorts to camps and provides water trucks delivering 45,000 liters 
of water a day in ZamZam (for three thousand people).  UNAMID 
recently provided airlift support for the Ministry of Education, 
making it possible for children to complete required exams. As of 
April 22, UNAMID completed 67 percent of its targeted deployment for 
military, 50 percent for police and 31 percent for Formed (armed) 
Police Units (FPUs).  However, UNAMID still lacks light tactical 
helicopters that are expected from Ethiopia as well as military 
transport helicopters. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) While it was clear from this briefing that significant gaps 
in humanitarian delivery remain, six weeks after the expulsion of 
the NGOs those gaps seem to be narrowing thanks to quick work by the 
UN, remaining NGOs, and a slightly-chastened GOS.  To improve access 
to water, food, shelter, and health, donors and the UN will need to 
identify existing NGOs that are willing to expand their programming, 
and new NGOs that are willing to step forward.  If the donors and 
the UN (led by the U.S. effort) can improve the operating 
environment for NGOs in Darfur, this will encourage existing and new 
NGOs to take up the slack. While the UN has stepped up monitoring, 
particular care needs to be taken to gather information on isolated 
rural areas of Darfur. The UN is eager to implement the cluster 
approach, which has been successful in other countries and will give 
the UN more of a central role in the delivery of humanitarian 
assistance in Darfur.  NGOs have significant reservations about such 
an approach, particularly regarding current UN capacity.  Despite 
NGO reservations, the UN is likely to move forward with this 
approach, which is being adopted worldwide.  This could eventually 
be a positive development, because the government would prefer to 
deal with the UN and the cluster approach would reduce the number of 
tense interactions between the GOS/HAC and the NGOs. While the 
reported progress on closing the humanitarian gap is to be lauded 
and encouraged, the situation in Darfur remains fragile and 
volatile. It will be several months before it is clear that the 
current ad hoc dispensation is working as it should, let alone 
improving on the humanitarian situation to the point where it stood 
on March 3rd. 
 
FERNANDEZ