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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000869 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID SOCI PREL ECON
SUBJECT: ECHO TO USAID AA: SUDAN FRAGILE, GENOCIDE LABEL 
INFLAMMATORY 
 
BRUSSELS 00000869  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  Please handle accordingly. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Acting USAID Assistant Administrator Earl 
Gast, transiting Brussels en route to Sudan, spent June 12 in 
Brussels meeting with Commission counterparts at the EC's 
Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), EUROPEAID and DG-DEV. 
Interlocutors at ECHO described a fragile situation in Sudan 
where security, access, and lack of accurate information are 
major concerns, and where the Commission is obliged to remain 
focused on humaniarian assistance, not development.  Sudan's 
rfusal to sign Cotonou Agreement documents (which refer to 
the ICC) has put EUROPEAID's entre 300 million euro 
assistance package on hold.  ECHO advocates avoiding using 
"genocide" and "famine" as inflammatory language.  For 
DG-DEV, engagement in Sudan is important, despite the 
obstacles. On Somalia, the Commission is working on a major 
policy statement, which covers piracy and security issues, as 
well as development.  In Madagascar, all new Commission 
activity is frozen.  With respect to Zimbabwe, the Commission 
is moving cautiously.  The three meetings were both welcome 
and useful, providing an opportunity to brief senior 
Commission officials on U.S. views on the region while also 
promoting a more consultative approach.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Gast met first with Director of Operations at ECHO 
Steffen Stenberg and ECHO team leader for Sudan Sophie 
Vanhaeverbeke.  Stenberg affirmed ECHO's strong interest in 
separating International Criminal Court (ICC) issues from 
ECHO's humanitarian relief work in Sudan.  Describing Sudan 
as a big and complicated issue, he noted that north and south 
are still one country.  He added that gaps caused by the 
expulsion of various NGOs from Sudan earlier this year are 
now more or less covered, though these short-term measures to 
some extent simply mask real fragility.  He also noted that 
the United Nations' track-three option, which seeks to 
develop a long-term solution for future humanitarian work, 
will never come to fruition.  Additionally, ECHO's Sudan team 
said their concerns are protection, access, and receiving 
accurate information.  Finally, he suggested that the 
international aid community at this point is simply trying to 
re-establish what we had before, which was already quite 
appalling. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) At an operational level, Stenberg mentioned that 
ECHO had placed two full-time staff at Nyala in Darfur.  He 
also stated that while EUROPEAID might normally assume a more 
active role in southern Sudan, it is ECHO that must take the 
lead.  Indeed, EUROPEAID's entire planned 300 million Euro 
development assistance package, covering all Sudanese regions 
over the next several years, is in jeopardy because of 
Sudan's refusal to ratify the Cotonou Agreement, which 
governs EU development programs to countries in the African, 
Caribbean, and Pacific regions.  Finally, Stenberg noted that 
the EC has refrained from using the word genocide to describe 
the situation in Darfur, stating that both famine and 
genocide are inflammatory words that should only be used in 
exceptional cases. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) A follow-on meeting with Roger Moore, DG-DEV's 
Director for the Horn of Africa as well as East and Southern 
Africa, covered similar ground.  Moore noted that he agrees 
with those who argue that carrots do not work in Sudan, but 
added that sticks do not work either, underscoring the 
difficulties of working in the region.  Despite the 
obstacles, Moore argued that engagement remains very 
important. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Moore also noted the importance of engaging with 
various international actors involved in Sudan.   The EU is 
trying to engage with China, but so far there is little 
discernable success.  Efforts to work with the African Union 
on funding for training programs seem somewhat more 
promising, though require much effort to achieve even limited 
results. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Touching briefly on other countries in the region, 
Moore described the African Union response in Madagascar as 
positive.  For its part, the Commission is freezing all new 
activities in Madagascar in an effort to exert maximum 
pressure.  With regard to Somalia, Moore indicated that the 
Commission is working on a new policy statement that should 
be available by the end of the month, one that will cover 
piracy and security issues as well as development concerns. 
 
BRUSSELS 00000869  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
As for Zimbabwe, the Commission is interested in doing 
business with the new government or at least talking with 
them, and awaits proposals from the Zimbabwe side.  (Note: 
The EU Troika subsequently re-opened an official political 
dialogue with Zimbabwe on June 18.  End Note)  In his view, 
the donor community is divided over whether to engage at all, 
making aid activity of any kind in Zimbabwe a difficult 
balancing act. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Gast's final meeting of the day was with Gary 
Quince, the EUROPEAID counterpart responsible for all of 
sub-Saharan Africa.  Quincy noted that prospects are 
problematic for launching a more robust EUROPEAID development 
effort in Sudan now.  According to Quince, EUROPEAID's plans 
include a 300 million Euro, multi-year effort involving 
operations in both northern (roughly 54 percent of the 
program) and southern (roughly 46 percent of the program) 
Sudan.  Quince confirmed Stenberg's earlier statement that EC 
development programming is on hold until Sudan signs the 
needed cooperation documents, which reference the ICC issue. 
While EUROPEAID had hoped to open an office in southern 
Sudan, for now only ECHO is able to engage on behalf of the 
Commission, frustrating efforts to move from an effort that 
is largely humanitarian in nature to one focused more on 
development. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) COMMENT:  USAID, as well as USEU leadership, 
appreciates Gast's brief visit to Brussels en route to Sudan, 
providing a useful opportunity to engage with counterparts on 
important development concerns.  Coming just prior to a 
series of meetings in Brussels involving representatives from 
State, MCC and USAID and aimed at advancing a renewed 
trans-Atlantic dialogue on development, Gast's visit provided 
European counterparts with tangible evidence of a U.S. 
commitment to exchange views, promote information sharing 
and, where possible, develop common approaches aimed at 
addressing common global concerns.  End Comment. 
 
MURRAY 
.