VZCZCXRO8481
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #1249/01 3080913
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 040913Z NOV 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4692
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 001249 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
UN ROME FOR HSPANOS 
NEW YORK FOR DMERCADO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI SMIG UN SU
SUBJECT:  USAID Acting Administrator Visit to Nyala, South Darfur 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  On October 25, USAID Acting Administrator Alonzo 
Fulgham, Acting Assistant Administrator for USAID's Bureau for 
Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/DCHA) Susan 
Reichle, and USAID Senior Policy Advisor Steven Pierce conducted a 
seven-hour visit to Nyala, South Darfur, as part of an October 24 to 
27 visit to Sudan.  The delegation was accompanied by USAID Mission 
Director William Hammink and USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster 
Assistance (USAID/OFDA) Acting Country Representative Kate 
Farnsworth.  The trip included meetings with the South Darfur 
Governor (Wali) and United Nations-African UnionMission in Darfur 
(UNAMID) officials, a visit to Otash IDP camp, a tour of UN World 
Food Programme (WFP) warehouses, as well as meetings with the Peace 
Council at Nyala University, and the Area Humanitarian Country Team 
(AHCT).  End summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
WALI - "SOUTH DARFUR IS SAFE" 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The security situation in South Darfur dominated 
discussions during the introductory meeting with the South Darfur 
Wali, Mr. Ali Mahmoud Mohamed, at the VIP Lounge of Nyala's airport. 
 The Wali told the Acting Administrator that South Darfur is now 
safe due to successful peace and reconciliation conferences between 
different ethnic groups that the Government of Sudan (GOS) had 
facilitated.  According to the Wali, current insecurity is primarily 
linked to fragmented armed opposition groups and banditry and 
security incidents had declined dramatically. 
 
¶3. (SBU) When asked about government's intent to arrest and 
prosecute criminals engaging in car-jackings and kidnapping of aid 
workers, the Wali replied that the full measure of the courts will 
be applied when the guilty parties are detained.  Mohamed lamented 
that even his own staff are victimized by these elements, describing 
a fatal ambush on a government convoy on the road to Kass in which 
one person died and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) 
State Minister of Agriculture was nearly killed.  (Note: The State 
Minister of Agriculture for South Darfur has publicly accused 
National Congress Party (NCP) officials in South Darfur of arranging 
the attempt on his life in which he was injured and his bodyguard 
was killed.  End note.)  The Administrator stressed that impunity 
for criminals not only affects humanitarian work but also tarnishes 
the reputation of Sudan in the United States. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Wali impressed on the delegation that, with security 
restored in Darfur, the government is actively engaged in an IDP 
return program that includes a "package" of interventions in rural 
areas including community security, health, water, and schools. 
Further, he invited the Administrator to visit one of the model 
villages to see first-hand that internally displaced persons (IDPs) 
are actively returning home.  The Wali admitted that it will take a 
long time to restore South Darfur to normal after the last years of 
conflict.  The Administrator pressed the Wali to comment on the role 
of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Office 
of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the returns 
process.  With reluctance, and after some insistence by the USAID 
delegation, the Wali averred that IOM and UNHCR are now a part of 
the returns team and that "we have to make use of them."  The Wali 
advised that the two organizations would be part of coordination 
meetings on voluntary return and that he would be looking to the 
organizations to support returns. 
 
--------------------------- 
UNAMID ENGAGED IN SECURITY, 
CONCERNED ABOUT ELECTIONS 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Proceeding to UNAMID headquarters for a meeting with the 
civilian staff of Sector 2 South, the Administrator received a more 
detailed briefing on security in the region. UNAMID Acting 
Officer-in-Charge and Humanitarian, Recovery, and Development 
Liaison Team Leader Landing Badji informed the group that some 
improvements in security had occurred since March 2009.  Before 
March, approximately 50 vehicles had been hijacked, whereas since 
March only 5 had been taken successfully.  (Note: USAID does not 
believe this is an accurate figure as three vehicles were carjacked 
during the week prior to the Administrator's visit, according to NGO 
staff.  This figure also does not address that there are currently 
fewer NGO vehicles on the road in South Darfur than before March 5. 
End Note)  UNAMID noted the likelihood that carjacking attempts will 
increase as elections approach. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) UNAMID also relayed the suspicion that security elements 
 
KHARTOUM 00001249  002 OF 003 
 
 
are involved in the carjackings, thus limiting the due process of 
law when arrests are made; criminals are often out on the streets 
after only a short period of detention.  UNAMID stated that the 
government has ordered that off-duty police men no longer carry arms 
in an effort to reduce violent incidents, but it will be some time 
before significant change is felt.  UNAMID has suffered many 
casualties in the course of their duties in Darfur, Badji reported. 
Now, UNAMID "means business" and, with full endorsement of UN 
Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Susana Malcorra who 
visited recently, will fight back with full force in self-defense 
when threatened. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Asked how the IDPs view the election, the UNAMID civil 
affairs head highlighted IDPs' dilemma.  First, the IDPs were 
excluded from the census, as were rebel-held "liberated areas." 
This omission affects the districting divisions in Darfur, which 
will impact the election.  Under the voting rules, one must be 
resident in a location three months prior to the election in order 
to vote.  IDPs are unlikely to want to vote in IDP camps, as IDP 
votes will not have a significant impact in the districts where most 
camps are located, typically in large towns with high pro-government 
constituents. Similarly, IDPs fear that if they vote as residents of 
a camp, they will compromise their future land claims in rural 
areas.  At the same time, the current occupants in IDPs' rural areas 
of origin will vote in rural areas as residents, thus negating the 
displaced individuals' claims to those lands.  South Darfur Area 
Humanitarian Country Team (AHCT) members and UNAMID predict 
increased insecurity as elections approach due to the uncertainty of 
IDP participation, and lack of political space for election 
activities. 
 
¶8. (SBU) In addition, UNAMID noted that the GOS has not permitted 
armed opposition groups to register as political parties, further 
narrowing the electoral space. And perhaps most importantly, UNAMID 
representatives noted that a state of emergency still exists in 
Darfur, which permits the government to deny basic rights included 
in the National Election Law and required for campaigning, including 
freedom of assembly, expression, and press.  UNAMID highlighted the 
point using the October arrests of 24 SPLM members in Nyala and Ed 
Daein for holding meetings related to next year's elections.  As 
long as the GOS-mandated emergency situation prevails, the elections 
in Darfur are compromised even before beginning, UNAMID said. 
 
---------------- 
ON TO OTASH CAMP 
---------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) From the UNAMID headquarters, the delegation traveled five 
kilometers to Otash IDP Camp, a camp first established in 2004 to 
accommodate 1,500 IDPs and today housing more than 70,000 residents. 
 The March 2009 expulsions of CARE, Action Contre la Faim (ACF), CHF 
International, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) severely 
affected health, nutrition, protection, and livelihoods activities 
in the camp.  UNICEF, in coordination with GOS counterpart 
ministries, has intervened to continue providing water, while 
USAID/OFDA partner World Vision as well as the German NGO Humedica, 
the Kuwaiti Patient Helping Fund, and national NGO Rufida are 
working to provide health services.  The Acting Administrator 
visited the USAID/OFDA-funded World Vision clinic and observed the 
array of services provided. 
 
¶10. (SBU) In an animated meeting with IDP leaders, or sheikhs, in 
the presence of the South Darfur Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) 
representatives, the Administrator received a briefing on the needs 
of the camp, including education, health, sanitation, and food. The 
sheikhs complained that attracting teachers to the camp remains a 
challenge due to the cost of transportation between Nyala and the 
camp, as well as lack of available funding for teacher salaries. 
The schools lack benches and text books.  The parents are 
contributing to pay an incentive to the teachers in lieu of salary 
to attract them to the camp, but this has not solved the problem. 
In addition, since the expulsion of IRC, access to hospital care is 
limited, as IRC previously paid hospital fees for the IDPs.  Since 
IDPs cannot afford to pay hospital fees, they are forgoing transfers 
to the hospital.  According to the sheikhs, a reduction in soap 
distributions has resulted in increased signs of skin disease. 
(Note: The USAID/OFDA health advisor notes that increases in skin 
disease are "soft indicators" of potentially larger problems to 
come. USAID/OFDA provided USD 2.0 million to the UN Children's Fund 
(UNICEF) for soap in Darfur in Fiscal Year 2009. End note.)  The 
IDPs also complained that the current food ration comprises only 70 
percent of the previously provided food basket and requested that 
the visitors press WFP to return the ration levels to 100 percent. 
 
KHARTOUM 00001249  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶11.  (SBU) IDP women representatives interjected that the departure 
of CHF and the cessation of income generating activities has 
resulted in a loss of family income that helped to fill the gap in 
the humanitarian aid.  In a side meeting with USAID/DCHA Acting 
Assistant Administrator Reichle, the women further explained that 
the CHF work had enabled them to meet and talk about women's issues 
outside the home environment, fostering a greater sense of 
independence and self-reliance.  The women also noted that domestic 
violence remains a part of their lives and that the CHF women's 
centers offered a reprieve and shelter from violence at home, at 
least temporarily.  HAC representatives listened and took notes 
throughout Reichle's meeting with the women. 
 
------------------------- 
THREE MONTHS' FOOD SUPPLY 
------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Moving from the camp, the Acting Administrator arrived at 
the WFP South Darfur warehouse.  The sprawling, but organized, 
complex of Rubb Hall tents holds up to 39,000 metric tons, or three 
months worth of food for the area at any one time.  The caseload for 
South Darfur varies from 806,000 beneficiaries during the 
post-harvest season to 1.2 million during the June-September hunger 
gap. 
 
¶13. (SBU) In a tent filled with USAID bags of sorghum, the Acting 
Administrator received a briefing from WFP staff on the proposed new 
strategy to reduce the number of general food beneficiaries. 
Acutely aware of the growing dependency on food aid in Darfur, WFP 
has decided to seek opportunities to shift from general food 
distributions to a safety net approach, utilizing improved 
targeting, food and milling vouchers, and other interventions.  The 
Darfur Food Security Monitoring System, which tracks market and 
other data throughout the region, is serving to pinpoint where and 
when such interventions should be initiated.  WFP acknowledged that 
the WFP food ration card remains one of the economic factors that 
discourage IDPs from leaving the IDP camps permanently. 
 
-------------------------- 
FOSTERING GRASSROOTS PEACE 
-------------------------- 
 
¶14. From the WFP warehouse, the group moved to the University of 
Nyala peace center, where USAID Office of Transition Initiatives 
(USAID/OTI) partner Academy for International Development (AED) had 
organized a meeting of students working for grassroots peace 
building under the guidance of the head of the peace center and 
chancellor of the university.  The students noted their desire for 
unconditional peaceful co-existence of all ethnic groups in Darfur 
and asked for support to reach out to communities and other students 
to share the message.  The administrator noted that the "Last Mile" 
USAID project, which introduces technology to connect various 
groups, might be useful in this context.  The students relayed hopes 
to be involved in voter education and noted that a workshop held the 
previous week had revealed how little was known in South Darfur 
about the elections. 
 
¶15. (U) The USAID delegation cleared this cable prior to departure. 
 
WHITEHEAD