VZCZCXRO8693
OO RUEHBC RUEHBZ RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHKUK RUEHMA
RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNJ #0531/01 3161626
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121626Z NOV 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7432
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NDJAMENA 000531 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/C AND S/USSES 
NSC FOR GAVIN 
LONDON FOR POL - LORD 
PARIS FOR POL - BAIN AND KANEDA 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR AU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF ECON CD
SUBJECT: IN THE EYE OF THE STORM:  ABECHE, CHAD'S EASTERN 
METROPOLE 
 
REF: A. 1989 NDJAMENA 1409 
     ¶B. NDJAMENA 511 
 
NDJAMENA 00000531  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU) Abeche, the metropole of eastern Chad, is the 
center of activity for the local population and the 
international community's humanitarian and peacekeeping 
operations, as well as the far-flung region's commercial and 
administrative center, both civilian and military.  The GOC's 
efforts toward poverty reduction and development are evident 
here, but so too are the attendant social and economic 
stresses due to the vastly increased international presence 
here -- humanitarian international organizations and NGOs, 
the UN PKO, and the contractors who provide logistical 
support to them as they assist the 300,000 Sudanese refugees, 
200,000 Chadian IDPS and local populations.  The cost of 
living for ordinary "abechois" has increased dramatically, as 
have problems with access to water and other resources, and 
most grave -- greatly increased criminality and banditry. 
The international community provides some humanitarian and 
development assistance to the local populations, but not 
nearly on the scale of humanitarian assistance aimed at the 
refugees and IDPs. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Although the local population blames the 
international community for many of Abeche's current 
problems, their complaints are accurate only in so far as the 
assistance provided is indeed badly balanced between the 
"newcomers" and the "locals."  Many of the region's social 
problems and lack of development pre-date the arrival of 
refugees and IDPs, but there is however no doubt that the 
international humanitarian and PKO presence has significantly 
exacerbated those societal and economic problems.  At the 
same time, it has heightened the awareness of the local 
population to the development needs of the city and the wider 
region.  The example of the attention paid to the needs of 
the refugees and IDPs by the international community and the 
GOC has spurred the local populations, including many IDPs, 
to recognize that they are just as vulnerable from the 
essential conditions of their lives, unchanged for decades, 
and that they have legitimate right to clamor for essential 
services, either from their own authorities, or from more 
international organizations.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------- 
KEY POINTS 
---------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Key points follow: 
-- Abeche and the region are under stress -- societal, 
economic, environmental, security; 
-- Locals resent the very negative impact of humanitarian and 
peacekeeping actors; 
-- GOC and MINURCAT are providing some development assistance 
to the local community; and 
-- Assistance decisions must take into account the needs of 
the local population. 
 
--------------------- 
CHAD'S EASTERN CENTER 
--------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Abeche, with a Chadian population around 50,000, is 
the coutry's largest eastern city and ranks fourth in size 
after N'Djamena and southern cities Moundou and Sarh.  The 
city is the capital of the Ouaddai region, whose population 
of 730,000 in the 2009 census made it the fourth most 
populous of Chad's 21 regions.  Prime Minister Youssouf Salah 
Abbas, Higher Education Minister Ahmat Taboye, and Interior 
Minister Ahmat Bachir all come from the Ouaddai region.  As 
throughout Chad, most Ouaddians are subsistence herders and 
farmers (with about ten percent of the region's land under 
cultivation).  As the historical capital of Dar Ouaddai, 
Abeche has played a central role in all of the key moments in 
the relationships among the political, ethnic, and economic 
groups that have interacted in Ouaddai and Darfur sultanates 
long predating the Chad-Sudan border.  Indeed, as Ref A makes 
clear, Abeche traditionally looked more toward the East and 
 
NDJAMENA 00000531  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Sudan for its economic and social relations than westward to 
the rest of Chad. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In addition to its stature as Chad's eastern 
metropole, Abeche has been the hub for all humanitarian 
operations in eastern Chad since the current crisis began in 
¶2004.  It hosts the forward deployed operational headquarters 
of MINURCAT, the UN peacekeeping operation for Chad and the 
Central African Republic, and the logistics offices of all UN 
humanitarian agencies and partner NGOs.  By most estimates, 
the UN and international NGO presence has tripled or 
quadrupled the population of Abeche since the onset of the 
current iteration of conflict in eastern Chad and western 
Sudan in 2004. 
 
----------------------- 
ABECHE TODAY: 
POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES 
----------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The government's efforts to implement its poverty 
reduction strategy, coupled with the international presence, 
are having some positive impacts on Abeche.  For example, the 
government is benefiting from a Chinese assistance program to 
improve the road infrastructure between N'Djamena and Abeche 
and pol/econoff had to detour around some of the city's main 
thoroughfares that were being graded and paved -- a welcome 
development for the city's population in general as well as 
for the operators of the Indian-manufactured three-wheelers 
tooling around.  Some 4,000 Chinese may be based in Abeche 
for road and other infrastructure projects, but remain 
confined almost exclusively to their compounds outside of 
work hours. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The government has also recently used Abeche to 
launch a nationwide campaign against gender-based violence 
and to host a forum on human rights issues in the north and 
east of Chad, both in partnership with UN agencies.  The 
government's local representative of the Ministry of Social 
Action told pol/econoff that the ministry is working with 
local cooperative associations to provided needed items such 
as materials and human resources.  The GOC is also in the 
final stages of outfitting a vocational and technical 
training center for youths 14-18 years old.  Other local and 
religious groups provide employment and schooling 
opportunities for some of the most destitute: abused women 
and abandoned children. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The local government-controlled radio station, 
broadcasting in French, Arabic, and Maba, is responsible for 
the entire region but only has enough power to transmit for 
25 kilometers.  The director at Radio Abeche said that the 
station features health and religious call-in shows, in 
addition to culture and sports programs, but that he regrets 
that he can not use the radio as the means of political and 
social debate it should be.  Both local and international 
interlocutors, however, said that they listened to the 
State/PRM-funded InterNews station, Voices of Ouaddai, which 
has greater transmission power than Radio Abeche. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The increased international presence has had a 
mixed impact on Abeche.  Three local banks opened branches in 
Abeche in 2008, bringing to four the total number of banking 
institutions.  Increased demand for housing driven by the 
rapid expansion of humanitarian operations in the region has 
raised real estate prices, which has only benefitted the few 
who are landowners.  By all other accounts, we witnessed the 
various negative impacts of the international presence.  Cost 
of living has risen dramatically, with basic foodstuffs three 
to four times as expensive.  Many local families can no 
longer afford the increased cost of housing or even to feed 
themselves; the number of abandoned children has increased. 
The fragile ecosystem of the semi-arid environment, which 
barely managed to provide water resources to sustain the 
historic indigenous population, is insufficient to serve the 
new expanded population. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The local opulation, with an imperfect 
understanding of th requirements of UN and INGO operations, 
feels unairly excluded frm both the assistance brought to 
the region and business opportunities that the iternational 
 
NDJAMENA 00000531  003 OF 003 
 
 
presence might be expected to bring.  Some local 
interlocutors recognized that UN humanitarian and political 
agencies were providing some assistance to local populations, 
but regretted that the efforts were not sufficient or robust. 
 Members of the local branch of the Chamber of Commerce were 
not satisfied when pol/econoff noted that MINURCAT, UN 
agencies, and INGOs hire local staff members for offices 
throughout the area of operations, instead opining that the 
number of international staff brought to fill positions was 
excessive, and insisting that any Chadian was as competent as 
any foreign worker.  Chamber members complained that MINURCAT 
did not involve the local business community in sourcing 
goods or construction projects, but then admitted that local 
firms are unable to supply materials in sufficient quality or 
amounts in a timely fashion, given that the border closure 
with Sudan -- due to the Darfur conflict -- often meant a 
six-month delivery time for imports to transit from Dubai, 
via Egypt and Libya.  Other contacts shared that Sudanese 
goods still cross the officially closed border, but that 
those imports are mainly basic food items in a volume 
commensurate with the local population,s needs. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Crime and general lawlessness have also risen 
dramatically in the region since the expansion of the 
international presence.  The international community 
introduced valuable goods -- cars, electronics, personal 
property, themselves -- into a region where the Chadian state 
is at its weakest -- with police, judicial, political 
acceptance of impunity.  Security is now a life-threatening 
concern for locals and foreigners (Ref B). 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The international community in Abeche has clearly 
put economic and environmental pressure on this semi-arid 
desert city, significantly exacerbating societal problems and 
resource constraints that predate the arrival of the refugees 
or the peacekeeping operation.  Increased activity in the 
city has heightened awareness of the development needs of the 
city and the wider region.  The magnitude of the peacekeeping 
and humanitarian operation focused on the refugees and 
internally displaced, especially the rapid provision of 
effective health and water infrastructures to populations 
vulnerable from conflict contrasts starkly with the services 
and assistance received by the local population, just as 
vulnerable from the essential conditions of their lives, 
unchanged for decades, who have legitimate right to clamor 
for basic services, either from their own authorities, or 
from international organizations. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Positively, one of the more significant 
development projects that affects the population both in and 
around Abeche is the USAID-funded Africare Food Security 
Initiative which has been implemented in this area since the 
mid-1980s.  The project currently focuses on increasing food 
security through agricultural production in areas adjacent to 
wadis (seasonal rivers) and on improving health status of 
women and children.  It is projects like this for Abeche 
residents and other local populations that the USG can not 
ignore when prioritizing development assistance.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶14.  (U) Minimize considered. 
NIGRO