VZCZCXRO9175
PP RUEHBC RUEHBZ RUEHDH RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHKUK RUEHMA RUEHMR
RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNJ #0050/01 0271137
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271137Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7628
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0001
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NDJAMENA 000050 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/C 
STATE ALSO FOR S/USSES 
STATE ALSO FOR PRM/AFR 
NSC FOR GAVIN 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
LONDON FOR POL - LORD 
PARIS FOR POL - BAIN AND KANEDA 
ADDIS ABABA FOR AU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF ASEC PREL PHUM SU CD
SUBJECT: CHAD HUMANITARIAN UPDATE: M&E Travel and NGO News 
 
¶1. (U) The following is an update of N'Djamena RefCoord's recent 
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) travel and meetings with NGO 
partners working in the Chad humanitarian response. 
 
----------------------- 
M&E TRAVEL: IRIBA AREA 
REFUGEE CAMPS 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) RefCoord spent the week of 07 to 12 December in the 
Touloum, Iridimi, and Am Nabak refugee camps in the area around 
Iriba, in the northern sector of humanitarian operations in eastern 
Chad.  RefCoord monitored activities of the NGO's International 
Medical Corp (IMC), Comite d'Aide Medicale (CAM), the Refugee 
Education Trust (RET), and InterNews Network in all camps where 
operational, and in Iriba town. 
 
¶3. (SBU) UNHCR provided compound housing and ground transport, per 
Post's travel policy for eastern Chad.  Mongolian troops deployed to 
the MINURCAT force in Iriba and DIS police units alternated to 
escort the daily 20-40 km drives between Iriba and the camps.  There 
were no security incidents during the visits, with the exception of 
MINURCAT's controlled detonation of abandoned explosive remnants of 
war (ERW). 
 
¶4. (SBU) CAM, responsible for primary health care in Touloum and 
Iridimi, was conducting bloc-by-bloc nutritional screenings in both 
camps with children and pregnant women during RefCoord's visit. 
Although medical consultation levels were generally up over the 
previous month, and diarrhea cases on the rise, nutritional levels 
were generally found to be responsive to quick intervention in the 
nutrition center.  Unfortunately, in the course of conducting a 
screening, the CAM team discovered an adolescent girl who had 
apparently committing suicide by drinking products used in the 
application of henna skin markings.  Though still alive when found, 
the child succumbed some hours later at the referral hospital in 
Iriba.  Family members believed she objected to a marriage 
arrangement that was under negotiation. 
 
¶5. (SBU) RET's Secondary Education Distance Learning (SEDL) program 
was getting underway in all three camps.  Self Study manuals were 
stocked and ready for shipment from the logistics hub in Abeche, a 
marked improvement over 2008 when manuals arrived very late in the 
academic year.  The SEDL program was to restart in Am Nabak camp, 
having been suspended in 2008 when UNHCR withdrew all services from 
the camp in response to threats against staff attempting to conduct 
a verification exercise.  Students who had dropped out of secondary 
education in Sudan to take flight some years prior were extremely 
eager to begin their SEDL program, with the hope of earning a 
Khartoum-approved Grade 11 leaver's certificate at the end of a year 
of intensive self-study. 
 
¶6. (SBU) UNHCR was conducting sensitization campaigns on refugee 
Watch Committees' responsibilities to contribute to camp security in 
Touloum camp, and against gender-based violence in Iridimi camp. The 
lack of adequate water supplies in both the camps and the local 
communities continues to be a constant source of tension between 
these groups.  Members of the host communities consistently block 
attempts to develop more bore holes for camp supply.  A member of 
the area counsel who is also employed with CARE, the NGO currently 
attempting to manage water supplies, informed RefCoord that the 
local communities believe that UNHCR and CARE must first improve the 
water supplies to the host communities, and prove that water 
provided to the refugee camps will not deprive the host communities 
of the precious commodity. 
 
------------------------ 
M&E TRAVEL: ABECHE-BASED 
NGOS AND UNHCR 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) RefCoord spend 18 to 20 January in Abeche, the humanitarian 
hub for eastern Chad, for coordination discussions with NGO partners 
finalizing sub-agreements with UNHCR, and to check on the status of 
the UNHCR draw-down in the town.  UNHCR began implementation in 
September 2009 of a major reorganization at donors' behest, 
dramatically increasing protection staff in the deep field, moving 
 
NDJAMENA 00000050  002 OF 003 
 
 
higher ranking and more experienced officers into four field offices 
and several sub-delegations, and pulling program, technical, and 
supervisory staff back to N'Djamena.  Once the permanent location of 
well over 100 professional staff and support personnel, UNHCR's 
Abeche compound as of 18 January is the workplace of only 32 
employees, entirely devoted to logistical operations.  Guest houses, 
a canteen, and several conference rooms will be maintained for field 
staff accommodation and regional training purposes. 
 
¶8. (SBU) RefCoord met with country directors and staff from partner 
NGOs InterNews Network, Architectes d'Urgence (AU), AirServ, 
Christian Outreach - Relief and Development (CORD), Hebrew Immigrant 
Aid Society (HIAS), and International Medical Corps (IMC). 
Discussions with AU centered on the early termination of PRM's 
cooperative agreement with the NGO to construct school buildings in 
the Oure Cassoni camp in the far north of the humanitarian 
operations area.  Through no fault of AU, the uncertainty 
surrounding the status of the Oure Cassoni camp, slated to move to a 
not-yet-identified location, has meant that the NGO will not be able 
to implement the project agreed with PRM.  RefCoord asked that the 
AU staff develop a close-down timeline for consideration in PRM. 
 
¶9. (SBU) RefCoord discussed with InterNews, CORD, and HIAS their 
efforts to re-structure their activities, either to come in line 
with changes to UNHCR performance standards, or to accommodate 
changes demanded under new UNHCR sub-agreements to be signed in the 
course of January.  In some cases, the new sub-agreements entail the 
suspension of activities still covered under cooperative agreements 
with PRM. 
 
----------------------- 
IMC'S GUEREDA HOSPITAL 
UNDER THREAT 
----------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) RefCoord's meeting with IMC's Country Director was devoted 
to the on-going tensions between UNHCR and IMC, on one hand, and a 
host population family in the area of Guereda, on the other.  IMC's 
physician at the Guereda hospital, a Malian national, agreed under 
some duress to do a non-essential surgical repair to a hare-lip on a 
six-year-old child, on or about 14 December 2009.  The child's 
mother is reported to have been adamant that the surgery be done, 
given the impact on the boy's future marriage prospects and ability 
to command a substantial dowery should he grow up with the 
deformity.  The child suffered a reaction to the anesthetic used, 
and died during surgery.  Since then IMC's doctor has been 
threatened, briefly imprisoned, and kept under virtual house arrest. 
 The family is insisting on wrongful death compensation under 
customary law, in this case 100 camels or the monetary equivalent. 
UNHCR is unwilling for such compensation to be paid.  The 
traditional Sultan, the sub-Prefect, the Prefect, and the Governor 
have all engaged on the subject. 
 
¶11. (SBU) UNHCR and local authorities consulted with the MINURCAT 
Deputy SRSG, three regional Governors and the GoC Minister of the 
Interior regarding the case on the margins of a grand conference on 
conflict resolution held in Guereda on 19 January.  IMC received 
word on 23 January that the Prefect had contacted UNHCR staff in 
Guereda that day and stated that compensation must be paid to the 
family through the Prefect's good offices by Monday 25 January.  If 
not, the Prefect warned that he would be unable to guarantee the 
safety of UNHCR or IMC staff.  RefCoord ensured that UNHCR senior 
leadership and IMC's country director were in consultation through 
the weekend of 23-24 January.  Although UNHCR is acting as a 
facilitator in bringing the case to the attention of higher 
authorities, they are also distancing the IO from IMC as regards 
having any official role to play in resolving the conflict, per 
elements apparently standard in their sub-agreements with their NGO 
partners.  That said, UNHCR has favored considering the suspension 
of operations in Guereda until the Prefect and the family in 
question can be calmed.  Meanwhile, though there is another IMC 
physician at the hospital, he is acting only to refer patients to 
the Iriba reference hospital 80 kms away until the conflict is 
resolved.  Ethinc tensions may also be stirring around the case -- 
the dominant Tama population is upset at the hospital closure, while 
the family involved and the Prefect is from the politically powerful 
Zaghawa clan. 
 
NDJAMENA 00000050  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
MSF-SUISSE CITES SECURITY, 
CLOSES OPERATIONS EAST OF ABECHE 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) RefCoord met with the Country Director of MSF-CH at his 
request to be informed of the NGO's closure of all activities in 
support of the Assoungha Health District, including the hospital at 
the Chad-Sudan border town of Adre.  This implies the termination of 
support to the hospital itself, as well as to two health centers in 
Adre and Djoroko towns.  MSF-CH has informed the GoC in writing at 
all levels of this decision, and has shared their letter with all 
donors and IOs in the humanitarian arena.  The letter (provided to 
PRM and AF/C by email) lists the sequence of increasingly worsening 
security events in the Assoungha Health District that has led the 
NGO to close down its activities.  It states (in part): "MSF is a 
medical organization in which volunteers accept to work in sometimes 
extreme conditions.  That said, it is the responsibility of the 
headquarters in Geneva to constantly evaluate the level of risk. 
These risks are judged to be too high to enable us to continue to 
develop our assistance with the necessary independence and security 
for our teams.  Of particular concern is the risk of kidnapping 
which expatriate and national staff face in the border area." 
(RefCoord's informal translation from French.) 
 
-------------------------- 
REVIVING THE BI-WEEKLY 
SECURITY EXCHANGE MEETINGS 
-------------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) IO, NGO, donor, and PKO representatives met on 05 January 
for the first bi-weekly meeting on security matters of 2010. 
Participants sought to revitalize the meetings, which have over time 
been reduced to a UNDSS PowerPoint briefing itemizing the security 
incidents of the previous two weeks, followed by a short speech from 
either the MINURCAT Force Commander or Deputy Commander, and 
occasionally another from the SRSG.  NGO participants asked if a new 
meeting format could be considered to allow for a greater exchange 
on security, in particular more consultation between MINURCAT, UNDSS 
and the DIS representatives and the humanitarian community they 
purport to serve on how best to organize civilian-military relations 
within the guidelines of the Interagency Steering Committee (IASC). 
All participants agreed to the composition of a working group to 
make recommendations on the matter.  RefCoord joined an informal 
meeting among donors ECHO, France, and Switzerland to come to a 
joint position on the question.  Donors agreed to support a meeting 
agenda that establishes security reporting opportunities for 
UNDSS/MINURCAT; the IASC chair (the OCHA Head of Office); and the 
NGO Coordinating Committee.  The goal is to develop an exchange and 
dialogue, rather than a reiteration of known facts.  UNDSS/MINURCAT 
would be requested to describe trends and develop recommendations 
from the incidents, rather than a simple cataloguing of events. 
Last, a monthly meeting of IO and NGO security officers with UNDSS 
for more confidential briefings was suggested. 
 
NIGRO