VZCZCXRO0409
PP RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1789/01 2061305
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251305Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3886
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 001789
SIPDIS
AIDAC
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AFR/SP
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
NAIROBI FOR SFO
NSC FOR JBRAUSE, NSC/AFRICA FOR TSHORTLEY
USUN FOR TMALY
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI SU
SUBJECT: Darfur - Supplemental Provides Opportunity to
Expand Humanitarian Services
KHARTOUM 00001789 001.2 OF 003
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Summary
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1. From July 5 to 19, a USAID/OFDA Sudan Disaster
Operations Specialist (DOS) traveled to Darfur to meet
with USAID/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance
(OFDA) implementing partners and monitor existing
programs. In addition to meeting the critical needs of
newly displaced families, USAID/OFDA partners continue
to provide services and goods to camp residents that
will be transferable to their home communities should
they decide to return. USAID/OFDA is currently
evaluating proposals to meet gaps in area coverage. End
summary.
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New Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
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2. From July 5 to 19, a USAID/OFDA Sudan DOS traveled
to Darfur to meet with USAID/OFDA implementing partners
and monitor existing programs to the extent possible
given time and security constraints. From July 10 to
12, the DOS visited El Fasher, North Darfur, and area
camps Zam Zam, Abu Shouk, and Al Salaam. From July 15
to 16, the DOS visited Kass, South Darfur, and from July
13 to 14 and on July 17, the DOS visited Nyala and area
camps Otash, Kalma, and Alintifada. (Note: Alintifada
is a settlement and not a designated IDP camp. It was
the original planned site for Kalma camp. End note.)
The DOS also met with representatives from the United
Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), the U.N. Children's
Fund (UNICEF), and the U.N. Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in El Fasher, North
Darfur.
3. The DOS visited three camps near El Fasher, two of
which, Zam Zam and Al Salaam, are currently registering
new arrivals displaced by recent fighting in the
Tawila/Korma/Kafod areas west and southwest of El
Fasher. In Zam Zam camp, more than 1,600 people or
approximately 437 households arrived between July 8 and
10, and more people were arriving daily. OCHA reported
on July 13 that they expect an estimated 7,000 to 10,000
new arrivals will be registered in Zam Zam or Al Salaam
camps in the coming weeks due to the increased fighting
in the abovementioned areas. On July 18, OCHA reported
that more than 14,000 new arrivals have been registered
in camps in El Fasher.
4. The DOS spoke to several IDP families who were
waiting to register with the camp coordinating agencies
in Al Salaam and Zam Zam camps. Through these
conversations, the DOS learned that one village sheik
received a letter from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)
Commander in the region stating that that there would be
fighting in the area, and the sheikh and villagers
should leave if they wanted to avoid the violence.
These families were able to pack up some belongings and
traveled by donkey for two to three days to El Fasher.
Another IDP family recounted how violence erupted around
their village, and they gathered supplies and left the
area. One man reported that his family was able to
leave, but while at the fringe of the town, a soldier in
a Sudanese government uniform took away all their food.
One man who fought with the soldier over this issue was
shot and killed. The woman he was with continued to the
camp with other families from the village. USAID/OFDA
partners are responding in Zam Zam camp with critical
shelter, relief commodities, and health services. In Al
Salaam camp, USAID partners are responding in the areas
of camp coordination, relief commodities, and health
services.
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Continuing Services
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5. In addition to meeting the critical needs of newly
displaced families, USAID/OFDA partners continue to
KHARTOUM 00001789 002.2 OF 003
provide services to camp residents and provide services
and goods that will be transferable to their home
communities should they decide to return. Several
USAID/OFDA partners are working with women's groups to
provide basic education and income-generating
activities. The DOS visited women's centers in Zam Zam
camp in North Darfur and Kass in South Darfur where
women were making fuel-efficient stoves, improving their
skills to make local handicrafts and traditional cheese
products, and receiving basic education. One USAID/OFDA
implementing partner has a community center in Zam Zam
camp where men improve sewing and tailoring skills while
creating clothing for children that is then distributed
to IDP children in the camp.
6. The DOS met with USAID/OFDA partners working
throughout North and South Darfur. Current program
activities of implementing partners include camp
coordination and management, primary health care
services, therapeutic and supplementary feeding centers,
food security and agricultural programs, water and
sanitation, and programs focusing on women and children.
7. As the rainy season begins, health clinics in El
Fasher, Kass, and the Nyala areas continue to see cases
of acute respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases,
the main cause of clinic visits; however cases of
malaria are also increasing. All USAID/OFDA
implementing partners were asked about their preparation
for any cholera response given the cholera cases
reported at the end of June 2006. USAID/OFDA
implementing partners stated that operating medical
clinics were appropriately prepared to respond to a
potential cholera outbreak in their areas of operation
through both clinical treatment and hygiene campaigns
designed to reduce and prevent the transmission of
cholera through water and latrine sources.
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Expansion of Work
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8. As USAID/OFDA begins to program USD 66.2 million
from the supplemental for program activities, many
implementing partners are proposing to expand in new
areas and will meet the needs of a diverse population
including multiple ethnic groups, pastoralists,
agriculturalists, and nomads. New locations for
activities include areas along the Darfur border with
Chad and the Central African Republic. Implementing
partners also plan to expand activities in current
program locations to reach more rural areas and home
communities.
9. One critical location where programs will be
implemented is Gereida, South Darfur. Fighting in
Gereida between March and May 2006 caused displacement
of people from their homes as well as the re-
displacement of IDPs in Donkey Dereissa, Dito, and
Joghana. Gereida is now thought to house the largest
IDP camp in Darfur, with more than 120,000 residents.
USAID/OFDA is examining funding partners in programs in
the areas of water and sanitation, health care, and camp
management; all are critical sectors that are not
currently being addressed. USAID/OFDA partners are now
able to access some of the home areas of these IDPs and
are working to establish services such as health,
education, and agriculture for those who are interested
in returning.
10. USAID/OFDA partners are also planning to work with
host communities, IDPs, and nomads to address much
needed basic services in areas such as food security,
health, and water and sanitation, while programming
activities through a conflict mitigation lens. For
example, proposed activities include new boreholes that
both reduce the time and distance for water collection,
but also reduce tensions by locating the boreholes in
areas where communities historically compete for water
services. A USAID/OFDA partner in Kass is working to
support peace agreements between sheiks in rural
KHARTOUM 00001789 003.2 OF 003
communities by providing equal services to the home
community, IDPs, and nomadic groups that "compete" for
resources. USAID/OFDA partners have had success through
this type of programming for the past several months and
propose to expand these services in the coming year.
11. USAID/OFDA is currently evaluating proposals to
meet gaps in area coverage as partners move out of
cities and into rural areas and re-enter places such as
Jebel Mara. USAID/OFDA anticipates that many of the
programs that will be funded will be for up to one year
ensuring that IDPs have basic services met through mid-
fiscal year 2007.
STEINFELD