VZCZCXRO5569
OO RUEHBI RUEHLMC
DE RUEHLM #0913/01 1770328
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 260328Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6354
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 3218
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 5326
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0238
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 7219
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3866
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1138
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 3939
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 1149
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3023
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 7809
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 5465
RUEHON/AMCONSUL TORONTO 0277
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2161
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000913
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS AND PRM
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID
AID/W FOR ANE/SAA
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA FOR RTHAYER AND BDEEMER
BANGKOK FOR OFDA TDOLAN
KATHMANDU FOR OFDA WBERGER
USMISSION GENEVA FOR KYLOH
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS AND PRM
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID
AID/W FOR ANE/SAA
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA FOR RTHAYER AND BDEEMER
BANGKOK FOR OFDA ? TDOLAN
KATHMANDU FOR OFDA ? WBERGER
USMISSION GENEVA FOR KYLOH
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PINS PREF PGOV EAID CE
SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF UNITED NATIONS REVISED COMMON
HUMANITARIAN ACTION PLAN 2007, SRI LANKA
1. (U) The Interagency Standing Committee Country Team
held a mid-year review meeting on the revised Common
Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) 2007 for the
international donor community on June 14, 2007. The U.S.,
Japan, UK, South Korea, Australia, Canada, India, France,
Sweden, and others other donors were represented. From
USAID, Mission Director Rebecca Cohn and Humanitarian
Assistance Program Manager John Lee Park attended the
meeting, which identified humanitarian gaps and needs in
response to the emergency humanitarian crisis in the
North and East of Sri Lanka.
2. (U) The CHAP is a comprehensive approach to improve the
coordination of the UN and humanitarian organizations?
efforts, as well as a a platform for advocacy and
fundraising. Each of the responsible UN agencies made
presentations on on the current situation and future
needs in the following sectors: water and sanitation,
education, food, shelter, protection, health and
nutrition, agriculture, economic recovery and
infrastructure, security and coordination and support
services.
3. (SBU) The UN agencies emphasized that the future
emergency response will need to address support for early
recovery for recently returned internally displaced
persons (IDPs) in the East and pre-positioning emergency
supplies for the North for probable new displacements.
UNHCR and ICRC are forecasting as many as 350,000 new
IDPs in the North in the event of intensified fighting
near the Mannar, Vavuniya, Jaffna, and Trincomalee areas,
which border the Liberation Tigers of Tamil of Eelam
(LTTE)-controlled territory.
4. (SBU) UN agencies said that the mid-year CHAP for 2007
justifies additional funds in order to assist the present
234,500 IDPs and 70,500 recently returned IDPs, and to
prepare for new IDPs in the North. The original
requirement to meet the needs of all sectors for 2007 was
roughly $64.5 million, and commitments to the original
CHAP by 13 donors reached over $46.3 million. The CHAP?s
updated requirement for 2007 is now approximately $107.2
million, translating into an unmet need of $61.8 million.
5. (U) Most sectors requested 50% above original
requests. Several sectors, such as Health (implemented
by the World Health Organization) and Economic Recovery
and Infrastructure (implemented by the UNDP) received
little or no donor support in the last year. The UNDP
stated that a proper recovery from disaster must include
a transition from emergency relief to sustainable
COLOMBO 00000913 002 OF 002
development, but which has not occurred in Sri Lanka. As
of the date of this meeting, the UNDP has not received
any funds under the CHAP. Food and nutrition
(implemented by the World Food Program) is a priority for
IDPs and requires the largest amount of funds. Food for
Peace has recently contributed $5.1 million to World Food
Program under the CHAP and reduced unmet requirements to
$16 million.
6. (SBU) Comment: With a rapidly changing humanitarian
environment and rising conflict, there is a financial gap
in all sectors. It is necessary to continue supporting
IDPs in their present place of displacement, provide
assistance to IDPs returning to their places of origin,
and pre-position relief items for contingency planning
for the North. OFDA and Food for Peace have provided
important assistance and strong collaboration during the
ongoing humanitarian crisis. USAID looks forward to
their mission to Sri Lanka July 6-12 and the possibility
of offering further, badly needed support to meet
humanitarian requirements in Sri Lanka.
Moore