US embassy cable - 03ROME4614

UNCLAS  ROME 004614 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
AIDAC 
 
FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME 
 
AMEMBASSY KINSHASA FOR AMBASSADOR HOOKS AND USAID DIRECTOR 
GAMBINO 
USAID/W FOR ADMINISTRATOR NATSIOS, D/A SCHIECK, AA/DCHA 
WINTER, AA/AFR NEWMAN AND DAA/AFR BROWN, DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS, 
D/OFDA MCCONNELL, AA/GLOBAL PETERSON 
STATE FOR P U/S GROSSMAN, U/S LARSON, IO A/S HOLMES, A/S 
PRM DEWEY, A/S AF KANSTEINER, AF/C, IO/EDA BEHREND/KOTOK, 
USUN NEW YORK FOR AMBASSADOR NEGROPONTE, SREILLY 
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN AND CHAMBLISS 
USDA/FAS NAIROBI FOR KESSLER 
USMISSION GENEVA FOR AMBASSADOR MOLRY AND USAID/KYLOH 
BRUSSELS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS AND USAID/LERNER 
NSC FOR JDWORKEN AND AFRICA DIRECTORATE 
 
E.O.  12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, AORC, PREF, EAGR, EU, CF, WFP, UN 
SUBJECT: Ambassador Tony P. Hall in the Democratic Republic 
of the Congo  "If Africa is to work, it must work in the 
Congo" "The Congo is crying for leadership.  The Congo 
needs leaders with hearts and vision as big as the country 
itself." 
 
REF: (A) Kinshasa 2415, (B) Kinshasa 1613 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
1. A team led by Ambassador Tony Hall visited the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo September 23-30 and found 
the country with the third largest population in sub- 
Saharan Africa struggling to contain a major humanitarian 
disaster. In 2003, some 2.7 million internally displaced 
will require international assistance which must be closely 
monitored and deftly handled. Three million people are 
already dead from the catastrophe of the past six years. 
Given the depth and wide geographic spread of the tragedy, 
greater leadership and involvement of the United Nations at 
the country level is required. Congo leaders must stand up 
and demonstrate that they truly care for the weakest and 
most vulnerable of their citizens. Lastly, other OECD donor 
capitals need to be seized with a heightened sense of 
urgency. End summary. 
 
---------- 
Background 
---------- 
 
2. Ambassador Tony Hall, US Mission to Rome; Rome 
Humanitarian Attache, Tim Lavelle; Agricultural Counselor 
Geoff Wiggin; and Special Assistant to the Ambassador, Max 
Finberg - visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo 
(DRC) September 23-30. In addition to meetings in Kinshasa 
with U.S. Embassy/USAID, United Nations, non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs) and DRC functionaries, the team spent 
several days in areas in the north and east (Kisangani, 
Bunia, Goma, Bukavu) reviewing World Food Program (WFP), 
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and NGO immediate 
relief and longer-term operations. 
 
3. DRC - which is as large as Western Europe (or about one 
quarter the size of the United States) - has the third 
largest population in sub-Saharan Africa (56 million 
people/200 ethic groups) and an annual per capita income of 
approximately U.S. 87 dollars. That means that many people 
are forced to survive on less than 25 cents per day.  It is 
classified by the United Nations as a least developed 
country (LDC) and ranks almost at the bottom of the UN's 
Human Development Index (HDI). Infant mortality rates 
jumped from 114 per thousand in 1995 to 126 per thousand in 
2001. The country's rate of childbirth deaths, with 1,289 
mothers dying per 100,000 live births, is among the highest 
in the world. DRC has an estimated external debt of nearly 
U.S. 13 billion. 
 
4. The Congolese people have endured one of the bloodiest 
conflicts in modern history, where millions have been 
killed or brutalized, and where millions still live a 
precarious existence. 
 
5. There is some hope however. A Government of National 
Unity and Transition is now in place in Kinshasa. Economic 
indicators have improved in recent years, with inflation 
dropping to an expected 12.2 percent this year, from 512 
percent in 2000. The DRC's gross domestic product grew 3.17 
percent in 2002, against a contraction of 6.9 percent in 
2000. Exports have surged 39.7 percent, mainly because of 
diamond sales, which are up 65.3 percent.  (Note:  Due to 
the international implementation of the Kimberley Process 
UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 05 ROME 004614 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
 
FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME 
 
AMEMBASSY KINSHASA FOR AMBASSADOR HOOKS AND USAID DIRECTOR 
GAMBINO 
USAID/W FOR ADMINISTRATOR NATSIOS, D/A SCHIECK, AA/DCHA 
WINTER, AA/AFR NEWMAN AND DAA/AFR BROWN, DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS, 
D/OFDA MCCONNELL, AA/GLOBAL PETERSON 
STATE FOR P U/S GROSSMAN, U/S LARSON, IO A/S HOLMES, A/S 
PRM DEWEY, A/S AF KANSTEINER, AF/C, IO/EDA BEHREND/KOTOK, 
USUN NEW YORK FOR AMBASSADOR NEGROPONTE, SREILLY 
USDA/FAS FO 
 
and U.S. legislation to ensure authenticity, diamonds 
imported into the U.S. and other ratifying countries 
require a certification from a national government.) End 
note. 
6. The United Nations has a peacekeeping mission, known by 
the French acronym MONUC, operating in the country. There 
are presently some 8,000  10,000 UN peacekeepers, "blue 
helmets," deployed throughout DRC. MONUC is mandated by the 
UN Security Council (UNSC), by Resolution 1493, to assist 
the DRC Transitional Government in tackling its urgent 
priorities: disarming and demobilizing armed groups, 
planning for national elections in two years' time, and 
providing training and assistance in the rule of law 
sector. 
7. In spite of good efforts, food insecurity remains the 
country's most deep-rooted problem. With 2.7 million 
internally displaced (IDPs), there are another 17 million 
who live in deep and long-term poverty. 
 
8. A November 2000 FAO crop and food supply assessment 
confirmed substantive food deficits throughout the DRC and 
that "coping mechanisms such as eating less food, eating 
fewer mealshave been stretched to the limit". Recourse to 
markets remains severely limited because of non-existent 
transportation infrastructure and lack of purchasing power. 
In general, the war has had both a devastating effect on 
agricultural production and a withering impact on household 
assets. 
 
----------------- 
What the team saw 
----------------- 
 
9. Ambassador Hall and team traveled from Kinshasa to the 
Congo's "wild east"  Kisangani (Orientale Province), Bunia 
(Ituri District), Goma (North Kivu), and Bukavu (South 
Kivu). Air transport was furnished mainly through MONUC. 
The team visited inter alia: 
 
-Farming cooperatives in Kisangani and Rutshuru (a town in 
the Virunga National Park) where FAO and WFP are working 
together to provide mosaic virus disease-resistant cassava, 
seeds, tools and food in exchange for labor building roads 
and community assets (representative of 150 sites with 
FAO/WFP cooperative partnerships); 
-A camp for the displaced in Bunia, where people's only 
sustenance is food aid given to families and only hope for 
the future is being able to return to their fields (while 
no longer the epicenter of violence or in the headlines, 
new arrivals were still coming in from the outlying 
district); 
-Community feeding centers and rehabilitation feeding 
centers in the shadows of the volcanoes of North Kivu and 
near the shores of the lake in South Kivu, where children 
get a nutritious and balanced meal and those closest to 
death are nursed back to health; 
-Hospitals in Goma and Bukavu that are assisting rape 
victims with the long process of rebuilding their lives, 
beginning with some food, some medical care and someone to 
listen (a recent International Rescue Committee reportMAN AND DAA/AFR 
BROWN, DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS, 
D/OFDA MCCONNELL, AA/GLOBAL PETERSON 
STATE FOR P U/S GROSSMAN, U/S LARSON, IO A/S HOLMES, A/S 
PRM DEWEY, A/S AF KANSTEINER, AF/C, IO/EDA BEHREND/KOTOK, 
USUN NEW YORK FOR AMBASSADOR NEGROPONTE, S 
 
documented 5,000 reported rapes in only four communities of 
South Kivu in a three month period); 
-Schools and training centers in Bunia, Nyangezi (a town 
outside of Bukavu) and Kinshasa where children who were 
orphans, child soldiers or abandoned because of disease or 
barbaric accusations of witchcraft receive a meal, an 
education and hope for the future. 
 
10. In general, people throughout the east requested 
assistance with the demobilization process, especially 
through public works projects where they would receive food 
or cash in exchange for building a road, a dam, a health 
post or a school.  They repeatedly asked for continued help 
with feeding the most vulnerable  widows, orphans, the 
sick and the young.  Most just wanted peace, so that they 
could quickly return to their farms and grow enough to feed 
themselves. 
 
---------------- 
What people said 
---------------- 
 
 
11. Here is what people in rural Congo said to us: 
 
-A school teacher told the team that: "for us, the war [on 
ignorance and poverty] is just beginning because more 
children are starting to come out of the bush and need our 
help;" 
-A local doctor explained: "women have paid the highest 
pricethose who have been gang raped and need 
reconstructive surgery cannot start until they are 
nutritionally fit;" 
-A demobilized child soldier told us his story of being 
kidnapped, forced to kill in order to live and how he had 
benefited from humanitarian aid in starting a new life; 
-A single mother said: "We are hungry, we suffer from 
disease, but our greatest illness is the lack of education 
of our children;" 
-A Polish missionary working in Murambi asked that: "we not 
grow weary of doing good;" 
-A Congolese doctor remarked: "America has shown its power 
(in the Congo) by its care for the weakest." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
U.S. Mission/Rome conclusions and recommendations 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
12. The team reiterates its deep concern at the persistent 
fighting that continues to afflict Bunia and North and 
South Kivu. This fighting is not only inconsistent with the 
quest for a political solution, it also poses the risk that 
political agreements might be undermined and their 
credibility called into question. All parties should 
therefore cease hostile military activity. 
 
13. We encourage the United Nations and MONUC to maintain a 
strategy in line with its mandate under Chapter Seven of 
the UN Charter (which authorizes the use of force), assure 
the number of soldiers that have been promised and adhere 
to the announced deployment plan. 
 
14. The UN, donors and other concerned actors need to 
endorse and support the efforts of the Ituri Pacification. MISSION IN ROME 
 
AMEMBASSY KINSHASA FOR AMBASSADOR HOOKS AND USAID DIRECTOR 
GAMBINO 
USAID/W FOR ADMINISTRATOR NATSIOS, D/A SCHIECK, AA/DCHA 
WINTER, AA/AFR NEWMAN AND DAA/AFR BROWN, DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS, 
D/OFDA MCCONNELL, AA/GLOBAL PETERSON 
STATE FOR P U/S GROSSMAN, U/S LARSON, IO A/S HOLMES, A/S 
PRM DEWEY, A/S AF KANSTEINER, AF/C, IO/EDA BEHREND/KOTOK, 
USUN NEW YORK FOR AMBASSADOR NEGROPONTE, SREILLY 
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN AND CHAMBLISS 
USDA/FAS NAIROBI FOR KESSLER 
 
Commission (IPC). 
 
15. The murder and mass rape of unarmed civilians, the 
destruction and looting of property, the expulsion of 
families from their homes and the use of child soldiers 
must be denounced as heinous crimes and those responsible 
must be held accountable and promptly brought to justice. 
 
16. All concerned should make every effort to ensure that 
the illegal exploitation of natural resources, the spoils 
of which serve both to enrich some of the individuals 
concerned and to fuel the continuation of the conflict, and 
which is still being perpetrated  be stopped.  For example 
and in keeping with the USG priority initiative of the 
Congo Basin Forest Partnership, an international agreement 
on timber should be pursued, similar to the Kimberley 
Process for diamonds. 
 
17. That FAO step up its laudable emergency seeds and tools 
program and WFP promptly introduce emergency school feeding 
and where appropriate food-for-work activities in support 
of road construction, infrastructure rehabilitation, food 
for training, resettlement of IDPs, social reintegration of 
child combatants, etc. If appropriate, the USG should 
increase its contribution to activities run by FAO/DRC. 
 
 
18. All should recognize that food is one of the tools that 
builds peace, and is one of the dividends of peace. WFP and 
FAO are encouraged to continue, and expand, their 
intelligent collaboration in delivery of food and 
assistance to needy families. 
 
19. Donors need to increase resource flows to local NGOs, 
particularly to enable them to step up provision of 
adequate health care to war-affected and other acutely 
vulnerable populations. In particular, the UN (and their 
partner NGOs) should take advantage of food deliveries 
(where large numbers of beneficiaries often wait for hours 
to receive their ration) to impart mother-child health care 
training, HIV/AIDS and nutrition education messages. In 
particular, feeding sites should serve as focal points for 
immunizations against measles and other contagious diseases 
such as polio, typhus, relapsing fever, meningitis. 
 
20. The UN should quickly intensify and expand activities 
to strengthen HIV/AIDS surveillance systems, care for 
orphans, and training for service providers to better 
manage STI/HIV/AIDS. Note: UN OCHA (2003) estimates the 
HIV/AIDs prevalence rate at 20-22 percent of Congo's 
eastern population. End note. 
 
21. The World Bank should be encouraged to step up its 
funding of vital road construction, railroad 
rehabilitation, and river transport revitalization. 
 
22. The international community needs to recognize that the 
humanitarian challenges in the Congo will require years to 
resolve. 
 
23. Given the organization's long-standing forestry-related 
experience in Central Africa (including its 2001/2002 
initiative entitled "in search of excellence," FAO is 
encouraged to continue (and where appropriate intensify)CK, AA/DCHA 
WINTER, AA/AFR NEWMAN AND DAA/AFR BROWN, DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS, 
D/OFDA MCCONNELL, AA/GLOBAL PETERSON 
STATE FOR P U/S GROSSMAN, U/S LARSON, IO A/S HOLMES, A/S 
PRM DEWEY, A/S AF KANSTEINER, AF/C, IO/EDA BEHREND/KOTOK, 
USUN NEW YORK FOR AMBASSADOR NEGROPONTE, SREILLY 
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN AND CHAMBLISS 
USDA/FAS NAIROBI FOR KESSLER 
USMISSION GENEVA FOR AMBASSADOR MOLRY AND USAID/KYLOH 
BRUSSELS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS AND USAID/LERNER 
NSC FOR JDWORKEN AND AFRICA DI 
 
its dialogue with the members of the Congo River Basin 
Forest Partnership in refining the framework for collective 
action related to conservation of the tropical forests of 
the region. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Personal note from Ambassador Hall 
------------------------------------ 
 
24. Having traveled to more than 110 countries all over the 
world, I have never seen a place like the Congo.  Nowhere 
have I witnessed so much suffering on such a massive scale 
 the flame of childhood has been snuffed out in the eyes 
of so many child soldiers, millions going hungry because 
they are forced to abandon their farms and women are raped 
in such a way that it is not just a violation of the woman, 
but the very fabric of society. 
 
25. But I am heartened by the courage and spirit here where 
the people bravely preserve their human spirit in the face 
of unspeakable hardship and violence.  It is a place where 
the people sing and dance while they toil, where the soil 
grows anything planted in abundance and where the United 
Nations and the humanitarian community are working so well 
collectively to address the issues at hand. 
 
26. I am proud that the people of the United States have 
not abandoned the Congo during its time of trouble.  This 
year alone, we have provided more than U.S. dollars 100 
million in assistance, plus hundreds of millions more 
through international organizations.  Additionally, the 
United States gave more than three quarters of all the food 
WFP has received in the past two years.  Food aid is 
leveraging so much more.  Everywhere we went, people were 
eating food with USA on the package  former child soldiers 
who were happy to trade their guns for a regular meal and 
hope for the future, women whose only hope of recovery 
began with a full stomach, farmers who were building 
everything from roads to fish ponds in exchange for a sack 
of food and some seeds to start their lives over again. 
 
27. An African proverb that I have seen proven over and 
over is 'when the elephants fight, the grass dies.'  The 
Congo is crying for leadership.  The Congo needs leaders 
with hearts and vision as big as the country itself.  The 
treasures of the Congo need to go into the treasury of the 
Congo.  If a leader in Congo stands up and demonstrates 
that he or she truly cares for the weakest, they will 
receive true power from the people  respect and admiration 
that no amount of money can buy. 
 
28. Finally, my heartfelt gratitude and thanks to 
Ambassador Hooks, USAID Director Gambino, WFP Country 
Director Felix Bamezon, FAO Country Representative Ad 
Spijkers, and the MONUC leadership - and their staffs - for 
wonderful support and guidance during our visit and their 
competent leadership on the ground.  I have to say that I 
have never seen better cooperation between the FAO, WFP and 
larger UN community, with donors, NGOs and the host 
government.  This does not happen by accident and all of 
those listed above are to be commended for their hard work 
in making the DRC a positive example in this regard.  Hall 
 
 
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 2003ROME04614 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED