US embassy cable - 03ROME5002

UNCLAS  ROME 005002 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
AIDAC 
 
FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME 
 
LUANDA FOR USAID RHELLYER AND ADWYER 
GENEVA FOR RMA FOR NANCE KYLOH 
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER 
NAIROBI FOR OFDA/ARO 
NSC FOR JDWORKEN 
USUN FOR MLUTZ 
USAID FOR DCHA/AA, DCHA/FFP, DCHA/OFDA, AFR 
 
E.O.  12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, EAGR, AORC, PREF, WFP, UN 
SUBJECT:  WFP EXECUTIVE BOARD APPROVES ANGOLA PROTRACTED 
RELIEF AND RECOVERY OPERATION FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS 
 
 
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Summary 
--------- 
 
1.  The U.S. Delegation (USDEL) provided a number of 
comments to the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) regarding 
its new Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) 
for Angola during WFP's Executive Board (EB) meeting the 
week of October 20.  The USDEL complimented WFP on its 
current work during its many years in Angola, requested 
further details regarding its work and beneficiary 
numbers, cautioned WFP to use implementing partners that 
were capable of taking on additional responsibilities 
and to properly compensate them, and appealed to the 
Government of the Republic of Angola (GRA) to do more in 
its support of WFP, by way of monetary, as well as 
logistical, support.  WFP addressed USDEL's comments and 
has already supplied a breakdown of the beneficiary 
numbers.  The GRA announced that 7.5 million U.S. 
dollars (USD) has been set aside in its 2004 budget for 
WFP operations.  End Summary. 
 
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Background 
------------ 
 
2.  WFP's current PRRO to initially address the needs of 
1.16 million beneficiaries for a period of 18 months 
began on July 1, 2002.  It was subsequently revised to 
accommodate the increased caseload caused by the end of 
Angola's 30-year civil war.  The new PRRO, to begin in 
January 2004, spans the period of 24 months and 
addresses the needs of an average of 1.4 million 
beneficiaries per month.  WFP reports that two million 
internally displaced persons (IDPs) returned to their 
homes by May 2003, from a total of an estimated 4.1 
million that were displaced when the war ended in 
February 2002.  Total requested tonnage for the two-year 
period in the new PRRO is almost 400,000 MT. 
 
--------------------------------- 
WFP Executive Board Presentation 
--------------------------------- 
 
3.  The U.S. delegation made the following comments to 
WFP during the WFP EB. 
 
A.  USDEL takes note of the tremendous efforts that have 
been invested in feeding and caring for the millions of 
Angolans that have been affected by the almost 30 years 
of war in Angola.  This new PRRO reflects the fact that 
major needs remain in Angola, even though the future 
looks much brighter. 
 
B.  We also compliment WFP on its use of the 
Vulnerability and Analysis Mapping (VAM) and rapid-food 
need assessment surveys (RFNA) that have guided WFP in 
its work in identifying the most vulnerable, as well as 
in weaning people off food aid after a successful 
agriculture season.  We also support WFP's efforts to 
have its implementing partners for educational programs 
mainstream HIV/AIDS issues into their curricula and 
support HIV/AIDS education for WFP truck drivers.  This 
work is important. 
 
C.  Also important is the need for WFP to continue to 
work closely with FAO in reviving agriculture activity 
throughout the country.  Food for Seeds, Food for 
Assets, and Food for Work (FFW) are vital and timely 
 
 
programs, as Angola moves out of its long-term emergency 
status.  We are pleased to see that WFP has included in 
its budget the non-food items to support these programs. 
We would appreciate explanations of how the Food for 
Assets and Food for Work programs have been working over 
the last year. 
 
D.  And even though we applaud WFP's desire to move from 
general feeding programs to FFW interventions, we are 
concerned that WFP not expand this use of food 
commodities too quickly so that management and 
monitoring becomes a burden.  At present, WFP has 130 
different implementation partners throughout Angola with 
varying levels of capacity.  We urge WFP to ensure that 
all its implementing partners are capable of 
implementing FFW activities. 
 
E.  We do not see in the document a breakdown of the 
beneficiary numbers over the two-year period of the 
PRRO.  Only the average number of 1.4 million 
beneficiaries is given with an anticipated decrease in 
the numbers in 2005.  We would like to receive a chart 
of the anticipated number of beneficiaries to be 
serviced in each quarter (or six month periods) over the 
next two years, broken down by the various interventions 
listed on Table 2 of the program proposal.  We also 
request that the chart break out figures by regions. 
This is especially important to the USG as we are also 
funding the Consortium for Developmental Relief Programs 
in Angola (CDRA) which is being implemented in the Plan 
Alto and engaged in resettlement/FFW activities. 
 
F.  Following on our intervention in May 2002, we would 
once again like to take this opportunity to strongly 
encourage the Government of the Republic of Angola (GRA) 
to make a substantive cash contribution to this new 
PRRO.  We recall that the GRA contributed three million 
USD to the previous PRRO in February 2001 and note that 
no contributions have been made to the current PRRO.  We 
urge the GRA make a substantive contribution in the near 
future as such action would be looked upon quite 
favorably by the donor community. 
 
G.  We note that the PRRO states the logistical capacity 
of the GRA Ministry of Social Affairs and Reintegration 
(MINARS) "is still developing, so WFP will continue to 
be responsible for its own logistics operation."  We 
understand that significant logistical challenges remain 
in Angola and feel that the GRA should soon be playing a 
larger role in WFP's operation. 
 
H.  WFP's overland transport of food has now increased 
to over 85 percent, however we see that the Land 
Transport, Shipping, and Handling (LTSH) rate remains 
quite high in the new PRRO:  235 USD/MT.  Associated 
with this, adequate compensation to the implementation 
partners remains a concern to the USG.  Compensation 
rates currently range from 8 USD to 47 USD per metric 
ton, depending on the specific agreements.  The USG 
urges WFP to select only those partners capable of 
meeting WFP's strict criteria and to ensure that the 
partners are properly compensated for distributing 
commodities. 
 
I.  Given the fact that there will continue to be many 
changes taking place in Angola over the coming year, we 
would like to request that WFP provide a progress report 
at next year's third regular session of PRRO 10054.2. 
 
 
J.  And with these comments, we recommend approval of 
the new PRRO. 
 
4.  The USDEL also took the opportunity to thank 
Francesco Roque-Castro, the WFP Country Director for 
Angola, for his work in Angola at this critical juncture 
in Angola's history.  Roque-Castro is retiring from WFP 
this month. 
 
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WFP's responses 
------------------ 
 
5.  Roque-Castro made the following responses to the 
USDEL intervention, as well as to other donors' 
comments. 
 
A.  WFP's Food for Work (FFW) and Food for Assets 
Creation programs over the last years have steadily 
grown.  In 2000, WFP had 123,000 beneficiaries in these 
two programs, and currently there are over 205,000. 
Under the new PRRO, these programs will significantly 
increase. 
 
B.  WFP agreed to provide the beneficiary tables, which 
included break down of numbers by region, and has done 
so.  FODAG forwarded the tables to USAID/FFP, 
USAID/OFDA, State/PRM and State/IO on November 3. 
 
C.  Roque-Castro said WFP agreed with the implementation 
limitations of some NGOs and noted that WFP needed to do 
a better job of ensuring proper payment in a timely 
fashion. 
 
D.  WFP's surface transport of food is now at almost 90 
percent, but some air capacity is still required for 
places that become newly accessible, which is still 
occuring.  The LTSH rates have steadily decreased each 
year from 355 USD/MT in 2000, to 322 USD in 2001, to 272 
USD in 2003, and 235 USD in 2004.  WFP will review the 
rates again this November.  Note:  The PRRO document is 
prepared four to five months before the EB, so the rates 
in the new PRRO document are an estimate for 2004.  End 
Note. 
 
E.  WFP noted the importance we place on working with 
FAO, and felt that the relationship between the two 
organizations had improved.  WFP had provided transport 
for FAO seeds and tools. 
 
F.  As requested by the USDEL, WFP agreed to provide an 
report work achieved under the new PRRO at the October 
EB session in 2004. 
 
G.  Roque-Castro noted that WFP needed funding for its 
Special Operation, which provides air support to the 
humanitarian community. 
 
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GRA's response 
--------------- 
 
6.  The GRA announced that in its 2004 budget it was 
planning to contribute 7.5 million USD to WFP in support 
of the new PRRO. 
 
7.  The GRA reminded the EB that pockets of emergency 
needs remain in some areas due to the presence of mines 
(making areas inaccessible), bridges being out, or other 
 
 
hindrances.  It estimated that over the next six months, 
access could decrease because of the rainy season and 
that food needs would remain high until the 2004 
harvest.  FFW programs will help to rehabilitate basic 
infrastructure for access and opening markets, voiced 
the GRA. 
 
8.  The GRA said that even though HIV/AIDS rates are 
fairly low in Angola compared to other African 
countries, it had recently approved a national plan for 
combating HIV/AIDS which it hoped to launch within 7-10 
days time at the national, as well as regional, level. 
HALL 
 
 
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 2003ROME05002 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED