US embassy cable - 04RANGOON158

UNCLAS E F T O SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000158 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2014 
TAGS: EAID, PGOV, PREL, BM, UNICEF, NGO, Ethnics 
SUBJECT: FIELD OBSERVATIONS OF UNICEF BURMA 
 
Classified By: COM CARMEN M. MARTINEZ FOR REASON 1.5(D). 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Thirty-five percent of Burma's children 
are malnourished, while one out of ten dies by age five, 
according to UNICEF.  Emboff traveled with a UNICEF team to 
Karen and Mon States recently to observe UNICEF's field 
operations.  Embassy Rangoon is highly supportive of UNICEF's 
activities in Burma and hopes U.S. funding for these programs 
remains strong.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) ON THE ROAD WITH UNICEF: 
 
UNICEF works in 62 of Burma's 324 townships (counties) 
running projects targeting rural health, basic education, and 
water resources to help the country's vulnerable children. 
Emboff joined seven other diplomats, UNICEF's new Country 
Director, and local authorities in a visit to project sites 
in Mon State January 19 - 21.  Mon State, in southeastern 
Burma, is home to the Mon ethnic minority, which speaks a 
language in the Khmer family.  Mon State is relatively 
peaceful today, apart from some residual banditry/insurgency 
in its southern district.  We traversed parts of Karen State 
and noted that farms, villages, and towns there were visibly 
poorer and run down, probably a result of a half-century of 
civil strife. 
 
3.  (U) USE THE LATRINE, WASH YOUR HANDS 
 
One of UNICEF's major activities is helping community schools 
teach and practice "The Four Cleans."  We visited several 
schools that had UNICEF-assisted potable water projects, 
sanitary latrines, and programs to teach students healthful 
habits regarding toilets, drinking water, clean hands, and 
safe food.  With diarrhea the second-leading killer of 
children after malaria, instilling even these health 
fundamentals can save lives. 
 
4.  (U) DIPLOMATS AGAINST BRAIN DAMAGE 
 
UNICEF has a very successful program to iodize Burma's salt 
supply.  The group visited a salt evaporation company and 
inspected the iodine-adding process.  Thanks to UNICEF's 
efforts, the majority of Burma's salt is iodized and the rate 
of goiter and related problems, including potential brain 
damage, is much reduced.  The company had white baseball caps 
printed for our visit with the admonition "Prevent Brain 
Damage" emblazoned across the front.  NOTE: This gaggle of 
diplomats probably caused some confusion and amusement among 
locals as we later visited many villages, all wearing our 
caps bearing this slogan. 
 
5.  (U) "I visited a prostitute and now have AIDS" 
 
UNICEF provides teachers in rural schools with training in 
special life skills dealing with sensitive issues like 
reproductive health and HIV/AIDS.  We witnessed a 
role-playing class in a middle school in which students were 
tasked with acting out difficult situations.  One seventh 
grader got up in front of his classmates and the foreign 
visitors and said, "I went to the city last weekend.  While 
there I visited a prostitute.  Now I have AIDS."  The 
role-player hung his head in sadness, his classmates loudly 
applauded his presentation, he beamed, and sat down. 
 
6.  (SBU) A MON PTA 
 
We met with the Parent Teacher Association at Wargaru Primary 
School.  None of the parents spoke a word of Burmese, let 
alone English.  We had a spirited, thrice-translated 
discussion about their aspirations for the community, their 
families, and the school.  It was at this location our 
Burmese military escort got out of their trucks and deployed 
in defensive positions in the woods around the school.  None 
of the children spoke any Burmese when they started 
kindergarten.  None of the government-supplied teachers spoke 
Mon and there was no printed material in Mon in the school. 
We later visited the neighboring high school and saw a 
language lab and computer room donated by an expatriate Mon 
living in the United States.  The high school's students, 
despite starting school without speaking Burmese, scored much 
higher than average on the national high school exam. 
 
7.  (SBU/NF) VOLUNTEER "MICROSCOPIST" WANTS OUT 
 
UNICEF provides supplies and equipment (a traditional 
doctor's "black bag," etc.) to volunteer midwives and 
volunteer health assistants in rural clinics who support the 
salaried nurses and rare doctors.  Nurses recently had their 
salaries doubled to about $10 per month; the volunteers work 
for tips.  We met one volunteer who was trained to work with 
a modern microscope to identify malaria in blood samples. 
She proudly showed off her microscope and rudimentary lab to 
the UNICEF group and accompanying GOB health officials. 
After the group moved on, two diplomats remained behind to 
examine the lab.  At that point the young microscopist 
grabbed both diplomats by the arm and pleaded in English, "I 
want to go to another country." 
 
8.  (SBU/NF) COMMENT:  Unlike UNDP, UNICEF Burma is not 
prohibited from working with elements of the Government of 
Burma.  Indeed, targeting the health, education, and public 
water sectors almost by definition must involve at least 
local authorities.  UNICEF has been very effective in most of 
its programs, but had a reputation of being somewhat 
administratively lax.  This may have been due to its 
partnership with elements of the GOB (for some of which 
"administratively lax" would be a big improvement) or to past 
UNICEF management practices.  With a new, experienced Country 
Director on board, along with a new UN Resident Coordinator, 
we expect UNICEF to continue or expand its ongoing good 
works, while doing so in a shipshape manner.  END COMMENT. 
Martinez