US embassy cable - 05BRUSSELS1581

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001581 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/ANE - RWARD; E - ADERSE; EUR/ERA; NEA; 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USAID - ANE AND DCHA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2015 
TAGS: PREF, KPAL, PREL, EUN, UNWRA, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: EC FUNDING FOR UNWRA EMERGENCY APPEAL IN 2005: 
DEMARCHE RESPONSE 
 
REF: A. (A) SECSTATE 65023 
 
     B. (B) BRUSSELS 00752 
 
Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY: PRM OFF MARC J. MEZNAR. REASONS 1.4 (B) A 
ND (D). 
 
1.(SBU) Summary.  The European Commission (EC), through 
funding mechanisms in ECHO, DG RELEX and EuropeAid, will 
continue to provide substantial funding for vulnerable 
Palestinians, as well as for the Palestinian Authority, in 
2005.  However, it does not have immediate plans to respond 
to UNRWA's emergency appeal.  The EC has long advocated that 
UNRWA incorporate the repeated "emergency appeals" into its 
core budget.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) On April 20, PRM Assistant delivered reftel a demarche 
to Giuseppe Angelini, ECHO desk officer for UNRWA and 
Palestinian issues, and Cees Wittebrood, Head of Unit, ECHO 
2, Central and Eastern Europe, NIS, Mediterranean and Middle 
East. The EC agreed that the situation for Palestinians, 
specifically those in the occupied territories, remains 
difficult. Angelini repeated reservations expressed last year 
when asked to increase funding to UNRWA's emergency appeal 
(reftel b).  He questioned UNRWA's "emergency appeal" process 
and emphasized that the EC does not look upon the 
Palestinians as victims of an immediate, short-term crisis 
but rather as casualties of a long and protracted emergency. 
 
3. (C) Angelini explained that DG RELEX had recently 
earmarked 63.6 million euros (equivalent to $82 million) to 
UNWRA for Palestinian refugees as their programmed 2005 
contribution with the signing of a funding agreement with the 
UNWRA Deputy Commissioner General.  This agreement is to 
provide support to education, health, relief and social 
services programs for UNWRA. The current EC contribution is 
part of a four-year framework agreement between the two 
organizations for the period 2002-2005.  Angelini said the 
agreement will be extended through 2006 with a 5 percent 
increase over the 2005 contribution. 
 
4. (C) Angelini said ECHO plans to provide roughly 34 million 
euros to assist vulnerable Palestinians in the Middle East in 
2005.  ECHO will adopt a first funding decision after 
consulting Member States and receiving comments from the 
European Parliament; it should be finalized in time for the 
UNWRA Donor's Conference to be held in Amman on May 18-19. 
Angelini estimated the first tranche would total around 28.3 
million euros.  The bulk of this decision will be for the 
West Bank and Gaza (25 million euros, of which 6 million will 
be channeled through UNRWA), with the balance being earmarked 
for activities in Lebanon (3.3 million euros, of which 
500,000 will be channeled through UNRWA). 
 
5. (C) Angelini provided the following breakdowns in terms of 
implementing partners for the West Bank/Gaza portion of this 
funding tranche:  52 percent to NGOs, 38 percent to UN 
agencies (UNRWA, OCHA, WFP and UNICEF) and 10 percent to 
ICRC.  The thematic breakdown for activities is as follows: 
20 percent for water/sanitation; 22 percent for food; 26 
percent for emergency employment; 11 percent for health; 6 
percent for protection; and, 5 percent for coordination. 
 
6. (C) The balance of the 2005 funding (5.7 million euros) 
will be allocated later in the year based on funding needs 
determined at that time.  Angelini emphasized that ECHO does 
not make allocations by agency, but instead based upon an 
assessment of the operational capacity of its implementing 
partners and therefore cannot "plan" exactly how much they 
intend to contribute specifically to UNRWA this year. 
Schnabel 
.