US embassy cable - 05GENEVA1696

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GENEVA 001696 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, UNHCR 
SUBJECT: UNHCR: REFUGEE WOMEN AND PROJECT PROFILE 
 
REF: A. GENEVA 01605 
 
     B. GENEVA 01689 
 
1.  (U) SUMMARY:  The Executive Committee (ExCom) of the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) held a 
meeting of its "Standing Committee" June 28-30 to discuss 
budget and program matters.  This cable focuses on the High 
Commissioner's Five Commitments to Refugee Women, Project 
Profile, and other news from the June meeting. Others will 
focus on budget matters and protection issues.  UNHCR 
presented papers on  refugee women and on Project Profile 
which generated lively debate.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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REPORT ON HC'S FIVE COMMITMENTS TO REFUGEE WOMEN 
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2.  (U) Marjon Kamara, Director of the Division of 
Operational Support at UNHCR, briefed member states on the 
implementation status of each of the five commitments, based 
on information provided by field offices in their Standards 
and Indicators reports.  The five commitments are supported 
by the age, gender and diversity mainstreaming strategy, 
which has structured refugee participation at its core. 
Delegations raised concern over the poor, late or lack of 
reporting of some field offices and thus questioned the 
accuracy of the resulting reports. 
 
3.  (U) With regard to Commitment 1 on women's participation, 
Kamara described the increase on average in women's 
membership in management committees, although gender parity 
in both leadership positions and power in decision-making 
processes has not been achieved in most camps.  Kamara noted 
that in order to strengthen their leadership skills and 
literacy, women must work with men in a participatory 
decision-making process.  During the next two years, UNHCR, 
in collaboration with partners, will focus on continuing the 
development and adaptation of information packs and training 
modules to promote the implementation of Security Council 
Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.  Several 
delegations, including USdel, highlighted the need for UNHCR 
and its partners to play a proactive role in this process by 
insisting on speaking to women on the committees and getting 
their views.  Kamara insisted this was occurring in focus 
groups in which refugee women are asked about their proposals 
for solutions. 
 
4.  (U) UNHCR expects Commitment 2, which calls for the 
individual registration of women and men, to be fulfilled 
progressively as Project Profile is expanded to all country 
operations.  For more information about Project Profile, see 
the next section. 
 
5.  (U) With regard to Commitment 3, the development of 
integrated, country-level strategies to address sexual- and 
gender-based violence (SGBV), Kamara noted an average of 86 
per cent follow-up to all identified cases among refugee 
women.  Kamara acknowledged that systemic problems existed 
regarding exposure to SGBV and exploitation due to inadequate 
assistance and the refugees' reliance on local justice 
systems.  UNHCR's focus is now on the expansion of the pool 
of trainers to provide country-level training, establishment 
of standard operating procedures and strengthening of 
community-based prevention campaigns and responses.  The 
Canadian delegation raised concern that 17 per cent of SGBV 
victims were not supported, but Kamara stated that regional 
bureaus have gone back to the regions to understand the 
reason and causes.  In response to other questions, Kamara 
also noted a "strengthening of synergy" between work on 
gender and HIV/AIDS.  In addition, Kamara stated that UNHCR 
is incorporating the Five Priorities for Refugee Children 
into its work, and that where UNHCR does have responsibility 
for IDPs, the organization tries to pursue the same policies 
with respect to SGBV. 
 
6.  (U) Kamara noted that UNHCR is doing the best in 
fulfilling Commitment 4, relating to refugee women's 
participation in the management and distribution of food. 
Most reports show an average of 45 per cent or above in 
women's participation in distribution. 
 
7.  (U) According to Kamara, Commitment 5, the provision of 
sanitary materials, presents an enormous challenge and 
remains &shamefully low8 in terms of progress.  Field 
offices report that resource limitations constrain their 
ability to meet even life-saving needs, and this affects the 
provision of non-food items as well, including sanitary 
materials.  UNHCR hopes that continuing dialogue with refugee 
women will help to identify culturally sensitive and 
effective methods to fulfill this commitment. Delegations 
showed the most concern over the lack of progress in 
fulfilling this commitment, and several delegates called for 
increased accountability, awareness, and commitment to the 
goals.  Kamara noted the common concern with Commitment 5, 
but responded that UNHCR has a specific budget-line with 
regard to sanitary materials. Nevertheless, the U.S. 
delegation maintained that it was unacceptable that 
operations are forced to prioritize funding and are unable to 
distribute 100 per cent of needed sanitary kits.  USdel 
insisted that donors should not be forced to earmark funding 
in order to ensure compliance with UNHCR's own standards. 
 
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PROJECT PROFILE 
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8.  (U) Kamara also updated member states on Project Profile, 
the global program to improve standards and methodologies in 
order to provide better registration. DOS has integrated 95 
new databases into this new system. Over 2 million refugees 
and persons of concern have been recorded and registered, and 
of those, 1 million people have photographs.  UNHCR has 
provided 28 operations with joint support in this area. 
 
9.  (U) In response to member state concerns, Kamara 
acknowledged that capacity is often limited in UNHCR field 
offices. Eleven operations have required UNHCR to contract 
short-term expert consultations.  However, Kamara noted that 
UNHCR would try to maintain staffing requirements by focusing 
on sustainability and process mainstreaming. In this effort, 
UNHCR will strengthen its IT section in order to retain 
capacity to oversee Project Profile and other IT components 
in the field.  UNHCR will also mainstream registration for 
Project Profile in order to ensure sustainability. 
 
10.  (U) UNHCR has partnered with both NGOs and government 
entities to implement its information campaign on 
registration.  These efforts include information-sharing with 
refugees, but extend to monitoring assistance and 
verification exercises to ensure that registration involves 
the refugees themselves.  UNHCR will also improve its 
documentation as it plans to receive more detailed, 
disaggregated data on populations.  According to Kamara, 
UNHCR also welcomes biometrics support from the Netherlands 
because of continuing problems associated with recycling and 
multiple registrations.  However, many delegations raised 
concern over confidentiality issues related to such data 
collection and use. 
 
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OTHER UNHCR NEWS 
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11.  (U) The 2004 Global Report was presented at the 
beginning of the session to general praise.  UNHCR is trying 
to cut down separate bilateral donor reporting requirements 
by incorporating the necessary information in the report. 
Most concerns were reactions from nations who took offense to 
UNHCR characterizations of their own regional or national 
situations.  USdel informed UNHCR about the need for 
standardized country profiles and an increased focus on 
gender and community issues in future reports. 
 
12.  (U) An interim report on protection will be conducted 
five years after the adoption of The Agenda for Protection, 
with many delegations calling for a standard format or 
questionnaire.  Other delegations suggested that member 
states and UNHCR draft jointly an update to the agenda. 
 
13.  (U) UNHCR will focus its annual oral update to ECOSOC on 
cooperation within and outside the United Nations system, 
concentrating on its agreements with other UN agencies and 
collaboration with NGOs/private sector organizations. 
 
14.  (U) At the end of the Standing Committee meeting, 
Ecuadorian Ambassador Hernan Escudero Martinez Chairman of 
the Executive Committee, stepped down as he is leaving 
Geneva.  Ambassador Juan Antonio Martibit of Chile was 
nominated for the chairmanship by the Colombian delegation 
and confirmed by acclamation. 
Moley