US embassy cable - 05GENEVA2731

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 GENEVA 002731 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USAID FOR ADMINISTRATOR; DCHA, ANE, PPC; STATE FOR SA, PRM, 
EB; BRUSSELS FOR MANSO, LERNER, METZNER; ROME FOR FODAG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AEMR, EAGR, EAID, ECIN, ECON, MASS, PGOV, PK, PREF, PREL, SENV, AESC, UN 
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE CONFERENCE LEAVES AN UNCLEAR 
FUNDING OUTLOOK 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY:  Ten days after the 26 October UN ministerial 
conference on aid for Pakistan's earthquake victims, there is 
still a dramatic under-funding of UN agencies and other 
partners in the UN Flash Appeal.  While the conference netted 
$579 million in additional pledges, raising the total amount 
of assistance pledged to Pakistan to $1.3 billion, very 
little of this amount is destined for the Appeal.  Moreover, 
at least forty percent of conference pledges are intended for 
reconstruction projects, leaving an unclear picture of how 
much funding is available in the immediate term for 
life-saving activities and confusing the UN's first 
(informal) effort at a "cluster-oriented response."   In his 
conference remarks, the UN Secretary General characterized 
the response as a "race against time" to meet the urgent 
needs of those made  homeless by the earthquake before the 
harsh winter sets in and urged donors to act quickly in 
providing resources. UN agencies in recent days have taken 
the unusual step of drawing up a one-month operational plan 
to focus attention on immediate needs.  The UN Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) presented these 
"critical needs" of $42.2 million at a 7 November donors 
meeting.  The government of Pakistan estimates that a total 
of $2 billion will be needed during the relief phase, and 
that another $5 billion will be needed for reconstruction. 
This cable first provides background on the 26 October 
ministerial conference (paras 2 - 9), followed by an update 
on the UN's one-month plan and a comment (paras 10 - 13.) 
END SUMMARY 
 
 
2. (U)  On 26 October, the UN, in cooperation with the 
Government of Pakistan (GOP), convened a ministerial level 
meeting on the pressing needs facing the people of Pakistan 
in the wake of the earthquake on 8 October.  UN 
Undersecretary General (USG) for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan 
Egeland chaired the meeting opened with a speech by UN 
Secretary General (SYG) Kofi Annan.  The government of 
 
SIPDIS 
Pakistan was represented by the Chairman of the Senate, 
Mohammedmian Soomro; the Minister of State for Economic 
Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar; and the Federal Minister and 
Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, Salman Shah. 
Ninety-two countries and organizations participated in the 
preceedings.  The US delegation was led by USAID Adminstrator 
Andrew Natsios, and included Kristen Silverberg, Assistant 
Secretary for the Bureau of International Organization 
 
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Affairs, Major General Paul Patrick from the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff, and Ambassador Kevin Moley from the US Mission in 
Geneva. 
 
3. (U)  In his brief remarks, the SYG characterized the 
response as a "race against time."  He called for a dramatic 
escalation of the effort on every front, including funding, 
logistics and personnel, and highlighted lack of shelter as 
the most critical problem facing the overall operation.  The 
SYG thanked the donors who had already contributed and lauded 
the work of relief organizations on the ground. Lastly, the 
SYG harkened back to calls at the UN High Level segment for 
the creation of more timely and predictable capacities for 
global disaster response including stand-by responses, 
strengthened coordination, and a global emergency fund. 
 
4. (U)  Presentations by the three GOP officials focused on 
the unprecedented level of destruction and the enormous 
logistical challenges.  Echoing the theme of the SYG, 
Pakistani officials called it a "race against time" to get 
shelter to those in need before the winter sets in.  They 
emphasized that the destruction caused by the earthquake has 
deprived over a million people of their livelihoods and has 
wiped out education and health systems.  Reconstruction will 
require a long-term commitment from the international 
community.  Finally, they stated that women and children were 
the main victims of the disaster.  Officials cited the 
destruction of educational institutions and the unusually 
high number of child amputees as critical concerns.  These 
children will require long-term care and special 
rehabilitation programs.  In sum, the GOP stated that over 3 
million people will need assistance over the next six months. 
 
 
5. (U)  USG Egeland introduced the revised UN Flash Appeal 
for South Asia which currently totals $550 million and covers 
the next six months.  In January 2006, the UN plans to launch 
a Consolidated Appeal for Pakistan to cover a twelve month 
period.  The Flash Appeal divides the response into ten 
separate clusters, or sectors, with different agencies to 
serve as the lead for each cluster.  The clusters include: 
Shelter, logistics, food and nutrition, health, water and 
sanitation, education, protection, camp management, early 
recovery and reconstruction, and information and 
telecommunications.  Noting the approaching winter, Egeland 
highlighted the immediate concerns, including addressing the 
needs of amputees, organizing camps for 500,000 people, 
prepositioning food stocks, and increasing the number of 
helicopters for transport.  The USG called the response "the 
best coordinated effort ever," stating that within six days 
the UN had deployed 100 persons, and within twelve days the 
number had grown to 400.  He promised a robust coordination 
structure through a system of field hubs six of which had 
already been established. 
 
6. (U)  The Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement was represented 
by both the International Federation of the Red Cross/Red 
Crescent (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red 
Cross. The IFRC is appealing for a revised total of $122 
million.  The ICRC's emergency needs stand at $44 million. 
Both organizations said that they are working closely with 
the Pakistani government and the Pakistani Red Crescent 
National Society. 
 
7. (U)  NATO's Deputy Secretary General, Alessandro 
Minuto-Rizzo reviewed NATO's overall assistance to date and 
shared plans for the future.  NATO has offered to provide a 
land element comprised of engineers, road-clearing equipment, 
a mobile medical unit, 3 water purification plants along with 
strategic airlift and, if necessary, sealift.  A deployable 
joint task force is being sent to Islamabad to coordinate 
with the Pakistani government and the UN for the arrival of 
1300 personnel. 
 
8. (U)  Kicking off a very long list of speakers, India noted 
its "special responsibility" as a neighbor to assist 
Pakistan.  India is creating a $25 million relief fund that 
the government of Pakistan will be able to use to resource 
supplies from India.  India added that it is launching its 
own comprehensive shelter program to respond to the needs of 
its citizens who have been made homeless by the disaster. 
 
9. (U)  According to UN calculations, new pledges made during 
the conference amounted to over $579 million.  This total 
includes an additional $106 million from the United States 
(the $56 million of in-kind assistance being provided by the 
US military plus the new pledge of $50 million.) It also 
includes pledges from a number of "non-traditional"  or 
emerging donors, including Bosnia-Herzogovina, China, Cyprus, 
Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, 
Lithuania, Malaysia, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, 
Slovakia, Sudan, Thailand, and Turkey. Of the total $579 
million in new pledges, roughly $16 million will go 
specifically to fund activities and organizations in the 
Flash Appeal.  UN calculations of the total amount of funding 
for the disaster to date (new pledges made at the conference 
added to funds pledged or committed prior to the conference) 
now total almost $1.3 billion.  Of this amount, only $111.7 
million is specifically for activities and organizations 
listed in the Flash Appeal.  Hence, despite a positive 
response from donors, the UN appeal remains only twenty 
percent covered. 
 
10. (U)  On 7 November, the UN hosted a follow up meeting of 
local representatives in an attempt to spur greater donor 
interest.  Although it has been one month since the 
earthquake, the UN still characterized the relief effort as 
being in its acute emergency phase.  To underscore the need 
for urgent assistance, the UN has put together a one-month 
action plan for November (faxed to USAID/DCHA/RMT).  The 
action plan outlines the activities UN agencies must 
undertake during the next four weeks if significant deaths 
are to be averted.  The cost for the one month of operations 
totals $42.2 million.  UN activities in the one-month plan 
are deemed to be essential and complement the activities of 
other partners and organizations on the ground as well as 
activities by the GOP.  According to the UN Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN agencies have 
already drawn over $25 million in advance funding from their 
operational reserves in order to mount existing operations; 
they cannot tap these reserves further.  Due to a lack of 
funds, mobilization of additional staff or assets for 
Pakistan by UN agencies was suspended on 31 October, pending 
receipt of additional resources. 
 
11. (U) The Geneva-based Pakistani Ambassador echoed the need 
for more funding for relief activities.  He urged donors to 
provide assistance to UN agencies, stating that "the UN has 
done a marvelous job," especially in "galvanizing" the relief 
effort.  Turning to the longer-term, the government of 
Pakistan estimates that reconstructions costs will exceed $5 
billion.  This is on top of the GOP's "conservative" estimate 
of $2 billion that is needed for the emergency/relief phase. 
 
12. (U)  COMMENT:  The UN and the GOP have had time to digest 
the results of the 26 October ministerial conference.  At 
first glance, they appeared to consider the conference a 
modest success given a bottom line of $579 million in new 
pledges of assistance.  Upon further reflection, however, it 
is clear that a significant amount of the pledges were 
intended for the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase, and 
little has been made available since the conference for 
immediate relief activities.  More troubling for the UN is 
the dismal response to the Flash Appeal.  The IFRC and the 
ICRC appeals -- both of which are much smaller than the UN 
appeal -- are only somewhat better funded at 40 percent and 
28 percent respectively.  We have been told by some UN 
agencies that they are currently reassessing their planned 
activities in Pakistan and may scale back their funding 
requests as a result.  This appears to be motivated by both a 
recognition of the funding shortfall for UN agencies as well 
as a possible acceptance that other actors -- including NGOs, 
Red Cross/Crescent National Societies, and bilateral donor 
agencies/militaries -- are stepping in to implement the bulk 
of the projects on the ground. 
 
13. (U)  COMMENT CONTINUED:  The UN used the conference to 
promote two new initiatives it is currently pursuing:  the 
global emergency fund and the cluster approach to disaster 
coordination.  During the conference, the GOP along with the 
UK echoed calls for the fund's creation.  The short time 
frame in which to mount a successful response in Pakistan is 
likely to add -- rightly or wrongly -- to the clamour for a 
global fund.  The details behind the cluster approach are 
still being discussed in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. 
 While the experience in Pakistan will give the humanitarian 
community a glimpse of how it could work on the ground, it 
would be premature to draw any conclusions at this stage. 
 
Moley