US embassy cable - 02AMMAN7304

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 007304 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR PRM AND NEA; PLEASE PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2012 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, EAID, KPAL, KWBG, IS, JO 
SUBJECT: UNRWA LAUNCHES NEW USD 93.7 MILLION EMERGENCY 
APPEAL; TOUCHES ON CONTINGENCY PLANNING AND TERMS UNRWA 
STAFF FATALITY RATE "COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE" 
 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Tom Young per 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary and comment:  At December 10 and 11 briefings 
in Jerusalem and Amman, UNRWA ComGen Hansen launched UNRWA's 
new USD 93.7 million appeal to cover six months of emergency 
programming in the West Bank and Gaza.  The majority of the 
appeal would cover expanded food assistance programs (USD 
32.5 million) and temporary jobs programs (USD 29.3 million). 
 Excluding UNRWA's one-time costs of USD 27 million to 
rebuild portions of Jenin refugee camp, this new six-month 
appeal represents a 30 percent increase over 2002 emergency 
programming.  UNRWA's combined 2002 appeals remain funded at 
only fifty-four percent, with USD 93.6 million pledged to 
date.  UNRWA still has nearly USD 60 million of 2002 
emergency cash on-hand, funds Hansen said have been obligated 
for programming that will continue into 2003.  Hansen urged 
donors to contribute early to the new appeal, to allow UNRWA 
to stockpile food and supplies to respond to any new crises 
in the region.  Hansen also told donors that UNRWA's staff 
fatality rate -- six killed in 2002 -- represents the 
"deadliest year in relative terms for any UN humanitarian 
agency."  To compensate for these risks, UNRWA has increased 
its emergency program support costs to the standard UN rate 
of 12 percent to provide hazard pay for its West Bank and 
Gaza staff.  Hansen also told donors that while the IDF had 
completed its own investigation into Iain Hook's death, it 
had not shared the report with UNRWA.  Finally, Hansen 
touched only briefly on the UN-wide consolidated appeals for 
the West Bank and Gaza and did not address the UN's proposed 
new coordination mechanisms, to be implemented by OCHA. 
Given the importance of enhanced humanitarian coordination 
mechanisms, we urge the Department to make a significant and 
early contribution to OCHA's 2003 appeal.  End summary and 
comment. 
 
2.  (SBU) At December 10 and 11 donor briefings in Jerusalem 
and Amman, UNRWA Commissioner General Peter Hansen launched 
UNRWA's new six-month appeal for emergency programs in the 
West Bank and Gaza, totaling USD 93.7 million.  Regional 
refcoord attended the Amman launch.  Hansen told donors that 
the new six-month appeal represents only an 8.5 percent 
increase in programming on an annual basis (combined UNRWA 
emergency appeals for 2002 total USD 172 million), but 
UNRWA's calculations are based on the inclusion of presumably 
one-time USD 27 million in costs to rebuild significant 
portions of Jenin refugee camp.  Absent the Jenin-related 
costs, the new 2003 appeal represents an increase in funding 
requirements of nearly 30 percent.  UNRWA's combined 2002 
appeals currently are funded only at fifty-four percent, with 
USD 93.6 million pledged to date.  (Comment:  Given an 
overall decline in donor support for UNRWA in 2002, it is 
unlikely that this first six-month appeal for 2003 will be 
fully funded.) 
 
Food Aid and Jobs Programs Majority of New Appeal 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
3.  (SBU) Hansen told donors most of the increase in 
emergency funding requirements was due to increased food 
assistance needs in the West Bank and Gaza.  Following the 
USAID-funded study of malnutrition in the West Bank and Gaza, 
UNRWA determined that it needed to increase its food 
assistance programs and include protein and iron-fortified 
flour in its food packages.  Food assistance needs (projected 
at USD 32.5 million) account for slightly more than 30 
percent of the appeal.  UNRWA plans to distribute food to 
90,000 families in the West Bank and 132,000 families in Gaza. 
 
4.  (SBU) Funding for temporary employment programs (USD 29.3 
million) constitute slightly less than 30 percent of UNRWA's 
emergency programming.  Hansen told donors UNRWA would prefer 
to provide more job creation programs and less food aid, but 
that continuing closures and curfews -- particularly in the 
West Bank -- hindered UNRWA's ability to undertake such 
projects.  In Jenin refugee camp, for example, UNRWA 
employees were unable to work on 27 of 30 days in a recent 
month.  (Comment:  Temporary employment programs in the Gaza 
field include a request for USD 684,000 to fund short-term 
employment in "institutions outside UNRWA, including 
municipalities, community rehabilitation centers supported by 
UNRWA and other local institutions providing relief and 
social aid to the community."  Expansion of temporary 
employment programs to non-UNRWA institutions would make it 
difficult to ensure that UNRWA and the USG have complied 
fully with section 301(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act.  We 
recommend that any US contributions to the new appeal 
specifically prohibit any USG funds from supporting this 
program.) 
 
Significant Cash on-Hand; Obligated for Existing Programs 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
5.  (SBU) Given that UNRWA is projected to have nearly USD 60 
million in emergency appeal cash on-hand as of December 31, 
refcoord asked Hansen to explain UNRWA's planned programming 
for the existing contributions.  Hansen said that slightly 
more than USD 40 million of this cash balance has been 
obligated for emergency programming that will continue into 
the first quarter (or, in some cases, even first half) of 
2003.  Such programming includes longer term projects, such 
as direct employment programs, infrastructure improvements, 
school construction projects and even food aid programs. 
Hansen told donors that several large construction projects 
in both the West Bank and Gaza have been delayed due to 
curfews and closures.  Yet UNRWA nevertheless has contractual 
obligations to pay for services that have not yet been 
delivered.  Hansen said that UNRWA therefore cannot obligate 
the funds for other programs.  UNRWA's West Bank and Gaza 
Directors added that unobligated funds raised under the 2002 
emergency program are limited to USD 12.5 million in the West 
Bank and 6.8 million in Gaza. 
 
Early Contributions Urged to Allow UNRWA to Stockpile Goods 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
5.  (C) Noting the possibility of new conflict in the region, 
Hansen urged donors to make early contributions to UNRWA's 
new emergency appeal.  Although UN-wide contingency planning 
is still under discussion, individual UN agencies have not 
yet been given authorization to approach donors on their 
projected needs.  Early contributions to UNRWA's new 2003 
appeal, Hansen said, would allow the agency to stockpile food 
and supplies to respond to further violence in the West Bank 
and Gaza, an influx of Palestinians from the West Bank into 
Jordan, or perhaps even a movement of the estimated 100,000 
Palestinians believed to be resident in Iraq.  Hansen 
confirmed that if Palestinians fleeing Iraq could prove their 
eligibility for UNRWA services, the agency would provide 
services to them.  (NOTE:  UNRWA officials previously told 
refcoord that it would need USD 30 million to stockpile food 
and non-food items in the region.) 
 
UNRWA Staff Fatalities "Completely and Totally Unacceptable" 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
6.  (C) Hansen told donors that UNRWA's staff fatality rate 
-- six employees killed in 2002, including two killed in the 
line of duty -- is of "particular concern" to the agency.  He 
said that 2002 had constituted the "deadliest year in 
relative terms for any UN humanitarian agency."  As an 
example of the dangers faced on a daily basis by UN staff, 
Hansen told donors about the December 9 attack on a clearly 
marked UNRWA school bus in Gaza.  After waiting at a 
checkpoint for "several hours," the IDF soldiers on the 
ground gave the bus permission to move. Yet as soon as the 
bus started, Hansen said, it was shot from behind, with one 
bullet moderately wounding an UNRWA student.  Such incidents, 
Hansen told donors, are "completely and totally unacceptable, 
yet they take place with frequency and impunity."  He added 
that UNRWA is waiting to see what judgment, if any, is 
rendered against the IDF soldier who shot UNRWA employee Iain 
Hook on October 28. 
 
7.  (SBU) Although UNRWA employees are required to work in 
"the most dangerous situation," Hansen said that they are the 
only UN employees not receiving hazard pay in the West Bank 
and Gaza. To provide hazard pay for the days on which West 
Bank and Gaza staff actually are able to make it to work, 
UNRWA has increased its program support costs (PSC) 
associated with emergency programs from the previous rate of 
five percent to the standard, UN-wide rate of 12 percent (the 
same rate applied to UNRWA general fund programs and special 
projects). 
 
Further on UN and IDF Investigations of Hook's Death 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
8.  (C) In response to a question from refcoord, Hansen told 
donors that UNSECOORD's report on its investigation into the 
November 22 death of UNRWA employee Iain Hook was finalized 
on December 9.  He was not sure whether the report would be 
publicly available, but said the circumstances of Hook's 
death were clear:  an IDF sniper shot an unarmed UN employee 
in a clearly marked UN compound.  Hansen said there was "no 
way" an IDF sniper shooting from 25 meters could have 
mistaken a mobile phone for a weapon.  Hansen also noted that 
although the IDF report on its own internal investigation 
into the shooting had been finalized and shared with certain 
diplomatic missions, the Israeli Government had not shared 
its report with UNRWA. 
 
Comment -- Need for Enhanced Humanitarian Coordination 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
9.  (C) Comment:  While Hansen briefly mentioned that UNRWA's 
new six-month appeal was included in the new UN-wide 
consolidated appeal for the West Bank and Gaza launched in 
Bern on November 19, he addressed neither UNRWA's role 
vis-a-vis overall UN programming nor the need for enhanced 
humanitarian coordination in the West Bank and Gaza.  We hear 
from senior UNRWA officials that Hansen continues to resist 
the coordination recommendations included in both the Bertini 
report and the November report of the UN interagency 
technical assessment mission; his neglect of this important 
issue during the launch seems to further confirm his 
reluctance to cooperate with other UN agencies.  Given the 
difficulties of implementing new coordination mechanisms, it 
is essential that OCHA's presence in the West Bank and Gaza 
be augmented as quickly as possible.  A significant and early 
PRM contribution to OCHA's 2003 appeal would signal the 
importance we attach to enhanced cooperation and OCHA's 
critical role in the current crisis. 
 
10.  (U) ConGen Jerusalem cleared this message. 
GNEHM