US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT1826

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 001826 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO PASS USAID/W 
STATE PLEASE REPEAT TO IO COLLECTIVE 
STATE FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA, IO AND SA/PAB 
NSC FOR EABRAMS, SMCCORMICK, STAHIR-KHELI, JDWORKEN 
USAID FOR USAID/A, DCHA/AA, DCHA/RMT, DCHA/FFP 
USAID FOR DCHA/OTI, DCHA/DG, ANE/AA 
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA:WGARVELINK, BMCCONNELL, KFARNSWORTH 
USAID FOR ANE/AA:WCHAMBERLIN 
ROME FOR FODAG 
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH 
DOHA FOR MSHIRLEY 
ANKARA FOR AMB WRPEARSON, ECON AJSIROTIC AND DART 
AMMAN FOR USAID AND DART 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PREF, IZ, WFP 
SUBJECT:  TFIZ01: DART REPORT ON WFP/UNICEF & NGO FOOD AND 
NUTRITION SECTOR MEETING 28 April 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  The DART met with WFP, UNICEF, and several NGOs on 28 
April to discuss developments in the food and nutrition 
sectors.  Of primary interest were WFP's assessment of 
Ministry of Trade (MOT) capacity in Basrah and IMC's 
assessment in the Amarah-Al Kut corridor.  End Summary. 
 
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WORLD FOOD PROGRAM - BASRAH 
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2.  Representatives of the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) met 
with Ministry of Trade (MOT) staff in Basrah on 26 and 27 
April.  Most MOT staff in Basrah are present and willing to 
work; however, the main MOT warehouse and office complex is 
currently occupied by Coalition forces.  WFP has secured 
daily access to the facility for the MOT and approximately 
300 laborers.  WFP reports that the MOT computers in this 
facility have had their hard-drives removed, and several 
were otherwise damaged.  WFP and MOT are discussing ways to 
recreate the logistics and demographic databases feared 
lost.  DART will follow up with Coalition forces to 
establish a timetable for the return of the complex to the 
MOT, and to determine if the computer hard-drives are in 
Coalition custody. 
 
3.  There was a public distribution system (PDS) 
registration center with 54 sub-units in Basrah, all 
reported to be located in the same compound, which was 
burned.  MOT staff report that backup disks of registration 
data have been found.  Staff from the registration centers 
had taken the disks home for safekeeping.  It is not yet 
clear if the data from all 54 centers has been preserved. 
MOT and WFP will follow up. 
 
4.  WFP reported that Basrah was the hub for all MOT 
trucking in the 15 southern and central governorates.  In 
the past, movements of approximately 1,000 MOT trucks were 
coordinated from the central MOT complex in Basrah.  There 
was a standing fleet of 21 trucks for the Basrah governorate 
itself.  Of these, 12 were burned, six were looted, and 
three remain.  WFP has requested assistance from Coalition 
forces to determine how many trucks may be recovered from 
other governorates.   MOT staff reports that two of three 
large reserve tanks of diesel fuel remain intact in the 
warehouse and will provide for up to two months of country- 
wide trucking. 
 
5.  WFP and MOT staff are conducting a physical inventory of 
stocks in the Basrah warehouse complex.  They estimate that 
there are 50,000 metric tons (MT) of mixed commodities 
(pulses, oil, sugar, tea, etc.); 30,000 MTs bulk wheat; and 
an additional 15,000 MTs of bulk wheat in the Basrah silos. 
 
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WORLD FOOD PROGRAM - AN NASIRYAH 
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6.  WFP reports that all Oil for Food (OFF) program 
warehouses in An Nasiriyah are intact, without signs of 
looting, and that they are being guarded by civilian 
security officers.  Mills are functioning in An Nasiriyah, 
and there are currently 13,000 MTs of mixed commodities 
(including 8,000 MTs of sugar) in MOT storage facilities. 
An additional 5,000 MTs of warehouse space has been located 
by WFP, and will be used to store the first rice shipments 
(500 MTs) expected within the week from Um Qasr.  (Note: The 
rice will be the first arrival of food purchased regionally 
by WFP from the USD 200 million USAID contribution.  End 
note.) 
 
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WORLD FOOD PROGRAM - NINAWA 
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7.  WFP reports that "August" distributions were completed 
in the Ninawa governorate.  However, the absence of both 
pulses and rice resulted in an overall 20 percent reduction 
of the food basket.  WFP staff in Mosul report that a 
significant sulphur factory spill has contaminated a large 
swath of fields not far from the city.  The DART has 
requested more information on this issue. 
 
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WORLD FOOD PROGRAM - GENERAL 
---------------------------- 
 
8.  WFP reports increases in the prices of meat, fresh 
fruit, and vegetables in the markets it has been able to 
monitor in Basrah, An Nasiriyah, and Baghdad.  Meat prices, 
as well as the cost of bottled water, have more than doubled 
since the last available pre-war monitoring data. 
 
9.  WFP reports that several issues had common themes in its 
discussions with MOT staff and PDS agents.  These included a 
concern over the number and characteristics of political 
parties beginning to form throughout the country, and the 
use of the word "democracy" to justify undesirable and even 
destructive actions under the rubric that democracy allows 
for such freedoms.  Another concern voiced was that "tribal" 
leaders were beginning to take power in the current vacuum 
of civilian authority, and that tribe-centric focus would 
divide, rather than unite communities.  WFP local staff, MOT 
staff and food agents all expressed the hope that a civilian 
administration would be put into place quickly.  These 
concerns will be explored by the DART. 
 
 
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INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS 
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10.  The International Medical Corps (IMC) reported that 
along the Amarah-Al Kut route villages are beginning to 
receive a trickle of returnees from Iran.  These populations 
were returning from their home areas of Maysan, Dhi Kar, and 
Basrah.  In discussions with village leaders, it became 
clear that some towns are expecting to double in size over 
the next few weeks.  Registration of these long-term 
refugees into the PDS will be a priority of WFP and its 
implementing partners. 
 
11.  IMC reports that Community Child Care Units (CCCUs) 
along the Amarah-Al Kut corridor were not functioning and 
that some of them had not functioned for the last six months 
or more.  UNICEF High Protein Biscuits (HPBs) (1,200 MTs of 
which were distributed to CCCUs and health centers just 
prior to the war) were found on the market in Amarah, and in 
storage in Al Kut.  Doctors in the hospitals and clinics 
visited by IMC reported that malnutrition, particularly 
linked to protein deficiency, is on the rise throughout the 
region.  Severe malnutrition as a consequence of poor water 
quality and diarrheal disease has increased.  The IMC 
representative expressed concern over the lack of 
therapeutic milk, or other nutritional rehabilitation 
commodities, saying that he had seen instances where 
children were being turned away from treatment simply 
because there was nothing to treat them with.  He also 
indicated that some vulnerable families were not seeking 
care because they did not have the money to cover hospital 
fees.  (Note:  UNICEF reports that the last F100 Therapeutic 
Milk was imported in September, 2000, with a gap in HPB 
distribution from April 2002 to February/March 2003.  End 
Note.) 
 
12.  IMC also reported that hospitals along this eastern 
corridor have gone through medical stocks at an accelerated 
pace, due to significant numbers of people moving towards 
the east from Baghdad prior to the war.  Although IMC did 
not verify food stocks during this trip, IMC did indicate 
that host families may have had a similar impact on 
household food consumption during this period.  However, in 
interviews with villagers, food was not mentioned as a 
priority need in the villages and towns assessed. 
 
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UNICEF 
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13.  UNICEF reports that its Targeted Nutrition Program 
offices in Basrah were completely looted.  Staff has 
relocated to the Director General for Health office. 
Basrah staff is optimistic that they can get the Targeted 
Feeding Program up and running in a matter of weeks.  UNICEF 
plans to work through Save the Children, US, in the 
governorate of Basrah. 
 
14.  An Nasiriyah's Preventive Health Department building, 
where the Targeted Feeding Program was located, was shelled, 
and its stocks looted.  Staff feel that given sufficient 
resources, the Targeted Feeding Program could be reactivated 
quickly.  UNICEF plans to work through GOAL in the Dhi Qar 
governorate. 
 
15.  UNICEF developed a draft policy paper, at a special 
meeting in Cairo two months ago, on the procurement, 
distribution, and use of infant formula in Iraq.  This draft 
policy is currently in circulation and will be available to 
the DART within the week.  UNICEF has not focused on the 
issue of non-fat dried milk distribution, but DART and WFP 
will follow up on the issue of monitoring its use and 
assessing its value in the PDS food basket.  UNICEF reports 
that it has positioned 2500 MTs of HPBs in the region to be 
used to re-start the Targeted Nutrition Program. 
 
16.  DART inquired whether UNICEF had the capacity and 
intention of performing rapid nutritional assessments, for 
example in response to IMC findings along the Amarah- Al Kut 
corridor.  UNICEF responded that they were focused on re- 
establishing their targeted nutritional program under the 
Ministry of Health and would consider rapid assessments a 
diversion. 
 
JONES