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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PARIS 000961 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM USOECD PARIS 
 
STATE FOR EEB JONATHAN MUDGE AND NANCY SMITH-NISSLEY 
 
STATE FOR S/CRS MASQUINO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON KDEM OECD
SUBJECT: Partnership for Democratic Governance - Readout on Second 
Steering Group Meeting 
 
PARIS 00000961  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1.   Summary.  The PDG Steering Group (SG) held its second meeting 
on May 7.  Deputy Secretary General Amano chaired the gathering, 
which was attended by the nine SG countries, plus the UNDP.  USOECD 
Charg d'affaires Paul Reid represented the USA.  The Head of the 
PDG Advisory Unit (AU) presented (and delegates approved) a revised 
2008-2011 budget of 6.8 million Euros for the eight-person AU, set 
to be fully staffed by mid-June.  Discussions revealed two 
conflicting views on the AU work plan.  Canada, supported by the USA 
and Chile, maintained the AU should agree upon a short list of 
recipient countries, initiate analysis, and identify pilot projects. 
 Denmark, supported by Poland and Mexico called for more work to 
define the PDG concept, before any further activity.  Delegates 
ultimately compromised: the AU will respond to countries that 
request support, yet simultaneously work to further define the PDG 
concept.  The Third PDG Steering Group is scheduled for October 16. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2.  OECD convened the Second PDG Steering Group meeting on May 7 in 
Paris; the first occurred on February 13 and 14.  OECD Deputy 
Secretary-General Mario Amano chaired the meeting, at which Jerzy 
Pomianowski, the new Head of the PDG advisory Unit, led discussions. 
 Steering Group members Chile, Poland, and Turkey were represented 
at the Ambassadorial level.  All nine SG  countries, plus the UNDP 
were represented.  The SG member countries are: Australia, Canada, 
Chile, Denmark, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Turkey and the United States. 
 PDG founding members Brazil, Japan, and the Inter-American 
Development Bank participated. 
 
Progress Report: AU's First Five Weeks 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Since beginning operation in early April, the AU produced 
detailed documents on the following: 
 
-- PDG Concept 
-- PDG Methodology (from project genesis to lessons-learned) 
-- Identification of Service Providers and Target Partner Countries 
-- Results Framework (for measuring project success) 
-- Program of Work and Budget for 2009-2010 
 
"Focal point" representatives from the SG member countries met May 5 
to review and provide comment on these documents, which were 
re-issued in revised form on May 7 for consideration by the SG. 
 
-- Staffing, Budget, and Implementation Efforts 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶4.  Prior to the May 7 substantive discussions on the documents, 
Pomianowski provided an update on AU staffing and budget, and SG 
members provided progress on their respective PDG implementation 
efforts.  Amano and Pomianowski mentioned that the USG was the sole 
member to submit comments on the initial Concept Note and to respond 
to PDG questions raised at the first SG meeting.  Pomianowski 
introduced two newly-hired technical advisors, and announced the 
selection of two more (one of whom is a U.S. national) who will join 
the AU staff by mid June.  He presented, and delegates approved, a 
revised 2008-2011 budget of 6.8 million Euros, down from the initial 
estimate of 7.4 million, for the eight-person Advisory Unit.  The 
 
PARIS 00000961  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
revised budget still leaves an approximate 1.52 million Euro deficit 
gap vis-`-vis current pledged contributions.  Pomianowski 
underscored the need to attract more contributing members to fill 
this gap. 
 
¶5.  Bjoern Foerde, Director of the UNDP's Oslo Governance Center, 
told attendees that UNDP regional bureaus will be key for PDG 
engagement at the local level.  UNDP intends to give the AU direct 
access to support from its regional bureaus.  Foerde said he expects 
Pomianowski's scheduled June visit to New York will help familiarize 
UNDP staff on the work of the AU.  (Comment: While the UNDP 
representative spoke glowingly of PDG, his remarks rendered apparent 
the fact that so far UNDP has done little to implement PDG.  End 
Comment.)  Chilean Ambassador Pilar Armanet said Santiago recently 
held a seminar to familiarize senior civil servants with the PDG. 
Chile, she stressed, places great emphasis on south-south 
cooperation, and on institutional reform.  Armanet suggested Haiti 
as a possible PDG recipient country. 
 
¶6.  Adair Heuchan of the Canadian International Development Agency 
said that Ottawa has provided information on PDG to its embassies 
abroad.  She noted Canada places great emphasis on strengthening of 
the public sector.  Heuchan called for an evaluation of PDG after 
its initial three-year period.  She encouraged the AU to get moving 
quickly with pilot projects.  Ambassador Ahmet Erozan said Turkey 
tasked some embassies to identify three potential PDG pilot projects 
by June 30.  Ankara will subsequently review submissions and develop 
a short list. 
 
¶7.  Paul Reid, USOECD Charg d'affaires, said the USG wants to see 
timely, practical results.  He urged the PDG to get started with 
pilot projects, and asked the SG to develop a short list during the 
meeting.  Reid noted that the USG canvassed numerous embassies over 
the past several months, and filtered the responses into a short 
list that includes Liberia, Nigeria, Guatemala, Jamaica, and 
Grenada.  He also noted that Somalia recently approached the USG 
with a request that might match PDG criteria. 
 
¶8.  Ambassador Jan Woroniecki told participants that Poland has 
canvassed its embassies in developing countries.  Like Ankara, 
Warsaw will review and evaluate the proposals as they come in. 
Mexico Deputy Permanent Representative Bruno Figueroa said PDG is 
still in the discussion phase in Mexico.  He said the GoM is still 
working to understand how PDG fits with Mexican objectives.  Japan 
noted that its Global Study on Effective Technical Cooperation for 
Capacity Development provides PDG-relevant information. 
 
¶9.  The Korean representative cited public governance as a major 
focus of the Korean Development Agency, noting that PDG is 
well-aligned with Korean thinking.  The IDB representative suggested 
Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Bolivia as possible recipient 
countries.  He suggested that IDB profiles of Bolivia and Guatemala 
could prove useful for PDG analysis.  The Australian representative 
said Canberra has been thinking about PDG internally, but was 
waiting for the May 7 SG meeting results before determining how to 
move forward. 
 
 
 
PARIS 00000961  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
To Define or Implement (aka Fish or Cut Bait) 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶10.  Steering Group discussions revealed a sharp split between 
members over the AU work plan for the next six months.  Canada, 
supported by the United States and Chile, maintained that the AU 
needed to develop a short list of countries and initiate analysis of 
conditions therein so as to get started with pilot projects. 
Denmark, supported by Poland, Mexico, and to a lesser extent 
Australia and the UNDP, called for more work to define the concept, 
role and design of PDG before establishing a list of countries 
and/or identifying pilot projects. 
 
¶11.  Denmark underscored the need to maintain a long-term 
perspective, cautioning against "doing something just to do it." 
The United States expressed the fear that "without a short term, 
there won't be a long term."  Deputy Secretary Amano noted the 
importance of political realities.  He opined that governments 
spending money on PDG will need to see results in order to maintain 
commitment.  PDG Advisory Unit Head Pomianowski ultimately secured 
consensus approval on a middle road: the AU will initiate dialogue 
with and analysis of countries that request support, yet 
simultaneously work to further define the PDG "concept framework and 
knowledge base." 
 
PDG Six-month Horizon 
--------------------- 
 
¶12.  In his summary of the SG meeting, Pomianowski said the AU will 
consolidate three meeting documents (Concept Note, Operational 
Model, Methodology) into one, to reflect member requests for a more 
comprehensive, but shorter and concise PDG document. He did not 
commit to a specific short-list of countries, but maintained that 
the AU would respond (i.e. initiate "mapping" or analysis) on 
countries that express interest.  He informed delegates of his 
upcoming travel (June 6-11) to New York and Washington for 
discussions with UNDP and World Bank respectively.  (Note.  In 
Washington Pomianowski also plans to call on USAID, State 
Department, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the IFC.  End 
Note.)  He pledged to share an AU-produced PowerPoint briefing to 
assist SG members in their PDG outreach/ recruitment efforts, as 
well as to produce a PDG brochure. 
 
¶13.  Delegates agreed to hold the Third PDG Steering Group on 
October 16, preceded by a working group for focal point 
representatives on October 14. 
 
¶14.  Comment.  We were pleased to see the AU produce a revised 
budget and solid documentation, and simultaneously make significant 
progress in hiring staff during its first five weeks of existence. 
Jerzy Pomianowski, the AU head, is a strong, active leader who 
shares U.S. views on the need to produce results.  While the May 7 
SG avoided the pointless debate on hypothetical advisory groups that 
plagued its February discussions, there still remained too much 
attention on "concept" and "definition" to suit our tastes. 
Fortunately Pomianowski shares our views, and appears determined to 
move forward in a practical manner.  SG members should now encourage 
other countries, such as Japan, the UK, and France to join PDG as 
 
PARIS 00000961  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
contributing members.  We should also ask select recipient countries 
to convey expressions of interest directly to the AU.  End Comment. 
 
 
Egan