This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000655 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM US MISSION TO UNESCO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  02/1/2016 
TAGS: ECON KPAO ECPS ETRD EINT ETTC EAID UNESCO
SUBJECT:  USUNESCO: AMBASSADOR GROSS MEETS DIRECTOR 
GENERAL 
 
REF:  Paris 396 
 
Classified by:  PAO Caitlin Bergin for reasons 1.4 B/D 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:   Ambassador David A. Gross, U.S. 
Coordinator for International Communications and 
Information Policy in the Bureau of Economic and 
Business Affairs and U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO, Louise 
¶V. Oliver met with UNESCO's Director General Koichiro 
Matsuura and Assistant Director General for 
Communication and Information Abdul Waheed Khan, on 
January 20, 2006 to discuss World Summit on the 
Information Society (WSIS) follow up.  During the 
meeting, Ambassador Gross, referring to the language of 
the Tunis Agenda adopted at WSIS, stated that the 
U.S.'s strong view was that "enhanced cooperation" 
meant rededication to the existing work of the 
international community.  He noted the Canadian support 
of Markus Kumar for the new Internet Governance Forum 
(IGF) secretariat.  He emphasized that the U.S. had 
finished negotiating the issue of Internet governance 
at WSIS and described the IGF as a place to exchange 
information.  He noted that UNESCO's constituency, 
particularly media freedom NGOs, could play a useful 
role in advancing UNESCO's interests at the IGF. 
Ambassadors Gross and Oliver stated that during talks 
with over 25 Ambassadors to UNESCO, they had detected a 
shift away from advocating new mechanisms on ICTs 
toward constructive use to advance common interests. 
Ambassador Gross reaffirmed USG views on the importance 
of access to foreign languages on the Internet. 
Matsuura took his views on board and appeared to 
welcome a potential chance to mend the USG-UNESCO rift 
over cultural diversity.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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ENHANCED COOPERATION AND THE ROLE OF THE IGF 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Ambassador Gross delivered a strong message 
that the U.S. had finished negotiating the issue of 
internet governance at WSIS and it was now time to move 
on.  "Enhanced cooperation" in this context, he said, 
meant re-dedicating ourselves to existing organizations 
within the UN system.  No new work programs, no 
expansions of mandates and no new mechanisms were 
established at Tunis, he said, adding that this was 
good news for UNESCO's budget.   He noted that he had 
discussed with Khan Canada's support of Markus Kumar to 
lead the new Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 
secretariat in Geneva.  At the same time, he emphasized 
 
SIPDIS 
that the U.S. was not playing a major role in deciding 
the IGF's secretariat. 
 
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UNESCO AND MEDIA FREEDOM 
------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Ambassador Gross praised UNESCO's commitment 
to media freedom throughout the WSIS process.  He 
encouraged Matsuura to motivate UNESCO's media freedom 
NGO constituency to take an active stakeholder role at 
the IGF, and specifically mentioned the World Press 
Freedom Committee as an example of the kind of NGO that 
might play a constructive role on the IGF.  Matsuura 
indicated that he would consider this point. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
ICT DEBATE:  UNESCO AMBASSADORS WANT TO MOVE ON 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)   Ambassador Oliver noted that Ambassador 
Gross had met with almost thirty Ambassadors to UNESCO 
to discuss ICTs and WSIS.  Gross stated that while the 
U.S. might still be working through some of the 
Internet governance issues with some EU colleagues, he 
saw that the rest of the world wanted to move on and 
look at the constructive application of ICTs to advance 
common interests.  Gross also discussed the views of 
African Ambassadors to UNESCO, which were focused on 
how to use ICTs as a tool to help provide government 
services such as health care, policing and education. 
Matsuura mentioned the role that the private sector 
could play in this regard and stated that despite 
initial criticism, UNESCO's Communication and 
Information sector continued to push ahead for greater 
cooperation with U.S. companies such as Microsoft and 
Intel.  The WSIS Action Line of ICTs and Education, he 
added, was a main theme for UNESCO, and the 
organization itself could help the developing world in 
this regard. 
 
------------------------------- 
Local languages on the Internet 
------------------------------- 
¶5.   (U)  Matsuura stated that UNESCO was opening 
multimedia community centers in developing countries 
and had established an international institute for 
capacity building in Addis Ababa.  He added that 
capacity building was a WSIS Action Line in UNESCO's 
competency.  Ambassador Gross cited the importance of 
expanding the Internet for non-ASCII languages and 
stated that the USG strongly supported access to 
content in local languages on the Internet.  Matsuura 
and Khan agreed. 
 
¶6.  (C) COMMENT:  During the meeting, Matsuura was all 
smiles.  At the same time, it is often worth noting 
what he does not mention.  He only raised 2 of the 8 
WSIS Action Lines for follow up - capacity building, 
and ICTs and Education - suggesting that worker bees in 
the Secretariat who want to act aggressively on all 8 
Action Lines (including information ethics) might be 
held in check.  While appearing receptive to the idea, 
Matsuura did not specifically state he agreed with 
Canada's support for having the IGF's Secretariat in 
Geneva, as ADG Khan had (see reftel).  A Matsuura 
staffer later stated that the two main points Matsuura 
had heard from Gross were that Internet Governance was 
"a dead issue" and ICTs are tools that do not have 
value independent of application. ("If we are going to 
meet and talk about computers, why not meet and talk 
about pencils?" she asked.)  She stated that Gross 
delivered a strong message that the IGF would change 
nothing in terms of policy, but that UNESCO should urge 
its media freedom constituency to play an active role. 
What had resonated most with Matsuura, she said, was 
that Gross made clear that other UNESCO member states 
shared USG views on his points.  Mission will now wait 
to see whether Matsuura will support the Swiss proposal 
for the IGF, continue to distance UNESCO from Internet 
Governance, and keep UNESCO focused on one or two WSIS 
Action lines where it can have impact.  We hear over 
and over again from member states that education 
remains a top UNESCO priority and therefore we can 
expect continued emphasis on the use of ICTs and 
education, particularly in rural areas.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶7. (U) Ambassador Gross has cleared on this cable. 
 
KOSS