VZCZCXRO4988
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS RUEHPA
DE RUEHNK #0487/01 1160955
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 260955Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5410
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0239
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0277
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0428
RUEHBAD/AMCONSUL PERTH 0241
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0191

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NOUAKCHOTT 000487 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PINR EAID KPAO MR
SUBJECT: MAURITANIA STILL SHORT $4-$5 MILLION FOR ELECTIONS 
 
REF: NOUAKCHOTT 409 
 
Classified By: Amb. Joseph LeBaron, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) 
 
-------------- 
(U) Key Points 
-------------- 
 
-- A donors' roundtable organized by the African Union and 
Mauritania's transitional government met April 25 to solicit 
more funds for Mauritania's electoral transition.  The 
funding drive has been successful, but Mauritania is still 
$4-$5 million shy of the $22.5 million total election budget 
estimate. 
 
-- Mauritania said it will be able to pay 30% of the costs. 
(Current contribution amounts by country are provided below.) 
 
-- Ambassador used the Roundtable to announce locally the 
U.S. contribution to Mauritania's transition to democracy: 
approximately $1 million through contributions to the UNDP 
Basket Fund, the National Democratic Institute, and through 
use of discretionary Embassy funds (such as SSH, DHRF, and 
PD). 
 
-- The Minister of Interior acknowledged that "a lot still 
needed to be done" to resolve problems associated with 
issuing the national ID cards required for voter registration 
(reftel) 
 
-- Virtually every speaker, including the AU co-chair, 
praised without reservation the transitional government's 
progress towards free and fair elections. 
 
------------ 
(C) Comments 
------------ 
 
-- One can, of course, cynically dismiss this event as a 
routine tin cup, feel-good exercise.  But the Roundtable was 
actually quite significant for the Mauritanians, and local 
media coverage was extensive. 
 
-- For the Mauritanians, the Roundtable symbolized the 
international community's recognition that something quite 
rare in the 46-year history of the Islamic Republic is 
underway:  a good-faith effort by the state to organize free 
and fair elections and to strengthen democratic institutions, 
including political parties. 
 
-- Mauritanians crave such recognition and favorable 
attention, and the Roundtable provided it.  For the moment, 
all the census problems, inter-communal tensions, and White 
Moor dominance issues were set aside to focus on all the good 
things that are happening here. 
 
End Key Points and Comments. 
 
¶1. (U) An African Union (AU) sponsored Donors' Roundtable met 
in Nouakchott April 25 to solicit funds for Mauritania's 
electoral transition.  Attendees included the AU, EU, UN, 
International Organization of Francophone Countries (OIF), 
and various Ambassadors and representatives from European, 
African, Middle East and Asian countries. 
 
-------------- 
ELECTION COSTS 
-------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The government presented a figure of 22,535,166 USD to 
fund the entire electoral process, through the March 2007 
Presidential elections.  This figure was broken into the 12 
categories listed below.  These estimates are based on the 
assumption that there will be approximately 1,350,000 
eligible voters, 3,375 polling locations all staffed by a 
representative of the National Independent Electoral 
Commission, and that the list of registered voters will be 
opened prior to the Presidential elections to allow for 
additional registrants to be added. 
 
National Independent Electoral Commission - 7,085,111 USD 
 
 
NOUAKCHOTT 00000487  002 OF 003 
 
 
Civil Registry Assistance (ex: birth certificates) - 656,295 
USD 
 
Ministry of Justice Assistance - 92,384 USD 
 
Production of National Identity Cards - 350,689 USD 
 
Public Funding of Political Parties and the Press - 1,674,746 
USD 
 
Census / Voter Registration - 3,783,655 USD 
 
Election Referendum - June 2006 - 1,908,242 USD 
 
Legislative and Municipal Elections - November 2006 - 
2,397,805 USD 
 
Senatorial Elections - January 2007 - 93,638 USD 
 
Presidential Elections - March 2007 - 2,421,150 USD 
 
Technical Assistance - 1,060,500 USD 
 
Management - 1,010,949 USD 
 
-------- 
THE NEED 
-------- 
 
¶3. (U) Governmental officials said that with the financial 
commitments currently received or committed to, and the 
government's budgeting of 6,029,583 USD for elections -- 30 
percent of the total estimated costs -- 7,192,864 USD 
remained unfunded at the beginning of the Roundtable. 
Following the commitments made during the Roundtable by the 
countries listed below, the shortfall remains between 
4,000,000 and 5,000,000 USD, depending on how one assesses 
the contributions. 
 
U.S. - 200,000 USD 
 
Japan - 1,137,000 USD 
 
Germany - 500,000 Euro 
 
Senegal - 200,000 USD 
 
African Union - 100,000 USD 
 
¶4. (U) At the Roundtable the UN also committed to give an 
additional 300,000 USD for programming to help better 
integrate women into the political transition process. 
 
¶5. (U) The list of donors and contributions received or 
committed to prior to the Roundtable was as follows: 
 
UNDP - 1,060,500 USD for technical assistance 
 
EU - 6,000,000 Euro 
 
France - 500,000 Euro 
 
Spain - 500,000 Euro 
 
The Netherlands - 250,000 Euro 
 
Egypt - 17,000 USD 
 
----------------------------- 
WHAT TO DO WITH THE SHORTFALL 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) The government and AU representatives thanked 
attendees for their "generosity" and "commitment to ensuring 
the success of the transition," adding that "we will need 
continued assistance to ensure the success of our efforts." 
The Minister of Finance Abdallahi Ould Souleymane Ould Cheikh 
Sidiya added that the government will look to "pre-finance" 
any commitments that are not received in time, but said the 
details of such a move would need to be determined in the 
UNDP Basket Fund Steering Committee meeting -- in which the 
U.S. will now have a permanent seat following the 200,000 USD 
 
NOUAKCHOTT 00000487  003 OF 003 
 
 
commitment. 
LeBaron