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Lucia A Keegan  10/18/2006 09:55:20 AM  From  DB/Inbox:  Lucia A Keegan

Cable 
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UNCLAS        PARIS 06835

SIPDIS
cxparis:
    ACTION: PAO
    INFO:   UNESCO POL AMB ARS DCM

DISSEMINATION: PAOX
CHARGE: PROG

VZCZCFRO412
PP RUEHFR
DE RUEHFR #6835 2901117
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171117Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2245
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0250

UNCLAS PARIS 006835 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS PASS TO UNESCO PARIS 
 
E.O. 12958 
TAGS: KPAO UNESCO
SUBJECT:  UNESCO: PHILANTHROPY EXPERT SPEAKS ON PRIVATE SECTOR 
PARTNERSHIPS 
 
REF:  Paris 6251 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  On September 14, 2006 Craig Kennedy, President of the 
German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States, participated in 
UNESCO's Day of Reflection and Dialogue on Extrabudgetary Activities 
where he emphasized the need for UNESCO to develop more effective 
ways to build private-sector partnerships (reftel).  That evening he 
spoke to UNESCO Ambassadors and secretariat staff at the Hotel de 
Talleyrand, where he elaborated further on the various criteria 
UNESCO could consider when developing global partnerships.  Mr. 
Kennedy described the value, risks, and applications of public 
private partnerships in detail during these remarks before 100 
UNESCO Ambassadors and secretariat staff, and continued the 
discussion with a select group of Ambassadors at Ambassador Oliver's 
residence immediately following the talk.  He and Ambassador Oliver 
also met privately with the Chinese Vice Minister of Education at 
the latter's request.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  In his remarks at the Talleyrand (posted as a video on the new 
Mission website), Kennedy outlined how public private partnerships 
are useful in terms of leveraging public financial and intellectual 
resources, noting how they provide a responsive and less 
bureaucratic means of achieving one's goals.  He discussed how these 
partnerships help provide guidance on how common governance 
mechanisms allow partners to work together more effectively, and 
emphasized the importance of partner involvement in the decision 
making process and in developing shared goals.  The results of these 
partnerships, he stated, lead to more money focused on UNESCO's 
priority projects, more visibility focused on priority issues and 
better coordination on other grantmaking.  Kennedy briefly raised 
the risks of partnerships for UNESCO:  conflict between private and 
public partner's priorities and methods, duplication of work, and 
different internal bureaucracies and cultures that can be 
incompatible.  As a first step, Kennedy urged UNESCO to define its 
own brand globally in order to attract private sector partners 
because the benefits far outweigh the risks.  UNESCO, he said, was 
an organization with great potential for this kind of fundraising. 
Kennedy had made these same points at the UNESCO Day of Reflection 
and Extra budgetary activities that afternoon. 
 
¶3.  Several Ambassadors, including those of Madagascar, Guatemala 
and South Africa took extensive notes on Kennedy's presentation and 
other delegates, such as Israel and Benin, praised Kennedy for 
bringing a different, and "much needed" perspective on funding to 
UNESCO.  During a question and answer session, UNESCO Assistant 
Director General for Communication and Information underscored 
Kennedy's statements about the usefulness of private sector 
partnerships adding that UNESCO did not have to lose its identity or 
sacrifice its values in such partnerships - on the contrary these 
would be enhanced.  The Chief of Staff to the Director General also 
commented that UNESCO needed to hear Kennedy's message of taking 
time to establish what UNESCO's core values and identity were before 
going out to solicit funds, and she outlined partnerships that 
UNESCO has begun to create with American technology companies such 
as Intel and Microsoft. 
 
¶4. After the Talleyrand presentation, Kennedy joined Ambassadors 
from France, Benin, and Lithuania at Ambassador Oliver's residence, 
as well as the Deputy Permanent Representative from Norway.  A 
senior editor from Le Monde and a member of the Secretariat also 
attended the dinner.  The conversation focused on ways to strengthen 
UNESCO so that it could be more successful in establishing 
relationships with foundations and the private sector. 
 
¶5. Kennedy and Ambassador Oliver also had a private meeting earlier 
that afternoon with the Chinese Executive Board chair at the 
latter's request.  The Chair, a Vice Minister of Education, changed 
his flight at the last minute in order to have a one on one with 
Kennedy and, following the meeting, stated that his expertise would 
help UNESCO create good partnerships. 
 
¶6. COMMENT:  This was the Mission's most successful public diplomacy 
program to date, and a perfect way to close out FY06 programming. 
The Mission is committed to generating the maximum impact of each 
speaker, and 4 events in an 18 hour visit for Kennedy is no 
exception.  Speakers at UNESCO can potentially reach officials of 
over 150 countries, key Secretariat staff and journalists from all 
over the world.  We also make them available to the Bilateral 
Embassy, the U.S. Mission to the OECD and Africa Regional Services 
for programming.  END COMMENT. 
 
OLIVER