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Lucia A Keegan  12/18/2006 03:04:14 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Lucia A Keegan

Cable 
Text:                                                                      
                                                                           
      
C O N F I D E N T I A L        PARIS 07796

SIPDIS
cxparis:
    ACTION: UNESCO
    INFO:   POL ECON AMBU AMB AMBO DCM SCI

DISSEMINATION: UNESCOX
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AMB:LVOLIVER
DRAFTED: POL:DROSTROFF
CLEARED: DCM:AKOSS

VZCZCFRI338
RR RUEHC RUEHBR
DE RUEHFR #7796 3481420
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 141420Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3795
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 1729

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 007796 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL 12/14/2016 
TAGS: SCUL UNESCO BR
SUBJECT: USUNESCO - BRASILIA OFFICE UPDATE 
 
¶1. (U) Classified by USUNESCO DCM Andrew Koss, for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
¶2. (C) During a meeting on 6 December by Mission Political 
Assistant with Mrs. Lamia Salman-el Madini, Director of UNESCO's 
Bureau of Field Coordination, the subject of the Brasilia field 
office was raised, as she had just returned from a trip to 
Brazil earlier in the week. 
 
¶3. (C) Mrs. Salman said that the Human Resources division will 
soon be re-advertising the posting for the Director of the 
Brasilia office, as no candidate had been selected from the 
previous announcement.  (Note: the Brazilian government earlier 
vetoed an American candidate who had been short-listed for the 
position.  End note). 
 
¶4. (C) Salman said that based on her conversations, and from her 
meetings with personnel in Brasilia, she believes that they 
understand that things will be different in the future.  She is 
also confident that the recent Executive Board decisions on 
reorientation had triggered change, and noted that new tools 
were being put into place to ensure that UNESCO roles and 
regulations would be followed. 
 
¶5. (C) (Background note:  Beginning in 1998, and with a major 
increase in 2003, the Brazilian Ministry of Health by-passed 
government hiring restrictions by contracting with UNESCO and 
UNDP to provide employees for programs for Brazil's Ministry of 
Health, an activity that is outside UNESCO's mandate.  The sums 
involved were large and have made up at least one-third of 
UNESCO's global extra budgetary funding resources.  The Ministry 
of Health has grown dependent on the cost-effective hiring 
system which keeps employees off their permanent roster.  End 
background). 
 
¶6. (C) Regarding the Ministry of Health, Salman said that 70 
percent of the Ministry's professional staff is being supplied 
through the UN (UNESCO and UNDP).  She mentioned that the office 
that handles all of the social security cards for the country is 
staffed with UN personnel.  According to Salman, the key problem 
now is finding an exit strategy for the Ministry of Health - 
which is proving difficult.  At this point, she said that there 
is no solution at hand, and there have been no decisions taken 
by the Ministry of Health to resolve their reliance on UN 
personnel. 
 
¶7. (C) Salman also mentioned that the amount of money UNESCO 
receives from the 3-5 percent overhead charged to the Brazilian 
government for providing services continues to increase.  She 
said that there could be an additional 19 million dollars for 
resource-poor UNESCO. 
 
¶8. (C) When Political Assistant suggested that the fear of media 
exposure could possibly prompt some action by the Brazilians, 
Salman said that she doubted it, noting that the Brazilian 
newspapers are filled with nothing but corruption scandals. 
 
¶9. (C) As for UNESCO's image, she said that the "reorientation" 
of the Brazil office, as charged by the Executive Board is 
moving forward.  The impression Salman left was that with the 
negligent former director out, a new personnel search underway, 
new rules and regulations reinforced, and training for field 
office personnel now being completed, that there is at least a 
little more breathing room for UNESCO's Secretariat before they 
are called to task before the Executive Board this coming 
spring. 
 
¶10. (C) Comment:  How quickly UNESCO's Director General will 
move to shut off the flow of millions into his cash-poor 
organization is another question, as the Ministry of Health 
continues to rely on UN personnel in Brazil.  The 19 million 
dollars is also a huge temptation for cash-poor UNESCO, but that 
may make UNESCO reluctant to take immediate steps to end the 
program. 
 
¶11. (C) Comment continued:  While the Director General, as a 
result of conversations with the Ambassador and A/S Silverberg's 
letter of November 2006, is keenly aware of the USG's deep 
concern about the Brasilia office, and has said that he will 
personally monitor the External Auditors investigation in 
response to the current state of affairs.  We recently heard 
that he told the new Canadian ambassador that the situation is 
delicate and that he feels caught between the United States and 
Brazil.  The US Mission to UNESCO will, of course, continue to 
closely monitor the situation.  End comment. 
OLIVER