VZCZCXRO2575
PP RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #0128/01 0281122
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281122Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6097
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0449
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 1130
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 9508
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 8287
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2010
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 8381
RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH 0154
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 1471
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0525

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000128 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/PB AND H, CINDY CHANG 
 
E.O. 12356: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID ECON BG
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH: CYCLONE RECOVERY AND ELECTIONS HIGHLIGHTED 
DURING STAFFDEL GROVE VISIT 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Cyclone reconstruction and political dialogue in 
Bangladesh were core themes of a visiting Senate State Foreign 
Operations Subcommittee staff delegation led by Paul Grove January 
16-18.  In meetings with the StaffDel, Government of Bangladesh 
(GOB) representatives and non-governmental organization (NGO) 
partners emphasized the country's long-term rehabilitation needs - 
including food needs - as Bangladesh recovers from the devastation 
caused by Cyclone Sidr.  The StaffDel highlighted to Bangladeshi 
interlocutors the importance of a political dialogue among all 
interested parties as key to progressing toward national elections 
in Bangladesh by the end of 2008.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) Paul Grove, Michele Wymer and Nikole Manatt of the Senate 
Appropriations' Sub-Committee on State, Foreign Operations and 
Related Programs visited Bangladesh January 16-18.  In addition to 
meeting with GOB officials, they visited USG projects aimed at 
combating HIV/AIDS, trafficking-in-persons, extremism and 
terrorism. 
 
RECOVERY FROM CYCLONE SIDR 
-------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) GOB officials, at a meeting hosted by the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and at a dinner hosted by the Charg d'Affaires 
a.i., highlighted Bangladesh's continued need for assistance in 
recovering from Cyclone Sidr.  Foreign Secretary Md. Touhid Hossain 
told the StaffDel crop destruction caused by the cyclone meant that 
Bangladesh is facing a 1.4 million metric ton food shortfall.  He 
said the country would need international food support in the coming 
four to five months until the next rice crop is harvested.  Over the 
long-term, the Foreign Secretary reported that Bangladesh was 
looking for assistance in rebuilding homes, schools and cyclone 
shelters, as well as infrastructure like roads and embankments. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) A GOB official key to the implementation of USG assistance 
programs in Bangladesh echoed the Foreign Secretary's comments.  Md. 
Aminul Islam Bhuiyan, Secretary of the Economic Relations Department 
of the Ministry of Finance, said infrastructure repairs in 
cyclone-hit areas were crucial to helping restore the livelihoods of 
millions of Bangladeshis.  For example, strengthened embankments 
could help protect lucrative shrimp and fish ponds from being washed 
away by future flooding and cyclones.  One international donor said 
that while Bangladesh is not facing famine as a result of Cyclone 
Sidr, food shortages and high food prices put additional pressure on 
a population that already suffers from malnutrition and stunting. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In conjunction with cyclone relief, the Foreign Secretary 
told the StaffDel the GOB is keenly interested in applying for 
additional debt concessions through the U.S. Tropical Forest 
Conservation Act (TFCA).  The GOB would like to apply more of the 
debt it owes the United States to nature conservancy through TFCA. 
The Foreign Secretary pointed out that the brunt of Cyclone Sidr was 
borne by the Sundarbans, a world heritage site that is home to a 
huge mangrove forest.  Through TFCA, the GOB could use funds owed 
the United States to help restore the Sundarbans. 
 
DIALOGUE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL POLITICAL OUTCOMES 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) International NGOs (INGOs) like the International 
Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), 
and The Asia Foundation (TAF) outlined for the StaffDel some of the 
challenges Bangladesh faces politically as it prepares for national 
elections by the end of 2008.  Chief among the requirements 
identified for successful elections is the ability of political 
parties to meet internally and to engage in substantive dialogue 
with Bangladesh's caretaker government.  All the INGOs agreed that 
the political parties must reform and be based on a platform of 
issues rather than a personality driven leadership.  However, 
reforms could only take place if parties were free to hold meetings 
and were invited to meet with the caretaker government to discuss 
political transition. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In all its meetings with GOB officials, the StaffDel 
stressed the importance of dialogue between the political parties 
and the government and the importance of completely lifting the ban 
on political activity.  Only by taking these steps can the caretaker 
government hope to solidify the support of political parties for the 
elections and a transition to the next, elected government.  GOB 
officials like the Foreign Secretary pointed to recent comments made 
 
DHAKA 00000128  002 OF 002 
 
 
by Bangladesh's Chief Adviser that a political dialogue is planned 
and that the caretaker government remains committed to its election 
roadmap.  The StaffDel noted that the U.S. Congress, as well as the 
executive branch, would be following closely political developments 
in Bangladesh throughout 2008. 
 
USG ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS WARMLY RECEIVED IN BANGLADESH 
--- ---------- -------- ------ -------- -- ---------- 
 
¶8. (U) In visits by and meetings with the StaffDel, recipients of 
USG assistance reported on the value of USG programs.  For example, 
the StaffDel met with several Imams, who have received training on a 
variety of development issues through the USAID-funded Leaders of 
Influence (LOI) program.  The Imams told the StaffDel they had 
learned much about economic development, health, education and 
disaster mitigation through the LOI program.  The Imams said they 
applied the lessons they learned to their interaction with followers 
at their mosques and students at their madrassas.  Several of the 
Imams reported that they used information from the LOI program in 
their Friday sermons.  The Imams were unanimous in their desire for 
more interaction with the United States. 
 
¶9. (U) The StaffDel also visited a USG-supported shelter home for 
victims of human trafficking and domestic violence.  The shelter 
provides health care, legal aid, psychological-social counseling, 
and training in livelihood options to trafficking and domestic 
violence survivors under a USAID grant managed by the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM).  The NGO that manages the shelter 
and IOM staff briefed the StaffDel on the severity of these issues 
in Bangladesh and how USG support has been critical to involving the 
Government in addressing human trafficking from Bangladesh.  The 
Government and NGOs now work much more closely together in 
preventing human trafficking and in providing adequate care for 
trafficking survivors. 
 
¶10. (U) The StaffDel visited an injecting drug user rehabilitation 
center in downtown Dhaka.  Members of the StaffDel visited with 20 
women who had entered the center to change their lives and reject 
drug use and prostitution.  Through this USAID-funded program, women 
complete a three-month rehabilitation program, which includes 
mental/psycho-social, physical and spiritual components.  The 
program also provides some vocational training and eventual job 
placement, often in factory jobs that are highly coveted in this 
impoverished nation. 
 
¶11.  (U) The StaffDel met with alumni of the ECA-funded Study of 
U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders and the Youth Exchange and Study 
programs.  Participants discussed their experiences in the United 
States and how they are using their experiences on returning to 
Bangladesh.  Alumni from both programs told the StaffDel that their 
views of the U.S. and the world in general changed as a result of 
these programs.  Several students noted they have become much more 
civic-minded as a result.  The alumni also noted that they maintain 
close contacts with other alumni as well as their host families in 
the U.S. using email and Internet social networking sites such as 
MySpace and Facebook. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Two key priorities for Bangladesh - recovery 
from Cyclone Sidr and progress toward elections by the end of the 
year - were echoed in many of the StaffDel's meetings.  As part of 
longer term rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in response to 
the cyclone, Embassy personnel told the StaffDel the Mission plans 
to continue the model of Diplomacy-Defense-Development working 
together, a model that was successful during the immediate response 
after the cyclone hit on November 15. 
The StaffDel was briefed on the inter-agency teams that are 
currently deployed to the cyclone affected areas to conduct a 
month-long assessment and to deliver immediate assistance where 
appropriate through quick impact projects.   Ongoing military 
engagement programs, including International Military Education and 
Training (IMET), demonstrated during the immediate response phase 
the high degree of interoperability between U.S. and Bangladeshi 
forces.   For example, the Bangladeshi liaison officers embarked on 
the Kearsarge and Tarawa were all graduates of U.S. professional 
military education through IMET. 
 
¶13.  (U) Paul Grove cleared this cable.