VZCZCXRO6496
PP RUEHNP
DE RUEHC #5979 0182020
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 182018Z JAN 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 4973
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 4573
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 1242
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0302
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY

UNCLAS STATE 005979 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECIN ECON EU UN IT IZ
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE FOR THE U.S. DELEGATION TO THE INFORMAL 
IRAQ DONORS MEETING IN NAPLES 
 
REF: A. STATE 3676 
     ¶B. ROME 61 
 
¶1. (U) This cable is to provide guidance and instructions for 
the U.S. delegation to the informal Iraq donors meeting in 
Naples, Italy on January 23-24, 2008. Reftels give the 
composition of the delegation. 
 
¶2. (U) With an eye toward achieving the goals of the 
International Compact with Iraq, a core group of 
international donors will meet with Iraqi officials to 
discuss the practical aspects of coordinating support from 
international donors with Iraqi budget resources  for 
national ministries and the provinces.  International 
representation will include the UN, World Bank, EC, Italy, 
Japan, Korea, UK and USA.  Iraq's delegation will be led by 
the Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation (MoPDC), 
Dr. Ali Baban. 
 
¶3. (U) The agenda calls for a review of donor activities by 
functional sector and geographic region, identification of 
ICI implementation priorities taking account of Iraq's 
National and Provincial Development Strategies (NDS and 
PDSs), national budget execution issues, activities and 
capabilities of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), 
and the role of the ICI Iraq Consultative Group (ICG) for 
donor coordination. 
 
¶4. (U) Members of the USA delegation will give short 
presentations on (i) USA assistance activities in Iraq 
(broken down by program areas and geographic regions), (ii) 
present-day USAID assistance activities (for ministerial 
capacity development and through the PRTs), and (iii) the PRT 
program's mission, organization, successes and constraints. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The USA and UK will also co-chair a session to 
discuss partnership principles as were developed at the 
Building Provincial Iraqi Ownership roundtable the UK hosted 
last November. The delegation should seek agreement from the 
Government of Iraq (GoI) and other donors on a set of 
partnership principles that emphasize Iraqi ownership and the 
priority use of Iraqi budgetary resources, especially for 
major projects. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The delegation should work to ensure that Iraq's NDS 
fully takes into account the aspirations and priorities of 
the new PDSs that have been developed by 17 of Iraq's 18 
provinces. (The final PDS for Dohuk is near completion.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) The delegation should encourage the GoI Ministry of 
Planning and the IRFFI and ICI Secretariats to play effective 
roles in facilitating and coordinating donor relations with 
individual provinces and with central government ministries 
as the ministries make their decisions for provincial budget 
allocations and programs. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The delegation should endeavor to identify the best 
practices and approaches for coordinating donor technical 
assistance programs for capacity development in Iraq's 
ministries and provinces, including with GoI training 
programs. 
¶9. (SBU) The delegation should be mindful of the unique 
organizational structure, operational constraints and funding 
requirements of the PRTs as donors and the GoI seek to 
develop synergies between donor activities at the central and 
provincial levels.  This is true not only for the USA-led 
PRTs, but also for the PRTs that are led by Coalition 
partners, including the UK (Basra), Korea (Erbil), and Italy 
(Dhi Qar). 
 
¶10. (SBU) The delegation should seek the development of a 
consensus that the ICI ICG will become the leading group for 
encouraging and coordinating donor activities in Iraq. 
Finally, the meeting should look ahead to and help to make 
preparations for the next IRFFI Donor Committee Meeting to be 
preceded the day before by the first full ICG Meeting 
(tentatively scheduled for March in Baghdad) and to be 
followed by the first Annual ICI Ministerial Meeting 
(tentatively scheduled for late-April or May possibly in 
Paris or Kuwait). 
RICE