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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7660
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 KINSHASA 000246 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
USAID FOR AA/AFR, KALMQUIST 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OREP PREL PGOV EAID ECON PREF PHUM MARR ASEC
CG 
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR VISIT OF USAID ADMINISTRATOR AND 
DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE HENRIETTA FORE TO THE DRC 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 
is slowly grappling with fundamental governance, security and 
development challenges following historic 2006 national 
elections.  The promise of peace and democratization and the 
importance of the DRC as the linchpin of central Africa and 
beyond have made it one of the Department's top five priority 
assistance countries in Africa.  The January 2008 Goma 
accords between the government and armed groups, facilitated 
by the U.S., UN and EU created a process to achieve peace, 
security and development in the country's eastern provinces. 
Widespread insecurity only amplifies a political and judicial 
vacuum throughout the country, contributing to a pervasive 
climate of impunity in which armed men routinely abuse 
civilians, particularly women and children.  There are clear 
signs the population is growing impatient with the pace of 
the government's efforts and skeptical that democracy can 
solve the country's problems.  Your visit will reaffirm U.S. 
commitment to a long partnership with the Congolese people to 
develop democratic institutions and reinforce our shared 
objective of a peaceful and prosperous DRC.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Your visit to the DRC is a reaffirmation of U.S. 
support for the country and its fledgling democracy.  It is 
the first visit by a senior Administration official since 
President Joseph Kabila's meeting with the President at the 
White House in October and the signing of the Acte 
d'Engagement by the government and armed groups at the 
January Kivu peace, security and development conference in 
Goma.  It comes a little over a year after the election of 
President Joseph Kabila in the historic presidential and 
parliamentary elections of 2006.  Kabila had initially taken 
power after his father, Laurent Desire Kabila, was 
assassinated in 2001.  He led the DRC during a difficult 
transition from dictatorship, mismanagement and devastating 
wars, which are believed to have taken the lives of over four 
million people between 1996 and 2002.  The electoral process 
produced a government that has been confronting the 
challenges of developing democratic institutions amid popular 
expectations of change.  This situation calls for continued 
and sustained U.S. engagement. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The DRC, a country the size of the United States 
east of the Mississippi, has the potential to one day drive 
the development of all of central Africa.  The Department's 
2006 decision to identify it as one of five priority 
assistance countries in Africa reflected achievements to 
date, the promise of the peace and democratization processes, 
and the country's importance to regional stability and 
development.  Our assistance program fully supports and 
reflects the transformational diplomacy goals laid out by the 
Secretary.  The Mission's overriding goals focus on 
 
SIPDIS 
implanting a culture of democracy, accountable governance and 
respect for human rights, while promoting broad economic 
development in a stable Congo at peace with its neighbors and 
itself.  USAID's 2006 budget for DRC programs totaled $68 
million, including funds received from central accounts but 
excluding humanitarian assistance.  Amounts for 2007 have 
risen to $71 million (with supplemental funding), and are 
projected to rise in 2008 to $107 million, including 
increases for peace and security, governing justly and 
democratically, investing in people, and economic growth 
programs. 
 
Current security challenges 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The security situation in the DRC remains precarious 
in many areas, despite the promising processes begun by the 
November 2007 Nairobi communique and January 2008 Goma 
accords.  Most recently, police and militants of the 
politico-religious movement Bundu dia Kongo (BDK) clashed 
beginning February 28 in Bas-Congo province, following a 
series of violent incidents directed at pastors, teachers, 
government officials and non-Kongo residents by young BDK 
toughs.  On March 8, special police forces assaulted BDK's 
main compound in the provincial capital of Matadi, and 
conducted similar operations in other areas of the province. 
MONUC has issued a statement expressing strong concern, and 
the EU is considering a proposed statement in Brussels. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Congolese military (FARDC) suffers from low 
morale, weak command and control, widespread corruption, 
 
KINSHASA 00000246  002 OF 007 
 
 
haphazard administration, poor operational planning, limited 
training and equipment, and questionable military capability. 
 State and irregular military forces are responsible for many 
of the worst human rights abuses in the country.  The Kivu 
provinces merit particular attention.  Following a failed 
FARDC offensive in early December 2007 against a renegade 
militia led by dissident General Laurent Nkunda, a 
self-proclaimed defender of the Congo,s small Tutsi 
population, the government agreed to launch a peace process 
with North Kivu and South Kivu armed groups at the Kivu 
peace, security and development conference January 2008 in 
the North Kivu capital of Goma.  Achieving this result 
required unflagging engagement by the U.S., UN and EU. 
Follow-up will require our continued commitment and 
involvement. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The DRC and Rwanda pledged to work together November 
9 in Nairobi to end the problems posed by the 
FDLR/ex-FAR/Interahamwe, by peaceful means if possible, by 
force if necessary.  The FDLR, formed from the remnants of 
the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda and former Interahamwe 
fighters, remains the largest of several foreign armed groups 
operating in the DRC, with approximately 6,000-8,000 
combatants in North and South Kivu.  These groups pose a 
threat to the country's overall security and stability while 
remaining a source of friction between Congo and its 
neighbors.  Their leaders include a number of individuals 
implicated in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.  Small groups of 
Ugandan and Burundian fighters also continue to operate in 
DRC territory. 
 
U.S. leadership 
--------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The United States has played a key role in efforts 
to re-establish peace in eastern Congo.  In 2004, the U.S. 
launched the Tripartite (later Tripartite Plus) process, a 
forum bringing together senior officials from the DRC, 
Rwanda, Uganda, plus Burundi, to promote cooperation and 
regional dialogue.  A special Tripartite Plus summit chaired 
by Secretary Rice December 5 in Addis Ababa brought together 
three of the four Tripartite Plus heads of state. Although 
Kabila was the only head of state who did not attend, the 
three ministers representing him were active participants in 
decisions to strengthen commitment to resolving conflict in 
eastern Congo and increasing regional cooperation. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Current active U.S. peacemaking efforts date to mid 
¶2007.  Eastern Congo was a major topic of Kabila's White 
House meeting with the President.  They discussed USG 
assistance to the DRC, including increased funding to combat 
malaria and AIDS, and the war on terrorism.  The President 
confirmed that the U.S. would open an Embassy office in Goma 
in response to Kabila's request; the office has been staffed 
since early November by Foreign Service Officers on detail 
from Washington or Embassy Kinshasa.  The Department is 
currently reviewing the Embassy's proposal to maintain the 
office throughout 2008.  USAID now also maintains a regular 
presence in Goma. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Tim Shortley, Senior Advisor to Assistant Secretary 
Jendayi Frazer, continues to play a major role in 
consolidating the peace process.  He concluded another 
mission to the DRC in early March.  He first visited the DRC 
in September, meeting with President Kabila, senior 
politicians and UN and NGO officials to present ideas for 
achieving a negotiated settlement to end the threats posed by 
Nkunda and the FDLR.  Working closely with UN, EU and South 
African special envoys, he helped broker the Congo-Rwanda 
agreement in Nairobi.   After President Kabila asked him to 
return to the DRC in December following the failure of the 
Masisi offensive against Nkunda, Shortley negotiated the 
withdrawal of Nkunda's forces from territory abandoned by the 
FARDC during its retreat.  He was a key player at the Kivu 
conference of January 2008, and he and the EU special envoy 
this month succeeded in persuading Nkunda to resume 
participation in the Goma process. 
 
MONUC 
----- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The United Nations Mission in the Congo (MONUC) 
 
KINSHASA 00000246  003 OF 007 
 
 
includes a 17,000-strong peacekeeping operation with military 
contingents in all provinces and major cities and more than 
3,000 civilian employees.  Now led by SRSG Alan Doss of the 
U.K., who previously headed the UN mission in Liberia, MONUC 
was created in 1999 pursuant to the Lusaka accords and a UN 
Security Council mandate.  With an annual budget of over $1 
billion, it is the largest and most expensive UN peacekeeping 
operation in history.  The U.S., as the largest contributor 
to the UN peacekeeping budget, funds 27 percent of its 
expenditures, i.e. approximately $300 million per year. 
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Uruguay and Nepal 
are the leading contributors of peacekeeping troops, each 
with contingents of more than 1,000.  Much more than a simple 
peacekeeping operation, it provides military, transportation, 
communications and administrative services in the absence of 
a meaningful GDRC presence outside Kinshasa and some 
provincial capitals.  MONUC's Radio Okapi is the only FM 
station broadcasting throughout the DRC in the country's five 
main languages.  MONUC also maintains regular flights to all 
major Congolese cities. 
 
Peace and security 
------------------ 
 
¶11. (SBU) Reform of the DRC's security services has achieved 
mixed success at best.  DRC plans for reform of the military, 
police, and justice sectors presented at a late-February 
international conference on security sector reform (SSR) 
lacked a sense of priorities and appeared little more than 
laundry lists to which donors were expected to pledge.  The 
EU has long had significant involvement in the Congolese 
security sector, including established European Security 
(EUSEC) and European Police (EUPOL) missions.  France, 
Belgium and other EU member states have provided substantial 
funding support.  South Africa and Angola have also played 
major roles, including the training and equipping of 
integrated military brigades. 
 
¶12. (SBU) USG assistance to DRC security services is set to 
increase.  New funding from International Narcotics and Law 
Enforcement (INCLE), De-mining and Related Projects 
Appropriations (NADR), and Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) is 
in the pipeline.  An $8.4 million allocation from Foreign 
Military Financing (FMF) is set for FY 2008.  In 
mid-February, a U.S. military team conducted an assessment 
for training of a rapid-reaction force.  We are currently 
utilizing $5 million in FY 2006 PKO funds to rehabilitate the 
officer training institute and provide training for staff 
officers and military magistrates and investigators.  The 
International Military and Education Training Program (IMET) 
funds U.S.-based courses that include English-language 
training.  NADR funds destruction of obsolete ordnance.  In 
addition, the $300 million in U.S. funding that goes to MONUC 
now also supports its new FARDC training program. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Donor-funded disarmament, demobilization and 
reintegration (DDR) programs have achieved mixed success at 
best.  Approximately 8,000 Congolese combatants have yet to 
enter a DDR process, and 40,000 of the 102,000 who have 
already signed up for the World Bank/MDRP-funded national 
plan have yet to receive reintegration assistance. 
Reauthorization of the MDRP and increased funding of $72.5 
million will be considered by the World Bank,s Board of 
Directors on April 22.  A new DDR program designed for Ituri 
militias not eligible for the national plan launched in 
August 2007.  USAID provided $2 million to help fund this 
&Phase III8 program to provide reintegration assistance to 
the 1,658 ex-combatants who entered the process.  In northern 
Katanga, another $2 million in USAID funding is providing 
reintegration services to a target population of 1,739 
ex-combatants and community recovery for 6,000 civilians 
affected by conflict. 
 
Democracy and governance 
------------------------ 
 
¶14. (SBU) The Congolese people have had high expectations 
that the democratic process will improve their lives.  Their 
relatively high turnout in the July and October 2006 
presidential and parliamentary elections demonstrated their 
hope in a democratic system of government.  New institutions, 
however, have been slow to generate momentum.  The 500-member 
 
KINSHASA 00000246  004 OF 007 
 
 
National Assembly counts only a small number of members with 
legislative or government experience.  The Assembly and the 
106-member Senate have only begun to consider a heavy agenda 
of major legislation.  Provincial officials are unfamiliar 
with decentralized authority and lack resources, money and 
experience.  Elections for local and municipal officials are 
tentatively scheduled for late 2008 at the earliest. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Parties and candidates aligned with Kabila's 
electoral coalition, the Alliance for the Presidential 
Majority (AMP), won working majorities in the National 
Assembly and Senate, as well as eight of 11 provincial 
assemblies and ten of 11 governorships -- leaving the 
opposition with little apparent political clout.  Parliament 
has now adopted legislation defining the rights and 
responsibilities of the political opposition, which is in the 
process of designating an official spokesman.  Prominent 
opposition figure Jean-Pierre Bemba departed for Portugal in 
April 2007, following fighting in Kinshasa the month before 
between his forces and government troops.  He has conditioned 
his return on a guarantee of personal security and immunity 
from prosecution for the March disturbances.  Some members of 
his party claim security forces have harassed their members 
and attempted to muzzle pro-Bemba broadcasters. 
 
¶16. (SBU) USG governance and institutional reform programs, 
budgeted at $10.2 million for FY 2007 and a proposed $19 
million for FY 2008, focus on combating corruption and human 
rights abuses, developing independent judicial and 
legislative institutions,  facilitating decentralization of 
state authority, and support for local elections.  Their 
objectives include long-term transformation as well as direct 
citizen access to services.  We continue to provide 
assistance to National Assembly deputies on drafting key 
legislative proposals, including laws relating to the 
financing of political parties, decentralization, the 
establishment of a national election commission and the 
protection of human rights.  We have also conducted 
capacity-building seminars for National Assembly deputies and 
staffers, supported the creation of provincial watchdog and 
advocacy groups to encourage citizen participation in 
democratic processes, and worked to develop skills of 
political party members, foster grassroots anti-corruption 
initiatives, and establish mobile courts and legal aid 
clinics. 
 
Economic growth 
--------------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) Most of the Congolese population, estimated at over 
60 million, has not benefited from the country's vast array 
of natural resources, including minerals, forests and rivers. 
 With over 90 per cent unemployment and an informal sector 
that rivals the formal economy, most people survive on less 
than one dollar a day.  Despite annual GDP growth of nearly 
six per cent in 2007, per capita GDP is only around $120.  At 
the current growth rate, per capita income will not reach 
pre-independence levels until the middle of the century. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Despite some progress on macroeconomic and 
financial reforms since 2003, the IMF Poverty Reduction and 
Growth Facility (PRGF) lapsed a year ago, in March 2007, due 
to continued overspending and failure to meet structural 
reform targets.  The DRC received little or no direct outside 
assistance to support a budget of only $2.5 billion.  The DRC 
has been granted Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) status, 
but with no PRGF in place, is not making progress toward 
achieving the nearly complete debt forgiveness envisioned. 
Despite reported progress in late 2007 toward a new PRGF, 
macroeconomic instability resulting from overspending in 
December and January has pushed the negotiation back to 
mid-2008.  If an IMF program is put in place by July, the DRC 
could receive some interim debt forgiveness during the second 
half of 2008 from the Paris Club. 
 
¶19. (SBU) The 2008 budget, signed into law by President 
Kabila in January, calls for expenditures of $3.6 billion, 
much of it for government salaries (including civil servants, 
public school teachers and military personnel) and the 
security sector.  Without much-needed outside budget support 
in 2008, the GDRC may again face large deficits, to which it 
has historically reacted with large amounts of currency 
 
KINSHASA 00000246  005 OF 007 
 
 
issuance.  The GDRC is making a concerted effort to raise 
revenue levels, but this may not solve the budget shortfall 
problem.  Since January, GDRC spending has been apparently 
contained within budgetary limits, but many of its expenses 
will come due only during the last quarter of the year.  The 
security situation in eastern Congo has been the cause of 
much of the recent overspending, according to GDRC officials. 
 That and resolution of the Mining Commission Contract Review 
process will have a major effect on this year,s budget. 
 
¶20. (SBU) The GDRC is working to implement the Poverty 
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) approved in mid-2006 by the 
IMF and World Bank boards.  The government's five-year 
program, approved by the National Assembly in February 2007, 
is based on the PRSP and focuses heavily on President 
Kabila,s five priority areas: infrastructure; employment; 
education; water/electricity; and health.  Economic growth 
depends heavily on progress in these areas, but the GDRC must 
also dramatically increase state revenues, control its own 
spending and renegotiate an IMF program before mid-2008 if it 
is to achieve desperately-needed debt relief and outside 
budget assistance.  In 2007 the GDRC signed agreements with 
the Chinese government that focused on infrastructure 
creation in return for mining concessions. Few details of the 
resulting contracts have been made public.  Those that have 
been show that these projects will be &infrastructure for 
natural resources8 deals. 
 
¶21. (SBU) The USG is an active participant in international 
donors' Country Assistance Framework (CAF) process for the 
period 2007-10, designed to align assistance strategies and 
support GDRC efforts to implement the PRSP.  Bilateral USG 
foreign assistance funding for economic growth is modest, 
with only $4 million designated for activities to increase 
agricultural productivity, although this is supplemented by a 
$30 million, three-year Food for Peace program to help spur 
rural development.  USAID has active global development 
alliances with mining, agro-business and health partners. 
U.S. commercial interests in the DRC are small but growing, 
with a U.S. company (Seaboard Corporation) running the 
largest flour mill in the country and an American mining 
company (Freeport McMoRan) gearing up to produce an estimated 
100,000 tons of copper metal by the end of 2008.  USAID and 
the British Department for International Development (DFID) 
are collaborating on efforts to help the GDRC implement the 
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).  USAID, 
through the Central African Regional Program for the 
Environment (CARPE) and the Congo Basin Forestry Partnership 
(CBFP) is working to promote better management of the 
forestry sector. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency 
(USTDA) has granted $500,000 for a hydroelectric sector 
pre-feasibility study, and is looking at the transportation 
(river and rail) sector for further opportunities for U.S. 
investments in DRC infrastructure. 
 
Humanitarian assistance 
----------------------- 
 
¶22. (SBU) Disaster relief and food assistance represented 
approximately one-half of all bilateral U.S. foreign 
assistance to the DRC in FY 2007.  The International Rescue 
Committee estimates that over 5.4 million people have died as 
a consequence of 10 years of war and conflict.  Low-level 
combat continues to cause large-scale population 
displacements in eastern areas of the country.  Many social 
and economic support structures have collapsed as a result of 
neglect, corruption and lack of resources, leaving victims 
without livelihoods, access to medical services and in many 
cases, places to live. 
 
¶23. (SBU) The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian 
Assistance estimated there were more than 1.1 million 
internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the DRC in July 2007, 
mostly in the eastern regions of North Kivu, South Kivu and 
Ituri District.  While the number of IDPs has now 
substantially decreased in Ituri, the number of displaced in 
North Kivu has dramatically increased due to recent combat. 
An estimated 321,000 Congolese refugees remain in neighboring 
countries awaiting repatriation. 
 
¶24. (SBU) Non-food IDFA funding totaled $28.5 million in FY 
¶2007.  The U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) 
 
KINSHASA 00000246  006 OF 007 
 
 
provides transportation and a start-up cash package to 
returning IDPs, and is mounting labor-intensive road 
rehabilitation programs. The USG provided $37.8 million of 
food assistance in FY 2007, most channeled through the World 
Food Program for distribution in conflict areas. 
 
Health 
------- 
 
¶25. (SBU) Congolese social indicators are dismal:  the DRC 
ranked 167th out of the 177 countries in the 2006 UNDP Human 
Development Report.  Health indicators are among the worst in 
the world.  Infant and child mortality are 126 and 213 per 
every thousand live births, respectively.  Many preventable 
infectious diseases are prevalent, notably malaria, HIV/AIDS 
and tuberculosis.  HIV prevalence stands at 1.3 per cent of 
all adults, or approximately 800,000 people -- among the top 
ten totals in the world. 
 
¶26. (SBU) Health constitutes the USG's most important 
development effort.  Public health care is in near complete 
collapse throughout the country.  Lack of equipment, trained 
personnel, adequate facilities and supplies continue to 
prevent access to basic health care for most of the 
population.  Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide an 
estimated 80 per cent of the limited care available.  We plan 
to program over $55 million for primary pediatric health care 
in 82 rural health zones over the next three years, and 
continue to support national tuberculosis and polio 
eradication efforts.  USAID plans to provide $12 million over 
four years for HIV/AIDS prevention and care.  CDC funds 
surveillance and pediatric HIV/AIDS programs.  DOD has 
programs for military HIV/AIDS prevention and care.  The 
Department of State has created an innovative public 
diplomacy program to increase HIV/AIDS awareness. 
 
The scene today 
--------------- 
 
¶27. (SBU) Your arrival comes at a moment of great tension as 
well as great hope.  The Congolese people look to their 
government, and the international community, for help to 
bring an end to conflicts that have cost millions of dollars, 
uprooted hundreds of thousands of people and resulted in 
millions of deaths.  These conflicts have also created an 
atmosphere of widespread insecurity, contributing to a 
political and judicial vacuum in which women and children are 
routinely abused, and in which the perpetrators go 
unpunished.  There are clear signs the population is growing 
impatient with the pace of the government's efforts and 
skeptical that democracy can solve its problems.  In this 
environment, we ask you to help us to reinforce the following 
messages: 
 
-- The Congolese people rightly expect responsible leadership 
at home as well as supportive international partners.  We 
will continue to support the new leadership to develop 
transparent practices, establish good governance for the 
well-being of the Congolese people, and improve the 
stewardship of its abundant natural resources. 
 
-- They are eager to realize tangible benefits from their 
investment in democracy.  They must cease being made victims 
of violence.  Human rights must be respected and violators 
punished. 
 
-- Congo has taken remarkable strides to replace war with 
peaceful democratic change.  The successful elections were a 
tangible demonstration of the people's desire for peaceful 
governance.  The United States is eager to see that momentum 
continue. 
 
-- We encourage political and military authorities to pursue 
a peaceful resolution of the security problems which persist 
in Congo. 
 
-- The United States will continue to support and work 
closely with the GDRC and MONUC to bring about political 
reconciliation and to prevent further conflict in the DRC and 
the region. 
 
-- We strongly support the Nairobi and Goma processes and are 
 
KINSHASA 00000246  007 OF 007 
 
 
contributing funds and expertise to ensure their success will 
bring lasting peace and stability to the region. 
GARVELINK