VZCZCXRO0180
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH RUEHTRO
DE RUEHGO #0610/01 2130911
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 310911Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY RANGOON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7989
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1401
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 4923
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 8485
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 6052
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3944
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1906
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000610 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP AND IO; PACOM FOR FPA; F/EAP FOR ESMITH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: RESOURCE CENTER CONNECTS LOCAL GROUPS WITH FUNDS 
 
REF: RANGOON 607 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  The newly-created Local Resource Center 
(LRC) serves to connect local organizations with one another 
and potential donors to conduct projects in the Irrawaddy 
delta.  According to the LRC's main advisor, Karl Dorning, 
the groups with the greatest need and the fewest funding 
opportunities are newly established village-based 
organizations and groups formed in response to Cyclone 
Nargis.  These groups seek resources and assistance at the 
LRC.  Embassy Rangoon could bolster their efforts with the 
DRL democracy promotion funds programmed through our small 
grants program.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In July, Poloff visited the Local Resource Center 
(LRC), which consists of a few small rooms equipped with 
computers, maps of the Irrawaddy delta area, and notice 
boards.  It serves as a networking center for local 
organizations who seek support and funding for their projects 
throughout Burma, and particularly in the Irrawaddy delta 
region.  Karl Dorning, the primary advisor to the LRC, told 
us that the center came into existence primarily in response 
to Cyclone Nargis.  Local Burmese groups seeking to assist in 
the relief efforts created the center out of necessity and 
have extensively utilized its services in recent months. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Dorning told us there are four categories of groups 
the center serves.  The first is established groups and NGOs 
with offices in Rangoon with a specific sectoral interest 
such as environment or capacity building.  Another group 
comprises faith-based organizations (FBOs).  These, Dorning 
said, often have a country-wide reach.  The third group 
includes new community-based organizations (CBO), most of 
which have formed in response to Cyclone Nargis relief 
efforts.  The last group consists of grassroots 
organizations, including self-help groups for livelihoods 
rebuilding and non-governmental village-based committees. 
 
¶4. (SBU) One trend in recent weeks, noted Dorning, was that 
communities had taken greater responsibility and ownership 
for their own reconstruction.  For example, a community 
leader from a village of 1000 households in Ngapudaw Township 
established committees for agriculture, fishing, and small 
business livelihood development and created a plan to 
implement the programs.  He explained to Dorning his concern 
that villages were increasingly dependent on handouts from 
the international community, so he sought to establish 
self-sufficiency in his village. 
 
¶5. (SBU) As a result of this trend, new CBOs and 
village-based groups come daily to the LRC seeking funding 
for their initiatives, explained Dorning.  Unfortunately, 
most major international donors have exhausted their funding 
for the relief efforts or are unwilling to fund such new 
community organizations.  The LRC refers most new groups to 
Paungku, a consortium of NGOs that jointly funds small 
groups.  Currently, Paungku has approximately 150 groups 
awaiting funding, Dorning said. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The LRC is exploring other ways to fund these local 
groups.  One idea was to have an established NGO from the 
network act as a mentor to newer organizations.  Dorning also 
proposed to get funding from the small grants programs of 
embassies in Rangoon, including ours.  The LRC would identify 
those groups that it considered particularly well-organized, 
which embassies could then vet through their own evaluation 
systems.  Dorning believed this would provide valuable 
opportunities for community groups to build self-sufficiency, 
rather than depending indefinitely on aid donations. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: The aftermath of Cyclone Nargis has 
provided a rare opportunity in Burma for small community 
groups to work openly to rebuild their villages.  The LRC, 
while short on funding, provides a window into the true 
extent of local Burmese involvement in the rebuilding of the 
Irrawaddy delta region.  The organizations and communities 
involved in this process have the unique ability to identify 
 
RANGOON 00000610  002 OF 002 
 
 
and address their own needs.  Since DRL has an estimated USD 
417,000 in FY08 for democracy promotion in Burma, we could 
easily help strengthen civil society by programming those 
funds to these local organizations through our small grants 
program.  End Comment. 
VILLAROSA