C O N F I D E N T I A L   UNESCOPARI   12122261 
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DE RUEHFR #2261/01 3471736
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O 121736Z DEC 08
FM UNESCO PARIS FR
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INFO RUCNSCO/UNESCO COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS FR 002261 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2018 
TAGS: SCUL UNESCO AORC PREL
SUBJECT:  KILLION MEETING WITH DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNESCO KOICHIRO 
MATSUURA 
 
CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR LOUISE OLIVER FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  Director-General Matsuura stressed his desire to 
maintain a strong American connection to UNESCO's work in education, 
despite the upcoming change in administration, by telling us that he 
planned to invite Mrs. Bush to a 26 January high-level meeting on 
literacy, and would be asking Mrs. Biden to participate as a keynote 
speaker at the second World Conference on Higher Education to be held 
in Paris in July 2009.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) House Foreign Affairs Committee majority staff member, David 
Killion,  met with the Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura 
December 10 at UNESCO headquarters.  He was accompanied by Ambassador 
Oliver and Mission political specialist, David Ostroff.  Mrs. 
Elizabeth Longworth, the DG's Chief of Staff, as well as a number of 
other UNESCO officers were also present. 
 
¶3.  (C) DG Matsuura began the meeting by mentioning the fact that 
UNESCO has now launched into action regarding Holocaust education, 
which prompted Mr. Killion to suggest the possibility of integrating 
a program on Raoul Wallenberg into the project, in tribute to the 
former HFAC Chairman, the late Tom Lantos.  Matsuura seemed to 
respond positively to the suggestion.  Mr. Killion went on to say 
that people in Washington are now talking about UNESCO in positive 
terms, given the fact that the UNESCO "brand" is special, and the 
organization's mandate provides an increasingly effective tool for 
the kind of "soft power" agenda the U.S. is likely to advance during 
the Obama administration. 
 
¶4.  (C) Mr. Killion said that the HFAC was advising President-elect 
Obama's transition team on UNESCO matters, and would be presenting a 
memo to the Obama transition team describing the opportunities for 
the new administration to build on Ambassador Oliver's efforts at 
UNESCO, notably in connection with education. 
 
¶5.  (C) When Killion mentioned that Mrs. Jill Biden is a community 
college professor, Matsuura immediately proposed inviting her as a 
keynote speaker for the second World Conference on Higher Education 
to be held in Paris this coming July.  Killion said that the U.S. 
enjoys a unique higher education system, with its strong emphasis on 
community colleges, permitting people of all ages to continue 
life-long learning in a wide variety of subjects, and said that it 
would surely be a system that could be of interest to other areas of 
the world.  DG Matsuura said that the July conference is of 
particular interest as it is the first gathering that will permit 
Member States to review and critique what work has been done in the 
field of higher education over the past ten years. 
 
¶6.  (C) Responding to Mr. Matsuura's kind words for Mrs. Bush in her 
role as Honorary Ambassador for the United Nations Literacy Decade, 
Killion said that he was sure that the Obama administration would 
want to keep Mrs. Bush involved due to her important accomplishments 
in promoting literacy.  The DG also said that he expected to hold a 
high-level group consultative meeting on literacy 26 January 2009, 
and would be asking Mrs. Bush to participate.  The DG then mentioned 
the major education-related conferences and meetings that would be 
held by UNESCO in the coming months, which Killion noted would 
provide good opportunities for the Obama administration to learn more 
about UNESCO's work in education. 
 
¶7.  (C) On another subject, Matsuura said that the organization's 
Member States must be "vigilant" regarding the election of his 
successor.  Killion agreed, noting that there is much to lose for the 
UN system in general.  Killion added that his visit was designed to 
let others know of the concerns we have, to which the DG responded by 
saying do not be afraid to speak out more openly to express your 
concerns.  Killion said that as good as relations are today, things 
could deteriorate rapidly should Republicans in the Congress demand 
the withdrawal of the U.S. from UNESCO, or cut funding.  The DG then 
re-emphasized that the U.S. should not sit silently regarding what's 
taking place, a reference to the Egyptian candidature of Farouk Hosni 
to replace him. 
 
¶8. (C) Matsuura said that he had just returned from Singapore, which 
had rejoined UNESCO in 2007, and added that they share a cautious 
attitude about their return to UNESCO given the current situation. 
The DG noted that whether we know it or not, the U.S. has a lot of 
allies.  The DG added that he hoped the new administration would talk 
to the French in a "serious way". 
 
¶9. (C) Noting that December 10 is Human Rights Day, Killion mentioned 
that the Congress is concerned about freedom of expression being 
rolled back, and asked Matsuura to continue to speak out forcefully 
to uphold the concept.  Matsuura noted that he would be giving the 
first UNESCO prize for Human Rights later that afternoon to a French 
professor who participated in drafting the original text 60 years 
ago.  Killion also raised the fact that Washington notices when 
Matsuura issued statements when journalists are killed, which 
prompted Matsuura to mention that UNESCO is holding symposia for 
journalists, and appreciates Jim Ottaway's financial support for the 
Cano prize. 
 
 
UNESCOPARI 12122261  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶10.  (C) Ambassador Oliver then changed the subject to compliment 
Matsuura's work, which as allowed UNESCO to become an important 
player as a neutral figure in Mid-East issues, noting the successes 
of the SESAME project and the consensus decisions on Mughrabi gate. 
Ambassador Oliver emphasized the fact that Matsuura's leadership, 
strong support and public commitment to issues like freedom of 
expression and press freedom are among the many accomplishments many 
Member States want his successor to build on. 
 
¶11.  (C) The DG then talked about the fact that UNESCO's Legal 
Adviser, Abdulqawi Yusuf, who will be moving to the Hague in January 
following his successful election to the World Court of Justice last 
month.  The DG said that he has become a national hero in his home 
country, Somalia.  He also noted that the U.S., Russia, and China all 
voted in support of his candidature. 
 
¶12.  (C) To end the meeting, Mr. Killion spoke about UNESCO's efforts 
to change the organization's policy to promote world-wide 
availability for its employees.  The DG said that this has been a 
difficult battle, but that the ratio has been changing in favor of 
his policies, with one employee in the field for every two based in 
Paris.  In 1990, Matsuura said that the ratio was one in the field 
offices for every five in Paris. 
 
¶13.  (C) Comment:  Matsuura's remarkable statements urging the U.S. 
to "speak up" regarding the Egyptian DG candidature was surprising. 
It is clear that the DG is very concerned that his own legacy, which 
includes bringing the U.S. back to the organization after a 20 year 
absence, could be tarnished if a candidate so strongly rejected by 
the U.S. is elected. End comment. 
 
OLIVER