P 131223Z JAN 09 
FM USMISSION GENEVA 
TO AMEMBASSY ACCRA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY KAMPALA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY NAIROBI PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY VIENNA PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 
USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 
USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY 
USMISSION UN ROME PRIORITY 
SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7844 
USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA PRIORITY 
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY

UNCLAS GENEVA 000016 
 
 
TO REFCOORDS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREF PREL
SUBJECT: UNHCR REFORM EFFORTS CULMINATE INTO A NEW WAY OF 
DOING BUSINESS 
 
REF: A. 09 GENEVA 9 
¶B. 08 GENEVA 1053 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY. The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) 
is fundamentally reshaping every aspect of its work to become 
a streamlined, efficient organization that delivers more 
robust protection and assistance to its beneficiaries on the 
ground. UNHCR's new approach harnesses technological 
advances and involves assessing the full extent of 
beneficiary needs, shifting to results-based management, 
adopting a new budget structure, improving UNHCR staff 
capacity, and modifying UNHCR's organizational structure. 
UNHCR is also continuing the process of outposting positions 
to its Global Service Center in Budapest; 216 headquarters 
posts were eliminated in 2008 and another 81 positions will 
be eliminated in 2009, bringing UNHCR's Geneva footprint down 
to 753 from 1,050 two years ago. The impact of all these 
adjustments could be reduced, however, by lower projected 
income due to the global financial crisis. As a result, 
UNHCR is asking its field representatives to conduct more 
fundraising in the field. Combined with the administrative 
changes taking place under the UN Transparency and 
Accountability Initiative (Ref A), UNHCR is on track to 
become more transparent and accountable to donors like the 
USG. END SUMMARY. 
 
---------- 
Out with the Old, and In with the New 
---------- 
 
¶2. (U) 2009 is the last year UNHCR will do "business as 
usual." UNHCR's "2009 Global Appeal Update" provides a basic 
outlook for its operations targeting 32 million refugees, 
asylum seekers, stateless people, and internally displaced 
people around the world. It outlines UNHCR's six Global 
Strategic Objectives, focusing on: 1) protection; 2) capacity 
building of national governments; 3) durable solutions; 4) 
partnerships; 5) external relations; and 6) strengthening 
UNHCR as an agency. In 2009, UNHCR is appealing for $1.257 
billion for its Annual Budget and an initial $682 million for 
its Supplemental Budget. 
 
¶3. (U) Looking ahead to 2010 and beyond, UNHCR managers are 
harnessing technological advances and embarking on a series 
of initiatives that look at the full extent of beneficiary 
needs (through a Global Needs Assessment), improve UNHCR 
staff capacity, modify UNHCR's organizational structure, 
shift to results-based management, and delegate some 
fundraising activities to the field. UNHCR's most notable 
technological application is the introduction of "FOCUS," its 
new results-based management software. Up to now, UNHCR's 
Country Operations Plans (COPs), budgets, staffing plans, and 
progress reports have all been drawn up separately and in 
different documents, making it difficult to get a coherent 
picture of resources and results. This problem should be 
eliminated when all elements are brought together with FOCUS. 
FOCUS simplifies reporting and allows for better information 
sharing, budgeting, monitoring, and analysis. It links 
UNHCR's assessments, objectives, activities, and resources 
(including financial, material and human resources) to 
results. In January 2009 UNHCR plans to launch the interface 
between FOCUS and its MSRP (Management Systems Renewal 
Project) operating system, which has already been used to 
update the organization's finance and supply chain practices 
and improved accountability. UNHCR staff were trained on the 
use of FOCUS throughout 2008. FOCUS will be used by UNHCR 
teams in the field and at headquarters to submit their 
2010-2011 operations plans by March 31, 2009. (COMMENT: 
UNHCR's FOCUS software will only be useful if complete and 
accurate information is regularly uploaded and analyzed. It 
may not meet the many and varied reporting, monitoring and 
funding needs of the organization. END COMMENT.) 
 
---------- 
Aiming for Results 
---------- 
 
¶4. (U) UNHCR's new "Results Framework" is imbedded into the 
FOCUS software and forces planners to align their plans with 
UNHCR's goals and desired impacts. This Results Framework 
replaces UNHCR's current Global Strategic Objectives (noted 
above) and tracks ten "goals" in the areas of: 1) emergency 
response; 2) protection pending durable solutions (a.k.a. 
care and maintenance); 3) protection and mixed solutions 
(multi-faceted protection, including assistance and durable 
solutions for populations of concern); 4) voluntary return; 
5) reintegration; 6) integration; 7) resettlement; 8) 
capacity building; 9) advocacy; and 10) resource 
mobilization. FOCUS software asks planners to track specific 
outputs that will lead to the following: favorable protection 
environments; fair protection processes and documentation; 
security from violence; the provision of basic needs and 
essential services; community participation and 
self-management; durable solutions; strong external 
relationships; and effective headquarters, regional, and 
operational support. This Results Framework will be helpful 
in ensuring that UNHCR focuses its limited resources on its 
core mandate and on the real needs of their populations of 
concern. 
 
---------- 
Needs-Based vs. Resource-Based Planning 
---------- 
 
¶5. (U) When seeking voluntary contributions, UNHCR has 
traditionally crafted its budget appeals to donors to match 
the amount of money it expected to receive from them (rather 
than requesting all the funds it believed UNHCR needed). 
This approach is also changing. On December 22, 2008, UNHCR 
headquarters issued guidelines to all of its regional and 
field offices instructing them to conduct Global Needs 
Assessments (GNAs) for the 2010-2011 budget cycle. This new 
GNA methodology involves comprehensively assessing the total 
needs of UNHCR's beneficiaries, planning activities and 
budgets to meet all these needs, and asking donors for the 
full amount of money needed. In 2008, UNHCR launched a GNA 
pilot program in eight countries (Cameroon, Ecuador, Georgia, 
Rwanda, Tanzania, Thailand, Yemen, and Zambia). The unmet 
needs discovered during these assessments resulted in UNHCR's 
request for an additional $63.5 million in 2009. If we 
extrapolate these results, we can expect UNHCR's budget for 
2010 to be significantly greater than its budget in 2009. 
(COMMENT: UNHCR's GNA initiative may yield inconsistent 
results at first (depending upon the operation and the 
region). Also, the scale of unmet needs identified might 
surpass UNHCR's ability to implement programs addressing all 
of them, even if it received the funding. To address these 
problems, UNHCR headquarters will need to ensure consistency 
across regions and enforce its prioritization criteria (see 
para 7). END COMMENT.) 
 
---------- 
A New Budget Structure 
---------- 
 
¶6. (U) For years UNHCR's planning system was based upon 
populations of concern, but its budget structure was not. A 
new UNHCR budget structure was formally approved in 2008 by 
the UNHCR Executive Committee to address this gap. It 
consists of four distinct pillars: 1) Global Refugee 
Programs; 2) Global Stateless Programs; 3) Global 
Reintegration Projects; and 4) Global Projects for Internally 
Displaced Persons (IDPs). Activities that support refugees 
and stateless persons ) beneficiaries who explicitly fall 
under UNHCR's core mandate ) will be funded on the basis of 
"program funding" (as is currently the case with the Annual 
Budget). Donors can support refugee and stateless programs 
by contributing earmarked and unearmarked funds to a single 
program fund that is prioritized by UNHCR. Activities that 
support reintegration and IDPs would operate on the basis of 
"project" funding (as is currently the case with 
Supplementary Budgets). Each project is separately funded 
and managed, and funded only when donors explicitly 
contribute to them. The new budget structure will also be 
linked to the Results Framework, allowing UNHCR to 
demonstrate how the costs of its activities can be directly 
linked to results. UNHCR should, for example, be able to 
illustrate the direct consequences to refugees and others of 
concern when it does not receive requested funds. (COMMENT. 
UNHCR is still unsure how it will distinguish between the 
activities budgeted under the Refugee Pillar 1 and the 
activities under the Reintegration Pillar 3. In addition to 
seeking clarity on this issue, we have also expressed 
concerns to UNHCR that the new structure could 
unintentionally de-prioritize reintegration and IDP 
activities and encourage donor earmarking for these 
activities. END COMMENT.) 
 
---------- 
Feeling the Pinch: The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis 
---------- 
 
¶7. (U) At the same time UNHCR is embarking on an initiative 
to address the total needs of its beneficiaries, it is 
concerned that donors, hampered by the global financial 
crisis, will have difficulty maintaining current levels of 
contributions, let alone be able to respond to the 
significant new financial requirements uncovered by the GNA. 
Therefore, in addition to "comprehensive plans" for 2010 and 
2011 based on Global Needs Assessments, field operations are 
required to prepare "prioritized plans" for 2010 based upon 
headquarters-issued income estimates. At the beginning of 
2010, field operations will only be authorized to spend funds 
budgeted in the prioritized plans' budget sections for Pillar 
1 (refugees) and Pillar 2 (stateless persons); funds for 
Pillar 3 (reintegration) and Pillar 4 (IDPs) will only be 
authorized after contributions are assured. UNHCR 
Headquarters' Division for Donor Relations and Resource 
Management (DRRM) has traditionally done most - if not all - 
of UNHCR's fundraising. Given today's difficult financial 
climate, DRRM has drafted a 2009 Integrated Resource 
Mobilization Strategy that tasks field staff to solicit funds 
from traditional donors, pooled humanitarian funds, 
development and transition funds, and the private sector in 
the field. 
 
---------- 
Investing in UNHCR's Key Asset: Staff 
---------- 
 
¶8. (U) UNHCR staff's job descriptions and employee evaluation 
reviews will now be linked to the organization's new Results 
Framework. UNHCR managers are currently reviewing rotation, 
posting and promotion policies to see how UNHCR can improve 
the retention of UNHCR professional staff, including those 
who are unable to work in the deep field when they have small 
children. This could involve increasing secondment 
opportunities to other UN agencies, but it must also address 
the current lack of a mechanism to re-absorb secondees. 
UNHCR managers hope that progress in the area of retention 
will lead to greater gender parity within the organization. 
On the training front, in April and May 2009 UNHCR will begin 
consolidating its seven existing training programs into a new 
Global Learning Center. Negotiations are underway for this 
Center to be located in the first two floors of UNHCR's 
Global Services Center building in Budapest. Training will 
especially target new UNHCR managers and 
Staff-In-Between-Assignments (SIBAs). Staff training will be 
linked to career development. For example, UNHCR staff will 
not be able to receive postings or promotions until they have 
successfully completed UNHCR's standard protection training. 
In addition to on-site training, UNHCR will provide more 
online training opportunities to benefit more people posted 
in the deep field. 
 
---------- 
Trimming the Fat: Right-sizing, Regionalizing and 
Restructuring 
---------- 
 
¶9. (U) Almost one-third of UNHCR's international professional 
staff is based at its headquarters in Geneva. This is an 
anomaly for a field-based organization like UNHCR. In 2006 
UNHCR launched a change process involving decentralization, 
right-sizing, regionalization, and restructuring to grapple 
with the task of slimming down headquarters in a way that 
brings staff closer to the beneficiaries in the field and 
saves money. Some positions were outposted to UNHCR's Global 
Services Center in Budapest. In 2008 alone, UNHCR eliminated 
216 headquarters posts (119 general service posts and 97 
professional posts). In July 2008 UNHCR hired IBM to 
recommend ways to streamline its human resource 
administration; the Canadian Consultancy Management 
Initiative (CCMI) subsequently funded a similar review of 
UNHCR,s Division of Information Services and 
Telecommunications (DIST). The results of these reviews 
should be delivered to UNHCR in January 2009. With the 
results of these reviews, efficiencies gained from the 
introduction of FOCUS software, outposting of training 
functions to Budapest, and regionalizing some headquarters 
positions, UNHCR hopes to eliminate another 81 headquarters 
posts (44 general service posts and 37 professional posts) in 
¶2009. 
 
¶10. (U) In August 2008, UNHCR issued a general "Terms of 
Reference for Regional Offices" to guide its regionalization 
process and transfer authorities to the regions. In Africa, 
UNHCR's regional office in Pretoria took on an expanded role 
in 2008; Dakar and Kinshasa will follow suit in 2009. In the 
Americas, a regional office headed by a Bureau Deputy 
Director will be established in Panama (reporting to UNHCR's 
Americas Bureau Director based in Geneva). In Asia, Almaty 
and Bangkok assumed increased regional authorities. The 
Director of the Bureau for Europe will be based in Brussels 
in 2009, leaving a Deputy Director in Geneva. UNHCR is 
currently in discussions with the Government of Tunisia to 
establish an office in Tunis to become the regional office 
for North Africa. 
 
¶11. (U) In October 2008, UNHCR established a task force to 
restructure UNHCR's Division for International Protection 
Services (DIPS), Division for Operational Support (DOS), and 
the Policy Development and Evaluation Service (PDES). 
Currently the division of labor between these entities is 
poorly defined. The task force is seeking to clarify roles 
and consolidate some functions that are dispersed among the 
divisions. Each unit is drafting their proposed new 
structure for the task force's review. One idea is to create 
three new "Pillars": 1) policy development and advice; 2) 
protection-based programming and advice; and 3) rapid 
response capacity. A decision should be made by the end of 
January 2009. (COMMENT: UNHCR is currently finalizing its 
Global Accountability Framework, which spells out the roles 
and responsibilities of UNHCR headquarters vs. regional 
offices vs. country operations. We have pressed UNHCR 
headquarters to retain its robust policy-making role. We 
have also encouraged UNHCR to establish a monitoring and 
evaluation unit to ensure consistent performance across 
regions. Finally, the USG has asked that refugee 
resettlement, which is currently handled by DIPS, maintain 
its prominence within the new structure. END COMMENT.) 
 
---------- 
COMMENT: Looking Ahead 
---------- 
 
¶12. (U) As UNHCR's largest donor and a major proponent of UN 
reform, the USG has a stake in seeing UNHCR's 
transformational efforts succeed. Refugees, stateless 
persons, IDPs and returnees also have much to potentially 
gain. That said, we are concerned that UNHCR might be biting 
off more than it can chew with such an ambitious reform 
agenda. Mission Geneva will continue to encourage measured 
UNHCR progress, including during the 2009 USG-UNHCR Framework 
negotiations and upcoming Donor Missions to the Field. 
RefCoords are encouraged to monitor and observe how these 
reforms are impacting upon UNHCR's performance on the ground, 
including by participating (when appropriate) in UNHCR's 
Comprehensive Operations Planning meetings. For further 
information on UNHCR reform efforts, please see our report on 
the December 1, 2008, USG-UNHCR End of Year Consultation (Ref 
B) and Ref A's update on UNHCR's progress under the UN 
Transparency and Accountability Initiative (UNTAI). Ref B 
notes that UNHCR's most important recent achievement under 
the UNTAI framework offured in September 2008 when UNHCR's 
established a fully independent ethics office responsible for 
whisteblower and financial disclosure programs. UNHCR's 2009 
Appeal Update is available on the internet at 
http://www.unhcr.org/ga09/launch.html. Information on its 
Global Needs Assessment, including the results of the 2008 
pilot GNA assessments in Cameroon, Ecuador, Georgia, Rwanda, 
Tanzania, Thailand, Yemen, and Zambia can be found at 
www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/GNA?page=home . For a copy of 
UNHCR's Results Framework or GNA instructions to the field, 
contact RMA Attache Melissa Pitotti at PitottiMR@state.gov. 
 
 
TICHENOR