VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNM #0538 2080600
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270600Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5205

UNCLAS NIAMEY 000538 
 
FOR A/OPR/ALS R. PASCHALL AND AF/EX P POMETTO FROM AMBASSADOR ALLEN 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMGT ASIG APER NG
SUBJECT:  Post Differential - Embassy Niamey 
 
Ref:  A) Niamey 342, B) State 70767, C) Embassy Niamey - Office of 
Allowances E-Mails, D) 08 Niamey 1166, E) Niger Country Information 
Sheet, F) Niamey 527 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request - see para 6. 
 
¶2. (SBU) I am concerned that the hardship differential at Embassy 
Niamey decreased from 25 to 20 percent effective April 24, which I 
believe neither speaks to the realities of living and serving in 
Niger and undermines our recruitment efforts to fill vacancies at 
this hard-to-staff post.  Based on my experience, as well as that of 
the Deputy Chief of Mission and the Management Officer, with a 
combined 35 years of experience living in Africa, conditions at 
Embassy Niamey clearly warrant designation as a 25 percent 
differential post. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In response to the lowering of Niamey's hardship 
differential on April 24, 2009, from 25 to 20 percent, post 
submitted ref A outlining the grounds for requesting reconsideration 
of the differential determination.  AF/EX advised post that the 
Office of Allowances would review the differential determination in 
light of updated information in Diplomatic Security's next SETL (ref 
B). 
 
¶4. (SBU) Post contacted the Office of Allowances on July 9 after 
publication of ref B to determine the impact of the revised SETL on 
Embassy Niamey's differential calculation (ref C).  In a July 10 
e-mail response (ref C), the Office of Allowances advised post that 
the increase in the trans-national terrorism threat rating for 
Embassy Niamey from medium to high did not compensate for the 2007 
decrease in the crime rating from critical to high on the Diplomatic 
Security SETL.  The Office of Allowances advised post that as a 
result there was no change to the hardship differential calculation 
for Embassy Niamey. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Post management has reviewed the list of differential 
posts, and notes that within the AF Bureau Praia, Cape Verde; 
Nouakchott, Mauritania; Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo; and 
Kigali, Rwanda all have the same or lower SETL ratings compared to 
Embassy Niamey and are currently designated as 25 percent hardship 
differential posts.  Other posts, such as Accra, Ghana have ratings 
similar to Embassy Niamey with differences in three ratings, with 
Embassy Niamey having the higher rating in two of the three areas. 
Embassy Niamey is at a loss as to how the determination has been 
made to lower the differential for this isolated, arid Sahelian 
post.  A total of eight African posts that do not have critical 
crime ratings also qualify for the 25 percent differential, 
including those previously mentioned.  In fact, several of these 
have crime ratings lower than Embassy Niamey.  Thus, the 
determination that Niamey is less of a hardship locale boggles the 
mind. 
 
¶6. (SBU) I have directed my staff to revise and re-submit the 
Hardship Differential Report that initially was submitted in 
December 2008 to reflect post's changing circumstances.  These 
changes will include mention of the UN official hostage takings (ref 
D), tourist kidnappings in January 2009 resulting in the imposition 
of additional travel restrictions on post personnel (ref E), 
reduction of the number of airline connections to Niamey, increased 
social tensions and demonstrations (ref F) relating to an upcoming 
referendum declared unconstitutional, and elections scheduled at the 
local, national assembly, and presidential levels within 2009.  In 
light of these factors, Embassy Niamey merits a recalculation of its 
hardship differential score and a readjustment of post's hardship 
differential. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Action requested:  I respectfully request a meticulous 
review of the information contained in the updated Hardship 
Differential Report and an in-depth explanation of how the 
differential is calculated in the event Embassy Niamey's rating is 
not re-set at 25 percent. 
 
¶8. (U) I thank the Department in advance for its attention to this 
matter. 
 
ALLEN