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DE RUEHBS #1567/01 3271110
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231110Z NOV 09 ZDK
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHSS/OECD POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BRUSSELS 001567 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/ERA KESSLER, WILLIAMS 
STATE FOR EEB/IFD/ODF NUTTER, LAITINEN 
STATE FOR EEB/TPP/ABT/ATP CLEMENTS 
STATE FOR NSC GAYLE MURPHY 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR NNICHOLSON, NOMEARA 
USDA FOR FAS/OSTA FROGGETT 
USDA FOR FAS/OCRA NENON 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EIND ETRD SENV EUR ECON EDEV TPHY TSPL EUN
SUBJECT:  SNAPSHOTS FROM STOCKHOLM: EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT DAYS 
 
BRUSSELS 00001567  001.4 OF 004 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Governance, aid effectiveness, and the impacts of 
the global financial crisis and climate change on developing 
countries were the major themes of European Development Days (EDD) 
in Stockholm October 22-24.  USAID Acting Administrator (AA) Alonzo 
Fulgham led the American delegation and participated in a panel 
discussion on trade and the private sector and attended an informal 
dinner hosted by Swedish Minster for Development Carlsson.  EU 
officials repeatedly trumpeted their self-styled role as the world's 
largest donor, but also cited the need for greater coordination 
within the donor community writ large.  While there was little 
direct criticism of U.S. development policies, throughout the 
conference, and with compelling testimonials, speakers called on 
developed countries to acknowledge responsibility for many of the 
challenges facing the world's poor as the result of climate change, 
the international financial crisis, and high fuel and food prices, 
and to provide assistance to help developing countries adapt to 
those challenges.  END SUMMARY 
 
---------- 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) An annual event organized by the European Commission (EC) 
and the EU Presidency as a platform for dialogue and exchange on 
international development issues worldwide, Development Days brought 
together 5,000 participants from 125 countries, including Muhammed 
Yunus, George Soros, and a number of presidents and prime ministers 
from developing countries.  The two-and-a-half day gathering, held 
at the modern Stockholm International Fairs site, also featured a 
development village, at which NGOs, government development agencies, 
local and regional authorities, media, and multilateral institutions 
held exhibits.  Logistical arrangements were top notch.  AA Fulgham 
led the American delegation, which included representatives from 
USAID Washington, USEU, and Embassy Stockholm. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The agenda itself was ambitious in substance and breadth, 
with many panel presentations delivering useful dialogue rather than 
rote speeches, and only a few discussions falling short of the mark. 
 The three plenaries in particular, focusing, respectively, on the 
impacts of the economic downturn, democracy, and climate change on 
development, were rich in both talent and import, and often sobering 
as personal and compelling testimonies brought home the reality of 
the field.  While there were frequent calls for accountability in 
regard to the impact of both the financial crisis and climate change 
on the poor and on developing countries, those wee less in the 
interest of assigning blame and more about seeking shared 
responsibility in finding fair solutions.  A number of speakers 
representing the EU called attention to a recent Eurobarometer poll 
which suggested 9 of 10 Europeans currently supported development 
assistance, with 72 percent saying the EU and member states should 
do more. 
 
---------------------------- 
MR. TSVANGIRAI'S EMPTY CHAIR 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Following the official opening of the conference by Crown 
Princess Victoria of Sweden, Swedish PM Frederik Reinfeldt welcomed 
attendees and lamented the absence of Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangerai, 
one of the conference's featured speakers, who was unable to travel 
due to political turmoil in Zimbabwe.  Citing a recent UN report, he 
noted that despite "islands of economic recovery in an ocean of 
uncertainty," one billion people continue to suffer from hunger as a 
result of poverty aggravated by both the financial crisis and 
climate change, the latter representing an even greater threat for 
developing countries worldwide.  Reinfeldt said it was apparent that 
the climate was changing much more rapidly than predicted, and urged 
countries to put aside national differences in December's Copenhagen 
talks on climate change.  The EU, Reinfeldt said, was "at the 
forefront" of the climate change challenge and bore "the biggest 
share of the burden". 
 
¶5. (SBU) Nobel Laureate Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), outlined his 
organization's projections for the climate in 2020 and its converse 
effects on water supply and sea level rise: "Some will die of thirst 
while others will drown."  He said that Europe "represented the best 
hope" for relief for developing countries, but added that even if 
the G20 agrees in Copenhagen to ambitious targets to reduce 
greenhouse gases "it will not be enough" and all countries "need to 
do their share".  EC President Barroso picked up the banner? of 
European leadership and said the EU (and member states) "puts its 
money where its mouth is" on development, providing "60% of all 
 
BRUSSELS 00001567  002.4 OF 004 
 
 
global assistance."  He said, as "the first to unilaterally reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions and the first to commit to aid developing 
countries via support for climate change adaptation and mitigation," 
Europe has  led the way. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
WHAT THE EU CAN DO WITH AFRICA, NOT FOR AFRICA 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6. (SBU) A star-powered plenary session focused on the response to 
the global economic crisis and offered a lively debate on the 
fitness of international finance institutions (IFI) and their 
response to the crisis.  Otive Igbuzor of ActionAid International 
claimed "the age of the Breton Woods system "was beginning to show" 
and said the system "failed to warn us about the financial crisis." 
He called to task the IMF for loaning "a mere 1.6 percent" of its 
post-crisis disbursements to sub-Saharan Africa, while giving 72 
percent of those funds to developed countries, and said 
multinational corporations were "reverse Robin Hoods" draining 
African coffers of over $160 billion every year through tax 
avoidance.  George Soros, Chair of the Open Society Institute, said 
that, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "did okay" in 
cushioning the blows of the financial crisis, he said "it could do 
more."  He said the rich countries have no real use for Special 
Drawing Rights (SDR) and proposed instead the IMF use SDRs to 
provide more official development assistance (ODA) to least 
developed countries (LDCs).  Soros said the UK and France have used 
their SDRs in this way and said Europe alone "could put together a 
package of $100 billion" to use SDRs in this way. 
 
¶7. (SBU) IMF President Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the IMF had 
"returned to its origins with more flexibility and less 
conditionality" in its lending and said the Fund "could discuss" the 
Soros proposal.  He said the leaders of the G20 understood that "a 
glbal crisis calls for global solutions," but acknowledged that 
still left 166 of the IMF's 186 members "outside the room" and that 
"a greater voice in decision-making" needed to be extended to 
African members in particular."  Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing 
Director of the World Bank, said the Bank "was a sprightly 65 years 
old" and "had been quick to assist" early in the crisis, pouring $70 
billion into 31 countries and getting Bank staff "on the ground" for 
support and technical assistance. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunis, Managing Director of the 
Grameen Bank, painted a more optimistic picture and said the crisis 
represented an "opportunity to unpack and reconceptualize" the 
global financial architecture.  He stressed that "when two-thirds of 
the world is left out of the financial system, the system is not 
going to work."  He said Grameen's success with microcredit 
demonstrated the value of an economic strategy designed with the 
needs of the poor in mind and that such a strategy could fund "a 
whole slew of socially-focused businesses" that could alleviate 
poverty and facilitate inclusiveness.  African Development Bank 
President Donald Kaberuka said the financial crisis "had undermined 
the efforts of the African people to help themselves", and that "30 
years of economic reform in Mauritius and Botswana has almost been 
wiped out."  But, he added, the reforms have put in place "an 
improved business environment for a time when investors return." 
Kaberuka said it would take time for the economy to recover, and 
said the solution lay in "what the EU can do with Africa and not for 
Africa." 
 
------------- 
FULGHAM LUNCH 
------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Acting USAID Administrator Alonzo Fulgham met on October 21 
with key Swedish interlocutors from the government and the private 
sector at a lunch hosted by the Ambassador to discuss coordination 
of U.S. and EU development efforts and cooperation between the 
military and development agencies in Afghanistan.  Swedish 
interlocutors included Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) 
Director General Anders Nordstrom, influential Liberal Member of 
Parliament Anders Widman, former Swedish Ambassador to Afghanistan 
and Pakistan and current Chairman of the Swedish Afghanistan 
Committee (SAC) Ann Wilkens,  Folke Bernadotte Academy Director 
General Henrik Landerholm (Note: the academy trains Swedish police 
and civilians that will work in Afghanistan), Jan-Joel Andersson, 
Head of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, and two 
members of the Swedish media who report on Afghanistan. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Fulgham emphasized the importance of coordinating aid 
efforts, noting that the U.S. and the EU provide nearly 80 percent 
 
BRUSSELS 00001567  003.4 OF 004 
 
 
of development assistance in Afghanistan.  Liberal Member of 
Parliament Alan Widman said he did not believe that foreign 
development assistance would be a key issue in Sweden's 2010 
national elections, but noted that Swedes were becoming increasingly 
concerned about using their tax "kronor" effectively in foreign aid. 
 On October 24, Sweden announced that it would renew its commitment 
to Afghanistan, but would not increase troop levels significantly. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
AA FULGHAM: PRIVATE SECTOR PRIME ENGINE OF GROWTH FOR DEVELOPMENT 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Acting Administrator Fulgham also spoke at the Trade and 
the Private Sector Panel event.  CNN's Veronica Pedrosa moderated 
the event that offered a range of speakers, including Sweden's Trade 
Minister Bjorling, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former 
President of Ireland Mary Robinson, World Bank Managing Director 
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, ITUC (Regional Labor Union in Africa) Senior 
Economist Bohvi Kouglo Lawson Body, and General Electric's President 
and CEO for the Nordic Region & Baltic States Hans Enocson.  Fulgham 
emphasized the need for strong stakeholder engagement in host 
countries.  In his view, important stakeholders include leading 
government officials with a strong political commitment, a good 
Finance Minster, sound central bankers, an active private sector, 
and engagement of secondary ministries.  He added that the private 
sector will be the primary engine of growth to push developing 
countries out of recession.  Also, he highlighted the need to 
enhance the transatlantic dialogue on development as a means to 
increase the effectiveness of donor funds. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Mary Robinson recognized the Ethical Globalization 
Initiative, which contains articles on the right to work as a basic 
human right, as well as on freedom and equality.  In that regard, 
corporations must look at fair labor standards and efforts to 
increase employment.  She said she would also like to see greater 
attention paid to increasing informal sector engagement and ensuring 
that small businesses are free from predatory government practices. 
General Electric's Enocson projected his company's vision of 
creating products that would facilitate lower global emissions and 
increase efficient water usage.  Additionally, Enocson believes 
local level talent must be developed to make their business in 
developing countries sustainable.  World Bank Managing Director 
Okonjo-Iweala stressed the need for developing country ownership. 
She also spoke somewhat off the record by outlining her cynicism 
regarding a possible breakthrough in the Doha development trade 
round and on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, 
which she believes countries are gaming.  She advocated for more 
frank discussions to arrive at more realistic policies and programs 
to achieve bigger impacts on the ground. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
PANELS: AT NO OTHER TIME IN HISTORY HAVE WE SEEN SUCH A NEED TO 
COOPERATE 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) USDEL was not able to cover all other 25 side events and 
panel presentations during the conference, but a few stood out.  In 
a roundtable on "Beyond the Millennium Development Goals (MDG): 
European Development Cooperation After 2015," Andy Sumner of the 
Institute for Development Studies (IDS), said the recent fuel, food, 
and financial crises signaled "the end of a relatively benign 
period" for the global economy and said development cooperation must 
adapt to new realities.  He said "big game changers in global 
governance, demographics, climate change, technological advances, 
and volatile markets have become the new norm."  Francesca Mosca, 
Director of the EC's EuropeAid Cooperation Office, said the donor 
community "must move away from supply side donor priorities to the 
demand side partnerships" if the MDGs were to be realized by 2015 
and beyond.  Jean-Louis Sarbib, Director General, Development 
Gateway, called for "a redefinition of the MDGS" that were more 
"partner-focused," as the priority of development for rich countries 
was to use it "to solve their own problems."  He said more 
coordination was needed, as "donors run after the same ball and 
chase the same trends".  Elizabeth Sandor, Senior Policy Advisor at 
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 
noted the "vital role" of the private sector in development, but 
said it was curious that the sector "was not very much here" in the 
conference agenda. 
 
¶14. (SBU) At the behest of moderator Anders Wijkman, Vice-Chair of 
the Tallberg Foundation, panelists at the roundtable on "The 
Copenhagen Climate Deal and the Right to Development" dropped their 
prepared remarks and dove into the substance.  Wijkman posited that 
 
BRUSSELS 00001567  004.4 OF 004 
 
 
the problem was greater than climate change and that the result at 
Copenhagen should be "a sustainable development agreement."  Firmin 
Adjahossou, Programme Officer at SECAM, agreed that a more holistic 
approach was necessary but said "no platform existed that brings 
researchers, decision makers, and communities together" to make such 
an approach feasible.  Clarisse Siebert said "at no other time in 
history have we seen such a need to cooperate" but lamented the 
"what's in it for me" positions already "telegraphed by some" ahead 
of the talks.  Henrik Grape of the Church of Sweden said that 
climate change was a fact and that "to apply a political compromise" 
that would "enable the industrialized world to avoid their 
obligations to adapt to a climate-constrained world," would have 
fatal consequences for the developing world. 
 
¶15. (SBU) At a session on "Beyond Aid: Is our Aid Focus too 
Narrow?," panelists spoke frankly about the relevance of official 
development assistance in addressing today's global challenges, such 
as security and climate change.  Bern Eisenblatter, Managing 
Director Germany's GTZ, questioned the direction of the aide 
effectiveness agenda as defined in Accra, arguing it is too focused 
on coordination amongst donors, as opposed to between donors and 
partners, and that it limits diversity and removes healthy 
competition among donors.  He called for a new paradigm for 
"development" effectiveness that focuses on the transformation 
process.  Christian Aid's Jonathan Glennie said the issue is broader 
than aid, it is about development finance, such as the Tobin Tax, 
which has the potential to generate far greater resources.  The 
World Bank's Chief Economist for the Africa Region, Shantayanan 
Devarajan, noted that ODA is political and said "taxpayers need to 
believe it is in their interest.  This gets in the way of aid 
effectiveness."  Koos Richelle, Director General of the EC's 
EuropeAid Cooperation Office, said that the aid industry often 
benefits more than the intended recipients, whose "governments spend 
more time managing aid programs than helping the poor."  UN Resident 
Coordinator for Africa, Aeneas Chuma, said that, despite flaws, aid 
will continue to be part of the overall package with investment, 
trade, etc., but that its importance will decline over time. 
Several expressed concern with the culture of aid dependency.  The 
discussion mirrored a plenary debate on whether a modest or radical 
change was needed to the current aid paradigm.  All agreed some 
change was needed. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
CLOSING PLENARY: MY COUNTRY IS ON THE VERGE OF DROWNING 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶16. (SBU) Pleas for support for developing countries on mitigation 
of and adaptation to climate change dominated the closing plenary on 
"The Road to Copenhagen and Beyond."  Citing the impact of 
increasing numbers of hurricanes and cyclones affecting her country, 
former Prime Minister of Haiti Michele Duvivier said "the vulnerable 
are not looking for a gift, but need some fair and just reparation 
for the harm we have suffered."  Micronesian President Emanuel Mori 
told the plenary "my country is on the verge of drowning" due to 
rising seas, and said that while he does not think it is too late to 
save Micronesia, he said Micronesians are considering relocation as 
a serious option.  Mary Simon, President of the Inuit Tapirrit 
Kanatami, said her country was seeing firsthand the "terrifying" 
consequences of climate change and said that "environmental changes 
were coming faster than the Inuit's ability to respond". 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) If nothing else, European Development Days served to 
underscore the need for the donor community to rapidly and 
creatively respond, given its own crises-driven constraints, to a 
multitude of challenges facing the developing world.  Given our 
roles as the largest donors, the U.S.-EU agreement at this 
November's US-EU Summit to pursue a broader and more 
institutionalized development dialogue could not be timelier.  With 
its writ to enhance coordination on food security, climate change, 
and the MDGs, the High Level U.S.-EU High Consultative Group on 
Development should enable a stronger and more coherent response that 
mitigates these challenges, provides a lifeline to those most in 
need, and offers hope to the developing world. 
 
MURRAY