VZCZCXRO1825
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHFR #1590/01 3310831
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270831Z NOV 09
FM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS FR
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0000
USOFFICE WEBGRAM

UNCLAS UNESCO PARIS FR 001590 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SCUL PREL UNESCO
SUBJECT: 183RD UNESCO EXECUTIVE BOARD: DG'S SPEECH 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  UNESCO's one-day Executive Board, held November 23, 
served as the "clean-up" meeting following the biennial General 
Conference held last month, and provided the opportunity for newly 
installed Director-General, Irina Bokova, to address Board members 
and set some direction for the months ahead.  Bokova was widely 
expected to announce a major restructuring of the Secretariat but 
decided in the end not to do so, raising concerns about a slow start 
to getting her own team in place.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Having just taken office on November 15, UNESCO's newly 
installed Director-General, Irina Bokova, made her first appearance 
before the Executive Board, and provided members with an overview of 
her plans for the Organization under her new administration. 
 
¶3. (U) This Executive Board session was primarily devoted to the 
nuts and bolts of electing a new Chairman, Vice-Chairmen, and 
reinstating the Committees and Commissions of the Executive Board 
for the 2009-2011 term (septel). 
 
RESTRUCTURING THE SECRETARIAT 
 
¶4. (SBU) The other element of business that appeared vital, but 
strangely dropped off the agenda at the last minute, was 
restructuring the Secretariat to reduce the number of Assistant 
Directors-General (ADG's) and generate the savings needed to appoint 
two Deputy Directors-General.  Although most Member States agreed 
that there are too many ADG's and that Bokova should have the right 
to restructure the Secretariat, Bokova's staff put a foot wrong at 
the end of last week when apparently without her authorization they 
sounded out certain delegations about the possibility of abolishing 
the post of ADG for Communications and Information (CI) and folding 
that sector into the Social and Human Sciences Sector.  CI's 
supporters led by Denmark protested so strongly to Bokova on Friday, 
November 20, that she decided to put the whole idea of restructuring 
on hold until the regular spring Executive Board. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment:  Bokova now faces a serious problem in taking 
control of the Organization and starting her new administration. 
She must follow UNESCO's slow hiring procedures to fill the 
Organization's top level positions but she has not gotten buy-in 
from the member states on what those top positions should even be. 
This virtually guarantees that her administration will get off to a 
slow start.  Bokova will be obliged to extend the contracts of the 
ADG's now in place, or find other solutions until her own team is 
recruited and put into place.  It is possible that Bokova will be 
without key personnel until late spring or early summer 2010. (Note: 
 Former D-G Matsuura launched several task forces prior to taking 
office to help him review the structure of the Secretariat.  Bokova 
has, apparently, decided not to use the same approach.  End note). 
End Comment. 
 
Program Issues 
 
¶6. (U) On program topics, Bokova's speech to the Executive Board 
echoed the main themes of her major inaugural speech of October 23rd 
before the General Conference.  She said that her work principle is 
to maintain a constant dialogue, and that she will be calling on 
each and every colleague and delegate to help her advance UNESCO's 
work over the next few years.  Bokova stressed that our success as 
an organization will be dependent on our ability to provide delivery 
of quality programs efficiently and effectively in the many nations 
that need UNESCO's help.  She said that UNESCO's strategic 
orientation and positioning will be among her top concerns. 
 
Priority Africa and Gender Equality 
 
¶7. (U) Bokova said that Africa will remain a top priority for her 
administration and that she will be establishing links with the 
African Union and leaders from across the continent.  On the subject 
of gender equality, Bokova said that the empowerment of women will 
be a key element, not only in UNESCO's programs, but in the 
Secretariat as well.  She said that both of these issues would be 
integrated into every UNESCO program, to ensure that we keep moving 
in the right direction. 
 
Holistic UNESCO 
 
¶8. (U) Bokova also promised to create a High Panel for Peace and 
Dialogue, bringing together intellectuals, noted personalities, and 
others to help define new paths for UNESCO in its work for 
tolerance, reconciliation, and pluralism.  She added that her goal 
is to make "globalization more humane".  She said that her vision of 
UNESCO is a "holistic" one, and that in all of our work, we must 
show solidarity with the most vulnerable of the world. 
 
Education 
 
¶9. (U) Director-General Bokova noted that education remains, of 
course, UNESCO's overriding priority, and mentioned that she will 
work to raise the visibility of UNESCO's work in this field in the 
coming months both during the COFINTEA conference and in New York 
with Secretary-General Ban in January.  She also said that she will 
be in contact with the World Bank, the FTI (Fast Track Initiative), 
the IMF, and OECD to find more money for education.  She stressed 
that she will campaign to hold member states to pledges made during 
the G-8 and G-20 summits on this point.  Bokova also said that 
UNESCO must find ways to integrate our work into the One UN model in 
order to be effective. 
 
Visibility 
 
¶10. (U) On the subject of visibility, Bokova said that she would be 
doing more to bring media attention to UNESCO and, more 
specifically, to bring UNESCO's work to the attention of the public 
at large.  She said that partnerships with foundations, 
institutions, business, and private individuals would be explored to 
find alternative financing to bring more extra budgetary money to 
UNESCO to help fund its programs.  Bokova said that her goal is to 
make UNESCO more vocal and more visible on the world stage. 
 
Climate Change 
 
¶11. (U) As a strong advocate for Climate Change, Bokova said that 
she will attend the upcoming summit in Copenhagen, and will be 
working to maximize bilateral contacts while in Denmark.  She also 
noted that biodiversity will be a key subject for her, and that she 
also plans to develop another High Level Panel for Science during 
her administration. 
 
Culture 
 
¶12. (U) Regarding Culture, Bokova noted that UNESCO is not up to 
speed on the "progressive digitalization of culture", and wants to 
organize a conference on this subject in the future. 
 
Management 
 
¶13. (U) Returning to the Secretariat, Bokova stressed that 
decentralization and rotation of Secretariat staff is something that 
she believes will enrich UNESCO.  She also said that she will work 
to push RBM (Results Based management) policies at UNESCO to refine 
and strengthen the work undertaken by former 
D-G Matsuura. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Comment:  Bokova's first interaction with the new 
Executive Board was seen by some delegates (including Japan), as a 
little "stormy", and by others as disappointing, giving too few 
specifics and resorting to too many generalities regarding her 
vision for UNESCO.  Working closely with the new Board Chairman, 
Russia's Eleonora Mitrofanova, it appears likely that the two will 
attempt to move the Board away from micromanagement of the 
Secretariat, and try to free Bokova's hands on how best to redesign 
the Secretariat to tackle the work ahead. 
 
KILLION