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PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUNV #0550/01 3381246
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041246Z DEC 09
FM USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0387
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0929
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0767
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0216
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1304
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0003
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1174
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0370
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0611
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0813
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1799
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0294

UNCLAS UNVIE VIENNA 000550 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCOR KCRM PGOV UNCND
SUBJECT: Major Donors to UNODC Agree to More Systematic 
Coordination 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  At a November 30 meeting convened by the UK Mission to 
international organizations in Vienna the "Major Donor" countries to 
the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) agreed to increase 
systematic coordination with one another.  The U.S. delegation, led 
by IO Assistant Secretary Esther Brimmer and UNVIE Ambassador Glyn 
Davies, advanced coordination in preparation for meetings of the 
Working Group on Finance and Governance (Fin/Gov) in order to (1) 
advance concrete proposals for streamlining the functioning of the 
UNODC governing bodies, (2) provide feedback to UNODC on draft 
thematic and regional assistance programs and (3) advise one another 
of priority areas for funding UNODC activities.   Donors further 
agreed on the importance of re-establishing the Independent 
Evaluation Unit (IEU) to ensure systematic review of the impact of 
UNODC programs.  Germany also announced a 2.1 million USD 
contribution to support the UNODC's Terrorism Prevention Branch 
(TPB), which has been suffering after several donors (UK, Spain and 
Norway) zeroed-out funding for TPB activities in 2009.  USDEL 
learned that this reduction in funding for TPB was the result of 
competing budget priorities rather than a lack of confidence in the 
TPB's work.   The UK will host the next formal donors meeting in the 
first quarter of 2010.  END SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------- 
COMPOSITION OF USDEL 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  IO Assistant Secretary Esther Brimmer and UNVIE Ambassador Glyn 
Davies led the USDEL to the UNODC Major Donors meeting.  The 
following officials also comprised USDEL:  IO DAS Nerissa Cook, 
UNVIE DCM Geoff Pyatt, INL John Sullivan, INL Christine Cline and 
UNVIE Adam Davis. 
 
-------------------------------- 
ADVANCING DONOR VIEWS IN FIN/GOV 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Major Donors agreed that the Working Group on Finance and 
Governance (Fin/Gov) presented an opportunity for increased dialogue 
among donor countries, recipient countries and the UNODC 
Secretariat.  In particular, donors believed Fin/Gov an appropriate 
vehicle to generate feedback and buy-in for UNODC's development of 
thematic and regional programs, which aimed to provide a strategic 
overlay to UNODC in-country assistance.  Assistant Secretary Brimmer 
stressed the Administration's commitment to multilateral 
organizations in general and UNODC in particular.  She asserted that 
Fin/Gov represented an important opportunity for informal engagement 
with all partners, and it held the potential to increase 
transparency in the design of UNODC activities.  At the same time, 
Assistant Secretary Brimmer advocated for increased coordination 
among Major Donors, particularly in advance of Fin/Gov meetings. 
Japan and Canada emphasized that Fin/Gov should continue its 
informal character and should not be seen as a vehicle to replace 
the formal governing bodies of UNODC - the UN Commission on Narcotic 
Drugs (CND) and the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal 
Justice (CCPCJ).  France noted that it had proposals for 
streamlining the work of the CND and CCPCJ and donors agreed to 
discuss these at the next expert-level meeting of Major Donors. 
 
-------------------------- 
REESTABLISHING THE 
INDPENDENT EVALUATION UNIT 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Sweden, in its capacity as President of the European Union, 
reaffirmed the importance EU Member States attached to the 
re-establishment of the Independent Evaluation Unit (IEU) for UNODC. 
 In the draft consolidated budget for the biennium 2010-2011, UNODC 
had proposed merging the IEU with its strategic planning entity as 
cost-cutting measures.  UNODC, in principle, had expressed support 
for re-establishing the IEU, pending additional voluntary 
contributions being provided.  UN Regular Budget resources are only 
available to fund the salary requirements for the Chief of the IEU. 
On the margins of the Major Donors meeting, USDEL worked with 
Sweden, Canada, Japan and other countries to develop acceptable 
language to re-establish the IEU with a view to adoption of the text 
by the December 1-4 Reconvened Sessions of the CND and CCPCJ which 
will be reported by septel. 
 
---------------- 
COORDINATION OF 
 
FUNDING TO UNODC 
---------------- 
 
¶5.  Donors agreed to increase coordination of funding priorities for 
UNODC activities with a view to identifying potential funding gaps 
and promoting complementarily in the provision of funds.  Donors 
adopted a USDEL proposal to designate regional or sub-regional areas 
to be covered at each subsequent Major Donors meeting in order to 
focus an exchange of information and priorities.  As a first step, 
and noting the lack of information about who was doing what, where, 
with UNODC, Germany agreed to design a template to allow donors to 
itemize each of its individual contributions in 2009 and to preview 
contributions for 2010. 
 
¶6.  USDEL also used the occasion to highlight its provision of 10 
million USD to UNODC in 2009 for a variety of activities, including 
1.3 million USD in unearmarked general purpose funds to sustain the 
operations of UNODC.  USDEL showcased that funding would be 
forthcoming for UNODC demand reduction activities in Afghanistan and 
for UNODC's container control program - the first USG contribution 
of its kind to UNODC.  Sweden distributed its breakdown of funds for 
UNODC in 2009 totaling 12.9 million USD, which included an increase 
for UNODC demand reduction activities.  Italy also confirmed a 
pledge for UNODC activities in Afghanistan, although the amount of 
funding was still pending.  Germany announced a contribution of 
340,000 USD for UNODC demand reduction activities in Afghanistan. 
 
-------------------- 
GERMANY TO MAKE 
UP SHORTFALL FOR TPB 
-------------------- 
 
¶7.  Donors discussed the financial crisis that had befallen UNODC's 
Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB) due to the zeroing-out of funds in 
2009 by the UK, Norway and Spain.   USDEL sought clarification from 
those donors present as to why funding to the TPB was reduced.  The 
UK confirmed that it reduced funding because of competing budget 
priorities, rather than a lack of confidence in the TPB's work. 
Germany announced that it would provide 2.1 million USD in order to 
cover the shortfall required by the TPB but emphasized that it could 
not sustain such a contribution in 2010.  Other donors, notably 
Australia and the Netherlands, indicated that UNODC's adoption of a 
thematic approach and reinstatement of the IEU would provide 
additional incentive to consider future contributions to the TPB. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶8.  Although the UK will convene the next formal meeting of Major 
Donors within the first quarter of 2010, it will be important to 
sustain dialogue among participating donor countries on a regular 
basis.  In particular, this constant contact could help to leverage 
U.S. input into the EU coordination process, including with regard 
to funding decisions.  In addition, coordination in advance of 
Fin/Gov meetings could help to blunt more politicized topics, such 
as those surrounding UN Regular Budget resources, often raised by 
the Group of 77.  USDEL was pleased to find that many donors, who 
previously had hesitated to meet more regularly at the working 
level, and who were skeptical on the utility of sharing contribution 
details, had now embraced the USDEL's vision for a more regularized 
and open major donor dynamic.  Regarding the Major Donor-Fin/Gov 
relationship, mission will continue to work with other donors to 
invigorate the Fin/Gov process into one that focuses on substantive 
UNODC activities, rather than falling back into process-oriented 
discussions.  Mission believes that donor coordination can serve as 
a means to this end.  A/S Brimmer's presence at this event was 
particularly useful as a demonstration of the very strong U.S. 
investment in the UNODC mission and our revived commitment to 
multilateral coordination.  END COMMENT 
 
DAVIES