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PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUNV #0560/01 3490733
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 150733Z DEC 09
FM USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0411
INFO RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 1504
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1804
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 0337
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0616
RUEHXX/GENEVA IO MISSIONS COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1176
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0310
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0326
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 0001
RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ASTANA 0214

UNCLAS UNVIE VIENNA 000560 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EMBASSIES FOR ECON/POL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AORC EINV ETRD UNCITRAL AU UN
SUBJECT: Assistant Secretary Brimmer Meets with UNODC, UNIDO 
Leaders 
 
REF: DOHA 679 
 
¶1. Summary.  In December 1 meetings with Antonio Costa, Executive 
Director of UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and Kandeh 
Yumkella, the Director General of the UN Industrial Development 
Organization (UNIDO), Assistant Secretary of State for International 
 
Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer stressed the United States' 
strong commitment to multilateralism.  With Costa, A/S Brimmer 
thanked the UNODC for its good work, and noted how UNODC's agenda is 
 
central to U.S. priorities.  Costa in turn thanked the U.S. for its 
 
continued support on several fronts: policy, expertise and 
financial. 
He recognized the "strong convergence of views" between the U.S. and 
 
UNODC on many issues.  UNIDO DG Yumkella provided A/S Brimmer with 
an 
update on next week's General Conference (GC), and UNIDO's ongoing 
initiatives.  Although Yumkella did not explicitly pursue his 
obvious 
desire for greater U.S.-UNIDO engagement, it was nevertheless 
apparent throughout the course of the discussion, and A/S Brimmer 
carefully avoided allowing that line of discussion to continue.  End 
 
Summary. 
 
------------------------------- 
Costa: Funding of UNCAC Review 
Mechanism a Critical Issue 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  A/S Brimmer congratulated Costa on creation of the new UN 
Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) review mechanism (Ref).  He 
acknowledged the importance of INL DAS Elizabeth Verville's role in 
 
that accomplishment.  With regard to funding the UNCAC review, both 
 
Costa and A/S Brimmer agreed that member states would pursue regular 
 
budget funding for the 2012-13 biennium and beyond, but the issue 
for 
immediate attention is funding the staffing portion of the mechanism 
 
(which Costa estimated at about $1.5 million) for the 2010-11 
biennium.  Costa was concerned that the U.S. representatives to the 
 
5th Committee had expressed a view that the money must be found 
within UNODC's budget (sectioQ6), and Costa felt this was 
inconsistent with our agreement in Doha, where we agreed to 
reallocate regular budget funds from outside the UNODC budget.  A/S 
 
Brimmer assured Costa that the USG would eventually "get to a place 
 
where we all want to be" and that the money will be found.  But the 
 
route to getting agreement might be circuitous due to budget 
sensitivities within the 5th Committee.  She said that the U.S. 
needs 
to operate in the 5th Committee under the principle of budget 
discipline, but understands the agreement at Doha and is confident 
that we will eventually "get to where we want to be". 
 
-------------------- 
Mr. Costa Goes to NY 
-------------------- 
 
¶3.  Costa mentioned that he has been invited to speak before the 
Security Council in New York.  Costa reported that his December 8 
visit will be to discuss "West Africa, East Africa, and everything 
in 
between."  He said he intends to "come out strong" on the 
seriousness 
of the crime and drug problems in Africa.  He pointed to a recent 
example of how the drug trade has penetrated that area, citing a 
crash in Mali of a 767 plane from Venezuela that was carrying a 
large 
amount of drugs. UNODC Director of Operations Francis Maertens later 
 
highlighted the new regional program in West Africa that was 
approved 
by Ministers of Justice in Nairobi. 
 
-------------------------- 
Increased Attention to 
UNODC Afghanistan Reports 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Costa previewed two reports that will be issued soon.  One 
report 
(Afghan Opium Survey) is the full report of a summary released in 
early September.  The other report is a survey of corruption in 
Afghanistan.  He promised to provide the U.S. a draft copy in 
advance 
of the latter report once it nears completion (which staff tell us 
will be in mid-January).  Costa reported that UNODC corruption 
surveyors had interviewed 12,000 people in 4,000 villages and were 
able to put together a decent picture of local corruption, which 
they 
estimate to be at least 10 percent of GNP and was (surprisingly) 
more 
prevalent in areas firmly under government control.  A/S Brimmer 
said 
the U.S. would look forward to these reports and thanked UNODC for 
its useful and strong research work in Afghanistan. 
 
----------------- 
UNODC Anti-Piracy 
Work Going Strong 
----------------- 
 
¶5.  Costa thanked the U.S. for its continuing support for UNODC's 
anti-piracy work.  Costa, who had just returned from Kenya, stated 
its anti-piracy work in the region was going tremendously well. 
UNODC hopes to expand to Seychelles, Djibouti and Tanzania in the 
near future.  UNODC also hopes to expand work into Somalia itself. 
 
Costa reported that UN Political Affairs has recently agreed to make 
 
Vienna the center for the new trust fund that was created for 
pursuing prosecution of pirates.  Costa illustrated the relative 
bargain of the UN program by comparing its budget to the $1.4 
million/day budget needed to operate and maintain the fourteen 
military vessels currently patrolling the seas off the Horn of 
Africa.  Such an amount of money, Costa argued, would fund a good 
portion of UNODC's work. 
 
------------- 
Future of Triangular 
Initiative 
------------- 
 
¶6. Costa also briefed A/S Brimmer on the "Triangular Initiative", a 
 
UNODC program to encourage counter-narcotics cooperation and border 
 
management between Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan.  Costa, who 
takes 
personal credit for the success of this important initiative, hailed 
 
the measurable accomplishments which have occurred in the past 
year, 
including the establishment of a permanent Joint Planning Cell (JPC) 
 
in charge of producing and sharing timely operational intellegence 
reports, creation of border liaison offices, and increased joint 
interdiction operations.  Costa particularly emphasized his goal 
(which was agreed to among the Triangular members at the last 
ministerial in October) of linking the JPC with the Central Asian 
Regional Intelligence Center's (CARRIC) work to counter the 
trafficking of Afghan opiates.  Costa was optimistic that such a 
link 
would increasingly translate into larger operational results in the 
 
future. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Yumkella: "Greening Industry", MCC 
Are Initiatives to be Encouraged 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  A/S Brimmer opened the meeting by congratulating Yumkella on his 
 
expected election for a second term as Director General of UNIDO. 
Yumkella expressed his pleasure that the U.S. would attend the 
following week's General Conference (GC) as an invited guest (Dec. 
7- 
11), and described the overarching theme of the "Greening Industry", 
 
noting a number of sub themes which would be addressed, including 
resources management, green jobs, and ecological efficiency.  While 
 
acknowledging criticism from some member states that he was dabbling 
 
too much in climate change issues, Yumkella argued that UNIDO was 
central to the debate.  As long as public policy played a role in 
the 
greening of industry (which it necessarily does, Yumkella claimed), 
 
states must provide outlets for reducing the risk to individual 
enterprise, or at the very least to ensure risk is shared.  UNIDO's 
 
role, in Yumkella's view, was to support its member states as they 
encouraged industry to change its behavior. 
 
¶8.  Yumkella also praised the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC), 
 
describing its work as "real investment" (not small change) that 
nonetheless holds states accountable to certain conditions. 
Yumkella 
mourned the possible decline of the MCC under the new 
administration, 
but A/S Brimmer assured him that the MCC would be revisited as part 
 
of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR).  At the 
 
meeting's close, Yumkella passed A/S Brimmer further material on 
UNIDO's activities in Iraq.  He also pondered out loud about the 
potential gains of a Member State group tentatively designated 
"Friends of Energy." 
 
-------- 
Comment 
-------- 
 
¶9.  Yumkella spoke quickly and earnestly, without putting the least 
 
pressure on U.S. participants to "rejoin" the organization (the U.S. 
 
withdrew from UNIDO in 1996).  It was clear, however, that he was 
keen for greater U.S. involvement, as he described his many ideas 
for 
the future.  A/S Brimmer remained largely in listening mode and was 
 
careful to diffuse any expectation that the U.S. was interested in 
more deeply engaging with UNIDO at this time. END COMMENT 
 
¶10. A/S Brimmer cleared this message. 
 
DAVIES