VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #7463 0252204
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 252158Z JAN 10
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 007463 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: NSC PREL PHUM PHSA EWWT KCRM KPIR SO XA XW
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REQUEST ON UN TRUST FUND SUPPORTING THE 
INITIATIVES OF THE CONTACT GROUP ON PIRACY 
 
(SBU)  1.  This is an action request.  USUN is instructed to 
demarche UN officials as appropriate on the proposed changes 
to the terms of reference for the International Trust Fund 
Supporting the Initiatives of the Contact Group on Piracy off 
the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS).  At its discretion, USUN may 
wish to coordinate with Germany, which has done much of the 
heavy work on this issue; in any case, please consult/inform 
the German Mission.  Post may draw from the points in 
paragraph three. 
 
(SBU)  2.  Background:  In order to develop a funding 
mechanism for the initiatives of the Contact Group on Piracy 
off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS), the participants of the 
CGPCS, led by Germany and with active involvement by the 
United States, negotiated Terms of Reference (TOR) for a UN 
Trust Fund in 2009.  The Trust Fund TOR was designed to 
provide nations and industry groups a means of contributing 
to counter-piracy efforts, and emphasized the importance of 
funding prosecution-related efforts. 
 
Throughout the negotiations, the UN and the CGPCS 
participants agreed that the Trust Fund,s Board, on which 
several UN agencies would serve as non-voting members, would 
make the decisions about which proposals would be funded and 
which would be given priority.  When the CGPCS plenary 
adopted the TOR at its plenary in September 2009, the CGPCS 
Chair authorized the UN to establish the Fund according to 
those Terms.  The UN was not authorized to make substantive 
changes to the TOR as negotiated and agreed upon by the UN 
and the CGPCS. 
 
Only after the TOR was approved by the Contact Group plenary 
in September, DPA announced that UNDP has recanted its 
willingness to serve as Fund Manager.  The United States had 
long questioned whether UNDP was the appropriate Fund Manager 
to begin with, preferring UNODC since the Fund was primarily 
intended to support prosecution-related efforts.  After UNDP 
backed out, DPA recommended the switch to UNODC and made 
repeated assurances that only technical amendments to the 
TORs would be necessary.  The German Mission convened several 
emergency sessions of the Contact Group participants in late 
2009 to review the amended TORs and select the Fund Board. 
The U.S. pursued and was granted a seat on the Trust Fund 
Board by decision of the CGPCS participants. 
 
It was not until mid-January, less than 2 weeks before the 
5th Contact Group plenary and the first Board meeting, that 
the United States learned that the UN Controller requires the 
proposed, additional changes.  Discussions between UNODC and 
the Controller's Office over the past week have resulted in 
slight improvements.  The U.S., however, strongly objects to 
the process during which the U.N. has repeatedly made changes 
to the TOR over the past several months with little to no 
transparency, and requests further assurances from the UN 
regarding its role with respect to the Fund.  Without these 
assurances, the U.S. will not support the adoption of the 
amended TORs by the CGPCS. 
 
Among the specific changes the U.S. would like to see is the 
addition of language to make it clear that when the TOR 
refers to UN rules, regulations, and policies, it is 
referring to financial rules and regulations and 
administrative policies, as opposed to political policies. 
The U.S. would also like clarification as to how ear-marked 
contributions will be handled.  The U.S. also does not see 
any reason, nor are we aware of any UN regulations, that 
would require the Secretary General to endorse the 
composition of the Fund Board. 
 
(SBU)  3.  Begin Points: 
 
--  We are very concerned that, less than two weeks before 
the Board was scheduled to convene for the first time and 
consider its first proposals, the United States learned that 
the UN Controller has proposed what appear to be substantive 
changes to the Terms of Reference, as agreed to by the CGPCS 
participants and the UN following many months of 
negotiations.  The TOR has already been changed once before 
when, after the TOR had been adopted by CGPCS participants in 
September, UNDP declined to administer the fund and the UNODC 
assumed that role. 
 
-- The UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) has 
represented from the beginning of this process that it was 
negotiating on behalf of the United Nations as a whole.  The 
new TOR differs in significant and substantive ways from the 
TOR that were negotiated with DPA.  For example, at no point 
did the participants contemplate the UN Secretary General 
having any sort of approval authority over the selection of 
Board members as now called for in the revised TORs. 
 
-- Given the repeated revisions that have taken place since 
the TOR was originally approved by the CGPCS in September, 
the United States will not endorse the new TOR without 
additional clarification as to the implications of the 
changes proposed by the UN Controller's Office.  We would 
also like written assurances regarding the UN's role in the 
implementation and administration of the Fund. 
 
-- With two work days prior to the Wednesday 27 January Board 
meeting, the issue remains unresolved.  The Board cannot 
begin considering proposals until the Terms of Reference are 
finalized, and the new TOR must be approved by the CGPCS.  It 
does not reflect well on any of us that the Fund, which was 
approved by the CGPCS in September, has still not been 
established 4 months later in January.  We hope the UN is as 
interested as we are in ensuring that the terms of reference 
are ready to be presented for approval during the upcoming 
January 28 CGPCS plenary.  Our ultimate priority, however, is 
ensuring that all parties to the TOR are clear on the roles 
and responsibilities of those involved in the mangement and 
administration of the Fund. 
CLINTON