VZCZCXRO6704
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHPG #0090/01 0491304
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181304Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2167
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0136

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 000090 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EZ
SUBJECT: DISCUSSIONS AMONGST OFFICIALS PRIOR TO PRAGUE'S 
PRT CONFERENCE JANUARY 25-27 
 
PRAGUE 00000090  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) More than 250 participants from 46 countries met in 
Prague over three days in our pre-London conference.  The 
participants included journalists, civilian and military 
government officials, and NGO leaders. They discussed ways in 
which Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) could enhance 
coordination to more effectively deliver results to the 
Afghan public. Prior to the start of the conference, 
approximately 50 government representatives (see para 8-9 
below), roughly half of which were USG officials, met for 
four hours on the afternoon of January 25 to discuss 
Governance, Economic Development, Civilian-Military 
Coordination, and Ensuring Effectiveness. 
 
¶2. (SBU) All of the four sessions (Governance, Economic 
Development, Civilian-Military Coordination, and Ensuring 
Effectiveness), had a mix of U.S. and foreign government 
participants that spoke openly about constraints working in 
Afghanistan, focusing primarily on the work of PRTs. 
 
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Governance and Economic Development 
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¶3. (SBU) During the discussion on governance, the 
participants concentrated on the following two issues that 
Afghan officials often raise: the "unevenness" of support 
across provinces, and the caveats (frequently national 
constraints) that circumscribe how these funds may be used. 
Recognizing that national mandates are unlikely to be 
eliminated any time soon, participants focused on better 
coordination with Afghan government authorities and the need 
to avoid creating "parallel structures" whereby Afghans look 
to the PRT instead of their provincial officials. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The government representatives also discussed ways 
in which local procurement (especially via PRT funding) could 
be increased, bearing in mind security constraints and the 
need to ensure project sustainability.  While there was 
support for expanding high value crop production and export 
capacities, several experts raised notes of caution about 
ensuring this was not at the expense of Afghans, growing 
crops for their own sustenance. 
 
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Ensuring Effectiveness and Civilian-Military Coordination 
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¶5. (SBU) Much of the conversation on ensuring effectiveness 
focused on the issue of "stability" and how to get there. 
While many of the participants felt stability was the desired 
goal, several member states flagged national mandates which 
focus in other areas.  Senior Civilian Representative for 
Regional Command East, Dawn Liberi, pointed out that in 
Afghanistan there are more than 75,000 projects currently. 
She commented that these projects often have specific 
parameters and most must meet certain demands from capitals. 
Several officials also focused attention on the challenges 
involved in evaluating Afghan feedback since Afghan views 
vary according to provinces and what's involved in achieving 
stability varies in each as well. 
 
¶6. (SBU) While discussing civilian-military coordination, a 
great deal of attention was given to coordinating training. 
Officials acknowledged that national PRT methods, procedures, 
and command structures sometimes vary greatly, although 
participants agreed that efforts should be made to ensure the 
most common elements are incorporated in pre-deployment and 
post-arrival training opportunities.  Though the discussion 
focused primarily on civilian-military coordination within 
the PRTs, the EU,s Senior Political Advisor to the EU 
Special Representative, Barbara Stapleton, reminded the group 
that the civil-military relationships with NGO actors in the 
PRTs, operating space are likewise in need of attention. 
 
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Pre-Conference Take-Aways 
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¶7. (SBU) The following text was discussed and drafted during 
the "wrap-up" of the pre-conference.  It represents the 
common thinking of those participants present at the 
pre-conference, not necessarily the official views of their 
home countries, since the document was not cleared in 
capitals. 
 
Begin Text: 
In Prague, government representatives of PRT contributing 
nations gathered from the field and from capitals on January 
 
PRAGUE 00000090  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
25th to share lessons learned and identify priority areas for 
coordination of their efforts to support Afghanistan.  The 
delegates discussed Governance, Economic Development, 
Civilian-Military Coordination, and Ensuring Effectiveness. 
The delegates agreed that enhanced cooperation in accordance 
with the following principles would improve PRT effectiveness: 
 
Governance 
- Encourage the passage and implementation of the Sub 
National Governance Policy 
- Strengthen the GIRoA-led PRT Executive Steering Committee 
to enhance coordination at the district, provincial and 
national level among the PRTs. 
- Build local capacity of Afghan government officials and 
institutions through PRT personnel and programs in 
conjunction with the Afghan government's Civilian Technical 
Assistance Plan. 
- Promote transparency and accountability of PRT activities 
for both Afghans and international donors. 
 
Economic Development 
- Increase local procurement to stimulate the economy, while 
striving to avoid market distortions. 
- Beyond our focus on staple crops, increase efforts to 
regenerate agribusiness to provide jobs and economic 
opportunities, help increase production of high value crops 
and explore new ways to help farmers access credit. 
 
Civilian Military Coordination 
- Increase capacity and consistency of civilian-military 
training opportunities for PRT personnel through such 
institutions as the NATO Academy in Oberammergau, Germany and 
the COIN Academy in Kabul. 
- Strengthen civilian leadership and expertise in PRTs to 
enhance governance and development to increase stability and 
security. 
 
Ensuring Effectiveness 
- Solicit input of the population to identify root causes of 
instability. 
- Develop plans and program activities that mitigate sources 
of instability and analyze the impact at the district level 
as well as the connections to the provincial and national 
levels. 
- Support the efforts of Kabul headquarters and provincial 
officials to visit districts and engage with local 
populations. 
 
This document only reflects the sense of the participants. 
End of Text. 
 
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Pre-Conference Participants 
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¶8. (U) The following list covers the Foreign Government and 
International Organizations present for the pre-conference: 
Czech Republic - Ester Lauferova, Karla Stepankova, Daniel 
Volk, Bohumila Ranglova, Vladislav Gunter, Katerina Joselova 
South Korean - Seong-Doo Ahn, Si-jin Song 
Norway - Helene Sand Andresen 
Turkey - Turker Ari 
Slovenia - Urska Cas Svetek, Aljosa Selan, Srecko Zajc 
Germany - Burkhard Ducoffre 
Sweden - Magnus Forsberg 
Canada - Sean Jorgensen 
UN - Stefan Liebig 
Hungary - Laszlo Pallos 
Latvia - Jevgenijs Pavlovics 
Belgium - Susan Pond 
EU - Barbara Stapleton 
Lithuania - Bartas Trakymas 
Poland - Jerzy Wieclaw 
NATO - Nicholas Williams 
Italy - Sergio Maffettone 
 
¶9. (U) USG Officials (in alphabetical order): Darian Arky, 
Carla Benini, Steve Campfield, Amy Carnie, Curtis Carson, 
Rachel Cooke, Beth Dunford, Bay Fang, David Gainer, Angela 
Gemza, Robert Goley, Bailey Hand, Dereck Hogan, John Law, 
Dawn Liberi, Drew Mann, Brig. Gen. Mark Scraba, Jamie 
McCampbell, LtCol. Karl Muehlheuser, John Plumley, Nick 
Rolling, Neilesh Shelat, Matt Sherman, Jessica Simon, Vikram 
Singh, and Leamond Stuart. 
 
¶10.  (U) S/RAP has not cleared this message. 
Thompson-Jones