USUNESCO -- UNESCO 171st EXECUTIVE BOARD:

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 003024

SIPDIS

FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIA OPDC PHSA PBTS IHO KSI UNESCO
SUBJECT: USUNESCO -- UNESCO 171st EXECUTIVE BOARD:
U.S. CROSS-SECTOR CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE
ENTHUSIASTICALLY ADOPTED

Reftel: Paris 1032


1. Summary and Comment: The U.S. draft decision
establishing a cross-sector capacity building program was
adopted, to general acclaim, at the 171st meeting of
UNESCO's Executive Board. The resolution, the first
presented by the U.S. since reentry, was co-sponsored by
twenty-one other member states. The Assistant Director
General for Natural Sciences remarked that the enthusiastic
support voiced for the initiative would give momentum to the
program. The next step will be for the science sector to
fill the P-5 position that will oversee the new capacity
building unit established in the Science Sector. It will be
important to ensure that benchmarks are established for
these activities, as well as a means of measuring "outputs."
It will also be important to engage the U.S. scientific
community in support of activities created in the context of
this initiative. A successful capacity building program may
help encourage UNESCO's secretariat and member states to
pursue constructive initiatives, rather than squander
limited resources on non-consensual activities with little
positive, concrete impact. End Summary and Comment.


2. At the 171st meeting of the Executive Board, Ambassador
Oliver presented for the Board's consideration a draft
decision for "a cross-sector program on capacity building."
This was the first decision presented to the Executive Board
by the U.S. since our re-entry in 2003. The Office of the
Director General opened the debate by "endorsing and
welcoming the initiative."


3. In her presentation, Ambassador Oliver stressed that
UNESCO programs must incorporate capacity building if they
are to have long-term sustainable results. She explained
that the draft decision welcomed the creation of a unit in
the Natural Sciences sector to coordinate the sector's
capacity building efforts, with a focus on basic science and
mathematics education; engineering; and water-related
efforts. Ambassador Oliver noted that the draft decision
requested the Director General to expand the concept of
capacity building throughout UNESCO by developing cross-
sector activities that include capacity building as a
central concept. She highlighted the fact that the decision
promotes a management and administrative approach, and would
have no budgetary impact. She noted that the decision asks
the Director General to develop a comprehensive cross-sector
capacity building program at UNESCO, assuming that an
evaluation of initial pilot activities is positive.


4. As the Ambassador noted in her intervention, the need
and desire for such an approach was evidenced by the list of
co-sponsors: Afghanistan, Australia, China, the Czech
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy,
India, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Russia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka,
Tanzania, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Yemen. Tunisia also
approached Ambassador Oliver just before she spoke asking to
be included as a co-sponsor.


5. During the debate, many of these co-sponsors - as well
as other Executive Board members - voiced wholehearted
support for the proposal. The debate amounted to, in the
words of Ecuador, "a shower of praise for this initiative."
Twenty-five Executive Board members spoke in support of the
proposal, many commenting that the initiative would help
UNESCO do a better job of translating its resources into
results-oriented programs: "as a whole," Australia
remarked, "it encapsulates the direction in which UNESCO
ought to be going." Many praised the fact that it
encourages UNESCO's sectors to work together. The Afghan
Ambassador stressed the initiative's utility for Least
Developed Countries and post-conflict states, declaring
"this program will give us the confidence and knowledge to
do what others are now doing for us." Several member states,
including Australia, Indonesia, and Russia, noted
approvingly the proposal's emphasis on strengthening
engineering at UNESCO.


6. In her response to these interventions, the Ambassador
expressed thanks. She welcomed the observation of
Mauritius, who noted approvingly that the draft decision
stressed the creation of benchmarks and the evaluation of
results; he said that it was important that "outputs",
rather than activities, be measured. Mauritius also
underlined the importance of stemming the "brain drain".
The Ambassador accepted an amendment from Tanzania, who
asked that "innovation and technology management" be added
as an area of focus for the Science Sector capacity building
unit.


7. After the debate, the Assistant Director General for
Science predicted that the enthusiastic support voiced for
the initiative would give momentum to the program, both
within the Science Sector and within the cross-sector
context. He acknowledged that the next step would be to
hire a P-5 to oversee the new capacity building unit
established in the Science Sector; it is imperative that
this be done as soon as possible, he noted.

OLIVER