FAO DG'S UPCOMING MEETINGS IN WASHINGTON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 003521

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

FROM THE U.S. MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME

STATE FOR IO TERRY MILLER, IO/EDA BEHREND AND KOTOK
USDA FOR OSEC JBPENN, FAS REICH AND HUGHES
USAID FOR DCHA MMERTENS; OFDA KISAACS AND GGOTTLIEB; FFP
JDWORKEN AND DSKORIC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC EAGR EAID FAO
SUBJECT: FAO DG'S UPCOMING MEETINGS IN WASHINGTON


1. (SBU) Summary: FAO Director General (DG) Jacques
Diouf will be in Washington October 26-27 for senior-
level meetings at State, USDA and USAID. U.S. Mission
Rome believes it is important that all three agencies
convey a clear signal to the DG regarding USG
dissatisfaction with his leadership and management of
FAO, as evidenced in recent months. In particular, we
need to offset the apparent momentum of the DG's "reform
proposals," conceived hastily with little or no
discussion or input from key FAO staff or member
governments. End summary.


2. (SBU) After twelve years in office, FAO Director
General Diouf is headed for election to his third six-
year term, with the possibility of four more years beyond
that. Although most major donor members -- as well as
many G-77 countries -- would prefer to see a change of
leadership, no alternative candidates were nominated,
leaving Diouf unopposed in the election that will take
place at the FAO Conference November 19-26.


3. (SBU) Dissatisfaction with Diouf's weak leadership
and lack of management skills has been evident for some
time. The initial mishandling of the African desert
locust crisis, a pattern of misallocation of resources,
including inadequate funding for priority standard-
setting activities, and declining employee morale are
just a few examples. The DG's gross mishandling of the
organization's 60th anniversary celebration on October 17
led to a major embarrassment to the organization as
Zimbabwe's Mugabe and Venezuela's Chavez took the floor
to slander the U.S. and Great Britain.


4. (SBU) In recent months the ineptness of Diouf's
leadership has been brought into even sharper focus
through his "reform proposals." The DG presented them as
a "back-of-the-envelope exercise" at the last minute,
without adequate time to develop detailed ideas and run
them by senior management, staff, and -- not least --
member countries. At the September 2005 sittings of the
Finance and Joint Finance/Program Committees, member
states called on Diouf to establish a mechanism to
consult with members to provide details and open a
dialogue on the proposals well in advance of the November
Council and Conference discussions on the reform.
Although he orally agreed to do so, he has made no effort
to proceed with such discussions, seemingly preferring to
ramrod the proposals through the November meetings,
probably via last minute, late-night Friends-of-the-Chair
discussions.


5. (SBU) Members have been struggling to respond to the
proposal in the face of inadequate information about the
substance and impact of the reforms and a lack of clarity
about the rationale and objectives. To date, member
reaction has been equivocal, amounting to "there may be
some good stuff in here, but we need more time to study
it." It appears that many or most G-77 members may
support the proposals simply because the Director General
tabled them. If this remains the response at the Council
and Conference next month, Diouf will take it as a
mandate to proceed.


6. (SBU) Reform of FAO is sorely needed, but it should
proceed in a deliberate fashion and in full consultation
with the membership. To this end, the Council in
November 2004 approved an Independent External Evaluation
(IEE) of FAO. Diouf initially opposed the IEE, but
eventually relented when a consensus of support developed
among members from the North and the South, and when it
was agreed the evaluation would not be launched until
after the election in November 2005. The terms of
reference for the IEE have been negotiated and are
expected to be approved by the Council next month. The
final results of the evaluation are to be presented to
the Conference in November 2007. The evaluation should
pave the way for reform based on a thorough, systematic
evaluation of the organization's strengths, weaknesses,
and comparative advantages, not on a haphazard plan
assembled without meaningful internal or external input.


7. (SBU) If Diouf proceeds with his current approach to
the reform plan we face three serious dangers:

-- First, the programs of greatest interest to the United
States could continue to be under-funded despite the lip
service FAO pays to their "priority" status.

-- Second, the IEE will be undermined by a lack of
enthusiasm and support, particularly from developing
countries, and we will lose the opportunity to reform FAO
in a way that more closely aligns it with U.S. interests.

-- Third, the DG's reforms are projected in the context
of a 2.5 percent real growth (RG) budget, and it could
become difficult, in already complex budget discussions,
to break momentum toward this RG scenario at the upcoming
FAO Council and Conference.

8. (SBU) U.S. Mission encourages Washington agencies to
consider the following strategies for securing meaningful
reform of FAO:

-- Use high-level State, USDA, and AID meetings with DG
Diouf next week to express U.S. displeasure with the
current state of FAO leadership and apparent efforts to
ram through an ill-considered reform plan.

-- Use the DG election in November to signal our
dissatisfaction with FAO leadership by vocally abstaining
or voting against Diouf. We should encourage a critical
mass of other members to participate in such a protest
vote.

-- Block all components of Diouf's personal reform plan
submitted to the Council and/or Conference next month for
review and approval. Some components might be
reconsidered if adequate information and opportunities
for consultation are forthcoming, but only if they do not
undermine the broader reform effort based on the IEE.

-- Prepare a U.S. reform plan that identifies U.S.
priorities for FAO and links U.S. funding to performance.


9. (SBU) We offer the following points for the meetings
with DG Diouf next week in Washington:

-- Express U.S. dissatisfaction with what we see as his
wanting management of the UN's largest independent agency,
especially as seen at the organization's recent 60th
anniversary celebration as well as through his last-minute,
poorly formulated reform proposals.

-- Tell DG Diouf that we will not support the current reform
proposals without full consultations and discussion between
the Secretariat and the member states.

-- Communicate dissatisfaction that Diouf chose to run for a
third term.

-- Express U.S. commitment to FAO reform based on the IEE
assessment of the organization's strengths, weaknesses, and
comparative advantages.

-- Reiterate USG support for the highly qualified candidates
we have identified for senior positions in the FAO, and
emphasize that we expect him to fill these soon-to-be vacant
positions with little or no delay.

HALL