24TH ICCROM GENERAL ASSEMBLY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 003928

SIPDIS

FOR IO/UNESCO M. SULLIVAN AND C. NOVO
FOR IO/S L. SPRATT
FOR ECA M. MACLEAN AND M. KOUROUPAS

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

E.0. 12598: N/A
TAGS: AORC AFIN KUNR ICCROM
SUBJECT: 24TH ICCROM GENERAL ASSEMBLY



1. Summary: the 24th session of the General Assembly of the
International Center for the Study of the Preservation and
Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) met November 9 -

11. The ICCROM Council recommended and the General
Assembly approved the hiring of a new Director General. A
real growth budget of 7.7 million euros was approved for
the 2005-2007 biennium (in keeping with the long-term
financial strategy approved in 2003),but a zero nominal
growth scenario will be a prominent part of the next
General Assembly meeting in 2007. A proposal to shift to a
triennial General Assembly and budget cycle (vice biennial)
was deferred at least until 2007. AmCit Blaine Cliver was
reelected to the ICCROM Council during the GA and was then
elected Chair of the Council at the follow-on Council
meeting on November 12. End Summary.

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Before We Begin
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2. Prior to the GA, USDEL had been in touch with both the
Japanese and Germans (both ZNG advocates) and on the eve of
the session, a formal meeting was held with reps from
China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, and Spain to
discuss the budget. By the time the meeting was held, the
Council had already voted to recommend the hiring of a new
DG. Thus there was some sympathy for giving a new leader
the chance to make his own mark on the organization before
imposing any "draconian" measures such as ZNG. USDEL,
supported by the Japanese and Germans, clearly advocated
ZNG. The Japanese went so far as to say they were prepared
to withdraw their membership in ICCROM after 2007 if ZNG
was not approved or if somehow their contribution continued
to rise. After the meeting, they also asked USDEL if the
U.S. would continue to remain a member of ICCROM after 2007
if consensus was reached on a budget level higher than ZNG.
USDEL replied that the subject of withdrawal from the
organization had never been broached and was unlikely,
though nothing could be completely ruled out.


3. In terms of what could and could not be accomplished
during this GA, there was concern on the part of some that
since the GA had approved zero real growth as a long term
financial strategy in 2003 and the budget had been prepared
on that basis, no substantive changes could really be made
until the next GA in 2007 (see further explanation below).
USDEL argued that the GA could do as it chose as the
governing body, including disapproval of the budget for the
2005-2007 biennium. Unfortunately USDEL was clearly in the
minority among those present. Even the Japanese admitted
that their "line in the sand" referred to the level of
their contributions after 2007. In the end, USDEL and the
Japanese agreed that interventions would be made both under
the agenda item dealing with the report of the Council as
well as the budget agenda item.


4. Director General: one duty of the Council is to make
recommendations to the General Assembly regarding the
hiring of the Director General. Dr. Stanley-Price had
already served one term and wanted to be reappointed.
Lacking a clear definition of how the reappointment process
should work, ICCROM's legal advisor determined that the
organization should go through the entire solicitation and
interview process, with Dr. Stanley-Price as one of the
candidates. A search committee of Council members was
formed months ago and the committee came up with a short
list of applicants (including Stanley-Price),each of whom
made presentations to the entire Council immediately prior
to the start of the General Assembly.


5. In the end, the Council decided to recommend the hiring
of a new DG, Mounir Bouchenaki, currently Assistant
Director General for Culture at UNESCO. The vote in
Council was very close -- 12 supported Bouchenaki and 10
supported Stanley-Price (this fact was not revealed to the
General Assembly). The Italians led the effort to replace
Stanley-Price because of what they see as the "drift" of
the organization over the past several years away from what
they believe is ICCROM's core mandate. In addition,
Stanley-Price has regularly complained to the GOI (rightly,
in our minds) about the state of the ICCROM facilities,
which are supposed to be maintained by the Italian
government but which have not received much of anything in
the last twenty years. Finally, in the opinion of U.S.
Council member Blaine Cliver, Stanley-Price's presentation
to the Council was relatively weak, focusing on what he has
accomplished rather than on what he hoped to accomplish in
a second term.

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And On To The General Assembly
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6. Once the cursory agenda items (acceptance of observers,
credentials, welcome to new states, election of officers,
adoption of minutes, awards) were dealt with, member states
moved on to more substantive discussions. Highlights
included the following:

DG Position
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7. There was some consternation among GA delegates
regarding the Council's recommendation for a new Director
General, but according to the rules, the only option for
the GA was an up or down vote on the recommendation for
Bouchenaki. Had the General Assembly chosen to reject the
recommendation, an interim DG would have had to be
appointed and a new recommendation made to the next GA in
two years' time. No one wanted to see that happen, and
ultimately, the voting reflected a fairly clear majority in
favor of the Council's recommendation to hire Bouchenaki.
Several interventions were made, both praising the work of
Stanley-Price and advocating trust that the Council was
doing what was best for the organization.

Budget
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8. USDEL was not able to convince enough like-minded states
to accept any changes in the proposed budget for the
current biennium (2005-2007). Part of the reason is
contained in the Rules of Procedure for the General
Assembly, which require any proposals to change either the
draft program of activities or the draft budget in any
significant way to be submitted in writing at least 30 days
before the opening of the GA, and prohibits discussion of
any such proposals not submitted ahead of time. USDEL made
budget interventions under two different agenda items:
during the report of the Council as well as during the
discussion of the program of activities and budget.


9. Per ref guidance, USDEL made the following points during
the report of the Council: the U.S. is pleased that ICCROM
has made use of results-based management principals,
including goals and performance indicators; the process is
nearly as important as the outcome because it forces the
organization to continually examine itself, what it does
well and not so well, and what its core mission is; and
this is particularly important in an era of diminishing
resources. USDEL sought clarification on carryover funds
from the 2003-2003 and 2004-2005 biennia (any carryover is
deposited directly into the strategic reserve) and inquired
as well as to why the zero real growth financial strategy
was applied to member states' contributions rather than to
the actual expenditures of the organization. Even though
actual expenditures were well above ZRG levels (7.1% v.
5.6%),USDEL could not get much traction or support from
others on this issue, including after a more or less non-
answer from the Secretariat.


10. Under the program and budget agenda item, USDEL again
intervened, along the following lines: while we appreciate
the thought that went into the program of activities and
acknowledge that ZRG was previously approved as a long-term
financial strategy, our policy toward all international
organizations remains zero nominal growth; we did not
support ZRG two years ago and do not support it now; while
the U.S., Germany and Japan may not be able to win a GA
vote, together we represent 50% of the organization's
assessed contributions, we all advocate ZNG, and
particularly with the prospect of complete Japanese
withdrawal after 2007, we believe this is a matter for
serious consideration; we urge ICCROM to absorb cost
increases through prioritization and increased efficiencies
(for example, using the strategic reserves to cover cost
increases); we urge ICCROM to conduct a thorough review of
all its activities with an eye toward concentrating
resources on the organization's core competencies and
strengths; and finally, we urge ICCROM to prepare and
present a ZNG budget as the basis for discussion at any
future gatherings.


11. Similar interventions were made by the Germans and
Japanese, and other calls for a ZNG budget were made by the
Finnish and Czech delegations. In the end, the budget for
the 2005-07 biennium was approved as proposed, but in the
statements of the Secretariat as well as several other
member states, it became clear that USDEL was being heard
and that a ZNG budget scenario will be prepared for the
next GA in 2007. This was confirmed at the Saturday
Council session that followed the GA.

Other
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12. A recommendation from the Council to adopt a triennial
(vice biennial) General Assembly and budget cycle was
withdrawn after it became clear that the GA wanted
additional study and information from the Council on the
ramifications of such a change. Clarifications of the
rules regarding the reappointment of the Director General
as well as the election of the President and Vice
Presidents of the General Assembly were approved, as well
as a change in the statutes regarding sanctions imposed on
member states in arrears, without discussion. Thirteen new
members of the ICCROM Council were elected for four-year
terms, including the reelection of U.S. Council member
Blaine Cliver.

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Comment
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13. At the follow-on session for the newly elected Council
on Saturday, U.S. Council member Blaine Cliver was elected
Council Chair. This puts Cliver in a prime position to
influence the direction of the organization, particularly
as a new Director General gets settled in. Though acting
in his personal capacity and not as a member of any
government, Cliver is a retired National Park Service
employee, has been engaged with ICCROM for many years and
has cooperated fully with USG efforts involving the
organization. Now that he has attained what is arguably
the most influential ICCROM position short of Director
General, it is vitally important that the issue of USG
financial support for his travel to Council sessions be
resolved.

HALL