SUDAN: UN SUPPORT FOR DPA IMPLEMENTATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001548 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2016 TAGS: PREL KPKO PGOV SOCI US UN AU SU SUBJECT: SUDAN: UN SUPPORT FOR DPA IMPLEMENTATION Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief E. Whitaker, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Despite GNU opposition to UNPKO in Darfur, the UN is preparing several avenues of support for the DPA, including transferring resources to the AU and seconding staff. It also hopes to coordinate other donor DPA support, such as the two recently arrived UK media advisors. Top priorities are the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation process and the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority. Other important events include the July 18 &non-pledging conference8 and the anticipated mid-July UN Security Council meeting. While the legal status of those who signed the Declaration of Commitment has not yet been settled, the UN hopes they will be allowed access to the DPA Implementation Offices. End summary. Christofides Lays Out UN Support Activities for DPA -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Pol/Econ Counselor and ARC officers met with UNMIS Director for Political Affairs Jack Christofides and Senior Rule of Law Officer Susan Page to brief UNMIS on Embassy plans to support the AU in DPA implementation, including standing up the DPA Implementation Offices in Khartoum and El Fasher. Per Christofides, the UN is not letting the GNU,s present opposition to a transition to a UN peacekeeping operation stand in the way of scaling up its activities to support the DPA. UNMIS views movement on the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation (DDDC) process and identification of possible members of the Transitional Darfur Regional Authorities as top priorities, and is mobilizing its organizational efforts and the force of its good offices to jumpstart activities in these efforts. At the same time, the UN is working to solicit the support of the non-signatories to the DPA. ¶3. (SBU) Christofides said that much of the UN,s added value lies in its ability to organize and coordinate donor efforts. It had therefore assigned its Director of Civil Affairs, Tesfaye Tadesse, as its point person on the DDDC, who will now begin to pressure the GNU and the DPA signatories to focus on dates and a process. The DDDC preparatory committee needs to be formed and activated as soon as possible; he added that advice and experience from those involved in the Afghan Loya Jirga experience would be useful input. UN Staff to Backstop AU Efforts -------------- ¶4. (SBU) UNMIS is also in the process of providing the AU with staffing to flesh out its precariously thin political section, and has already seconded Primrose Oteng, a mid-level officer, to AU Darfur Special Representative Ambassador Sam Ibok,s staff. Senior Rule of Law Officer Page heads the team working with the AU. Finally, Christofides said the UN is looking at options via a special provision to allow the AU to make use of UN assets, though he did not go into further detail. UK Media Advisors, Office Space Needs, and UN DPA Road Show -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Meanwhile, two UK-provided media advisors arrived in Sudan on March 25 and are currently in El Fasher holding meetings with AMIS. The UK and Dutch national media advisors plan to spend two weeks in-country developing a strategic communications plan for the AU in support of the DPA before returning to the UK to brief out and receive approval. Long-term plans are for the advisors to work under the AU, most likely out of the USG-funded DPA Implementation Offices/Peace Secretariats in Khartoum and El Fasher, and provide the mission with a much needed public diplomacy capacity, publicize the DPA, and combat widespread misconceptions of its content. The UN supports allowing those who signed the Declaration of Commitment to also benefit from use of these facilities; he noted the Darfur Joint Assessment Mission is also interested in office space. (Note: UNMIS has launched its own &internal road show8 for 19 of its field offices in order to brief its own staff on the DPA so that they understood it properly themselves. This includes "eroding negative information." End note.) UN Underscores Two Upcoming Events -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Christofides underscored the importance of two upcoming events: 1) the July 18 meeting that will take place in Brussels, which he said would involve a request for $400 million in support for three baskets ) economic, security, and political; and 2) an anticipated mid-July UN Security KHARTOUM 00001548 002 OF 002 Council meeting, which he said would outline measures to take to strengthen AMIS in the absence of authority to implement a UN peacekeeping operation. Comment -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The Embassy and ARC plan to coordinate closely with UNMIS, its seconded staff at the AU, and the UK advisors in order to assure as much coverage and as little overlap as possible. Christofides felt that other nations and organizations were also staffing up and planning to offer additional support, which the UN hoped to coordinate and track via a matrix. These are early positive signs that the UN will be able to bolster AU efforts on the political track, something the AU needs. HUME