COURTESY CALL BY SENEGALESE AMBASSADOR TO UNESCO, AMADOU

UNCLAS PARIS 004914 SIPDIS FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNESCO SCUL SG SUBJECT: COURTESY CALL BY SENEGALESE AMBASSADOR TO UNESCO, AMADOU DEME ¶1. (U) Summary: Senegal new Ambassador to UNESCO, Amadou Deme, paid a courtesy call on Ambassador Oliver today, June 30th. The two Ambassadors discussed the need to work closely together to advance UNESCO capabilities to provide effective programs for Africa through all of UNESCO sectors. End summary. ¶2. (U) Ambassador Deme, 63, is a senior career diplomat with the Senegalese Foreign Ministry, who previously served at UNESCO from 1988-92, as well as in Mali, China, Guinea Conakry, Tokyo, Lagos, Ottawa and at the UN in New York. ¶3. (SBU) Ambassador Oliver told Deme that this biennium is critical for UNESCO, as it is the moment when priorities will be set for the coming medium-term strategy. She also said that given the fact that this is the Director General last term, it is important to take action to ensure that the quality of programs be strengthened and that difficult work, including the restructuring of the education and science sectors, be accomplished while UNESCO Secretariat remains focused and effective. ¶4. (SBU) During their conversation, Ambassador Deme mentioned that the members of the Africa Group, (Group V (a)),had requested and met with all of UNESCO Assistant Directors General (ADG) last Friday, June 23rd, for a briefing and to get updates on their plans regarding the C/4 and C/5 (strategy and budget programs). While he did not share specifics about the meeting, he did say that the Africa Group would meet with the ADG again before the end of the year. ¶5. (U) Ambassador Oliver also spoke of the need to work closely together to make sure that UNESCO programs, across all sectors, be coherent, focused and of the highest quality possible. Adding that this is a moment of opportunity for UNESCO, Ambassador Oliver stressed that we cannot afford to lose valuable time. Given the fact that Africa countries are among the primary beneficiaries of so much of UNESCO work, the Ambassador asked that Senegal support the needed management changes underway to help improve UNESCO effectiveness. ¶6. (U) Ambassador Oliver talked about the First Lady upcoming conference on literacy in September, and mentioned that UNESCO would probably be organizing a series of follow-up regional conferences, one of which would probably be in Africa. ¶7. (U) Ambassador Deme said that he does not want riority Africa used as a slogan at UNESCO, but rather he and the other Africans want to be able to have UNESCO develop results-oriented programs that help them solve the problems facing the continent. In particular, Ambassador Deme mentioned his desire to close the gap regarding the problems of poverty and education, and wants to use UNESCO capacity building skills to that end. ¶8. (SBU) Ambassador Oliver agreed, saying that often UNESCO programs had previously failed in the past because of the lack of emphasis on capacity building. The goal for the future is to make sure that capacity building is built into all of UNESCO planning for the future, so that knowledge and skills are left behind after the experts leave. Oliver