UNESCO: PHILANTHROPY EXPERT SPEAKS ON PRIVATE SECTOR

UNCLAS PARIS 006835 SIPDIS PARIS PASS TO UNESCO PARIS E.O. 12958 TAGS: KPAO UNESCO SUBJECT: UNESCO: PHILANTHROPY EXPERT SPEAKS ON PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS REF: Paris 6251 ¶1. SUMMARY: On September 14, 2006 Craig Kennedy, President of the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States, participated in UNESCO's Day of Reflection and Dialogue on Extrabudgetary Activities where he emphasized the need for UNESCO to develop more effective ways to build private-sector partnerships (reftel). That evening he spoke to UNESCO Ambassadors and secretariat staff at the Hotel de Talleyrand, where he elaborated further on the various criteria UNESCO could consider when developing global partnerships. Mr. Kennedy described the value, risks, and applications of public private partnerships in detail during these remarks before 100 UNESCO Ambassadors and secretariat staff, and continued the discussion with a select group of Ambassadors at Ambassador Oliver's residence immediately following the talk. He and Ambassador Oliver also met privately with the Chinese Vice Minister of Education at the latter's request. END SUMMARY. ¶2. In his remarks at the Talleyrand (posted as a video on the new Mission website),Kennedy outlined how public private partnerships are useful in terms of leveraging public financial and intellectual resources, noting how they provide a responsive and less bureaucratic means of achieving one's goals. He discussed how these partnerships help provide guidance on how common governance mechanisms allow partners to work together more effectively, and emphasized the importance of partner involvement in the decision making process and in developing shared goals. The results of these partnerships, he stated, lead to more money focused on UNESCO's priority projects, more visibility focused on priority issues and better coordination on other grantmaking. Kennedy briefly raised the risks of partnerships for UNESCO: conflict between private and public partner's priorities and methods, duplication of work, and different internal bureaucracies and cultures that can be incompatible. As a first step, Kennedy urged UNESCO to define its own brand globally in order to attract private sector partners because the benefits far outweigh the risks. UNESCO, he said, was an organization with great potential for this kind of fundraising. Kennedy had made these same points at the UNESCO Day of Reflection and Extra budgetary activities that afternoon. ¶3. Several Ambassadors, including those of Madagascar, Guatemala and South Africa took extensive notes on Kennedy's presentation and other delegates, such as Israel and Benin, praised Kennedy for bringing a different, and "much needed" perspective on funding to UNESCO. During a question and answer session, UNESCO Assistant Director General for Communication and Information underscored Kennedy's statements about the usefulness of private sector partnerships adding that UNESCO did not have to lose its identity or sacrifice its values in such partnerships - on the contrary these would be enhanced. The Chief of Staff to the Director General also commented that UNESCO needed to hear Kennedy's message of taking time to establish what UNESCO's core values and identity were before going out to solicit funds, and she outlined partnerships that UNESCO has begun to create with American technology companies such as Intel and Microsoft. ¶4. After the Talleyrand presentation, Kennedy joined Ambassadors from France, Benin, and Lithuania at Ambassador Oliver's residence, as well as the Deputy Permanent Representative from Norway. A senior editor from Le Monde and a member of the Secretariat also attended the dinner. The conversation focused on ways to strengthen UNESCO so that it could be more successful in establishing relationships with foundations and the private sector. ¶5. Kennedy and Ambassador Oliver also had a private meeting earlier that afternoon with the Chinese Executive Board chair at the latter's request. The Chair, a Vice Minister of Education, changed his flight at the last minute in order to have a one on one with Kennedy and, following the meeting, stated that his expertise would help UNESCO create good partnerships. ¶6. COMMENT: This was the Mission's most successful public diplomacy program to date, and a perfect way to close out FY06 programming. The Mission is committed to generating the maximum impact of each speaker, and 4 events in an 18 hour visit for Kennedy is no exception. Speakers at UNESCO can potentially reach officials of over 150 countries, key Secretariat staff and journalists from all over the world. We also make them available to the Bilateral Embassy, the U.S. Mission to the OECD and Africa Regional Services for programming. END COMMENT. OLIVER