MEPI RESPONSIBILITIES REVISITED

UNCLAS RABAT 000985

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/PI AND NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AMGT EAID KMPI MO
SUBJECT: MEPI RESPONSIBILITIES REVISITED

REF: A. 05 RABAT 2154


B. STATE 192576


1. In ref A, post requested clarification of project
officer responsibilities related to MEPI grants and
information on available/appropriate training in order to
carry out these duties effectively. Recently, post's
project officers have received delegation of authority
notices from MEPI's Regional Office in Tunis. In addition
to delineating authorities, these letters contain
responsibilities that our officers are not trained to
perform and for which post has not received resources
(while these delegations of authority are thus far for
small grants, in one case, the grant is for USD 250,000).
(Note: The delegation of authority notices also contain
"authorities" that post interprets as not being obligations
of the project officers. Embassy would appreciate
confirmation of this interpretation.) Prior to receiving
the delegation of authority notices, post complied
completely with responsibilities as described in ref B.


2. Post strongly urges that resources be made available
to adequately train Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) as
project officers. Project officers (or GORs) require
appropriate grants training to conduct the kind of
monitoring and review activities outlined in the letter.
Unfortunately, due to budget constraints we are unable to
fund such training out of post resources. Post employees
are not sufficiently trained to undertake the fiduciary
oversight responsibilities requested. Up to this point,
Embassy Rabat has created a locally-engaged position
(funded out of our program budget) to provide
administrative support and coordination, and deviated half
of a mid-level reporting officer FTE to coordinate MEPI
activities in Morocco.


3. Post requests that the MEPI program clarify the
language of the delegation of authority notices to limit
project officers' responsibilities to match their
qualifications consistent with ref B responsibilities, or
provide appropriate resources and training to enable
officers to accept expanded responsibilities in new
delegations of authority received from Tunis. Post
welcomes the opportunity to engage in more detailed
discussion.
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Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website;
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat
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Riley