NICARAGUAN POLICE URGE DONORS TO COORDINATE SUPPORT

UNCLAS MANAGUA 000800 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CEN, INL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KDEM NU PGOV PINR SNAR SUBJECT: NICARAGUAN POLICE URGE DONORS TO COORDINATE SUPPORT ¶1. (U) The Nicaraguan Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a meeting of donor nations on March 23, 2007. The meeting, which included remarks by Eva Zetterberg, Swedish Ambassador to Nicaragua and chair of the donor group, was attended by countries who provide support to the Nicaraguan National Police (NNP). Alfredo Missair, with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),praised the NNP for their innovative approach to gangs and Police Chief Aminta Granera detailed the contributions of different donor nations and then highlighted the NNP's accomplishments. She ended with a plea to donors to coordinate their efforts and not just provide support to their favorite projects within the police. A Model in Central America - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (U) Swedish Ambassador Eva Zetterberg and Alfredo Missair with the UNDP praised the Nicaraguan National Police's community policing model and achievements over the last ten years. Missair pointed to the community policing model as the primary reason that Nicaragua does not have the same problem with gangs as do other Central American countries. Both Zetterberg and Missair praised the NNP's focus on human rights and women's issues. ¶3. (SBU) NNP Chief Aminta Granera showed a video that detailed donor support since the early 1990s. Highlights included: Swedish support of the NNP training academy; Japanese support for a new jail and training; Spanish support of the transit police; the Taiwanese donation of equipment for the NNP on the Atlantic Coast; French donations to combat organized crime; Danish training on human rights; Canadian support for training; and, U.S. support on antinarcotics and anticorruption efforts. (Comment: Though the Swedish received top billing in the video due to their financing of the NNP training academy, the segment on the United States and Granera's comments during her speech on U.S. support were complimentary.) A Plea for More Coordination - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶4. (U) Granera detailed the NNP's strategy for 2007 to 2011, which focuses on strengthening infrastructure and bolstering police patrol capabilities. According to Granera's estimate, the NNP will need 45 million dollars in donor support over the next five years, primarily to strengthen patrol capabilities and community policing efforts. Granera urged donors to coordinate and "respect the system" set up within the police to work with donors. She recognized and applauded the support of the donor nations, but as an example, pointed out that if donor countries funnel money to the women's commissariat without coordinating other support, the women's commissariat will receive calls from women who are reporting abuse, but the police will not have the ability to respond to those calls. (Note: According to Granera, 50 percent of the calls the NNP receives are from women who are reporting abuse, violence or rape. The women's commissariat of the police has been a favorite for donors, but they have not typically invested in the other aspects of the police needed to support the program.) ¶5. (SBU) Granera emphasized the need for donors to respect the NNP's own assessment of its needs. She then mentioned recent U.S. support of an assessment of the Internal Affairs Division as an example of a donor nation consulting the police before investing in a program. As head of the donor group, Zetterberg volunteered to more closely coordinate donor activities with the police. (Comment: Post will continue to work with Granera directly on support for the police, but will also look for ways to build on other donor nations' activities.) TRIVELLI