PEACEBUILDING COMMISSION TRIPS TO SIERRA LEONE AND

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000207 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPKO SOCI UNGA EAID SUBJECT: PEACEBUILDING COMMISSION TRIPS TO SIERRA LEONE AND BURUNDI ¶1. The Peacebuilding Commission's efforts to draft "integrated peacebuilding strategies" for Sierra Leone and Burundi are advancing, with visits planned to both countries during the next month. Perm Reps from five UN missions (Guinea, Ghana, Jamaica, Brazil, and The Netherlands as the working group Chair for Sierra Leone) will travel to Freetown from March 19-25. The UN Special Representative for Sierra Leone and the PBC secretariat, the Peacebuilding Support Office, are putting together a schedule that will include consultations with all stakeholders, a call on President Tejan Kebbah, and a helicopter visit to the countryside. A similar mission will be organized to Bujumbura during April 10-14. ¶2. (SBU) Earlier calls by some PBC members for convening a PBC Organizational Committee meeting in countries under consideration have died down into relative indifference over the upcoming visits. The PBSO had difficulty in recruiting a sufficient number of missions to fill the seven slots authorized by the PBC despite travel funding for LDC PBC members. European countries and the US declined to send representatives, preferring instead to rely on local mission participation as appropriate. Japan intends to dispatch a representative from its mission in Accra. Concerns about "regional balance" expressed by some G-77 countries led to a proposal to restrict participation by local missions to those meetings specifically between the PBC delegation and the local donor community. After protests from France and the US, the PBSO will limit numbers only for those meetings where logistical constraints may come into play. ¶3. (SBU) The agenda for the Sierra Leone visit has not been finalized, but will likely include a substantial public relations component. PBC members have asked for a press conference and publicity for their call on President Kebbah. In return, Sierra Leone Perm Rep Pemagbi promised a high profile visit. WOLFF