UNDP Comoros "Millennium Island" Project

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 000692 SENSITIVE SIPDIS ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU DEPT FOR AF/FO AND AF/E DEPT FOR IO AND EB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN PGOV KDEM PHUM CN SUBJECT: UNDP Comoros "Millennium Island" Project ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the Comoros has a proposal for the island of Moheli (population 40,000) to be a UN "Millennium Village." By significantly increasing interventions and coordinating the efforts of all partners, the Millennium Village concept seeks to rapidly improve progress toward Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The objectives of the five-year Moheli Millennium Village project are to increase people's incomes and food security, improve access to social services, and protect ecosystems to provide sustainable economic benefits. END SUMMARY. Moheli "Millennium Island" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (U) UNDP Comoros Resident Representative Opia Kumah has developed an ambitious proposal to implement the UN Millennium Village model on the entire island of Moheli. By far the smallest of the three Comoran islands, Moheli has just 40,000 inhabitants and little economic activity. The island has protected marine area and turtle nesting grounds. Under the Comoros' unique rotating presidency system, the next head of state must be from Moheli. ¶3. (U) The Moheli Millennium Island project will seek to test the conclusion of the UN Report to the Secretary General in 2005, "impoverished communities can transform themselves by 2015 if they are empowered with proven, powerful, practical interventions. By investing simultaneously in interventions across a multitude of sectors, including health, food production, education, access to clean water, and essential infrastructure, impoverished villages are able to get a foothold on the bottom rung of the development ladder and begin to experience self-sustaining economic growth." Moheli, isolated and undeveloped, offers an ideal opportunity to experiment with these strategies. MDG Performance - - - - - - - - ¶3. (U) The Comoros has made progress toward some of the Millennium Development Goals, but is unlikely to meet most of the objectives by 2015 without major new initiatives. The primary school enrollment rate increased from 60 percent to 73 percent between 1999 and 2006. Similar improvements were recorded in girls' proportion of schooling compared to boys and maternal mortality rates. The HIV/AIDS prevalence remains below one percent. The percentage of Comorans �00A;living in poverty decreased from 54.7 percent in 1995 to 44.8 percent in 2004. In contrast, a 2003 survey found infant mortality had risen to 113/1,000 births, eliminating most of the gains achieved in this area in the 1990s. ¶4. (U) The Millennium Village approach aims to speed up progress toward achieving MDGs by empowering local leaders and providing additional resources. The Moheli Millennium Island project would simultaneously support "community-led" (public and private) investments in agriculture, education, health, energy, infrastructure, and environmental management. Under a "participative and inclusive process of all stakeholders" the UN will lead a process to implement the seven areas of the Comoros' Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy: -- Create conditions for sustainable economic development including public finance reform, infrastructure, and energy; -- Re-launch the private sector where there is high-growth potential, in agriculture, livestock, fishing, and tourism; -- Reinforce justice and governance by consolidating and improving institutions, as well as ensuring access to fair justice for all Comorans; -- Improve health services management and access, with priority on maternal/child health and infectious disease prevention; -- Promote education and vocational training to improve human capital in the Comoros; -- Promote environmental protection and sustainable development, of particular importance given the Comoros' fragile island ecosystems; -- Reinforce security and the war on terrorism. Cost and Implementation - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (U) According to UN research, on average USD 110 per person per year must be invested to achieve the MDGs in Africa. So the Moheli Millennium Island project annual budget is USD 4.4 million for 40,000 people. One-third of this total is projected as "national ANTANANARI 00000692 002 OF 002 contribution" by Union and island governments, as well as communities. Unlike the debt-laden governments that are months behind on payrolls, most Comoran communities are well-endowed with resources from tens of millions of dollars in remittances. Often these resources are pooled by families for common benefit, like building roads, schools, or community centers. The UN proposal emphasizes that getting buy-in from Moheli's community leaders and empowering them to lead the process are keys to success. Community Ownership - - - - - - - - - - ¶6. (SBU) Obstacles to success for the Moheli Millennium Island include poor governance at the National and Island levels, as well as limited donor participation in the Comoros. During the many years of instability when corrupt national and island governments failed to provide basic services, Comoran villages have filled the void. Remittances from the diaspora fund public works and services. To avoid corrupt judges, village elders arbitrate disputes informally. While poor and undeveloped, the Comoros has largely avoided major humanitarian crisis thanks to community mechanisms and leadership. The UN proposal rightly emphasizes that the "plus up" in investment and intervention in Moheli can only have the desired impacts with the empowerment of local leaders and community ownership. The UN proposal includes an optimistic prediction that following the end of the Millennium Island interventions, the national and island budgets will have increased adequately to sustain the improvements. Comment: - - - - - ¶7. (SBU) While important political questions remain, the Comoros is currently experiencing one of its longest periods of stability since independence in 1975. The UNDP Comoros office is seizing this opportunity with robust health, education and economic growth programs all over the country, this Millennium Island concept, and work on "social cohesion and reconciliation." The seven priorities in the Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy align with our Mission Strategic Plan for the Comoros. ¶8. (SBU) The "closed system" and low starting-point of Moheli should offer a good test (if not results) of the Jeffrey Sachs Millennium Village experiment. Post already plans education, microfinance, and Civil Affairs activities in Moheli; there is no additional cost to coordinating these activities with UNDP's "big push." END COMMENT. STROMAYER