UNDP Comoros "Millennium Island" Project

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 000692

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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"
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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
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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
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
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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

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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
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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:
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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