LEBANON: UNDP COUNTRY DIRECTOR, WITH A/S HOOK,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 001555 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA, PM/FO P FOR DRUSSELL, RRANGASWAMY USUN FOR KHALIZAD/WOLFF/SCHEDLEBAUER NSC FOR ABRAMS/YERGER/MCDERMOTT/RAMCHAND OSD FOR EDELMAN/LONG/STRAUB/DALTON JOINT STAFF FOR RANK/NICHOLSON CENTCOM FOR ALLARDICE/MACLEAN/PADDOCK DIA FOR LARSON/CRONIN/KRAUSE E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2018 TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL UNSC LE SUBJECT: LEBANON: UNDP COUNTRY DIRECTOR, WITH A/S HOOK, OUTLINES PRIORITIES AND CHALLENGES REF: BEIRUT 1521 BEIRUT 00001555 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) During an October 30 meeting with Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs Brian Hook, UN Development Program (UNDP) Country Director Marta Ruedas stated that the key priorities for UNDP in Lebanon were governance, community and economic development, the environment, and peace building/conflict resolution. In 2008, UNDP shifted its focus away from south Lebanon to the more underserved areas in the north. She characterized the United Nations country team in Lebanon as "harmonious" and said that different agencies were able to work well on cross-cutting issues. Ruedas also focused on UNDP's role as a coordinator for donors on important and politically sensitive issues in Lebanon, such as electoral reform, the upcoming parliamentary elections, and technical support for President Sleiman's resumption of the National Dialogue. Operationally, increased security requirements are UNDP's greatest challenges due to the expense and constraints it places on programs and employees. ¶2. (C) During a separate conversation with the Ambassador, Ruedas said that the UN would definitely not/not be sending an election observer mission, but she confirmed that the EU would be sending a mission. Ruedas also believed that any Arab League monitors would only be on the ground for a short period of time. In regards to the Ambassador's previous suggestion to form a donor sub-group to discuss security assistance for the elections (reftel),Ruedas said that the UK and others had expressed an interest. Finally, turning to the upcoming Interfaith Dialogue on November 12 - 13, Ruedas mentioned that the Israelis were reportedly sending a high-level delegation. End Summary UNDP Profile in Lebanon -------------- ¶3. (C) A/S Hook asked Ruedas to describe the current UN priorities on the ground. She described the UN team as "semi-integrated." All UN agencies report to the UN Special Coordinator (UNSCOL),with the exception of UNIFIL. "European donor countries had concerns about placing that operation under the 'political' umbrella of UNSCOL. But in actuality, we all coordinate quite well and UNDP has partnered with UNIFIL on some development initiatives in the south." ¶4. (C) Ruedas, who served as Acting UNSCOL for the last eight months, admitted that it was sometimes a challenge to coordinate development initiatives that also take into account political considerations. "We are operational and focused in the field. UNSCOL looks at national and regional issues with a different perspective." While some overlapping issues have progressed well, such as the electoral reform procedures and technical support for the National Dialogue, different priorities require a different focus. Matters are further complicated when drawing on disparate sources of funding. ¶5. (C) When asked specifically about UNDP's budget for Lebanon, Ruedas said funding for 2007 had been approximately USD 27 million and was expected to increase to USD 40 million in 2008. Roughly 30 percent comes from central UN funding sources, 40 percent comes from the Government of Lebanon (GOL),and 30 percent comes from a variety of other donors. Forty five percent of funds are used for governance activities, such as the program administration units (PAU) that had been established in Lebanese ministries to focus on key areas of reform. "Initially, I thought this program should be phased out, but the GOL paid for most of the BEIRUT 00001555 002 OF 003 salaries and the experts who staffed these units have been indispensable, as the civil service is in shambles." Twenty to twenty-five percent of the budget goes to community and economic development activities, environment comes in third, and peace building/conflict prevention is a smaller percentage, but can vary in response to events, such as the Nahr al-Barid (NAB) emergency. ¶6. (C) Looking forward, Ruedas explained that UNDP had decided to cut back activities in the south, which became saturated with international assistance programs after the July 2006 war. Support for the National Dialogue, donor coordination for electoral reform, economic development in the northern border areas, and coordination with UNRWA for NAB had become higher priorities. When asked how she and her team plan their budget, Ruedas said that they first focus on developing great ideas and strong program plans. In her experience, donors come forward to support well-crafted proposals. Details on Target Areas -------------- ¶7. (C) During her conversation with the Ambassador, Ruedas provided more detail on the UNDP's priorities: Governance and Peace Building/Conflict Resolution - Ruedas reiterated that, currently, electoral reform issues and donor coordination comprise about 60 percent of UNDP's workload. Technical support for the National Dialogue had been critical and the UN is able to play a support role on this sensitive issue while bilateral donors cannot. "The office of the presidency had been empty for months and essentially meaningless before under President Lahoud. We had to start from the ground up with basic support, such as computers and staff. We have also tried to guide the president's office by offering suggestions about how to effectively run a reconciliation program in a post-conflict situation." UNDP is also committed to long-term reform initiatives to increase transparency in government and citizen participation. Looking forward, Ruedas said that governance support would continue through the 2010 municipal elections and said she was also hoping to begin a study to examine municipal decentralization, although she admitted that this will be a highly controversial topic. Environment - Climate change is a priority area, although Ruedas said that this is not a central concern for Lebanese citizens. Plans are underway for a "Beautiful Beirut" program, which aims to promote environmental awareness and citizen political participation at the same time. UNDP is supporting private sector initiatives geared towards energy efficiency by conducting voluntary energy audits. "The private sector is ahead of civil society on this issue." She said that the GOL had passed a number of laws which make them eligible to participate in international carbon trading programs and UNDP will employ a team to build capacity on this topic. Ruedas also called water a key issue for Lebanon, in addition to forestry and flood prevention. A/S Hook asked why the Lebanese, and others in the region, were not more concerned at a grassroots level with environmental issues. Referring to her home country of Spain, Ruedas replied that the issue is closely tied to the provision of municipal services. "Sometimes the state has to take the lead on clean-up activities before the people, who may be more concerned about security or economic issues, catch on." Community and Economic Development - UNDP is working with the Ministry of Economy and Trade to set up four local economic development agencies throughout the country. Ruedas also told us that a study has been completed which supports the need for economic development in the border areas of Lebanon. "Income substitution won't work - farmers will never make as much money as they can with illegal crops. However, improved infrastructure and roads which connect the rural farmers to Lebanese vice Syrian markets would do more to encourage the BEIRUT 00001555 003 OF 003 growth of legal crops." Operational Opportunities and Challenges -------------- ¶8. (C) As previously mentioned, Ruedas takes her donor coordination role seriously. "We have an on-going dialogue with both donors and the government so that there are never any surprises." She also said that many of the key ministries are understaffed and simply don't have the capacity to carry out a coordination role. "We are coordinating on electoral reform support so that the Ministry of Interior can actually focus on election administration." Finally, she feels that the UNDP plays a key support role for a number of the smaller resident embassies in Lebanon. "We have a long-standing presence on the ground and we used our contacts to help embassies find the appropriate contacts in the youth for assistance programs in 2006." ¶9. (C) Speaking frankly, Ruedas told us that increasing security requirements pose a particular challenge for UNDP, both in Lebanon and abroad. First, she is concerned about the expense of security upgrades to facilities and told us that she had been forced to postpone other administrative projects in order to address these first. Secondly, she is concerned that the worldwide environment has created a culture that wants to completely avoid risk instead of managing it intelligently. "At the end of the day, we still have to carry out our missions." UN Not Fielding Electoral Observers -------------- ¶10. (C) During a separate conversation with the Ambassador, Ruedas said that the UN would definitely not/not be sending an election observer mission. "We are providing technical assistance and we rarely do both activities on the ground at the same time. It could be seen as a conflict of interest." She confirmed that the EU would send a mission and dismissed suggestions from Lebanese contacts that member states who provide troops to UNIFIL should be excluded. "That won't happen. I know the French will insist on participating in the observer mission and I am sure others will do so, as well." ¶11. (C) When asked if the Arab League would send observers, as had been suggested by PM Siniora, Ruedas said she thought they would just "parachute in" right before the election to signify their commitment to the Doha agreement and express a desire for a peaceful election. "They won't field a long-term mission and it is highly unlikely that they will report specifically on the electoral reform measures." ¶12. (C) Ruedas said that the UK and other donors had expressed interest in the Ambassador's suggestion to form a donor sub-group to discuss security assistance for the elections (reftel). Israelis to Attend Inter-Faith Dialogue -------------- ¶13. (C) Ruedas mentioned that the Israelis were reportedly sending a high-level delegation to the Interfaith Dialogue on November 12 - 13 in New York, which is unusual for an event that will also be attended by Arab leaders. ¶14. (C) A/S Hook has cleared this cable. SISON