Partnership for Democratic Governance - Readout on Second

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PARIS 000961

SIPDIS

FROM USOECD PARIS

STATE FOR EEB JONATHAN MUDGE AND NANCY SMITH-NISSLEY

STATE FOR S/CRS MASQUINO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON KDEM OECD
SUBJECT: Partnership for Democratic Governance - Readout on Second
Steering Group Meeting

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1. Summary. The PDG Steering Group (SG) held its second meeting
on May 7. Deputy Secretary General Amano chaired the gathering,
which was attended by the nine SG countries, plus the UNDP. USOECD
Charg d'affaires Paul Reid represented the USA. The Head of the
PDG Advisory Unit (AU) presented (and delegates approved) a revised
2008-2011 budget of 6.8 million Euros for the eight-person AU, set
to be fully staffed by mid-June. Discussions revealed two
conflicting views on the AU work plan. Canada, supported by the USA
and Chile, maintained the AU should agree upon a short list of
recipient countries, initiate analysis, and identify pilot projects.
Denmark, supported by Poland and Mexico called for more work to
define the PDG concept, before any further activity. Delegates
ultimately compromised: the AU will respond to countries that
request support, yet simultaneously work to further define the PDG
concept. The Third PDG Steering Group is scheduled for October 16.
End Summary.


2. OECD convened the Second PDG Steering Group meeting on May 7 in
Paris; the first occurred on February 13 and 14. OECD Deputy
Secretary-General Mario Amano chaired the meeting, at which Jerzy
Pomianowski, the new Head of the PDG advisory Unit, led discussions.
Steering Group members Chile, Poland, and Turkey were represented
at the Ambassadorial level. All nine SG countries, plus the UNDP
were represented. The SG member countries are: Australia, Canada,
Chile, Denmark, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Turkey and the United States.
PDG founding members Brazil, Japan, and the Inter-American
Development Bank participated.

Progress Report: AU's First Five Weeks
--------------


3. Since beginning operation in early April, the AU produced
detailed documents on the following:

-- PDG Concept
-- PDG Methodology (from project genesis to lessons-learned)
-- Identification of Service Providers and Target Partner Countries
-- Results Framework (for measuring project success)
-- Program of Work and Budget for 2009-2010

"Focal point" representatives from the SG member countries met May 5
to review and provide comment on these documents, which were
re-issued in revised form on May 7 for consideration by the SG.

-- Staffing, Budget, and Implementation Efforts
-------------- --


4. Prior to the May 7 substantive discussions on the documents,
Pomianowski provided an update on AU staffing and budget, and SG
members provided progress on their respective PDG implementation
efforts. Amano and Pomianowski mentioned that the USG was the sole
member to submit comments on the initial Concept Note and to respond
to PDG questions raised at the first SG meeting. Pomianowski
introduced two newly-hired technical advisors, and announced the
selection of two more (one of whom is a U.S. national) who will join
the AU staff by mid June. He presented, and delegates approved, a
revised 2008-2011 budget of 6.8 million Euros, down from the initial
estimate of 7.4 million, for the eight-person Advisory Unit. The

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revised budget still leaves an approximate 1.52 million Euro deficit
gap vis-`-vis current pledged contributions. Pomianowski
underscored the need to attract more contributing members to fill
this gap.


5. Bjoern Foerde, Director of the UNDP's Oslo Governance Center,
told attendees that UNDP regional bureaus will be key for PDG
engagement at the local level. UNDP intends to give the AU direct
access to support from its regional bureaus. Foerde said he expects
Pomianowski's scheduled June visit to New York will help familiarize
UNDP staff on the work of the AU. (Comment: While the UNDP
representative spoke glowingly of PDG, his remarks rendered apparent
the fact that so far UNDP has done little to implement PDG. End
Comment.) Chilean Ambassador Pilar Armanet said Santiago recently
held a seminar to familiarize senior civil servants with the PDG.
Chile, she stressed, places great emphasis on south-south
cooperation, and on institutional reform. Armanet suggested Haiti
as a possible PDG recipient country.


6. Adair Heuchan of the Canadian International Development Agency
said that Ottawa has provided information on PDG to its embassies
abroad. She noted Canada places great emphasis on strengthening of
the public sector. Heuchan called for an evaluation of PDG after
its initial three-year period. She encouraged the AU to get moving
quickly with pilot projects. Ambassador Ahmet Erozan said Turkey
tasked some embassies to identify three potential PDG pilot projects
by June 30. Ankara will subsequently review submissions and develop
a short list.


7. Paul Reid, USOECD Charg d'affaires, said the USG wants to see
timely, practical results. He urged the PDG to get started with
pilot projects, and asked the SG to develop a short list during the
meeting. Reid noted that the USG canvassed numerous embassies over
the past several months, and filtered the responses into a short
list that includes Liberia, Nigeria, Guatemala, Jamaica, and
Grenada. He also noted that Somalia recently approached the USG
with a request that might match PDG criteria.


8. Ambassador Jan Woroniecki told participants that Poland has
canvassed its embassies in developing countries. Like Ankara,
Warsaw will review and evaluate the proposals as they come in.
Mexico Deputy Permanent Representative Bruno Figueroa said PDG is
still in the discussion phase in Mexico. He said the GoM is still
working to understand how PDG fits with Mexican objectives. Japan
noted that its Global Study on Effective Technical Cooperation for
Capacity Development provides PDG-relevant information.


9. The Korean representative cited public governance as a major
focus of the Korean Development Agency, noting that PDG is
well-aligned with Korean thinking. The IDB representative suggested
Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Bolivia as possible recipient
countries. He suggested that IDB profiles of Bolivia and Guatemala
could prove useful for PDG analysis. The Australian representative
said Canberra has been thinking about PDG internally, but was
waiting for the May 7 SG meeting results before determining how to
move forward.



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To Define or Implement (aka Fish or Cut Bait)
-------------- -


10. Steering Group discussions revealed a sharp split between
members over the AU work plan for the next six months. Canada,
supported by the United States and Chile, maintained that the AU
needed to develop a short list of countries and initiate analysis of
conditions therein so as to get started with pilot projects.
Denmark, supported by Poland, Mexico, and to a lesser extent
Australia and the UNDP, called for more work to define the concept,
role and design of PDG before establishing a list of countries
and/or identifying pilot projects.


11. Denmark underscored the need to maintain a long-term
perspective, cautioning against "doing something just to do it."
The United States expressed the fear that "without a short term,
there won't be a long term." Deputy Secretary Amano noted the
importance of political realities. He opined that governments
spending money on PDG will need to see results in order to maintain
commitment. PDG Advisory Unit Head Pomianowski ultimately secured
consensus approval on a middle road: the AU will initiate dialogue
with and analysis of countries that request support, yet
simultaneously work to further define the PDG "concept framework and
knowledge base."

PDG Six-month Horizon
--------------


12. In his summary of the SG meeting, Pomianowski said the AU will
consolidate three meeting documents (Concept Note, Operational
Model, Methodology) into one, to reflect member requests for a more
comprehensive, but shorter and concise PDG document. He did not
commit to a specific short-list of countries, but maintained that
the AU would respond (i.e. initiate "mapping" or analysis) on
countries that express interest. He informed delegates of his
upcoming travel (June 6-11) to New York and Washington for
discussions with UNDP and World Bank respectively. (Note. In
Washington Pomianowski also plans to call on USAID, State
Department, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the IFC. End
Note.) He pledged to share an AU-produced PowerPoint briefing to
assist SG members in their PDG outreach/ recruitment efforts, as
well as to produce a PDG brochure.


13. Delegates agreed to hold the Third PDG Steering Group on
October 16, preceded by a working group for focal point
representatives on October 14.


14. Comment. We were pleased to see the AU produce a revised
budget and solid documentation, and simultaneously make significant
progress in hiring staff during its first five weeks of existence.
Jerzy Pomianowski, the AU head, is a strong, active leader who
shares U.S. views on the need to produce results. While the May 7
SG avoided the pointless debate on hypothetical advisory groups that
plagued its February discussions, there still remained too much
attention on "concept" and "definition" to suit our tastes.
Fortunately Pomianowski shares our views, and appears determined to
move forward in a practical manner. SG members should now encourage
other countries, such as Japan, the UK, and France to join PDG as

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contributing members. We should also ask select recipient countries
to convey expressions of interest directly to the AU. End Comment.


Egan