GUIDANCE FOR THE U.S. DELEGATION TO THE INFORMAL

UNCLAS STATE 005979 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECIN ECON EU UN IT IZ SUBJECT: GUIDANCE FOR THE U.S. DELEGATION TO THE INFORMAL IRAQ DONORS MEETING IN NAPLES REF: A. STATE 3676 ¶B. ROME 61 ¶1. (U) This cable is to provide guidance and instructions for the U.S. delegation to the informal Iraq donors meeting in Naples, Italy on January 23-24, 2008. Reftels give the composition of the delegation. ¶2. (U) With an eye toward achieving the goals of the International Compact with Iraq, a core group of international donors will meet with Iraqi officials to discuss the practical aspects of coordinating support from international donors with Iraqi budget resources for national ministries and the provinces. International representation will include the UN, World Bank, EC, Italy, Japan, Korea, UK and USA. Iraq's delegation will be led by the Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation (MoPDC), Dr. Ali Baban. ¶3. (U) The agenda calls for a review of donor activities by functional sector and geographic region, identification of ICI implementation priorities taking account of Iraq's National and Provincial Development Strategies (NDS and PDSs),national budget execution issues, activities and capabilities of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), and the role of the ICI Iraq Consultative Group (ICG) for donor coordination. ¶4. (U) Members of the USA delegation will give short presentations on (i) USA assistance activities in Iraq (broken down by program areas and geographic regions),(ii) present-day USAID assistance activities (for ministerial capacity development and through the PRTs),and (iii) the PRT program's mission, organization, successes and constraints. ¶5. (SBU) The USA and UK will also co-chair a session to discuss partnership principles as were developed at the Building Provincial Iraqi Ownership roundtable the UK hosted last November. The delegation should seek agreement from the Government of Iraq (GoI) and other donors on a set of partnership principles that emphasize Iraqi ownership and the priority use of Iraqi budgetary resources, especially for major projects. ¶6. (SBU) The delegation should work to ensure that Iraq's NDS fully takes into account the aspirations and priorities of the new PDSs that have been developed by 17 of Iraq's 18 provinces. (The final PDS for Dohuk is near completion.) ¶7. (SBU) The delegation should encourage the GoI Ministry of Planning and the IRFFI and ICI Secretariats to play effective roles in facilitating and coordinating donor relations with individual provinces and with central government ministries as the ministries make their decisions for provincial budget allocations and programs. ¶8. (SBU) The delegation should endeavor to identify the best practices and approaches for coordinating donor technical assistance programs for capacity development in Iraq's ministries and provinces, including with GoI training programs. ¶9. (SBU) The delegation should be mindful of the unique organizational structure, operational constraints and funding requirements of the PRTs as donors and the GoI seek to develop synergies between donor activities at the central and provincial levels. This is true not only for the USA-led PRTs, but also for the PRTs that are led by Coalition partners, including the UK (Basra),Korea (Erbil),and Italy (Dhi Qar). ¶10. (SBU) The delegation should seek the development of a consensus that the ICI ICG will become the leading group for encouraging and coordinating donor activities in Iraq. Finally, the meeting should look ahead to and help to make preparations for the next IRFFI Donor Committee Meeting to be preceded the day before by the first full ICG Meeting (tentatively scheduled for March in Baghdad) and to be followed by the first Annual ICI Ministerial Meeting (tentatively scheduled for late-April or May possibly in Paris or Kuwait). RICE