JAPAN ALLOCATES FUNDS FOR PKO TRAINING

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 000447 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL UNGA JA SUBJECT: JAPAN ALLOCATES FUNDS FOR PKO TRAINING REF: A. TOKYO 286 ¶B. TOKYO 93 ¶C. TOKYO 100 Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer, reasons 1.4(b),(d). ¶1. (C) Summary. As part of its strategy of becoming a "peacebuilding nation," for the first time Japan will disperse USD 17 million to peacekeeping training centers in Africa. Japan will also examine bolstering this monetary assistance with the dispatch of Japanese Self-Defense Forces trainers. End Summary. ¶2. (C) For the first time, the Japanese Government is dispensing money to help develop foreign peacekeeping operation (PKO) development, MOFA Africa I Division officer Daisuke Sato told Embassy Japan. As part of its FY 2007 supplementary budget, on February 6 the the Government of Japan passed a USD 264.5 million package for African assistance. Of this, USD 17 million has been set aside specifically to develop African PKO training centers. Japan will use the UNDP to disseminate the funds to five UN PKO training centers located in Ghana, Mali, Egypt, Kenya and Rwanda. While the UNDP will be able to make suggestions on how the money is used, Sato underscored the condition that the funds not be used for procuring military equipment. ¶3. (C) In what Sato described as "a rare opportunity," MOFA was able to convince the Ministry of Finance to approve PKO training money "specifically because of Japan's increased attention to Africa this year." With the fourth Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD) in the offing, as well as an increased emphasis by Japan on cooperation with the African Union, MOFA was able to convince the Ministry of Finance to approve funds that might not have been available at another time. While noting that the funds are "not impressive," Sato said that MOFA nonetheless hopes to use the 17 million dollars as a pilot program to become more involved with PKO funding in Africa and elsewhere. ¶4. (U) Addressing a security conference on February 10 in Munich, Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura said that he sees room for Japan to participate more actively in upcoming PKO missions. Koumura noted that as an international power, it is incumbent on Japan to "study the legal framework necessary to make most of Japan's human resources" for peace keeping missions. Sato underscored the importance of Koumura's statement as laying the groundwork for Japan to "seriously" look into deploying Self Defense Forces personnel to Africa to help with PKO training. Sato noted that if all goes well with the disbursement of the 17 million PKO training funds, "the deployment of Japanese personnel will be much more likely." SCHIEFFER