UN/AU PANEL PUSHES ASSESSED FUNDS ENVELOPE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 001033

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2018
TAGS: PREL PHUM KPKO UNSC
SUBJECT: UN/AU PANEL PUSHES ASSESSED FUNDS ENVELOPE

Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for Reasons 1.4 B/D.


1. (U) This message contains an action request -- see
paragraph 10.


2. (C) SUMMARY. Although UNSCR 1809 expressly recognizes
"the challenges in accessing United Nations assessed
contributions for funding regional organizations," Romano
Prodi and his colleagues on the UN/AU "Panel of Distinguished
Persons" recently suggested to Ambassador Khalilzad that the
U.S. consider exactly that possibility. The Ambassador
countered that the U.S. is deeply engaged with African states
bilaterally in capacity-building efforts and is open to
imaginative suggestions such as donor trust funds and friends
groups, but insisted that the U.S. cannot support
automaticity of regional organization claims to UN assessed
financial contributions. To prods from individual panel
members that the U.S. consider such arrangements on a
case-by-case basis, the Ambassador replied that the panel
would be well-advised to focus on alternatives to direct UN
funding. Prodi and Khalilzad agreed that ensuring long-term
financing for AU peacekeeping operations, rather than
institutionalizing any particular funding source, is crucial
and that assistance is more effective when comprehensive and
integrated. Prodi said the panel is determined to issue
recommendations by the end of the year and invited submission
of a U.S. position paper as soon as possible. END SUMMARY.


3. (SBU) Former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi met with
Ambassador Khalilzad on November 4 to discuss international
community support for the peacekeeping efforts of regional
organizations, particularly the African Union (AU). Prodi
asked for the meeting in his capacity as chair of the "Panel
of Distinguished Persons" created per UNSCR 1809 "to consider
in-depth the modalities of how to support such peacekeeping
operations, in particular start-up funding, equipment and
logistics and to consider in-depth lessons from the past and
current African Union peacekeeping efforts." Prodi was
joined by panel members James Dobbins (U.S.),Jean-Pierre
Halbwachs (Mauritius); Monica Juma (Kenya); Toshi Niwa
(Japan); and Behrooz Sadry (Iran). DepPolCouns participated
for USUN.


4. (C) Prodi said there is no escaping the crucial need to
strengthen AU peacekeeping capacity because "we cannot
abandon Africa," even though he doubted that the EU and other
major international community players "will send peacekeepers
again." He volunteered that "we can't split authority
between the AU and UN because UN authority will disappear."
He said an unavoidable dilemma is confronted, however, in any
effort to build long-term AU capacity to run its own
peacekeeping operations, namely the very limited number of
major donors (he named the U.S., the EU, and Japan and held
out hope for participation by Russia, China, Turkey, and
Brazil) and the "stop-and-go" nature of the support these
donors generally provide.


5. (C) Ambassador Khalilzad agreed that building AU capacity
is indispensable to peacekeeping efforts in Africa. He said
the U.S. is deeply engaged in bilateral efforts to train and
equip the military forces of several African states in order
to allow them to do more in AU peacekeeping efforts,
encourages UNSC outreach to the AU Peace and Security
Council, and is open-minded about other partnership
possibilities. He added, however, that the "mixed to
negative performance" to date of the hybrid UNAMID force
should make the international community cautious about any
further UN to AU surrendering of command-and-control
responsibilities.


6. (C) Khalilzad noted that the terms of reference under
which the panel is operating, of uncertain origin and not
approved by the Security Council, were "not quite clear" that
UN assessed funds were a red line. He explained that "if
there is to be UN funding from assessed funds, there has to
be Security Council decision-making."


7. (C) Panel members pushed the assessed funds question.
Juma suggested that the existence of a UN mandate created a
UN obligation. Dobbins asked whether the U.S. would consider
use of assessed funds to finance AU peacekeeping on a
case-by-case basis if the UN made decisions that were carried
out by the AU or, conversely, if the UN were to help execute
decisions in which the AU was involved. Halbwachs asked
whether the U.S. would be open to direct Security Council
debate of the assessed funds question.


8. (C) Khalilzad replied to these overtures by saying, "You
are coming too easily to the assessed funds option. I
encourage the panel to look to alternatives to direct funding
such as trust funds, friends groups, and voluntary

USUN NEW Y 00001033 002 OF 002


contributions. It is difficult to imagine using assessed
funds for many of the key tasks. You should be looking
outside the UN system for funding." He said "there can be no
automaticity of claims to assessed funds." He singled out
China as contributing much less than its share under the
assessed funds formula and suggested that every resort to
assessed funds, therefore, lets China further off the hook.
Prodi agreed and said he had given the Chinese PermRep a
strong message on October 31 that China's status a a major
trader in Africa should translate to far greater Chinese
support for AU peacekeeping efforts.


9. (C) More generally, Ambassador Khalilzad agreed with Prodi
that the international community should devise ways to foster
long-term funding of AU peacekeeping efforts rather than
merely react in what Prodi called "fragmented" fashion to
short-term emergencies. Khalilzad said the Iraq and
Afghanistan experiences had taught us the value of a
"comprehensive, integrated approach" that combines military
and developmental assistance that promotes local buy-in
throughout a peacemaking-peacekeeping-peacebuilding
continuum.


10. (C) Prodi closed by saying the panel would welcome a U.S.
position paper on its work if such a paper could be
submitted very quickly in deference to his determination to
have the panel issue recommendations before the end of the
year. ACTION REQUEST: USUN requests Department's immediate
guidance in responding to Prodi's invitation for submission
of a U.S. position paper regarding the panel's work. END
ACTION REQUEST.
Khalilzad