CANADIAN PERMREP URGES MORE UN INVOLVEMENT ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000199

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV AF UNSC
SUBJECT: CANADIAN PERMREP URGES MORE UN INVOLVEMENT ON
AFGHANISTAN

Classified By: DEPUTY POLITICAL COUNSELOR MOLLY PHEE, FOR REASONS 1.4 B
/D

Summary
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1. (C) The Canadian Mission to the UN hosted a select
meeting of PermReps from key coalition countries active in
Afghanistan on March 3 to consider how to improve the
effectiveness of the UN role in Afghanistan and to ensure UN
leadership in New York dedicates more attention and resources
to its mission in Afghanistan. Afghan PermRep Tanin
underscored his concern that negative western
characterizations of the situation not only inaccurately
portrayed reality on the ground but also falsely suggested to
the Afghan people that the international community is
lessening its commitment to President Karzai and Afghanistan.
He said this signal is aggravating internal Afghan
polarization in the run-up to elections. Tanin called for
the appointment of a strong SRSG and greater coherence from
the international community, asserting that the UN, NATO, and
donors failed to coordinate effectively.


2. (C) Italian PermRep Spatafora said the Security Council
should use the upcoming renewal of the UNAMA mandate to send
a signal of resolve from the international community. There
was general agreement that the mandate needed to be revised
to reflect the priorities of key coalition countries about
the UN role, including: improving coordination among
civilians and with the military; engaging more with the
government of Afghanistan and encouraging reconciliation
among Afghan groups; and expanding an
effective UN presence in the provinces. At the meeting's
conclusion, the PermReps agreed to take the following steps.
First, to continue this forum to press the UN. Second, to
provide recommendations on revising the mandate to the
Italians, who hold the pen on UNAMA in the Security Council.
Third, to meet again March 13-14 with a visiting French
delegation to discuss the June Compact conference in Paris.
Finally, Canadian PermRep McNee offered to arrange a meeting
between the group and DPKO Under Secretary-General Guehenno,
as well as with the new SRSG, when appointed.

New Forum
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3. (C) At the suggestion of Amb Khalilzad, Canadian PermRep
McNee hosted a breakfast meeting of PermReps from
Afghanistan, the US, UK, France, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark,
Germany, Japan and Australia on March 3. McNee noted that
both the Afghanistan group in the General Assembly, led by
Germany, and the Afghanistan Core Group for the Security
Council, currently led by Italy, were large and ineffective.
He proposed the establishment of a select group of countries
invested in Afghanistan for the purpose of pressing UN
headquarters in New York to take the steps necessary to
improve the effectiveness of UNAMA. McNee observed that
there are multiple ways for this group to take action,
including: revising the UNAMA mandate; pressing for the
appointment of a new SRSG; pressing the UN to improve its
compensation package for UN personnel in Afghanistan so as to
facilitate the effort to fill vacancies; and working with
DPKO and the UN's security department to ensure an effective
UN presence is deployed throughout Afghanistan.


4. (C) All delegations present enthusiastically welcomed the
establishment of such a group, agreed that there was a need
for targeted engagement with the UN, and concurred that those
delegations present are the appropriate members. Separately,
Canadian expert Alan Bowman told USUN that McNee has been
under pressure from Ottawa to convince the Secretary-General
to make Afghanistan one of his priorities.

Afghans Fear International Community Will Leave
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5. (C) Afghan PermRep Tanin offered a strong critique of the
portrayal of the situation in Afghanistan by western media
and NGOs. He complained that these westerners, with little
exposure to Afghanistan, presented a uniformly negative view,
when in fact the situation, particularly security and
stability, is mixed, depending upon the province. He said
Afghans interpreted these characterizations as a sign that
the west is looking for an exit strategy from President
Karzai and Afghanistan, and expressed concern that this
perception is polarizing Afghan political groups in the run
up to the elections. On the UN role, he called for the
appointment of a strong SRSG and underscored the need for
greater coherence. He complained that the UN, NATO, and
donors failed to coordinate effectively. He said the UN
should help with Afghan reconciliation prior to the elections.


Delegation Views
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6. (C) French DPR Lacroix, noting President Sarkozy's
intention to increase the French military commitment to
Afghanistan, discussed the upcoming conference in Paris on
the Compact. He reported that French officials involved in
planning the conference would visit New York March 13-14, and
the group agreed to meet with them. He suggested that the
UNAMA mandate might need to be revised if the conference
resulted in the revision of Compact benchmarks, a point later
echoed by the UK. He also called for clarification of
priorities in the UNAMA mandate. The German PermRep
emphasized the importance of a UN role in elections and a UN
role in the provinces, and cautioned against resolution
language that would appear to differentiate between the SRSG
and the UNAMA mission.


7. (C) The Italian PermRep, keying off of the Afghan
PermRep's remarks, said the new mandate should signal the
resolve of the international community to remain engaged with
Afghanistan. The Danes and the Dutch expressed concern about
the high vacancy rate of UN personnel in the provinces, and
the Dutch made clear the circuit rider approach had not been
successful.


8. (C) Amb Khalilzad asked the group to ensure that efforts
to modify the mandate not open the text up to mischief by the
Russians or others. He summarized the challenges facing
UNAMA: improved coordination among the civilian entities, a
more central role for the government of Afghanistan; focus on
agreed strategic priorities; and operational execution of
those priorities.


9. (C) McNee closed the meeting by summarizing next steps:
delegations should feed input for the revised UNAMA mandate
to the Italians; the group should meet again March 13 or 14
with visiting French officials on the next Compact
conference; McNee would arrange meetings for the group with
Guehenno and the new SRSG, when appointed.
KHALILZAD