AUSTRALIAN CIVILIANS DEPLOYED BY AUSAID IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CANBERRA 000541 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/A, NEA/I, S/SRAP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PHUM AS IZ AG PREL SUBJECT: AUSTRALIAN CIVILIANS DEPLOYED BY AUSAID IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ -CORRECTED COPY, CAPTION - CANBERRA 00000541 001.12 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Currently, AusAID has six long-term civilian experts in Afghanistan, who are working on a range of educational, health, agricultural, and institutional development activities. Besides these there are seven Australians regularly in the country on short-term assignments. AusAID is planning to send two additional long-term workers to Afghanistan in the coming months, including a Counselor for Development at its Mission in Kabul. There is only one long-term AusAID worker in Iraq, but there are a number of training programs that bring Iraqis to Australia. End summary ¶2. (SBU) Alistair Sherwin, Assistant Director General Middle East and West Asia Branch, AusAID supplied the following information about AusAid's civilian specialists/generalists working in Afghanistan and Iraq, mainly with government ministries. Afghanistan Staffing -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Australia funds a small number of short and long-term specialists, and is in the early days of scaling up deployments while concentrating on quality versus quantity. AusAID tries to place Australians in specialist positions, but places others including Afghans, where that is the best fit and where there is the opportunity to build Afghan specialist expertise. There are a significant number of Australians known to be working in Kabul in key positions (e.g. senior adviser to Minister for Agriculture and the head of the election work for the UN Development Program),but they are under UN or NGO auspices rather than under the GOA. Long-term personnel -------------- ¶4. (SBU) AusAID Development has two advisers at Kamp Holland, Tarin Kowt, Oruzgan Province. They are rotating in on a three month cycle. Both have worked previously in post-conflict environments and they are designated specialists although their work is generalist in the main. Neither of them travel except with military protection due to the danger. AusAID is currently recruiting a Dari speaking Afghan-Dutch water management specialist, who will be contracted for a twelve month tour and will work with the rotating personnel. ¶5. (SBU) AusAID plans to place one person at the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to begin in August. The person is not an AUSTRALIAN national but AusAID sourced him and pays costs and, most importantly, he has about 20 years experience working on agriculture in Afghanistan and speaks Dari. UNAMA and Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) welcomed this appointment. ¶6. (SBU) The Development Assistance Facility for Afghanistan (DAFA) includes three development staff who are contracted to deliver a range of services targeted at ministries (MAIL, Ministry of Education (MoE),Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Ministry of Public Health (MoPH),the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Energy and Water, with the latter having a focus on Oruzgan province). These Kabul-based Australians arrange for the contracting and implementation of initiatives in these Ministries. They largely provide short-term technical advice, assistance and training. They are not the deliverers of the training, but Qtraining. They are not the deliverers of the training, but they facilitate and manage for AusAID and advise on possible future programs. The head of DAFA has experience from working in Iraq. ¶7. (SBU) AusAID is negotiating to place technical advisors into MAIL, MoE and MoPH. The number of people is being determined with the Ministries. DAFA will arrange the deployment of specialists. ¶8. (SBU) There are contractors organized by the AUSTRALIAN Centre for International Agricultural Research--at present one Afghan working on WHEAT and maize research and crop management practices. ¶9. (SBU) Long-term deployment planned, but subject to approval, includes an AusAID Counselor (development) in Kabul. CANBERRA 00000541 002.13 OF 002 Short-term personnel -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Malaysia-Australia Education Project for Afghanistan will deploy two AUSTRALIAN education specialists who are helping Malaysia and Afghanistan develop and implement a master teacher training program. Thirty Afghan teachers will go to Malaysia to learn additional skills so they can return to Afghanistan and train teacher trainers in-country. The teacher trainers will then train further teachers. These education specialists are going to Kabul to help develop the program and to help the Afghans, once they are trained, to implement the teacher training in-country. ¶11. (SBU) Two specialists, both on AusAID's payroll, are re-designing the National Solidarity Program (NSP),which provides development funding to local village councils. ¶12. (SBU) One scholarship specialist is undertaking a review of the AUSTRALIAN Development Scholarships (ADS) program for Afghanistan. ¶13. (SBU) Two Australians specialists with expertise in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Afghanistan, and Gender were deployed in May for one month to help development of the TVET missions in Kabul, Oruzgan and Kandahar. A further mission is likely. ¶14. (SBU) All of these programs are on-going and will require further visits by AusAID specialists. Iraq Staffing -------------- ¶15. (SBU) AusAID recently deployed a First Secretary (Development Assistance) to Baghdad. There is very little scope for travel within IRAQ or missions by specialists because of the security situation. ¶16. (SBU) However, Australia has a large program of assistance in agriculture, which is conducted mostly outside of Iraq. This includes over 100 post-graduate scholarships in agriculture at AUSTRALIAN universities (a commitment by the Prime Minister to the Iraqi PM) plus short-term training at Australian agricultural/universities and institutions. ¶17. (SBU) AusAID programs are usually based on bilateral agreements with the GoI. CLUNE