EMBASSY DOHA'S WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT APPROACH TO

UNCLAS DOHA 000604 SENSITIVE SIPDIS NSC FOR SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT PRADEEP RAMAMURTHY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KDEM KMPI KPAO ECON EAID ESTH EAGR QA SUBJECT: EMBASSY DOHA'S WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT APPROACH TO CAIRO SPEECH IMPLEMENTATION REF: A. DOHA 458 ¶B. DOHA 595 -------------- (SBU) KEY POINTS -------------- -- We welcome your visit to Qatar. This cable complements Ref A (Embassy Doha's engagement on Cairo speech initiatives), describes our strategic approach to policy implementation and identifies two areas in which your support would assist our interagency efforts linked to the Cairo speech. -- The Cairo Speech is a central element in "synchronization" - Embassy Doha,s whole of government approach to USG policy implementation in Qatar, centered on interagency groups organized around achieving shared interagency goals. -- Our "Muslim Community Engagement" synchronization group builds on the President,s Cairo speech as a strategic declaration of intent on the use of USG interagency soft power in reaching out to Muslim communities. The group,s over-arching goal is the continued operationalization of the President,s intent by the USG interagency in Qatar. -- Ref A lays out existing relevant Qatari initiatives; current USG interagency engagement with those initiatives; and potential future USG engagement. End key points. -------------- EMBASSY DOHA,S WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT APPROACH -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The Cairo Speech is a central element in "synchronization" - Embassy Doha,s whole of government approach to USG policy implementation in Qatar. Centered on interagency groups organized around achieving shared interagency goals, the synchronization process brings together all elements of the interagency engaged in achieving a common goal in Qatar. Each group is lead directly by the Front Office, ensuring regular communication among group members and providing a sustained interagency perspective to guide the group,s activities. Our Virtual Country Team concept uses technology to enable participation in synchronization groups by non-resident agencies and departments that cover Qatar on a regional basis. ¶2. (SBU) Embassy Doha holds six-monthly interagency off-sites - which also embrace non-resident members of the Virtual Country Team - to analyze key trends in Qatar and assess the implications of trend directions for U.S. policy. The discussions, analysis and priorities thus generated drive the establishment of goal-oriented synchronization groups - formed and disbanded as goals are defined and achieved - aimed at shaping and influencing the operating environment for the USG interagency in Qatar. -------------- MUSLIM COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SYNCH GROUP -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Our "Muslim Community Engagement" synchronization group builds on the President,s Cairo speech as a strategic declaration of intent on the use of USG interagency soft power in reaching out to Muslim communities. The group includes members from across the interagency and its over-arching goal is the continued operationalization of the President,s intent by the USG interagency in Qatar. ¶4. (U) Qatar is already a progressive force in the three priority areas for engagement identified in the Cairo speech ) human development; entrepreneurship and interfaith partnership; and science and technology - and could be a valuable regional partner and force-multiplier in all three areas. A stable, resource-rich country under progressive leadership, Qatar has already initiated in these three areas an impressive range of strategic and tactical initiatives that are local, regional and international in scope. ¶5. (SBU) USG engagement in Qatar would most usefully be focused on creating partnerships to advance our shared region-wide engagement goals as laid out in the Cairo speech. Ref A - which we commend to you in its entirety - lays out existing relevant Qatari initiatives; current USG interagency engagement with those initiatives; and potential future USG engagement. Areas covered in Ref A include economic development, education, women and girls, youth, health, environment, rule of law, entrepreneurship, science and technology. -------------- RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUR VISIT -------------- ¶6. (SBU) We highlight two potential areas of focus for your visit. The first - food security - did not figure in the Cairo speech. However, it is a national security imperative for Gulf nations and represents a potentially rich area of strategic engagement with Muslim communities across the region. The second, a Qatari youth employment networking initiative, has similar potential for productive USG engagement in Qatar and the region. -------------- -------------- FOOD SECURITY: AN EXISTENTIAL IMPERATIVE FOR GULF NATIONS -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Qatar is one of several wealthy Gulf nations with little or no agricultural production for whom food security is a vital national security interest. After investing in land in countries such as Pakistan and Kenya in an attempt to secure food supplies for a growing population in the decades to come, Qatar (Ref B) has more recently begun to explore possibilities for commercial or other partnerships with developed nations. It has established an agency to pursue its food security agenda - not just through outright land ownership in foreign countries, but also through investments and partnerships. ¶8. (SBU) The prevailing lack of food security represents an existential vulnerability for Gulf nations and is an area in which soft power engagement by the USG would resonate powerfully across the region. Partnerships between Gulf countries and American farmers would be advantageous for American farmers and would also put the USG in a better position to partner with these countries in pursuing our own food security strategy with poorer nations in the Arab world and beyond. -------------- SILATECH: FOCUSED ON YOUTH EMPLOYMENT -------------- ¶9. (U) In 2008, the Amir's consort Shaykha Mozah founded "Silatech" ("Your Connection" in Arabic, www.silatech.com) to promote youth employment in the 22 countries of the Arab region. Silatech has held two large conferences in Doha and is now working on pilot programs in six countries (Qatar, Morocco, Syria, Yemen, Tunisia, and Bahrain). It focuses on three areas: improving access to skills training and placement services; the promotion of policies to stimulate increased employment and enterprise opportunities; and changing the "mindset" in the region to improve society's support for youth employment. ¶10. (U) Silatech has signed agreements with other organizations working on youth employment in the Arab world, such as the Brookings Institution, Dubai School of Government, Manpower, and Pearson Education. Post recently connected Silatech with MEPI and the Small Business Administration to discuss potential areas for partnership. We continue to see possibilities for productive engagement with Silatech that would have local and regional impact, in direct support of the President,s intent in his Cairo speech. LeBaron