U.S. SAVES THE DAY ON ANP GROWTH AT LOTFA STEERING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001643 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/A, S/CRS, INL/AP, EUR/RPM STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG NSC FOR JWOOD OSD FOR FLOURNOY CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-82, POLAD, JICENT KABUL FOR COS USFOR-A E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS MASS AF SUBJECT: U.S. SAVES THE DAY ON ANP GROWTH AT LOTFA STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING ¶1. (U) Summary. The Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA),chaired by MOI Minister Atmar, faced a daunting task in its Steering Committee meeting of June 14 chaired. The main issue was funding a proposal already approved by the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) and International Police Coordination Board (IPCB) to add an additional 10,000 Afghan National Police (ANP) officers for vulnerable provinces in advance of the election. IPCB and LOTFA members were successful in raising contributions specifically for this effort totaling almost $25 million. However, the bad news was that requirements totaled just under $42 million. When no additional contributions were forthcoming, the U.S. announced that it would cover the remaining shortfall. The MOI faces the burden of rapidly meeting recruiting requirements in order to begin the training process. End summary. ¶2. (U) Minister Atmar opened the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA) Steering Committee meeting of June 14 by recognizing the loss of an ANP officer and his Canadian mentor in an IED explosion in Kandahar earlier that day, a stark reminder of the challenges faced by MOI in the current security environment. ¶3. (U) Although the big issue for discussion was funding for growth of the ANP by 10,000 for vulnerable provinces in the lead-up to the election, that difficult topic was left for last on the agenda. First, Minister Atmar provided a short summary of election security preparations, but noted that despite positive developments on presidential candidate security and international observers, the ANP was short 20,000 officers to do all that was being asked of them. Atmar ended his opening remarks by saying that significant progress had been made against "ghost police" (an issue of high continuing interest to the international community) and that very soon "nobody should be outside the Tashkil." The Tashkil is the formal annual staffing document authorizing positions within the MOI and ANP. ¶4. (U) Bo Asplund, Deputy Special Representative for UNAMA, and UNDP's Sandeep Kumar, LOTFA Project Manager, provided updates since the last LOTFA SC meeting in March. They expect the total LOTFA project budget to reach $539 million for the two-year 2009/2010 period. Virtually 100 percent of ANP are now covered under Electronic Payroll System (EPS) and 70 percent under Electronic Funds Transfer (ETF),both of which help ensure that individual officers are paid directly and without supervisor interference or skimming. They announced they believe they have found a "solution" to UNDP HQ failure to hire a Monitoring Agent for LOTFA, a contentious issue amongst LOTFA donors. With few bidders, there was concern that the company selected did not have the capacity to meet contract requirements, so UNDP will run a 6-month pilot with the firm before making a final decision. ¶5. (U) Minister Atmar continued by describing the status of other priority LOTFA initiatives. He emphasized the importance of recruiting female police officers, saying he wants to develop a national program that will result in 5,000 women on the rolls. However, he noted that current working conditions were not appropriate for female officers. He is working on a Joint Integrated Registration Program that will re-register all ANP, conduct biometrics and drug test all of them, and then issue reliable identity cards. He wants to have this program (which builds on existing screening procedures) completed by August. LOTFA and MOI are in the process of transferring compensation for martyrs and permanently disabled ANP to the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled, with 1,287 of the 3,199 files already transferred. A pilot project to pay ANP their food allowance in cash instead of in-kind has received a positive reception so far. Lastly, another pilot program to provide hazard pay to ANP serving in high-threat districts is being evaluated for extension with CSTC-A funding. ¶6. (U) The last and most challenging issue was funding for the already agreed-upon growth in the ANP by 10,000 for vulnerable provinces in preparation for the August elections. The Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) and International Police Coordination Board (IPCB) had already endorsed the proposal, which complements a separate initiative to increase Kabul ANP by 4,800 that is already in process and is being funded by CSTC-A. LOTFA donor countries had been meeting for weeks at the working level to encourage contributions from members in preparation for the Steering Committee meeting, but had been unsuccessful in raising the full $41.6 million required for this 10,000 increase. ¶7. (U) Surprisingly enough given skepticism before the June 7 IPCB decision, prior to the LOTFA meeting we were able to persuade LOTFA donors to contribute a total of $24.7 million, broken down as follows: Canada $10 million, Japan $7.7 million, UK $3 million, Denmark $2 million, and Norway $2 million. Nonetheless, the KABUL 00001643 002 OF 002 original target of $32 million ultimately grew to $41.6 million, leaving a gap of $16.9 million. CSTC-A had already offered to cover equipment, training and other associated support costs for the full 10,000 increase. Going in to the meeting, donors assumed that the SC would decide to hire new recruits based on funding available, which would necessarily be less than 10,000. ¶8. (U) Then came the bigger surprise. Minister Atmar spent 10 minutes noting the gap in contributions and seeking additional funding. No additional contributions were forthcoming. Finally, Atmar said to LOTFA donors, "Are you telling me that I cannot begin recruiting my policemen tomorrow?" At that point the Embassy and CSTC-A representatives (Pol-Mil Deputy Counselor and Deputy Commanding General for Police Development) announced that the USG (through CENTCOM and CSTC-A) would fund the entire shortfall of $16.9 million. ¶9. (U) Comment. The Embassy representative learned of the last minute USG contribution at the beginning of the SC meeting; and the meeting strategy was to wait until the very last minute to see if other donors came up with additional contributions. Atmar was obviously genuinely pleased to get this final piece of good news from the U.S. when other donors fell short, and the meeting ended on a high note. At the same time, the burden remains on MOI to recruit up to the required levels (and fast) if there is to be any hope of having these additional ANP in place by August 20. End comment. EIKENBERRY