PREPARATIONS FOR AFRICA REGIONAL UNSCR 1540 WORKSHOP ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 NAIROBI 002521 C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - REMOVED ZEN MARKINGS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF, S/CT, ISN/CPI ??? WUCHTE, NEA/ELA, NEA/MAG ALGIERS FOR WAZIR BAMAKO FOR NOYES BRAZZAVILLE FOR CRAM CAIRO FOR GAYLE DAKAR FOR LOGAN DAR ES SALAAM FOR HUTCHISON DHS FOR CBP OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS CBP/INA FOR JEFFERS DTRA FOR DUKLIS GENEVA FOR BWC JOINT STAFF FOR USAFRICOM KAMPALA FOR OLSON OUGADOUGOU FOR GOURDE RABAT FOR NAIR TUNIS FOR MCCARY YAOUNDE FOR TRICKNOR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC KPAO PREL PTER UNSC XA KE SUBJECT: PREPARATIONS FOR AFRICA REGIONAL UNSCR 1540 WORKSHOP ON BIOSAFETY AND BIOSECURITY REF: STATE 96413 ¶1. This is an action message. Please see paras. 14 and 15. ¶2. Summary: Officials from the Department of State's Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) visited Nairobi November 16-19 to perform a site survey in preparation for the Africa Regional Workshop on Biosafety and Biosecurity. Embassy officers and visitors ensured GoK buy-in, identified Kenyan participants, reviewed entry requirements for non-Kenyan participants, inspected proposed workshop venues, ensured suitability of proposed microbiology laboratories, and discussed logistical arrangements. The Director of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global Disease Detection Laboratory offered to assist workshop organizers in identifying potential workshop participants from across Africa. Embassy recommends all laboratories described below for workshop tours. End Summary. -------------- INTRODUCTION -------------- ¶3. In 2004 the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1540, obliging all Member States to develop and enforce measures against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including biological weapons. The United States views implementation of UNSCR 1540 as a vital element in our efforts to keep WMD out of the hands of terrorists. The United States supports implementation effort worldwide through a variety of mechanisms, including relevant workshops and outreach. Embassy Nairobi is pleased to support the Kenyan Government (GoK) as it hosts the next UNSCR-1540 workshop, to be held in Nairobi February 2-4, 2010 (reftel). -------------- BACKGROUND -------------- ¶4. The workshop's objective is to promote capacity-building to advance implementation of measures to prevent the proliferation of biological weapons-related materials to non-state actors. The workshop is to be hosted by the Government of Kenya with support and funding from the United States and in cooperation with the Committee established pursuant to UNSCR 1540 and the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs. The workshop will be tailored to help FULFILL the unique challenges of African states as they work to meet their obligations under UNSCR 1540 in the biological area. Participants will focus on mitigation of the bioterrorism threat, pathogen NAIROBI 00002521 002 OF 005 security measures, and other measures related to accounting, securing and physical protection of related biological materials. The workshop program will include direct observation of pathogen security and other biosafety and biosecurity measures during site visits to several prominent laboratories in Nairobi. ¶5. The workshop will encourage experience-sharing among the participating States and identification of specific capacity-building measures responsive to regional and national requirements suitable for participating African states. The workshop will also offer an opportunity for participants to identify specific regional and international sources of assistance, in particular using the Technical Assistance Template of the 1540 Committee. Participating African states are requested to each consider sending three representatives to the workshop. Officials and experts with broad policy responsibility for laboratory and pathogen security will find this workshop particularly useful. -------------- KENYAN BUY-IN -------------- ¶6. On November 18, ISN Special Assistant David Maness and SNL Principal Member of Laboratory Staff Louis Griego met with Ambassador Binsai Chepsongol, Director of Americas Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540, as well as the importance of the upcoming workshop and Kenya's role as host. Ambassador Chepsongol expressed the GoK's enthusiasm for this initiative, and undertook to organize an inter-ministerial committee to oversee workshop preparations, with its first meeting to take place at the MFA November 24. It is clear that the GoK wishes to take ownership of the workshop. Ambassador Chepsongol also expressed appreciation for the U.S.-Kenyan cooperation in this effort as beneficial for bilateral relations. ¶7. Subsequent meetings with GoK officials in other offices, including the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and the Ministry of Livestock Development, also confirmed host government buy-in. The visitors briefed the local officials on the larger background of UNSCR 1540 as well as its specific applications within the African context, around which the workshop will be organized. ¶8. Ambassador Chepsongol assured the visitors that with adequate preparation, including timely submission of biodata and itineraries, the workshop participants can on arrival in Kenya be quickly cleared through immigrations and customs and directed to ground transportation. Embassy Nairobi's GSO staff will work with NAIROBI 00002521 003 OF 005 GoK officials to ensure smooth arrival of the approximately 70 African presenters and participants expected. The Nairobi RSO has also offered to provide a safety and security briefing for American guests. Travelers from the following African countries do not normally require Kenyan visas for visits less than 30 days: Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Travelers from Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, and Nigeria will require Kenyan visas before traveling. Participants from the following countries may elect to apply for visas upon arrival, although Post recommends that they obtain visas at the nearest Kenyan Embassy prior to traveling: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Gabon, Tunisia, and the United States. -------------- LOGISTICAL ARRANGEMENTS -------------- ¶9. Proposed facilities at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) are modern, secure, and highly suitable for the workshop's objectives. Located across the street from Embassy Nairobi UNON regularly hosts international conferences. Ms. Elizabeth Mutua of the UNON Meetings Coordination Section demonstrated UNON's ability to provide audiovisual support and interpretation services, plenary and bilateral meeting seating arrangements, secretarial assistance, banners, and nametags. ¶10. Workshop delegates can be lodged at the Tribe Hotel, www.africanpridehotels.com/tribe. Hotel managers agreed to provide 60 rooms at a nightly rate of USD 195 each, significantly below the maximum USG lodging per diem for Nairobi of USD 260. The hotel will also reserve 12 additional rooms at USD 215 per night. The Tribe dining room seats 64. The hotel is newly constructed, provides adequate communication facilities, and is within a five-minute drive of UNON. Embassy Nairobi can contract for two buses to move participants to and from the hotel, UNON, and laboratories. Participants can receive per diem either through ONE of three commercial money transfer services available at the Village Market shopping center, located adjacent to the Tribe Hotel, or through the Embassy's contracted financial institution, the Commercial Bank of Africa. Post recommends the latter. -------------- LABORATORY VISITS -------------- ¶11. On November 19, the visitors met with leaders of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI),who are enthusiastic to showcase their institution to workshop participants. KEMRI is a NAIROBI 00002521 004 OF 005 state corporation offering microbiology laboratory services, disease surveillance, and graduate education. More information is available at www.kemri.org. KEMRI collaborates closely with the CDC, which maintains a laboratory on the KEMRI compound. Other organizations on the compound include the U.S. Navy Medical Research Laboratory, Japan's International Cooperation Agency, and the Wellcome Trust. KEMRI Acting Director Dr. Solomon Mpoke is participating in the inter-ministerial committee to prepare for the workshop and is willing to help identify appropriate workshop participants from across Africa. ¶12. The advance team also toured the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the GoK's Central Veterinary Laboratories. The ILRI is a state-of-the-art campus visible at www.ilri.org. ILRI leaders conduct international biosafety and biosecurity education for Africans on a regular basis and are amenable to playing a major part in the workshop. Facilities Upgrade Project Manager Ash Randev, a Canadian citizen resident in Nairobi, is eager to demonstrate the laboratories' ability to participate in continent-wide capacity building. The nearby Central Veterinary Laboratories, a component of the Ministry of Livestock Development, is an approachable, practical worksite. Deputy Director of Veterinary Services Dr. Joseph Mwangi Macharia is willing and able to demonstrate best practices in a manner appropriate to each participant country's level of development. ¶13. Embassy recommends KEMRI, the CDC's Global Disease Detection Laboratory, ILRI, and the Central Veterinary Laboratories for workshop tours. Each of these facilities handles materials related to potential biological weapons on a regular basis and all demonstrate particular strengths relevant to African states' needs in implementing UNSCR 1540. Resident scientists are willing to share relevant experience during facility visits and in panel discussions. The laboratories also can demonstrate procedures for accounting for, securing, and protecting potentially hazardous biological materials. -------------- PARTICIPANT NOMINATIONS STILL NEEDED -------------- ¶14. Post is aware of a lack of response from many AF posts to reftel request for nominations from host country governments; organizers need participant biodata urgently in order to ensure airfare remains within budget. To assist posts in identifying participants, the CDC's Dr. Kariuki Njenga offers to use his extensive biological contacts across Africa. Participants must be in a position to make progress in formulating and implementing their respective countries' UNSCR 1540 National Action Plans. NAIROBI 00002521 005 OF 005 Posts may work directly with Dr. Njenga in identifying and inviting appropriate officials. Dr. Njenga is available at knjenga@ke.cdc.gov. (Please copy Louis Griego on any correspondence, lggrieg@sandia.gov.) Participants' travel and per diem will be fully funded by the USG. Participants must be sufficiently conversant in biosafety and biosecurity to be able to add to discussions and take home new expertise. They should also be influential enough within their governments to effect positive change in their home countries, particularly with regard to drafting and implementing National Action Plans to comply with the requirements of UNSCR 1540. More information on National Action Plans is available at www.un.org/sc/1540/nationalreports.shtml. -------------- FOLLOW-UP -------------- ¶15. On November 24, Ambassador Chepsongol chaired an organizing meeting attended by Dr. Willy Tonui, President of the African Biological Safety Association; representatives of the Kenyan National Council for Science and Technology (NCST),ILRI, the Kenyan Ministry of Public HEALTH and Sanitation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Dr. Njenga. NCST, a component of the Kenyan Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, will be the lead GoK agency for the workshop. The inter-ministerial committee approved workshop visits to the four laboratories listed in paragraph 12 and discussed expanding the visits to include Kenyatta National Hospital, which is adjacent to KEMRI. Ambassador Chepsongol requested USG funding for a workshop secretariat of six staff members. Most urgently he reiterated his request that the names of the African participants be provided to his office as soon as possible. Post replied that participants' names are still forthcoming. ¶16. The visiting delegation (see para. 6) has cleared paragraphs 1-14. RANNEBERGER MINIMIZE CONSIDERED RANNEBERGER