NIGER: PLEA FROM UN SYSTEM RESIDENT COORDINATOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 000321 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA AND DRL/AE DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USAID/AFR/WA ACCRA PLEASE PASS TO USAID/WA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KDEM PGOV PHUM SOCI NG SUBJECT: NIGER: PLEA FROM UN SYSTEM RESIDENT COORDINATOR FOR ELECTION SUPPORT REF: A. NIAMEY 217 ¶B. NIAMEY 211 NIAMEY 00000321 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) See action request in paragraph eight. ¶2. (U) Summary. United Nations (UN) System Resident Coordinator/UN Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative Khardiata Lo Ndiaye paid an April 27 call on Ambassador Allen to make a plea for USG election support for 2009 local, legislative and Presidential elections scheduled to take place in Niger. She reported the pledges recently made by some donor partners and emphasized a great need for ballot boxes. Leadership from both the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) and the Constitutional Court met with Ndiaye separately to request financial and technical support to conduct their respective election-related responsibilities. Funding provided for the elections are to be placed in a common trust fund, as was the case with the 2004 elections. End summary. ¶3. (U) UN Systems Coordinator Ndiaye (accompanied by her assistant, Salissou Moussa) visited Embassy Niamey on April 27 to discuss election support for Niger's five elections. She outlined a two-phase process, the first phase to cover communal, departmental and regional elections (summer 2009 dates still to be determined),the second phase to cover the legislative and Presidential elections in November 2009. She said that ballot boxes are a critical need for the elections. When asked how many ballot boxes were needed, Ndiaye responded that the CENI conducted a region-by-region inventory in early April to determine the number of usuable ballot boxes that remain from the 2004 elections. The April inventory identified approximately 26,000 usable ballot boxes in stock, leaving a gap to be filled of approximately 60,000 ballots boxes (based on 3 or more boxes each for 20,000 polling stations). She noted that in 2004 there were approximately four million registered voters, and that based on this year's voter registration census, there are now some six million registered voters (a fifty percent increase from the 2004 period) anticipated for Niger's 2009 elections. ¶4. (SBU) According to Ndiaye, the CENI is close to finishing its work on a budget and timetable. She anticipates receiving a final budget and timetable from CENI during the April 30 to May 7 time frame that she will subsequently distribute to donor partners. She reported pledges, to date, as follows: -- European Union, 3.2 million Euros, soon to sign an accord with UNDP -- Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and Canada each (500,000 Euros). The Governments of Spain, Germany, France and the U.S. have not yet declared their respective level of election support, the reason for Ndiaye's demarche to the four missions. She added that the Government of Niger reported having reserved 13 billion FCFA (approximately 26 million US dollars; exchange rate 1 USD = 500 FCFA) for elections. ¶5. (U) Ambassador responded that the USG plans to provide election support, but added that a specific funding figure is not available as yet to declare, that presently much USG attention is focused on recovery for the U.S. economy. Ndiaye then stated that the USG contributed 500,000 US dollars (USD) to the common trust fund for Niger's 2004 elections. She stressed all funds from donors again this year are to be placed in a common trust fund, that partners would work together to discuss the best way to support the elections. Ambassador replied that she would share this information with the relevant offices in Washington in order to clarify the level of USG support for elections. ¶6. (SBU) Ndiaye spoke of the need for assistance with election monitoring. She mentioned that technical support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) or the National Democratic Institute (NDI) would be useful to support the Niger elections. Ambassador indicated she would communicate the need for such support to NED and NDI. Ndiaye reported that Constitutional Court representatives asked UNDP for election support as well, though a detailed list of the Court's needs has yet to be provided. Ambassador closed the NIAMEY 00000321 002.2 OF 002 meeting with expressing hope that peace would prevail in northern Niger, to facilitate the election process in that region. ¶7. (SBU) Embassy awaits the CENI timetable and budget for the elections. Several donor partners already have pledged as a starting point more than one million USD. Bearing in mind that the USG reportedly provided 500,000 USD to support the 2004 elections, the USG will need to soon formally declare and, hopefully, match in funds and/or technical support what we provided in 2004. This historical election in Niger would mark the country's first peaceful transfer of power from one democratically-elected government to another. The USG needs to declare robust funding for the elections, not only to ensure we maintain an influential role at the donors' table, but also to sufficiently demonstrate our interest in promoting democracy in Niger. ¶8. (SBU) Action request for DOS/AF and USAID/AF: Embassy requests that the Department, in coordination with USAID, study what level of support the USG may formally declare as its support for the Niger elections. Embassy believes USG election support should, at minimum, be on par with that of other donor partners and to sufficiently promote democracy in Niger. While the 200,000 USD that USAID has identified for these important elections is a start, for such a critical election year as this one in Niger's history, we need to do better. Embassy will report the official election timetable as soon as we receive it. As it now stands, three local elections in phase one are tentatively projected for July or August 2009, with the legislative and Presidential elections in phase two to follow in November 2009. ALLEN