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