JOINT COOPERATION COMMITTEE TERMS OF REFERENCE

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TAGS: PREL ECON EAID SCUL SOCI TSPL IZ
SUBJECT: JOINT COOPERATION COMMITTEE TERMS OF REFERENCE

REF: STATE 5482


1. (SBU) Washington agencies and Embassy Baghdad have
completed the Terms of Reference for the four Joint
Cooperation Committees charged with implementing the
Strategic Framework Agreement. Final texts of each TOR (Law
Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation, Economic and Energy
Cooperation, Services and Information Technology Cooperation,
and Cultural, Educational, and Scientific Cooperation) are
found in paragraph 2 and following. Point of Contact for SFA
and JCC issues in the Department is Rob Pyott in NEA/I/ECON
(202-647-6027, pyott 'at' state.gov. The Department
appreciates Embassy Baghdad's work in establishing the JCCs
and related Working Groups.

TOR: Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation
--------------


2. (SBU) JCC CONTRIBUTION TO THE U.S. STRATEGIC GOAL IN IRAQ:
The Rule of Law is a foundation for attaining the US
strategic goal in Iraq, namely, an Iraq that is sovereign,
stable, and self-reliant. Put concisely, we seek an Iraq
where all persons, institutions, and entities, public and
private, including the state itself, are accountable to laws
that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced, and
independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with
international human rights norms. We further seek an Iraq
that is a full partner against common transnational criminal
threats. As described by the Iraqi co-chair, the JCC will
serve to forge a common goal and strategy to implement
justice across Iraqi ministries and in cooperation with the
United States. Its purpose is to share information and to
elicit and coordinate concrete, information sharing,
practical suggestions and proposals in support of this goal.


3. (SBU) JCC OBJECTIVES: Section VIII of the Strategic
Framework Agreement identifies three objectives for the JCC:
(1) support the further integration and security of the Iraqi
criminal justice system, including police, courts, and
prisons; (2) exchange views and best practices related to
judicial capacity building and training, including on
continuing professional development for judges, judicial
investigators, judicial security personnel, and court
administrative staff; and (3) enhance law enforcement and
judicial relationships to address corruption, and common
transnational criminal threats, such as terrorism,
trafficking in persons, organized crime, drugs, money
laundering, smuggling of archeological artifacts, and cyber
crime. The JCC endorses these objectives. Further, while the
JCC,s scope may be interpreted broadly across the Rule of
Law area, as reflected in the breadth of ministries
participating, certain matters are entrusted exclusively to
the committees established by the Security Agreement, such as
the disposition of security detainees in coalition custody.


4. (SBU) JCC "WAYS" (HOW THE OBJECTIVES ARE ACHIEVED): Each
participating Iraqi ministry has been invited to form a
committee or working group, with members drawn from all its
relevant departments, to assess each ministry,s needs and to
devise a strategy for SFA implementation. This includes the
presentation of ideas and proposals at the JCC to both the
United States and other Iraqi ministries. The United States
is invited to work with these committees. The basis for these
discussions will initially be the strategy documents prepared
by six participating ministries and submitted to the United
States on March 10.

5. (SBU) We will prioritize engagements with the HJC, MOJ,
and MOI. The Rule of Law Coordinator will oversee JCC
engagements with the Higher Judicial Council. As these
meetings occur, the relevant Embassy offices and agencies,
including U.S. law enforcement agencies, will participate
fully in developing proposals and SFA implementation plans in
partnership with the GOI. In addition to those GOI committees
already mentioned, the GOI will be requested to form an
anti-corruption committee with whom the Embassy
Anti-Corruption Coordinator can engage. Initially, we expect
to work on a more ad hoc basis with those JCC subcommittees
established by other ministries.

6.(SBU) The JCC may also be used to raise issues that may
arise in USG assistance programs, such as steps needed for
timely activation of USG-funded prison construction projects,
or identified in other Iraqi entities, such as, in the case
of money laundering, the Central Bank of Iraq. The JCC will
be a forum to troubleshoot issues that may arise. The JCC
will also prepare periodic reports of progress. In each case,
given declining U.S. resources, emphasis will be placed on

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identifying the greatest impediments to further progress in
advancing the rule of law and devising solutions to address
them.


7. (SBU) JCC "MEANS" (RESOURCES APPLIED TO ACHIEVE THE
OBJECTIVES): The JCC itself will be a forum for U.S.
representatives to encourage and facilitate action in high
priority areas, as well as to identify specific issues/areas
requiring higher level diplomatic attention. It is noteworthy
that USG financial resources for Iraq will likely decline
over the next several years but should continue to support
our objective and the ways in which we work to achieve them.
We should expect that Iraq assumes more financial control and
responsibility for its programs.


8. (SBU) The means include those USG financial resources, as
appropriated by Congress, to support the GOI's Rule of Law
efforts, as well as to support USG law enforcement efforts in
the region. We expect foreign assistance to be focused
primarily on continued advisory assistance in areas that may
include strengthening the independent judiciary, including
through judicial capacity-building and training, in both the
civil and criminal areas; combating corruption; modernizing
and integrating the criminal justice system (police, courts,
and prisons); supporting legal prerequisites for economic
development; enhancing the quality of the Iraqi bar; and
promoting human rights. As a general matter, the GOI will be
required to fund future infrastructure needs; furnishing,
operations, and maintenance of facilities associated with
these programs; GOI personnel costs, such as training and
salaries; and associated equipment and material support. The
GOI will increasingly need to adequately resource judicial,
law enforcement and corrections programs to accomplish the
JCC objectives. This is of particular importance in the
corrections and judicial security areas. The focus of such
efforts will be on technical assistance, rather than bricks
and mortar projects, as it already has been during the first
meetings of the JCC.


9. (SBU) MEASURES OF EFFECTIVENESS: (1) The conditions set
forth in the Joint Campaign Plan are attained. (2) The JCC
meets regularly, effectively oversees and tracks progress
against the three objectives specified in Section VIII of the
SFA, and becomes a forum to generate broad GOI-USG consensus
about priorities and initiatives in each area. (3)
Impediments to future progress are discussed and strategies
for addressing them are identified. (4) Ongoing USG
assistance programs in the Rule of Law area are reviewed,
accomplishments documented, problems identified, and future
needs discussed. (5) Law enforcement cooperation is enhanced
to combat common transnational criminal threats.


10. (SBU) LEVEL OF IRAQI COORDINATION ON THIS TOR: The ToR
set forth here are fully consistent with those plans and
objectives discussed at the JCC meetings convened on February
12 and March 10, 2009. The document itself has not been
coordinated with the GOI.

TOR: Economic and Energy Cooperation
--------------


11. (SBU) JCC CONTRIBUTION TO THE U.S. STRATEGIC GOAL IN
IRAQ: Help Iraq to build a stable, prosperous,
market-oriented economy that provides services to its people
and is integrated into the global economy. Iraq needs to
sustain itself economically in order to build a stable
democracy and be a significant ally.


12. (SBU) JCC OBJECTIVES: The Energy and Economic committee
supports agreed goals in Section V of the Strategic Framework
Agreement by focusing on national policy and legal/regulatory
issues in contrast to the Services and Information Technology
JCC focused on the delivery of essential services. These
include provision of basic services, private sector
development and investment, trade promotion, integration into
the international economic and financial community, improved
agricultural sector and trade policies, supporting
commitments under the International Compact with Iraq, and
energy sector development including the rehabilitation of
facilities and infrastructure. The committee will work to
advance development of Iraq's oil and gas resources, with a
view to ensuring the GOI has the capacity to fund its own
development.


13. (SBU) JCC "WAYS" (HOW THE OBJECTIVES ARE ACHIEVED): The
JCC will meet quarterly to assess progress and set goals.
Sub-Committee level Working Groups will meet to coordinate
efforts to achieve agreed goals. The U.S.-Iraq Dialogue on
Economic Cooperation will continue to meet yearly and will be
a focus for both the Energy and Economic JCC and the Services
and Information Technology JCC. Trade fairs, trade missions,

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matchmaking, and other activities will be used to promote
private sector cooperation. Pending Iraqi legislative
approval, a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA)
Council meeting will be held. Efforts under the JCC will be
in step with the International Compact with Iraq and
coordinated with the UN, World Bank and other donors to
leverage USG inputs. The following Working Groups will
facilitate detailed technical discussion and goals:

1) Financial Sector and Public Financial Management;
2) Trade and Investment;
3) Oil and Gas Sector;
4) Electricity Sector (investment and new facilities);
5) Industry and Private Sector Development.

Suggested U.S. co-chairs for the working groups are:

1) Financial Sector and Public Financial Management:
Treasury Attache
2) Trade and Investment: Economic Counselor
3) Oil and Gas Sector: Energy Attache
4) Electricity Sector: ITAO Energy Advisor
5) Industry and Private Sector Development: Economic
Counselor


14. (SBU) JCC "MEANS" (RESOURCES APPLIED TO ACHIEVE THE
OBJECTIVES): The USG will continue to support GOI capacity
building efforts, support for trade and investment promotion,
and ensure there is qualified civilian staffing in Baghdad to
support these efforts.


15. (SBU) MEASURES OF EFFECTIVENESS: Measures of
Effectiveness will be applied at the Working Group technical
level to show progress in the key goal areas as identified in
Section V of the Strategic Framework Agreement. The Working
Groups are best placed to determine specific measures of
effectiveness during their initial meetings.

TOR: Services and Information Technology Cooperation
-------------- --------------


16. (SBU) JCC CONTRIBUTION TO THE U.S. STRATEGIC GOAL IN
IRAQ: Committee Five will seek to strengthen the relationship
between the democratic government of Iraq and its population
in order to bolster its legitimacy, increase unity and
stability while promoting sustainable development. It will
seek to find ways to help boost the capacity of the Iraqi
government to deliver essential and basic human services and
to establish a legal and regulatory environment hospitable to
private investment enabling the development of a robust and
diverse national economy.


17. (SBU) JCC OBJECTIVES: Committee Five encompasses goals in
the SFA found in Sections VI - Health and Environment
Cooperation and VII - Information Technology, as well as
Section V - Energy and Economic Cooperation. It will focus
on preparing Iraq for integration into the relevant
international institutions and standard setting bodies
through efforts such as: building capacity in developing
modern laws, regulatory frameworks, and rational tariff
platforms; rekindling a culture of maintenance and
sustainment; and ensuring that the GOI has the capacity to
continue to fund its own development.


18. (SBU) JCC "WAYS" (HOW THE OBJECTIVES ARE ACHIEVED):
Several of these issues lend themselves to effective
cooperation through working groups: We plan groups on
Agriculture and Water; Transportation; Health and
Environmental Cooperation; Information Technology and
Communications; and Electricity and other Essential Services.
We propose that the ministries under this rubric would be
Health, Environment, Water Resources, Transportation,
Agriculture, Communications, Municipalities and Public Works,
and part of Electricity. Working Groups (WGs) would meet
initially to set their agendas and then meet as necessary to
advance the deliverables they have identified. They are
further detailed below in Annex A.


19. (SBU) JCC "MEANS" (RESOURCES APPLIED TO ACHIEVE THE
OBJECTIVES): Both officials and subject matter experts in
Baghdad and the US will advance the work of these committees.
U.S. officials will actively support GOI reform efforts,
capacity development, and best practices in ongoing bilateral
consultations.


20. (SBU) MEASURES OF EFFECTIVENESS: These may include
improved or increased delivery of essential services,
increase in available electricity capacity, closing the gap
between actual cost of utility and price charged consumers,
increased number of citizens with access to potable water,
increased number of citizens with access to primary health

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care, access to affordable food under an open market system
that reduces the number of consumers on government subsidies.
These measures should reflect adequate operational
maintenance and sustainability.

TOR - Educational, Cultural and Scientific Cooperation
-------------- --------------


21. (SBU) JCC CONTRIBUTION TO THE U.S. STRATEGIC GOAL IN
IRAQ: Our goal is an enduring strategic partnership with a
unified, democratic, federal Iraq that can govern, defend and
sustain itself.


22. (SBU) JCC OBJECTIVES: The objective of the JCC is to
build the basis for an enduring partnership with the United
States by creating a network of institutional relationships,
exchanges, partnerships and capacity-building that will
produce leaders and citizens who understand and practice
tolerance, transparency and accountability in support of
economic opportunity, respect for the rule of law and
peaceful participatory politics.


23. (SBU) JCC "WAYS" (HOW THE OBJECTIVES ARE ACHIEVED): The
JCC will focus on promoting and encouraging collaboration and
contacts between key Iraqi educational, cultural and
scientific experts and institutions and their counterparts in
the United States. Specific initiatives will include:

--Promoting and facilitating educational partnerships by
increasing cooperation between individual Iraqi and U.S.
academics and universities, which may include faculty and
student exchanges, joint research projects and curriculum
development
--Supporting participation of Iraqi agricultural
professionals in USDA training programs to foster
agricultural development and economic growth
--Strengthening the Fulbright program by addressing
challenges in the recruitment of qualified and diverse
candidates and the high rates of non-return of Fulbright
participants to Iraq
--Supporting English language teacher training and
instruction by facilitating access to English teaching
resources and expertise; encouraging the expansion of English
testing and training; promoting broader distribution of
English language materials
--Encouraging greater numbers of Iraqi students to study in
the U.S. by facilitating access to information about the U.S.
system of higher education in support of the Prime Minister's
Iraqi Education Initiative and, ideally, reciprocal programs
for U.S. students in Iraq.
--Supporting the preservation of cultural heritage through
institutional relationships and training between the Iraq
National Museum and State Board of Antiquities and Heritage
and U.S. counterparts, to include the Iraq Cultural Heritage
Project (ICHP) announced by Ambassador Crocker and the ECA
Assistant Secretary at the Iraq National Museum on October
2008
--Promoting professional and cultural exchanges by using the
International Visitor Leadership Program and Citizen
Exchanges' cultural and youth exchange programs to support
Iraqi civil society
--Assisting the Iraqi ministries, especially the Ministries
of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research, and
Science and Technology, to further define their roles in, and
increasing their contribution to, the Government of Iraq,
Iraqi schools and universities, and its citizens
--Supporting Iraqi efforts to develop the knowledge and
skills of public and private sector scientists and engineers,
including university professors and their students, so they
are prepared as an innovative, 21st century workforce to best
contribute to Iraq's economic redevelopment and prosperity
--Encouraging Iraqi efforts in science and engineering
research to help accelerate and sustain Iraq's economic
development


24. (SBU) JCC "MEANS" (RESOURCES APPLIED TO ACHIEVE THE
OBJECTIVES):
Existing U.S. cultural and education programs can address
many of the TOR objectives. The U.S. will also

--Provide technical support for drafting bilateral cultural,
educational, and scientific exchange agreements
--Streamline and facilitating issuance of student and
professional visas
--Seek support from the independent U.S. higher education
sector and from U.S. science and engineering agencies,
independent institutions such as the National Academies of
Sciences and Engineering, and private-sector companies
--Enhance educational advising resources
--Increase access to English teaching resources
--Provide technical support to sustain joint agricultural

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research, training and extension partnerships
--Provide technical advice and training to increase, improve,
and sustain Iraqi science and engineering research and
education
--Facilitate linkages between U.S. and Iraqi scientists and
engineers (including Iraqi university professors and students)


25. (SBU) MEASURES OF EFFECTIVENESS:
--Iraqis studying in the U.S. We would like to see the
current number of 300-400 significantly increase over several
years.
--Students studying English. We would like to see an increase
in the number of high school-aged Iraqis studying English.
--Iraqis receiving agricultural extension training. We would
like to provide advanced training to agricultural extension
educators.
--Educational partnerships. We would like to see increased
opportunities for interaction between Iraqi academics and
institutions and their American counterparts in higher
education, including faculty and student exchanges.
--Bilateral agreements. We would like to see the
establishment of a framework for educational and cultural
cooperation.
--Visas. We would like to see a streamlined professional and
student visa approval process.
--Iraqi funding and type of Iraqi research. We would like to
see GOI funding and published Iraqi research double over the
next several years.
CLINTON