U.S. GLOBAL PEACE OPERATIONS INITIATIVE:

UNCLAS STATE 091786 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MARR PREL SUBJECT: U.S. GLOBAL PEACE OPERATIONS INITIATIVE: PARTNERSHIP WITH MOROCCO REF: A. 06 STATE 116138 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) The Department requests that Post formally invite the Government of Morocco to participate in the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI). Under the of the GPOI program, the U.S. intends to provide peace operations training and other support to the Moroccan military so that it can continue to develop and sustain peace operations capacity. An exchange of diplomatic notes notifying the Government of Morocco that the terms and conditions of its end-use, retransfer and security agreement with the UNITED States will apply to the articles and services provided pursuant to the GPOI program, and indicating Morocco's acceptance of the terms and conditions, will be necessary before GPOI assistance begins. -------------- OBJECTIVES -------------- ¶2. (U) The Department requests that Post pursue the following objectives: -- Inform the Government of Morocco about the goals of the GPOI program and invite it to participate; -- Reinforce that countries that participate in GPOI should have a strong commitment to participate in future peace operations, although U.S.-funded GPOI assistance is not tied to any specific deployment as the U.S. recognizes that nations make sovereign decisions whether and when to deploy peace operations troops; -- Inform the Government of Morocco that the U.S. consults regularly with the UN, particularly with its Department of Peacekeeping Operations, on GPOI. The UN is supportive of U.S. efforts under GPOI and believes the troops trained through GPOI will be a valuable resource for future UN peacekeeping operations; -- Inform the Government of Morocco that upon acceptance of our invitation to participate in GPOI, a diplomatic note will be forthcoming that will state that the terms and conditions of the Agreement regarding grants under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, or successor legislation, and the furnishing of defense articles, related training, and other defense services, including pursuant to the UNITED States International Military Education and Training Program, from the UNITED States of America to the Government of the KINGDOM of Morocco pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, or successor legislation, effected by an exchange of notes at Rabat on July 21 and November 24, 2006, will apply with respect to articles and services provided pursuant to the GPOI program. -------------- REPORTING DEADLINE -------------- ¶3. (U) Post should report the results of the demarche by cable to PM/PPA ) Aiyaz Husain before October 1. -------------- BACKGROUND -------------- ¶4. (U) GPOI was established as a Presidential initiative to address major gaps in international capacity to conduct peace operations. The program,s mission is to build partner country capabilities to train and sustain peacekeeping proficiencies, increase the number of capable military troops and formed police units available for deployment, and facilitate the deployment of peacekeepers to UN or regional peacekeeping missions. The first phase of GPOI (FY2005-2009) focused primarily on training and, as appropriate, equipping 75,000 peacekeepers by 2010. Beginning on 1 October, GPOI will launch its second phase. Phase II (FY2010-2014) will assume a two-track approach: (1) building sustainable, indigenous capacity and (2) providing mission deployment support. In particular, Phase II program activities will focus on assisting partner countries to achieve full operational capability to conduct indigenous, self-sustaining peace operations training. ¶5. (U) US Africa Command (USAFRICOM) is the executive agent for GPOI in Morocco. USAFRICOM proposed Morocco as a potential GPOI partner for FY 2009 during the fall of 2008 and the GPOI Coordinating Committee agreed to that proposal this spring. The current plan for Morocco is to provide training and facilities refurbishment to a peace operations training center in Morocco. In order to ensure long term sustainability, the GPOI program incorporates train-the-trainer elements into its training events. ¶6. (U) Before articles or services are provided pursuant to GPOI, the USG requires that end-use, security, and transfer obligations apply to such articles or services. In 2006, Morocco entered into an agreement that may be applied to such articles and services. As the GPOI program is not currently within the scope of that agreement, a diplomatic note notifying the Government of Morocco that the terms and conditions of the Agreement apply with respect to articles and services provided pursuant to the GPOI program will be necessary and will be sent septel. -------------- FUNDING AND LEAHY VETTING REQUIREMENT -------------- ¶7. (U) The U.S. plans to obligate up to $1,000,000 in FY 2009 GPOI Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) funding to enhance Morocco,s peacekeeping capabilities. All individuals and/or units receiving assistance must be vetted for gross violations of human rights prior/prior to receiving GPOI assistance (see reftel A for details). -------------- METRICS AND EVALUATION -------------- ¶8. (U) PM has an Evaluation Team that tracks the results and accomplishments of the GPOI program. If Morocco chooses to participate in the GPOI program, it will be critical that the Embassy Country Team (traditionally accomplished by the Office of Defense Cooperation reporting through AFRICOM) accurately captures the results (by name using a PM-provided checklist and roster) of GPOI-funded training events and/or document the individual items of equipment provided to Morocco. In addition, it will be important to document numbers of troops/units that participate in indigenous peacekeeping training and the number of troops/units that deploy to actual peacekeeping missions. The GPOI Evaluation Team will provide the Embassy Country Team the necessary reporting tools to easily and accurately record this data. -------------- POINT OF CONTACT -------------- ¶9. (U) Please contact PM/PPA ) Aiyaz Husain at(202) 647-6058 or via email at HusainA2@state.gov for any further background information. CLINTON