SCENESETTER FOR NOVEMBER 24 VISIT OF IO DAS ANDERSON

UNCLAS UNESCO PARIS 001536

SIPDIS

FOR IO DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY GERALD ANDERSON FROM AMBASSADOR
KILLION

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL UNESCO AORC
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR NOVEMBER 24 VISIT OF IO DAS ANDERSON


1. (SBU) Summary: UNESCO's new Director-General Irina Bokova is
under great pressure to come to decisions on appointing her team and
reorganizing UNESCO's organizational structure. In doing so, she
would like to take account of U.S. views (as well as others),but
she must act fast or risk finding herself "home alone" with a team
largely of lame duck holdovers not necessarily loyal to her or her
goals. The U.S. has a unique opportunity to influence her personnel
choices and restructuring plans, but the window will not be open
long. It will be important to use your visit to come to some
decisions. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Your visit comes at a critical moment. Irina Bokova took
over from Koichiro Matsuura as UNESCO Director-General on November
15, and she is still in the early stages of deciding what
administrative/management changes to make and what her program
priorities are.


3. (SBU) Bokova has been very open and willing to meet with me.
She readily admits her debt to the United States and is looking for
ways to satisfy it. In our conversations, she has proposed various
positions for an American in her administration. Shortly, after her
election she suggested she would have two Deputy Directors-General
(DDG) and that one would look after Administration. This one could
be an American. More recently, she has suggested that the U.S.
should have Assistant Director-General (ADG) Science. The DDG Admin
position, if it is created, would go to an African - perhaps the
current comptroller and Ethiopian native, Getachew Engida.


4. (SBU) My discussions with Bokova have been typical of the ones
she is having with other ambassadors. She wants to satisfy as many
as possible, but she does not have a clear and settled vision of how
she wants to reorganize and staff UNESCO. This leads her to advance
one proposed organization chart today and another tomorrow.


5. (SBU) I would like to emphasize that Bokova is under enormous
pressure to act quickly. Matsuura did her no favors by making all
ADG contracts expire in January 2010 and by finding onward
assignments for all senior officers in his cabinet. Most of the
latter will be gone by the end of this month. A lengthy vacancy
announcement was issued for the ADG positions, but, following usual
practice, the deadline for applications is December 27. Given
UNESCO's cumbersome hiring procedures, it will take time to get
everyone on board.


6. (SBU) Bokova cannot afford to be "home alone." She reportedly
plans to extend some ADGs in their posts for several months, but
having lameducks linger for extended periods is far from ideal.
Given this situation, there will almost certainly be no extension of
the December 27 applications deadline. If we want Americans to
obtain any of these jobs, we will have to ensure that they apply on
time and that we have an understanding in advance which job will go
our way. This will form the principal topic in your meeting with
her on November 24. If we do not want science but would prefer a
different position/organizational arrangement, such as DDG
Administration, you will need to speak clearly.


7. (SBU) We have a unique window of opportunity, but it will not
remain open long. Bokova is under strong pressure from some member
states to begin announcing decisions on appointments and UNESCO's
future organization at the November 23 Executive Board session. The
rules require her to consult the Board on structural changes.


8. (SBU) On program priorities, Bokova's preferences have also yet
to gel. One thing clear is that there has been much talk in recent
weeks here about the need to do something more on inter-cultural
dialogue. Bokova herself called me last week to express concern
about a draft Third Committee resolution that would have put the
spotlight on the Alliance of Civilizations rather than UNESCO.
(Thanks to our intervention the resolution was amended to include a
mention of UNESCO). I expect Bokova early on to try to involve
UNESCO more in efforts to promote inter-cultural understanding.

KILLION