Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09UNROME53
2009-09-01 12:05:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
UN Rome
Cable title:  

FAO DG DIOUF'S VIEWS ON IMPLEMENTING L'AQUILA SUMMIT FOOD

Tags:  EAGR FAO PREL EAID UN WB 
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INFO RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0482
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 1213
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 UN ROME 000053 

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C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED ADDEE AND CAPTION)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR FAO PREL EAID UN WB
SUBJECT: FAO DG DIOUF'S VIEWS ON IMPLEMENTING L'AQUILA SUMMIT FOOD
SECURITY DECLARATION

REF: USUN ROME 09 and 41

UN ROME 00000053 001.2 OF 002


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 UN ROME 000053

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C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED ADDEE AND CAPTION)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR FAO PREL EAID UN WB
SUBJECT: FAO DG DIOUF'S VIEWS ON IMPLEMENTING L'AQUILA SUMMIT FOOD
SECURITY DECLARATION

REF: USUN ROME 09 and 41

UN ROME 00000053 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary and Action Request. FAO Director
General (DG) Jacques Diouf told the Charge on August 28 that he
was delighted with President Obama's strong leadership on food
security at the L'Aquila Summit and wants to use the November
World Food Summit to adopt the five L'Aquila principles at the
global level by all 192 member countries. However, Diouf would
like the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) to play the lead
role in implementing the L'Aquila Summit although at this point
he does not apparently have a clear plan for how to do so. At
this stage, Mission suggests countering Diouf's plans for CFS
global governance by advocating instead having a reformed CFS
with its universal membership serve as a forum for a number of
developing countries to discuss their challenges, experiences
and best practices at the national level. Mission requests
guidance (para 5) on how the CFS can best be used to promote the
Global Partnership without playing a governing or coordinating
role. On other issues, Diouf was pleased the US and Italian
Governments are sponsoring the September 14-15 L'Aquila
implementation meeting in Washington, welcomed the USG
contribution of $500,000 to the IPA Trust Fund, saying it sends
a strong signal of U.S. commitment to FAO reform, and defended
his draft budget proposal as a "no growth, maintenance" budget
that only maintains purchasing power. End Summary and Action
Request




2. (SBU) The recently-arrived Charge paid a courtesy call
on DG Diouf on August 28 in preparation for a number of
September meetings that will discuss the objectives of the
November World Food Summit, the role of a reformed CFS and the
FAO's 2010-11 Program of Work and Budget. Diouf was very
cordial and the meeting lasted almost 90 minutes as Diouf
described at length his experience in promoting agricultural
development since the 1996 World Food Summit.




3. (SBU) Diouf lauded President's Obama's "strong
leadership" at the L'Aquila Summit, saying he was "delighted"
with the outcome, and was optimistic there will be significant

progress over the next three years. He stated that the
principles in the L'Aquila Declaration need to serve as the
blueprint for implementing the global strategy and the primary
objective of the November World Food Summit would be to adopt
L'Aquila's five principles at a global level. Diouf agreed with
the Charge on the need to develop country-led food security
plans and, in this connection, said he was pleased the United
States had taken the initiative with the Italians to call the
September 14-15 Road from L'Aquila meeting in Washington, at
which the FAO will be represented by the Assistant Director
General for Technical Assistance, Jose Maria Sumpsi, and several
of his directors with in-depth knowledge of projects. Diouf
characterized this as a "high-level delegation of experts" as
requested in the invitation. In response to the Charge's query
as to his objectives for the November Summit, Diouf responded
that the principal aim of the Summit is to adopt the L'Aquila
principles at the global level since the Summit, with its
universal participation, provides the best forum to
"universalize" these principles.




4. (SBU) Diouf also wants the Summit to approve the CFS
as the new governance structure for the global food strategy on
the grounds that only the FAO has the universal membership and
country-level expertise and resources needed to effectively
implement the L'Aquila principles. He apparently has no clear
plan yet for having the CFS play such a lead coordination role
so we have the opportunity in the coming weeks to shape the best
possible outcome for the CFS by proposing that the reformed CFS
have no governance role but rather serve as a global forum to
facilitate the multilateral aspect of the Global Partnership
through productive country and sub-regional level discussion on
how national plans can best promote agricultural development and
investment. At this stage, therefore, Mission suggests
countering Diouf's plans for CFS global governance by advocating
instead having a reformed CFS with its universal membership
serve as a forum for a number of developing countries to discuss
their challenges, experiences and best practices at the national
level. We need to ensure that the CFS does not become a "talk
shop" at the global level with a few activist states, such as
France and Brazil, dominating the conversation.




UN ROME 00000053 002.2 OF 002



5. (SBU) A number of other delegations, including Sweden
(representing the EU presidency),Canada, Mexico, the UK and New
Zealand told the Charge on August 31 that they want to identify
a constructive role for the CFS that focuses on analysis, not
governance, at the national level and draws on the considerable
technical expertise of the FAO professional staff. The
departing British deputy permrep suggested the CFS could become
a useful forum by having a sub-regional and national focus since
the agricultural challenges vary greatly within a region such as
sub-Saharan Africa and recommended that the existing regional
groups in FAO select representatives from their sub-regions for
CFS presentations, along the lines of the presentations being
planned for the UNGA side event later this month. Mission is
sympathetic to these views. ACTION REQUEST: Mission requests
guidance on how the CFS can best be used to promote the Global
Partnership without playing the sort of global governing or
coordinating role envisaged by Diouf. We suggest that the
mid-October CFS meeting could serve as useful follow-up to the
UNGA event and set the stage for a successful Summit if the
session provides a meaningful opportunity for developing
countries to discuss their experiences and plans to achieve food
security. As the World Bank has chosen not to participate in
CFS plenary sessions, we encourage Washington to urge World Bank
participation to help shape a more realistic approach. End
Action Request.




6. (SBU) On other issues, the Charge raised the U.S.
$500,000 contribution to the IPA Trust Fund and stressed the
USG's strong interest in continued reform in the organization to
increase its effectiveness. Diouf replied that he was very
pleased with the contribution and said it sent a "strong signal"
of U.S. support for reform, which he fully supports. The Charge
also raised the upcoming discussions on the budget and
emphasized the need for a zero nominal growth budget that
incorporates fully all the costs of implementing the IPA
reforms. Diouf responded by reiterating the same points that
had made in his recent letter to Assistant Secretary Brimmer;
e.g., he had proposed a "no growth, maintenance" budget that
only maintains purchasing power and, at the request of member
governments, had already folded half the cost of the IPA into
the regular budget.




7. (SBU) Comment. While we were pleased to hear Diouf's
goal of using the November Summit to promote the L'Aquila
principles on a global basis, we are concerned with his
continued attempt to have the CFS play the lead role in L'Aquila
implementation and, as noted above in para 5, seek guidance on
how we can best transform the CFS into a global forum to advance
the Global Partnership, build upon the UNGA event later this
month and thereby set the stage for a successful Summit in
November. We will provide recommendations in a separate message
on the upcoming budget discussions.
GLOVER