Assistant Secretary Brimmer Meets with UNODC, UNIDO

UNCLAS UNVIE VIENNA 000560 SIPDIS EMBASSIES FOR ECON/POL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC EINV ETRD UNCITRAL AU UN SUBJECT: Assistant Secretary Brimmer Meets with UNODC, UNIDO Leaders REF: DOHA 679 ¶1. Summary. In December 1 meetings with Antonio Costa, Executive Director of UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC),and Kandeh Yumkella, the Director General of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO),Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer stressed the United States' strong commitment to multilateralism. With Costa, A/S Brimmer thanked the UNODC for its good work, and noted how UNODC's agenda is central to U.S. priorities. Costa in turn thanked the U.S. for its continued support on several fronts: policy, expertise and financial. He recognized the "strong convergence of views" between the U.S. and UNODC on many issues. UNIDO DG Yumkella provided A/S Brimmer with an update on next week's General Conference (GC),and UNIDO's ongoing initiatives. Although Yumkella did not explicitly pursue his obvious desire for greater U.S.-UNIDO engagement, it was nevertheless apparent throughout the course of the discussion, and A/S Brimmer carefully avoided allowing that line of discussion to continue. End Summary. -------------- Costa: Funding of UNCAC Review Mechanism a Critical Issue -------------- ¶2. A/S Brimmer congratulated Costa on creation of the new UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) review mechanism (Ref). He acknowledged the importance of INL DAS Elizabeth Verville's role in that accomplishment. With regard to funding the UNCAC review, both Costa and A/S Brimmer agreed that member states would pursue regular budget funding for the 2012-13 biennium and beyond, but the issue for immediate attention is funding the staffing portion of the mechanism (which Costa estimated at about $1.5 million) for the 2010-11 biennium. Costa was concerned that the U.S. representatives to the 5th Committee had expressed a view that the money must be found within UNODC's budget (sectioQ6),and Costa felt this was inconsistent with our agreement in Doha, where we agreed to reallocate regular budget funds from outside the UNODC budget. A/S Brimmer assured Costa that the USG would eventually "get to a place where we all want to be" and that the money will be found. But the route to getting agreement might be circuitous due to budget sensitivities within the 5th Committee. She said that the U.S. needs to operate in the 5th Committee under the principle of budget discipline, but understands the agreement at Doha and is confident that we will eventually "get to where we want to be". -------------- Mr. Costa Goes to NY -------------- ¶3. Costa mentioned that he has been invited to speak before the Security Council in New York. Costa reported that his December 8 visit will be to discuss "West Africa, East Africa, and everything in between." He said he intends to "come out strong" on the seriousness of the crime and drug problems in Africa. He pointed to a recent example of how the drug trade has penetrated that area, citing a crash in Mali of a 767 plane from Venezuela that was carrying a large amount of drugs. UNODC Director of Operations Francis Maertens later highlighted the new regional program in West Africa that was approved by Ministers of Justice in Nairobi. -------------- Increased Attention to UNODC Afghanistan Reports -------------- ¶4. Costa previewed two reports that will be issued soon. One report (Afghan Opium Survey) is the full report of a summary released in early September. The other report is a survey of corruption in Afghanistan. He promised to provide the U.S. a draft copy in advance of the latter report once it nears completion (which staff tell us will be in mid-January). Costa reported that UNODC corruption surveyors had interviewed 12,000 people in 4,000 villages and were able to put together a decent picture of local corruption, which they estimate to be at least 10 percent of GNP and was (surprisingly) more prevalent in areas firmly under government control. A/S Brimmer said the U.S. would look forward to these reports and thanked UNODC for its useful and strong research work in Afghanistan. -------------- UNODC Anti-Piracy Work Going Strong -------------- ¶5. Costa thanked the U.S. for its continuing support for UNODC's anti-piracy work. Costa, who had just returned from Kenya, stated its anti-piracy work in the region was going tremendously well. UNODC hopes to expand to Seychelles, Djibouti and Tanzania in the near future. UNODC also hopes to expand work into Somalia itself. Costa reported that UN Political Affairs has recently agreed to make Vienna the center for the new trust fund that was created for pursuing prosecution of pirates. Costa illustrated the relative bargain of the UN program by comparing its budget to the $1.4 million/day budget needed to operate and maintain the fourteen military vessels currently patrolling the seas off the Horn of Africa. Such an amount of money, Costa argued, would fund a good portion of UNODC's work. -------------- Future of Triangular Initiative -------------- ¶6. Costa also briefed A/S Brimmer on the "Triangular Initiative", a UNODC program to encourage counter-narcotics cooperation and border management between Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Costa, who takes personal credit for the success of this important initiative, hailed the measurable accomplishments which have occurred in the past year, including the establishment of a permanent Joint Planning Cell (JPC) in charge of producing and sharing timely operational intellegence reports, creation of border liaison offices, and increased joint interdiction operations. Costa particularly emphasized his goal (which was agreed to among the Triangular members at the last ministerial in October) of linking the JPC with the Central Asian Regional Intelligence Center's (CARRIC) work to counter the trafficking of Afghan opiates. Costa was optimistic that such a link would increasingly translate into larger operational results in the future. -------------- Yumkella: "Greening Industry", MCC Are Initiatives to be Encouraged -------------- ¶7. A/S Brimmer opened the meeting by congratulating Yumkella on his expected election for a second term as Director General of UNIDO. Yumkella expressed his pleasure that the U.S. would attend the following week's General Conference (GC) as an invited guest (Dec. 7- 11),and described the overarching theme of the "Greening Industry", noting a number of sub themes which would be addressed, including resources management, green jobs, and ecological efficiency. While acknowledging criticism from some member states that he was dabbling too much in climate change issues, Yumkella argued that UNIDO was central to the debate. As long as public policy played a role in the greening of industry (which it necessarily does, Yumkella claimed), states must provide outlets for reducing the risk to individual enterprise, or at the very least to ensure risk is shared. UNIDO's role, in Yumkella's view, was to support its member states as they encouraged industry to change its behavior. ¶8. Yumkella also praised the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC), describing its work as "real investment" (not small change) that nonetheless holds states accountable to certain conditions. Yumkella mourned the possible decline of the MCC under the new administration, but A/S Brimmer assured him that the MCC would be revisited as part of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR). At the meeting's close, Yumkella passed A/S Brimmer further material on UNIDO's activities in Iraq. He also pondered out loud about the potential gains of a Member State group tentatively designated "Friends of Energy." -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. Yumkella spoke quickly and earnestly, without putting the least pressure on U.S. participants to "rejoin" the organization (the U.S. withdrew from UNIDO in 1996). It was clear, however, that he was keen for greater U.S. involvement, as he described his many ideas for the future. A/S Brimmer remained largely in listening mode and was careful to diffuse any expectation that the U.S. was interested in more deeply engaging with UNIDO at this time. END COMMENT ¶10. A/S Brimmer cleared this message. DAVIES