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.

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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".

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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."

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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