UNGA SECOND COMMITTEE - U.S. PROMOTES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 USUN NEW YORK 001161

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR IO/HS, INR/CYBER, EEB
NSC FOR M.FROMAN, S.POWER
STATE PASS USTR FOR D. SHACKLEFORD
TREASURY FOR OIA/IDP: J.HURLEY, R.BAYLY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN ETRD SENV UNGA
SUBJECT: UNGA SECOND COMMITTEE - U.S. PROMOTES
CYBERSECURITY AND LEGAL EMPOWERMENT FOR POOR, CONSENSUS ON
KEY DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

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Summary
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1. (SBU) The UN General Assembly completed action December 24
on the last of the 46 draft resolutions and decisions for the
2009 session of the Second (Economic and Financial)
Committee, notably achieving consensus results on all but
six. USUN approached the committee's work with intensified
engagement, particularly with developing country delegations,
and achieved some notable successes, including the adoption
of a U.S.-sponsored resolution on cybersecurity. U.S.
diplomacy was key in making progress on difficult
macroeconomic resolutions and winning adoption of our
co-sponsored resolution on "Legal Empowerment of the Poor."
Overall, we succeeded in reducing the number of voted
resolutions in which the U.S. was in a small minority
relative to the past 2-4 years. Despite the U.S.
contribution to an improved atmosphere in the 2nd Committee,
fractiousness within the large G77 bloc of developing states
significantly delayed the work of the Committee, a trend that
is likely to continue. Looking to the new year, USUN is
already working with inter-agency partners in advance of the
September 2010 three-day High-Level UN Event on the
Millennium Development Goals. End summary.

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A Busy Session
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2. (U) The Second Committee (2C) in the 64th General
Assembly, in taking action on 44 documents (in addition to
several oral decisions),matched historic high workloads
reached previously only in the 60th and 57th General
Assemblies. In keeping with the Committee's prevailing
culture, all but six of the resolutions and decisions were
adopted by consensus, with the U.S. opposing or abstaining on
five of those six voted documents. The U.S. was in a small
minority on just three votes, which is consistent with
overall numbers from the past 13 years, but sharply reduced
from our record 2-4 years ago (in the 60th session, for
instance, the U.S. was in a small minority on 10 votes in the
2nd Committee). The General Assembly adopted the bulk of
this year's 2C resolutions on December 21, and adopted the
final two resolutions in the early morning hours of December

24.


3. (U) The U.S. continued to oppose the perennially voted and
unbalanced resolutions on "Permanent Sovereignty of the
Palestinian People over Natural Resources" (8 other states
voted "no"),"Oil Slick on Lebanese Shores" (7 other states
joined us in opposing),and "Unilateral Coercive Economic
Measures" (2 other states also voted "no"),and we joined 46
other developed states in also opposing the "Trade"
resolution and abstained with 49 others on the
Cuban-sponsored "New International Economic Order"
resolution. With negotiations on most resolutions beginning
unusually late in the session, USUN was stretched to the
maximum in handling this number of negotiations in such a
short timeframe, and could not have succeeded without
invaluable TDY support from IO, EEB, and INR/Cyber.

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Highlights
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4. (U) The 2C resolutions are scattered among a dozen
different agenda items, mostly falling under the broad

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categories of: sustainable development, macro-economics,
globalization, poverty, agricultural development, countries
in special situations, and operational activities. The more
notable of these resolutions and negotiations are summarized
below.


5. (U) Cybersecurity: Almost all draft resolutions in the 2C
are introduced by the G77 group of developing countries, but
this year the U.S. took the lead in introducing a resolution
entitled "Creation of a global culture of cybersecurity and
taking stock of national efforts to protect critical
information infrastructures," which was adopted by consensus
on December 21 with the co-sponsorship of a diverse group of
39 other member states representing nearly every geographic
group. The main purpose of this resolution was to
disseminate a voluntary self-assessment tool that member
states could use in evaluating their national cybersecurity
infrastructures, while also inviting states to share best
practices, noting the vital importance of information systems
to international trade and development. The U.S. had last
sponsored cybersecurity-related resolutions in the 2C in 2002
and 2003, and this year's effort was led by INR/Cyber in
keeping with the U.S. Government's renewed focus on the topic.


6. (SBU) Legal Empowerment of the Poor: The U.S. joined 70
other co-sponsors of this resolution, which was first adopted
in the GA during the 63rd session. The work of a Commission
on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, formed under the auspices
of the UN Development Program and including the participation
of former Secretary of State Albright, served as the
resolution's initial inspiration. Although the draft text
enjoyed wide co-sponsorship, including among Latin states, it
came under fire from fringe "Bolivarian" delegations
(Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba) as well as China and
Egypt, with the Bolivarians seeking to shift the focus of the
resolution away from "rule of law" and to an indictment of
"predatory" capitalism. When the prospect of a possible
contested vote on the resolution caused some co-sponsors to
waver, the U.S. delegation worked successfully with Brazil,
the EU and other co-sponsors to defend the core elements of
the resolution. Just two days before scheduled action on the
resolution in the 2nd Committee, the Bolivarian opposition
signaled it would join consensus and other reticent
delegations quickly followed suit. In future, however, this
resolution will be negotiated as a General Assembly plenary
item rather than within the 2nd Committee. (Note: Topics
that do not fit neatly within the subject matter of a single
Main Committee are often treated as GA Plenary items. Many
delegations held the view that the Legal Empowerment of the
Poor resolution dealt with topics related to three different
Main Committees of the GA (2nd, 6th and 3rd),and therefore
decided to place the resolution as a GA Plenary item
henceforth. End note.)


7. (SBU) Agricultural Technology for Development: This
resolution was first adopted two years ago under the primary
sponsorship of Israel, as part of an effort both to raise the
profile of a topic highly relevant to ongoing food security
discussions as well as to raise a non-politicized profile for
Israel in the 2C. Although a number of Arab states called a
vote on the resolution in the 62nd General Assembly, there
were hopes that it would garner a less politicized reception
this year, since it was co-sponsored by 89 states (including
the U.S.). The U.S. delegation was active in lobbying for
support, particularly among African delegations.
Unfortunately, when the 2C took action on the resolution, the
Arab Group once again called a vote, and the number of states
abstaining actually grew (primarily because Bolivarian

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delegations joined the Arab Group in abstaining),and the
number of states voting in favor of the resolution was 13
fewer (in part due to higher absenteeism, including among
co-sponsors). Vote totals improved when the General Assembly
took action December 21, however, as the resolution was
adopted by a vote of 146 (U.S.)-1-32. (Note: While this
total is similar to the outcome two years ago, four states
claimed balloting errors that would have changed the vote
outcome to 143-1-36. Somalia is the lone delegation that
voted "no".)


8. (SBU) Macroeconomic Issues: The resolution on
"International Trade and Development" has defied consensus in
the 2nd Committee since 2003, largely in light of continuing
north-south divisions that have frustrated efforts to
complete the Doha round negotiations in the World Trade
Organization. Nevertheless, negotiations on the draft
resolution in this session had a promising start, with key
delegations (including the U.S.) demonstrating maximum
flexibility in order to achieve consensus. On the final day
of negotiations, the U.S. proposed a compromise package that
was endorsed by the EU, Brazil and India. But a hard-line
minority of G77 members (led by Egypt) blocked consensus,
leading once again to a voted resolution. More moderate G77
members were successful in working with the EU and the U.S.
to shape consensus outcomes on other key macroeconomic
resolutions, including on Debt, Commodities, Financing for
Development and the International Financial System (IFS).
The IFS negotiations were the very last to finish in the 2C,
requiring late-night sessions and high-level lobbying to
bring to a successful close. Delegates from a number of
developing countries praised USUN for its leadership role in
bridging gaps during the negotiations. Briefings over recent
months for UN member states by Deputy National Security
Advisor Michael Froman on the work of the G20 in addressing
the global financial crisis paid important dividends in these
negotiations.


9. (SBU) Climate Change, Sustainable Development: The annual
2C resolution "Protection of global climate for present and
future generations" broke little new rhetorical or
substantive ground in the sensitive weeks prior to the UN
Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (December 7-18),
despite laborious and divisive negotiations. The 2C
nevertheless managed to achieve a consensus outcome, and both
Secretary-General Ban and GA President Treki expressed their
appreciation for the late-night negotiations that allowed the
GA to adopt the resolution on December 7, the first day of
the Copenhagen Conference. Another key resolution achieving
a consensus outcome, entitled "Implementation of Agenda 21,"
set the stage for a United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development in 2012 in Brazil, marking the 20th anniversary
of the Rio "Earth Summit" of 1992. The U.S. and other WEOG
members successfully argued that building a "green economy"
should be a key theme of the 2012 Conference, overcoming
strong opposition from Russia and G77 members.

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Fringe Factions Causing Trouble
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10. (SBU) Not only did the 2C face a historically high
workload this year, but it was further burdened by a reduced
calendar in which to complete its work because of divisions
within the G77 group of over 130 developing countries and
China. The G77 present the first draft of nearly every
recurring resolution in the 2C, but this year the group
missed deadlines for the submission of texts--in most cases

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by 2-3 weeks (out of a total negotiation calendar of just
five weeks). According to G77 delegates, the Group had
difficulty coordinating its position on the draft resolutions
in part because the delegation of Sudan, which currently
chairs the G77, was left shorthanded by the demands of
parallel international climate change negotiations leading to
Copenhagen. But other key factors were sharp differences
within the group and a lack of firm leadership to mold
consensus. In numerous cases, "fringe" factions (often led
by Egypt, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia) were as
troublesome within the G77 as they were in the formal
negotiations, leading powerful G77 delegations like India and
Brazil to become exasperated with the antics. Ultimately,
G77-originated delays forced the 2nd Committee to conclude
its work 15 days later than planned, despite a heightened
tempo of negotiations. With Yemen taking over the G77
chairmanship in January for 2010, UN delegates are divided in
their predictions whether Yemen will face similar or greater
problems at the G77 helm in the 65th GA, or be able to do
marginally better. Among the showcase events of the 65th GA
will be a 3-day High-Level Event on the Millennium
Development Goals, as negotiated by the current GA. USUN is
already working with inter-agency partners in preparing for
that high-profile event, which takes place immediately before
the start of the GA's General Debate in September 2010.
RICE