UN PREVIEWS PLANNED SUPPORT TO AMISOM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000013 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM MARR KPKO UNSC SO SUBJECT: UN PREVIEWS PLANNED SUPPORT TO AMISOM ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. In two meetings on January 6, UN Under Secretary-General Malcorra and Department of Field Support (DFS) staff briefed USUN on the status of UN planning to implement the Secretary-General's proposed measures to strengthen the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). DFS is coordinating very urgent Secretariat action on this effort in the expectation that the Security Council is about to issue an authorizing resolution. Malcorra and staff explained that a technical assessment mission will arrive in the region on January 12 and that a comprehensive budget will be prepared within days of its January 26 return. DFS's preliminary estimate is that costs -- assuming a force of 8,000 troops -- will approach $600 million over 12 months for logistics, expendables, and construction with an additional $300 million needed from donors over that period for troop salaries and the training of Somali security personnel. Assuming both that the Security Council adopts the necessary resolution and that the Secretariat develops a budget when the TAM returns, the Secretariat will present a proposed budget to the relevant General Assembly committees as quickly as possible. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On January 6 DFS officer Max Kerley (UK) briefed USUN political and management reform officers on the state of the Secretariat's Department of Field Support (DFS) planning to implement the logistical support to AMISOM proposed by SYG Ban in his letters to the Council of December 19 and December ¶31. Kerley said DFS has adopted two "principles" in its approach to Somalia planning in the absence of a formal peacekeeping mandate: maintain only a minimal UN footprint on the ground and, accordingly, provide as much of the agreed support to AMISOM as possible via contractors. ¶3. (SBU) Kerley said that the Secretariat is sending a technical assessment mission (TAM) to Nairobi and Addis Ababa from January 12-26 (to include a possible visit to Mogadishu depending on security conditions) in order to finalize logistical planning to implement the SYG's proposal. He said the Secretariat is well aware that the P3 are discussing a text based on the SYG's recommendations and is acting now in order to be ready if such a resolution is approved. ¶4. (SBU) Kerley said that a comprehensive budget could be put together within several days of the TAM's January 26 return from the region. He provided a "back of the cigarette pack" estimate that UN support to AMISOM for 12 months would cost $500 million exclusive of the proposed transfer of assets from the former UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). He said UN-provided support measures would include rations, fuel, potable water, medical facilities, camp construction and operation, electric power, limited airfield services, and voice and data communication. ¶5. (SBU) In a follow-on session, Under Secretary-General for DFS Susanna Malcorra commented on internal UN political considerations in undertaking planning for UN support to AMISOM and on the way forward. Repeatedly saying that DFS is "pushing the envelope" and "entering uncharted waters," Malcorra said DFS is committed to supporting AMISOM. She made clear she is guided in this regard by the indication in the SYG's December 31 letter to the Security Council (S/2008/846) that "I am pleased to inform you that the Secretariat has already initiated action to secure the provision of logistics support for AMISOM." ¶6. (SBU) Malcorra's vision of UN support to AMISOM, once authorized by Security Council resolution, presumes an 8,000 troop AMISOM force and has DFS initially entering into a sole source contract with a current contractor and later concluding at least three contracts with different contractors for provision of rations, logistics (fuel, water, etc.),and facilities. She estimated total support cost at $600 million for 12 months exclusive of a $300 million donor trust fund dedicated to troop salaries, the training of Somali security personnel, and other essential expenses not normally assumed by a UNPKO. (NOTE. Malcorra provided USUN with a written preliminary cost breakdown and this has been forwarded to IO. END NOTE.) She said the Secretariat would prepare a more comprehensive budget very quickly after the return of the TAM and that, assuming the Security Council adopts a mandate authorizing resolution, the budget would enter the ACABQ and Fifth Committee process of the General Assembly in March. ¶7. (SBU) Malcorra noted that the initial contract would likely be sole-source rather than resulting from a tender process and mentioned Dyncorp, the largest contractor already on the ground, as the most likely initial contractor. She acknowledged that the UNAMID sole-sourcing exercise had proven problematic but insisted that DFS had learned from that experience and would obviate problems by significantly USUN NEW Y 00000013 002 OF 002 limiting the initial contract in time and clearly delineating a transition to follow-on arrangements with multiple contractors. She said that a solicitation of expressions of interest had already been issued for the follow-on contracts. ¶8. (SBU) Malcorra insisted that UN support to AMISOM would be subject to all the accounting and other controls normally imposed on peacekeeping operations. She sees the UN overseeing provision of support elements from a rear base in Addis Ababa, Nairobi, or Mombasa with UN presence in Mogadishu as required. ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT. This AMISOM support effort brings not just DFS but us all into uncharted waters. The current draft of the Somalia Security Council resolution envisions incorporation of AMISOM forces into a UNPKO possibly as soon as June 1. Even with adjustment of Malcorra's 12-month cost estimates to fit that timeframe, this effort will incur significant expense of which Department may wish to apprise Washington agencies and Congress. Khalilzad