AMBASSADOR RICE'S MEETING WITH SRSG KAI EIDE

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000291

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV AF UNSC
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RICE'S MEETING WITH SRSG KAI EIDE

Classified By: AMBASSADOR SUSAN RICE, FOR REASONS 1.4 B/D


1. (C) Summary: In a March 19 meeting with Ambassador Rice,
SRSG and head of UNAMA Kai Eide emphasized the importance of
building the capacity of the government and people of
Afghanistan. Eide said few countries with active programs in
Afghanistan have a national perspective. Instead, they are
focused on success at the provincial level, which leads to
"donor-generated fragmentation." He urged that donors be
flexible in their programming and take advantage of the
openings for progress that currently exist. Ambassador Rice
said that Eide's mission was of critical importance to the
U.S., and he had full U.S. support. Eide thanked Ambassador
Rice and said it was crucial to have U.S. political support
and to be seen as having the full support of the U.S.
administration. End summary.


2. (C) Ambassador Rice began by thanking Eide for his work
and the work of UNAMA. Eide brushed off recent media reports
regarding himself and UNAMA, but emphasized that it was
important for his work as SRSG to be seen as having the full
support of the USG. Ambassador Rice assured him of this
support. She noted that one of the key insights of the U.S.
strategic review was the need for an increase in the civilian
aspects of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. Eide said he
was "very happy" to hear this, and noted that UNAMA's
presence and capability was still small and weak, but
improving.


3. (C) Eide said the key to success in Afghanistan was
institution and capacity building. Although Afghanistan
receives significant technical assistance, this assistance is
fragmented among provinces and donors. He called for a true
national plan in Afghanistan, with the same skills being
taught in the same way in all provinces, and experts being
sent to the country based on Afghanistan's need, not a donor
country's supply. He added that many donors build schools in
comparatively safe areas, whereas it is more important for
Afghan companies to do the work, in order to spur capacity
building and job creation. Another example of the
discrepancy between donor goals and the needs of Afghanistan
is that donors are focused on improving primary schools,
while little attention is given to higher education and
vocational schools. Many young Afghans leave primary schools
with no opportunities because of this lack of higher
education.


4. (C) Eide praised a U.S./UK initiative to encourage
governors to be more proactive in their provinces, and said
he was working to channel more donor money into this
initiative. However, too many donors focus only on
provinces, said Eide, and too few donors have a national
perspective. He feared that donors are viewing success in
Afghanistan on a province level, and said this was leading to
"donor-generated fragmentation." Eide also criticized a
reliance on contractors to perform development projects. The
goal of the contractors, said Eide, was swift completion of
the project, not the future of Afghanistan.


5. (C) Ambassador Rice asked how the U.S. could help in New
York. Eide replied that UNAMA's budget and recruitment were
on track, and the key priority was finding the right people.
The most important is to have U.S. political support, said
Eide. He added that coordination within the UN family is
improving, based largely on the realization by specialized
agencies such as OCHA and WFP that the SRSG can help improve
their relationship with the government of Afghanistan. The
government preferred a single UN point of contact, said Eide,
and he added that the Afghanistan Foreign Minister had almost
denied accreditation to the new OCHA office in Kabul.


6. (C) In closing, Eide discussed his relationship with
Karzai, and said that some thought it was too close, but he
believed this closeness had great utility. He said that
Karzai has been less angry in recent months, but previously
relations with the U.S. and other contributors had been quite
tense. This anger had been about more than elections or
civilian casualties, said Eide. He believed that if Karzai
had to choose between support and dignity, he would always
choose dignity. It was important to listen to Karzai and to
minimize the impression that there were debates going on
about his country in which he did not participate.
Ambassador Rice agreed, and said General Eikenberry would be
a very important interlocutor in Kabul. Eide said he had a
very good relationship with General Eikenberry. He noted
that he would be returning to Washington early next week, and
he hoped to leave Washington with a new and more sharply
focused draft for the chairman's statement he will issue at
the March 31 Ministerial
in The Hague.

Rice