TURKMENISTAN: NEW UN COORDINATOR FOCUSING ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000173 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2020 TAGS: EAID PGOV PREL SENV UN TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: NEW UN COORDINATOR FOCUSING ON POLICY DIALOGUE REF: 09 ASHGABAT 1053 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sylvia Reed Curran. Reasons 1.4 (B) a nd (D). ¶1. (C) UN Resident Coordinator Lenni Montiel arrived in Turkmenistan in December 2009. Since his arrival, he has already tried to change elements of how the UN mission conducts business internally and how it interacts with the Turkmenistan Government. In a meeting on February 2, Montiel emphasized that the Turkmenistan Government is very interested in working with the UN, but that the UN needs to use that interest to raise the level of interaction. Currently, according to Montiel, the UN focuses on implementing projects, and each project is evaluated separately. Instead, the UN would better accomplish its overall objectives by discussing policy with the government, and then focusing on training that would change or improve government policies. Montiel said he sees the UN as a "knowledge bank," and hopes that he can get the government to also see it as such, instead of just a donor. He would like to build Turkmenistan's confidence in the UN to the point where they might be willing self-finance some projects. ¶2. (C) Montiel noted that the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) that was signed in August 2009, covering 2010-2015. It includes a wide scope of projects, including some new areas like parliamentary development and local governance (reftel). He said the framework document should give the UN latitude to also focus on the Secretary General's priorities, including governance and climate change. The Secretary General is scheduled to visit all five Central Asian countries in April, but the exact dates are not set. During that visit, he would likely focus on the issues of counterterrorism, Afghanistan, and safe transport of water, energy, and electricity. ¶3. (C) The Copenhagen Accord is high on the UN list of priorities, according to Montiel, and he would like to increase work on national parks, biodiversity, energy conservation, and alternative energy sources in Turkmenistan. Montiel plans to set an example by making the UN House a green building. He noted that if the UN in Slovakia could put up enough solar panels to provide electricity for the whole building, he was sure it could be done in Turkmenistan. ¶4. (C) Montiel also mentioned that he is examining internal procedures at the UN mission. To gain the complete confidence of the local government, the UN must be viewed as free from corruption. He is thus trying to improve transparency and correct any procedures that do not coincide with regulations. This covers issues ranging from clear payroll procedures to budgeting for projects. He mentioned that last year, the UN provided Turkmenistan with four million dollars worth of soft assistance, which he explained meant training, as opposed to equipment. The average project cost $200,000. He added that the EU was funding a two million euro project that would include human rights training and training for reporting to treaty bodies. He is struggling to break that project into smaller components that could reasonably be implemented, because two million euros is more than any one Turkmen government agency could absorb. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: It was refreshing to see someone excited to try new ways of working with the Turkmenistan Government. Montiel is attempting to get the government to see the UN in a different light, as a resource instead of a donor agency. He did not, however, take the government's affinity for the UN as a sign of complete trust in the UN. He apparently believes that the UN still has work to do to convince the Turkmen Government that it is trustworthy enough to be ASHGABAT 00000173 002 OF 002 allowed to talk to them about overall policy plans, instead of just individual projects. END COMMENT. CURRAN