GUINEA: UK THINKING ON JUSTICE AND SECURITY SECTOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 000366 SIPDIS NOFORN DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W (SHANNON CAZEAU) E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2020 TAGS: PREL KDEM MASS EAID PGOV GV UK SUBJECT: GUINEA: UK THINKING ON JUSTICE AND SECURITY SECTOR REFORM REF: LONDON 12971 Classified By: Political Counselor Robin Quinville, reasons 1.4 (b/d). (C) FCO West Africa Team leader Paul Welsh and Guinea Desk officer Christine Ward (who will attend the coming ICG meeting in Conakry) welcomed the USG's forward thinking on justice and security sector reform (JSSR),underscored the need for close international community coordination on JSSR, and indicated the UK's hope to support initiatives. Welsh told Poloff on February 18 that UK assistance for JSSR in Guinea would not/not be possible in the current fiscal year (which ends on April 5),but said he is "hopeful but not certain" that funding will be possible in the next fiscal year. He explained that funding levels would be determined as the Foreign Office goes through its budget process and that UK priorities for Guinea's JSSR process would be determined after review of the joint UN-ECOWAS team's report. He noted that the UK plans to support the electoral reform process (which the UK has discussed with UNDP),and that any UK assistance to Guinea will likely be split evenly between electoral reform and JSSR. Welsh said the EU's Stability Instrument Fund may be a good source of funding for JSSR, and said the UK hoped to get the EU involved in the review process of the UN-ECOWAS report. In order to encourage international coordination on JSSR and maintain ECOWAS engagement, Welsh floated the idea of suggesting to ECOWAS that it should host a coordination roundtable on JSSR in Guinea. Visit London's Classified Website: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Unit ed_Kingdom SUSMAN