Canada To Urge Yemen Conference to Consider "Fragile State"

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 000039 SENSITIVE SIPDIS NOFORN SENSITIVE AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PASS TO AMCONSUL QUEBEC E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/26 TAGS: PREL EAID PTER YM CA SUBJECT: Canada To Urge Yemen Conference to Consider "Fragile State" Best Practices REF: 10 STATE 6928 CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Bellard, POLMINCOUNS, Ottawa, POL; REASON: 1.4B, D ¶1. (C/NF) Canada will approach the London Conference on Yemen (reftel) with a "modest" agenda to "find out what is needed" and to "see how Canada might be able to help," according to Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) Gulf and Maghreb Relations Director Jeffrey McLaren. Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon will lead Canada's delegation. Assistant Deputy Minister and Political Director Yves Brodeur will accompany Foreign Minister Cannon, McLaren added. ¶2. (C/NF) At the request of the UK, Canada will use its speaking slot to stress the need for international donor coordination, McLaren confirmed. He acknowledged that Canada will approach its suggestions with a sense of "humility," given Canada's lack of diplomatic presence in Yemen. He nonetheless underscored that the international community has several recent examples of "well-planned" blueprints for engaging with "fragile" states, which the international community should consider. He especially drew attention to Canada's engagement in Afghanistan and opined that the international community may be able to draw valuable lessons learned from Afghanistan and Iraq. ¶3. (C/NF) McLaren expressed pessimism that DFAIT will be able to influence the Canadian International Development Agency to include Yemen as a priority aid recipient, as Foreign Minister Cannon had raised during the January 18 visit to Ottawa by Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubaker Alqirbi. McLaren observed, however, that a successful conference would strengthen DFAIT's inter-agency negotiations toward achieving this "aspirational" goal. In the absence of a priority aid recipient designation, DFAIT will have only much more modest funding opportunities ("low six figures") through its own Global Peace and Security Program and Counterterrorism Capacity Building Assistance Program. Between 2004 and 2006, Canada contributed C$450,000 to remove land mines in Yemen, according to official government data. JACOBSON