Estonia: OIG Review of Impact of Required Reporting

UNCLAS TALLINN 000070 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR OIG/ISP AMB. DAVID ZWEIFEL DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/NB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AMGT ASIG PHUM EN SUBJECT: Estonia: OIG Review of Impact of Required Reporting REF: State 9541 ¶1. This is Embassy Tallinn's response to reftel OIG request on the impact of required reporting. Post's answers are keyed to the questions from para 3. a. Which mandated reports require most time and attention from Department personnel at your embassy? Human Rights Report International Religious Freedom Report Trafficking in Persons Report INCSR I and II Country Commercial Guide Investment Climate Statement b. What section or unit is assigned responsibility for gathering information and preparing these reports? The Political/Economic section prepares all the reports. The DCM reviews all reports, engages in substantive discussion with drafters and with Washington on any items that become contentious. c. How many employees are involved in preparing and submitting each report? Please specify Department direct hire staff, local employees, eligible family members, contractors or other. Human Rights Report, 3 officers, 1 local employee International Religious Freedom Report, 3 officers, 1 local employee Trafficking in Persons Report, 3 officers, 1 local employee INCSR I and II, 3 officers, 1 local employee Country Commercial Guide, 3 officers, 1 local employee Investment Climate Statement, 3 officers, 1 local employee d. How many person hours (by report and employee category) are required to prepare each of the mandated reports? What proportion of the embassy or mission's total personnel or other resources does this represent? Human Rights Report - 144 hours total for the various versions; International Religious Freedom Report -- 51 hours; Trafficking in Persons Report - 61 hours INCSR I and II - 61 hours each Country Commercial Guide -- 43 hours Investment Climate Statement - 43 hours These reports take approximately 403 man-hours per year. The Political/Economic Section has three direct hire officers and four local staff. Assuming 2,000 work hours per employee per year, these reports take approximately 2.9 percent of the section's time. �A;e. Does required reporting, as it is currently being produced, support and reinforce other mission goals or divert resources from them? Some of the reporting helps to support mission goals, but for the most part the reports divert resources from other projects. Specifically, gathering data for the Human Rights, TIP, INCSR, and IRFR allow us to interact with the corresponding contacts, reinforcing USG interest in each of these fields. However, none of these are mission priorities as Estonia has a good track record on these issues. The CCG and ICS are useful products for U.S. companies thinking of doing business in Estonia, which supports the mission goal of promoting U.S. exports. f. What resource measures has the embassy taken (redirecting personnel to this instead of other duties, hiring additional local staff or eligible family members, requesting additional fulltime positions) to fulfill requirements for mandated reporting? None, the demands of these reports were factored into the embassy's work plan, so no additional "surge" resources are needed to handle the reports. g. Which parts of the process (information gathering, analysis, drafting, internal editing, negotiation of the final text with Washington) consume the most resources? Information gathering and drafting are the most labor intensive. h. How clear and helpful are Department instructions for preparing each of these reports? In general the Department guidance is far too long and detailed. For instance, the instructions for the 2009 Human Rights Report were 76 pages long, and for the Investment Climate Statement were 17 pages long. Even worse, this year we received the ICS instruction very late; some parts were delivered to Post six days after the report was due. Guidance often changes from year to year, making it harder to reuse elements of last year's reports when the situation has not changed, and the guidance is sometimes confusing or poorly written. There were several instances this year when Post had to go back to Washington for clarification of poorly worded instructions. i. What percentage of the embassy's overall reporting on an issue such as human rights or trafficking in persons docs the annual required draft represent? Does your post submit reporting cables on these issues throughout the year, or gather and discuss information but submit it formally primarily in the required annual draft? Human rights and trafficking in persons are not major problems for Estonia, so the HR and TIP reports constitute the majority of our post's reporting on these topics. HIV is included in the INCSR, since the local problem is driven by intravenous drug use, but most HIV reporting is conducted separately. j. Do other mission agencies besides the Department make significant contributions to the preparation of mandated reporting in these areas? No. ¶2. SUGGESTIONS FOR STREAMLINING/MODIFYING THE PROCESS: In order to preempt contentious debate, overly complex tracked changes and standoffs between posts and Washington offices, review of updates should be conducted via DVC or online. In this way, posts and Washington-based officers can eliminate misunderstandings, mischaracterizations and typos. Such direct connections would also underscore the value that both sides place on the issue -- not just the product, a distinction that is often lost as versions and reversions get passed back and forth. This is not to suggest that every session be conducted this way, but at least one session for per report should be. POLT