US embassy cable - 03AMMAN6706

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 006706 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA AND PRM; GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, KPAL, JO, UNRWA 
SUBJECT: UNRWA BEGINS PLANNING FOR JUNE 2004 GENEVA 
CONFERENCE 
 
REF: STATE 294162 
 
1.  This is an action request; see para 11. 
 
2.  Summary:  At an October 17 core group meeting, UNRWA 
opened discussions on the agenda and participation of its 
planned June 2004 extraordinary Geneva conference.  UNRWA and 
conference co-chair Switzerland view the Geneva event as an 
opportunity to publicize UNRWA's mandate and programs and 
broaden donor support.  While host governments and Canada 
share the U.S. view that the conference must remain 
apolitical, the Europeans pushed for a slightly more 
political conference, with refugee and NGO participation, 
discussion of sensitive issues such as humanitarian access in 
the West Bank and Gaza and a final declaration.  The agency's 
management was not mentioned as a potential agenda item. 
UNRWA asked core group members to provide written guidance on 
the conference's title, thematic workshops (including 
members' willingness to chair workshops), and a proposed 
panel debate by October 31.  We also request guidance on the 
proposed Geneva Declaration and participation by refugees and 
NGOs, before the December core group meeting.  UNRWA paper 
outlining proposed topics was faxed to PRM/ANE.  End summary. 
 
3.  On October 17, UNRWA held its first "core group" meeting 
to plan the extraordinary Geneva conference, scheduled for 
June 7-8, 2004.  The core group consists of Ireland (as EU 
President), the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, the 
European Commission, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Jordan 
(representing host governments), the PLO and the U.S. -- all 
of whom have expressed an interest in playing an active role 
in organizing the Geneva conference.  UNRWA hopes that the 
core group will take on responsibility for organizing, 
chairing and possibly providing financial support for the 
four thematic workshops that will be held during the Geneva 
conference.  The core group will meet every six weeks in 
Jerusalem and will report periodically to the broader 
steering committee (composed of all host governments and 
major donors) in Amman.  The next core group meeting is 
scheduled for the first week of December, when UNRWA hopes to 
finalize the agenda for the meeting, including selection of 
workshop themes and chairs.  UNRWA would like the workshop 
chairs to be distributed proportionately among its 
stakeholders:  one host government chair, two EU chairs, and 
one non-European donor chair. 
 
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UNRWA WANTS APOLITICAL CONFERENCE; 
SEEKS FEEDBACK ON DECLARATION AND TITLE 
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4. UNRWA Deputy ComGen Karen AbuZayd told the core group that 
UNRWA and co-chair Switzerland view the extraordinary Geneva 
conference as an opportunity to publicize UNRWA's mandate and 
programs and broaden UNRWA's donor base by encouraging minor 
donors to increase their contributions and introducing the 
agency to potential new donors.  UNRWA will keep the 
conference "institution-focused and humanitarian-focused," 
recognizing that it must avoid the "potential pitfalls" of 
political issues.  To that end, UNRWA is now reconsidering 
whether the Geneva Conference should include a short "Geneva 
Declaration" issued at the end of the meeting.  EC 
Representative Jean Breteche spoke in favor of a short 
declaration, noting that it could be an important show of 
support for UNRWA, Palestinian refugees and the peace 
process.  GOJ Department of Palestinian Affairs Director 
General Abdulkarim Abulhaija, speaking on behalf of host 
governments, said host governments prefer that the conference 
not include a final declaration.  Instead, the conference 
co-chairs should issue a summary statement that is focused on 
the discussions that will have taken place regarding the 
humanitarian and programmatic challenges facing UNRWA. 
 
5.  The proposed working title for the conference is: 
"Meeting the Challenges:  High-Level Conference of UNRWA and 
its Partners on Palestine Refugees."  The Irish 
representative suggested that perhaps the title should be 
modified to "Meeting the Humanitarian Challenges," to ensure 
that the humanitarian, rather than political, nature of the 
meeting is clear to all conference participants and 
observers, as well as the media.  (We support the Irish 
suggestion, as clear parameters -- beginning with the title 
itself -- will be key to maintaining the Geneva conference's 
apolitical nature.) 
 
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EC PUSHES FOR REFUGEE AND NGO PARTICIPATION 
------------------------------------------- 
 
6.  The EC requested that UNRWA consider including 
Palestinian refugees as participants in the Geneva 
conference, arguing that it is impossible to discuss refugee 
issues without including refugees in the debate.  (UNRWA had 
previously announced that the conference would be limited to 
existing stakeholders, potential new donors and UN agencies 
that support UNRWA's work.)  The EC also argued that it is 
necessary to include a "human element" in the conference (a 
la the theme for the November 2003 UN CAP for the West Bank 
and Gaza "Hear Our Voices") in order to adequately address 
UNRWA's fund-raising and marketing goals.  GOJ Representative 
Abulhaija dismissed the need for refugee participation in the 
conference, noting that host governments and the PLO would 
represent refugees' views as they always do in UNRWA 
meetings.  Bringing nonofficial refugee representatives in 
the mix, he added, would unnecessarily politicize and confuse 
the meeting.  The EC pushed back, arguing that video linkages 
to (carefully selected) UNRWA beneficiaries in the camps 
could be an effective and apolitical way to "humanize" the 
conference and introduce UNRWA's mandate and programs to 
potential donors.  Cautioning that the question of refugee 
participation would not be addressed at this particular core 
group meeting, UNRWA Deputy ComGen AbuZayd suggested that 
refugees could instead be invited to participate in either a 
"pre-meeting" (the Swiss have proposed a pre-conference 
academic meeting that would focus on UNRWA and Palestinian 
refugees) or in parallel events highlighting Palestinian 
culture and UNRWA's history. 
 
7.  The EC also requested that international NGOs be invited 
to participate in the conference as observers, arguing that 
NGO participation would promote a spirit of cooperation and 
coordination among Palestinian refugee service providers and 
also would inject a fresh perspective to the conference's 
workshops.  EC Technical Adviser Bart Witteveen suggested the 
NGO consortia that participate in the Geneva interagency 
standing committee -- Interaction, the Standing Committee for 
Humanitarian Response (SCHR) and the International Council of 
Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) -- would be appropriate 
representatives.  Noting that the U.S. Government insists 
that the Geneva Conference remain apolitical, refcoord said 
any NGO participation would have to be carefully managed and 
limited to responsible organizations that share UNRWA 
stakeholders' interest in preserving UNRWA's mandate and 
ability to provide services.  AbuZayd responded that this 
issue would have to be addressed at the next core group 
meeting, adding that any NGO participation in the Conference 
would have to follow established UNGA guidelines (e.g., would 
be limited to observer status only). 
 
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PROPOSED TOPICS AND POSSIBLE PANEL DEBATE 
----------------------------------------- 
 
8.  UNRWA circulated a paper outlining five proposed topics 
for the conference's four workshops:  1) promoting the 
well-being of Palestinian children and youth; 2) promoting 
socio-economic development; 3) new approaches to resource 
mobilization; 4) housing and infrastructure/community 
development; and 5) assisting the refugees to decide their 
own future.  (Paper was faxed to PRM/ANE.)  EC Representative 
Breteche requested that humanitarian access also be 
considered as a possible theme for the workshop, explaining 
access is a problem that dominates UNRWA's operations in the 
West Bank and Gaza.  Refcoord responded that although the 
U.S. also is deeply concerned about humanitarian access 
issues, focus on this particular topic could derail our 
efforts to organize an apolitical conference.  Moreover, 
focusing on a West Bank and Gaza-specific problem would 
detract from the conference's stated goal of addressing the 
challenges facing Palestinian refugees as a community -- the 
majority of which lives outside the West Bank and Gaza. 
AbuZayd concurred, adding that inclusion of access issues in 
the Geneva conference would require UNRWA to publicly address 
access in Lebanon, something the agency historically has been 
reluctant to do.  She suggested that core group members give 
UNRWA written feedback on workshop topics no later than 
October 31 so UNRWA can circulate a revised list for 
consideration well before the early December core group 
meeting.  AbuZayd also asked that core group members consider 
which workshops they would be willing to chair and what 
financial assistance, if any, they could provide for 
commissioned papers, travel of technical experts, etc. 
 
9.  Finally, AbuZayd asked the core group to consider whether 
it supports inclusion of a panel debate in the Geneva 
conference and, if so, what topics and participation would be 
appropriate.  UNRWA views the panel debate as a good 
opportunity to address "more controversial topics" as fewer 
players would be involved in the discussion and less 
preparation would be required to organize the event. 
(Comment:  Although UNRWA did not identify potential topics, 
we assume they would include issues such as resolution of the 
refugee question and the future of UNRWA.)  AbuZayd asked 
core group members to submit their views on the panel debate 
to UNRWA no later than October 31 so possible topics can be 
circulated to members before the December meeting. 
 
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COMMENT AND ACTION REQUEST 
-------------------------- 
 
10.  Comment:  From comments made at this meeting as well as 
refcoord's separate discussions with core group members, it 
seems that host governments, Egypt, Canada and the U.S. have 
a shared interest in ensuring that the Geneva Conference 
maintains a strictly apolitical agenda.  Host governments and 
Egypt are reluctant to do anything that would be interpreted 
in the refugee community as having addressed the right of 
return outside a negotiated political settlement, while 
Canada shares our concerns about unnecessarily raising 
UNRWA's political profile when donor support for UNRWA is 
under scrutiny in some domestic circles.  The Europeans, 
however, see this meeting as an opportunity to take a fresh 
look at UNRWA programming issues and likely will try to push 
the envelope on political issues.  No one seems interested in 
raising UNRWA management or governance issues at the Geneva 
conference.  As instructed reftel, refcoord will continue to 
explore with other UNRWA stakeholders appropriate parallel 
structures to the Geneva meeting preparations in which we 
could address management concerns. 
 
11.  Action Request:  UNRWA requested that core group members 
provide written feedback on the conference title, thematic 
workshops (and members' willingness to chair workshops) and 
the proposed panel debate no later than October 31.  We 
suggest that a letter from PRM to UNRWA would be an 
appropriate means to do so.  We also request written guidance 
for refcoord on the proposed Geneva Declaration as well as 
refugee and NGO participation for use at the December core 
group meeting. 
GNEHM