US embassy cable - 04ROME2487

UNCLAS  ROME 002487 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
FROM THE U.S. MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME 
 
L/PIL FOR HAL BURMAN 
IO/S FOR LISA JACOBSON AND IO/EDA FOR SHARON KOTOK 
USAID FOR DA SCHIECK, DCHA ROGERS, DCHA/GG/ROL GARZON, 
GC/GARDNER AND AA/KUNDER 
CAIRO FOR USAID DIRECTOR 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, AORC, KJUS, KISL, IDLO 
SUBJECT: USAID DEPUTY ADMINSTRATOR SCHIECK VISITS THE 
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LAW ORGANIZATION 
 
REF: ROME 1964 
 
1. Summary: during his trip to Rome for the World Food 
Program Executive Board meetings, USAID Deputy 
Administrator Frederick W. Schieck met with International 
Development Law Organization (IDLO) Director General 
William Loris.  Loris reviewed the organization's current 
programs, including those funded by the USG, and appealed 
to DA Schieck for additional core (rather than program- 
specific) funding.  End summary. 
 
2. On May 26, USAID Deputy Adminstrator Fred Schieck met 
with the International Development Law Organization 
(IDLO) Director General William "Bill" Loris at the 
organization's headquarters in Rome.  Others present 
included USAID Special Assistant Robin Brinkley, IDLO 
External Relations rep Claire Fitzpatrick and Mission 
Mgmt/Pol Off.  DG Loris opened the meeting by welcoming 
DA Schieck and reviewing IDLO's current operations. 
Loris said training is the organization's main activity 
and growth has rendered their Rome headquarters too 
small.  IDLO recently opened a separate and larger 
"learning center" near the Vatican and eventually all 
Rome operations will move there.  In addition, there is a 
smaller center in Sydney, and IDLO will shortly open a 
Cairo office. 
 
3. Loris then mentioned current activities that are 
funded by the USG.  They include a civil law program in 
Amman (funded by USAID through Embassy Amman), civil and 
criminal law programs in Kosovo, a USAID-funded program 
in Timor, and programs in Lesotho and Swaziland.  Turning 
to Afghanistan, Loris said the Afghani program is IDLO's 
largest overall, involving 450 judges and lawyers and 
funded by the government of Italy (GOI is the "executing 
agency" for judicial sector reform in Afghanistan).  The 
Afghani program is proving to be a real "proving ground" 
as well as a success story for the organization, and has 
sparked interest in other post-conflict work, Loris said, 
citing Sudan and Haiti as two possibilities.  DA Schieck 
commented that USAID had also formed a group to look at 
post-conflict humanitarian assistance issues, headed by a 
USAID employee who had just returned from Afghanistan. 
 
4. Regarding Iraq, Loris said the security situation has 
not yet permitted a physical presence for IDLO, but they 
had dedicated two staff in Rome to work on "Iraq issues" 
in anticipation of establishing a full fledged training 
program.  He said the organization had a solid 
relationship with Brahimi (UN envoy for Iraq) who had 
kicked off IDLO's program in Afghanistan.  Loris added 
that judicial procedures aside, simply training Iraqis in 
subjects such as negotiating contracts and dealing with 
international organizations like the World Bank would be 
beneficial for Iraqi development prospects. 
 
5. In terms of other new programs, Loris said a more 
recent focus of IDLO is legal issues related to HIV and 
AIDS, particularly as they relate to loss of life and 
displacement, inheritance and land ownership.  He added 
that a real benefit of the organization's training is the 
establishment of alumni organizations in more than 30 
countries who then run training programs of their own. 
Regarding IDLO's own growth, Loris said an International 
Advisory Council had been formed to help support and 
advise IDLO, and it includes Gates Foundation President 
William Gates Sr. and Mary Robinson, among others.  IDLO 
has an endowment fund of approximately $15 million and 
recently received a $2 million infusion from the Gates 
Foundation for the transition to their new headquarters. 
Loris said the goal is to increase the endowment to $150 
million. (Note: unusual for an international 
organization, IDLO characterizes their endowment as a 
mechanism to provide a more stable source of funding 
(there are no assessed membership dues) and to encourage 
additional private sector contributions, a more recent 
focus.  End note) 
 
6. Loris commented that the organization has received 
programmatic funding from USAID, but it is really 
interested in receiving core funding, which is generally 
more reliable and fungible.  Loris said he wants IDLO to 
be able to finance their own programs wherever they see a 
need, or perhaps enter into partnerships with governments 
 
 
or international organizations to fund programs on a 
joint venture basis. 
 
7. Finally, the discussion turned to the Millenium 
Challenge Account, and centered on those "transitional" 
countries that did not make the initial funding cut.  DA 
Schieck commented that USAID will receive funding of 
approximately $40 million to help nations in transition, 
but that the list of countries had yet to be announced. 
Loris promised to write Schieck a memo detailing a 
request for core funding for IDLO. 
 
8. Kabul and CPA Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
BRAKEL 
 
 
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	2004ROME02487 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED