US embassy cable - 05PARIS3024

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 003024 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIA, OPDC, PHSA, PBTS, IHO, KSI, UNESCO 
SUBJECT: USUNESCO -- UNESCO 171st EXECUTIVE BOARD: 
U.S. CROSS-SECTOR CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE 
ENTHUSIASTICALLY ADOPTED 
 
Reftel: Paris 1032 
 
1.  Summary and Comment:  The U.S. draft decision 
establishing a cross-sector capacity building program was 
adopted, to general acclaim, at the 171st meeting of 
UNESCO's Executive Board.  The resolution, the first 
presented by the U.S. since reentry, was co-sponsored by 
twenty-one other member states.  The Assistant Director 
General for Natural Sciences remarked that the enthusiastic 
support voiced for the initiative would give momentum to the 
program.  The next step will be for the science sector to 
fill the P-5 position that will oversee the new capacity 
building unit established in the Science Sector.  It will be 
important to ensure that benchmarks are established for 
these activities, as well as a means of measuring "outputs." 
It will also be important to engage the U.S. scientific 
community in support of activities created in the context of 
this initiative.  A successful capacity building program may 
help encourage UNESCO's secretariat and member states to 
pursue constructive initiatives, rather than squander 
limited resources on non-consensual activities with little 
positive, concrete impact.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
2.  At the 171st meeting of the Executive Board, Ambassador 
Oliver presented for the Board's consideration a draft 
decision for "a cross-sector program on capacity building." 
This was the first decision presented to the Executive Board 
by the U.S. since our re-entry in 2003.  The Office of the 
Director General opened the debate by "endorsing and 
welcoming the initiative." 
 
3.  In her presentation, Ambassador Oliver stressed that 
UNESCO programs must incorporate capacity building if they 
are to have long-term sustainable results.   She explained 
that the draft decision welcomed the creation of a unit in 
the Natural Sciences sector to coordinate the sector's 
capacity building efforts, with a focus on basic science and 
mathematics education; engineering; and water-related 
efforts.  Ambassador Oliver noted that the draft decision 
requested the Director General to expand the concept of 
capacity building throughout UNESCO by developing cross- 
sector activities that include capacity building as a 
central concept.  She highlighted the fact that the decision 
promotes a management and administrative approach, and would 
have no budgetary impact.  She noted that the decision asks 
the Director General to develop a comprehensive cross-sector 
capacity building program at UNESCO, assuming that an 
evaluation of initial pilot activities is positive. 
 
4.  As the Ambassador noted in her intervention, the need 
and desire for such an approach was evidenced by the list of 
co-sponsors:  Afghanistan, Australia, China, the Czech 
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, 
India, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Russia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, 
Tanzania, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Yemen.  Tunisia also 
approached Ambassador Oliver just before she spoke asking to 
be included as a co-sponsor. 
 
5.  During the debate, many of these co-sponsors - as well 
as other Executive Board members - voiced wholehearted 
support for the proposal. The debate amounted to, in the 
words of Ecuador, "a shower of praise for this initiative." 
Twenty-five Executive Board members spoke in support of the 
proposal, many commenting that the initiative would help 
UNESCO do a better job of translating its resources into 
results-oriented programs:  "as a whole," Australia 
remarked, "it encapsulates the direction in which UNESCO 
ought to be going."   Many praised the fact that it 
encourages UNESCO's sectors to work together.   The Afghan 
Ambassador stressed the initiative's utility for Least 
Developed Countries and post-conflict states, declaring 
"this program will give us the confidence and knowledge to 
do what others are now doing for us." Several member states, 
including Australia, Indonesia, and Russia, noted 
approvingly the proposal's emphasis on strengthening 
engineering at UNESCO. 
 
6.  In her response to these interventions, the Ambassador 
expressed thanks.  She welcomed the observation of 
Mauritius, who noted approvingly that the draft decision 
stressed the creation of benchmarks and the evaluation of 
results; he said that it was important that "outputs", 
rather than activities, be measured.  Mauritius also 
underlined the importance of stemming the "brain drain". 
The Ambassador accepted an amendment from Tanzania, who 
asked that "innovation and technology management" be added 
as an area of focus for the Science Sector capacity building 
unit. 
 
7.  After the debate, the Assistant Director General for 
Science predicted that the enthusiastic support voiced for 
the initiative would give momentum to the program, both 
within the Science Sector and within the cross-sector 
context.  He acknowledged that the next step would be to 
hire a P-5 to oversee the new capacity building unit 
established in the Science Sector; it is imperative that 
this be done as soon as possible, he noted. 
 
OLIVER