US embassy cable - 05PARIS3076

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 003076 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EB/IFD 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PGOV, PREL, FR, EUN 
SUBJECT: A/S WAYNE DISCUSSES TSUNAMI RELIEF WITH FRENCH 
COORDINATORS 
 
 
NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  EB Assistant Secretary Wayne briefed 
French government tsunami relief coordinators on U.S. 
efforts, and shared with them the U.S. approach to 
public-private partnerships, as well as innovative 
financing loan facilities.  Both A/S Wayne and his 
French counterpart Jean-Claude Mallet agreed on the 
need for better coordinating mechanisms, particularly 
with NGOs.  The French also shared their frustrations 
with the slow pace of relief and reconstruction efforts 
on the ground. They warned that the level of 
unhappiness with international relief efforts could 
undermine the long-term effort.  The French said most 
of their aid to Sri Lanka would be in concessional 
loans (300 million Euros) and about 47 million Euros in 
grants for the affected countries.  END SUMMARY 
 
2. (U) EB A/S Tony Wayne met May 2 in Paris with Jean- 
Claude Mallet, French Interministerial Coordinator for 
Tsunami Relief. Mallet was accompanied by his deputy, 
 
SIPDIS 
Eric Chevalier, and Philippe Kaspi, a member of the 
Coordinator's Office.  France's official tsunami relief 
coordination is managed out of the Prime Minister's 
Office. This meeting is a follow-up to a March 9 
tsunami relief conference call which A/S Wayne led and 
 
SIPDIS 
in which Mallet participated. 
 
3. (SBU) Mallet admitted to A/S Wayne that while French 
contributions to the relief efforts were smaller than 
those of the U.S., both countries shared many of the 
same frustrations.  In terms of raw numbers, French 
officials say they had approximately 47 million Euros 
in grants, around 22 million Euros for the first phase 
of relief, plus around 25 million Euros for 
reconstruction.  They have about 300 million Euros in 
concessional loans available for Sri Lanka, one of his 
deputies added.  Mallet said that the bulk of French 
bilateral aid was directed through NGOs to rapid impact 
relief, such as sanitation, educational and 
environmental programs, and rebuilding technical 
schools. These programs were directed at Sri Lanka and 
Aceh, Indonesia. 
 
 
FRENCH NGOS ARE WELL-FUNDED 
--------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) For the mid-term, French efforts would likely 
focus on sanitation, social welfare and water supply 
projects in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, especially the 
eastern coast.  In France, Mallet said NGOs received 
roughly 255 million Euros, with five to six NGOs 
getting the lion's share.  The French Red Cross alone 
received 100 million Euros.  Mallet said his office was 
dealing with both how to provide guidance to these well- 
funded NGOs, who had received more money than they had 
plans for, and also to the very small NGOs who had 
received considerably less money, but who had valuable 
technical expertise. Mallet noted that the French 
government was debating how to approach Trust Funds, 
but he was not convinced that France would contribute. 
Nonetheless, regarding the Maldives Islands, there was 
no choice but to support the Trust Fund.  France would 
also likely work more closely with the Asian 
Development Bank in cofinancing projects in Sri Lanka 
(using the 300 million in concessional rate loans). 
 
5. (SBU) The French expressed interest at some of the 
innovative financing mechanisms A/S Wayne described. 
Wayne  noted the upcoming May 12 Asia Society event in 
Washington that will focus on public-private 
partnering, with the presence of former Presidents 
Clinton and Bush. The Fund also expressed interest at 
how OPIC planned to work with the U.S. Red Cross to 
guarantee small loans to Small and Medium-sized 
Enterprises. Chevalier told A/S Wayne that France was 
considering a similar scheme. 
 
6. (SBU) Mallet and his colleagues made a point of 
telling A/S Wayne that they agreed with former 
Secretary Powell's assessment that the tsunami disaster 
 
SIPDIS 
is considerably more challenging than other crises.  He 
said a complicating factor is the impression that many 
tsunami victims worry about a new natural catastrophe, 
 
SIPDIS 
and continue to be fearful about the future.  Mallet, 
who comes to tsunami relief from a career at the 
Ministries of Defense and Interior, said France was 
also concerned about setting up appropriate on-shore 
early-warning systems.  He said France supported the 
UNESCO/IVC approach of reinforcing already existing 
capabilities including sensors, to develop a tsunami 
warning system for the Indian ocean.  French officials 
say they are also working with partners such as the 
Atomic Energy Commission, its scientific centers, 
meteorological organizations and other regional 
organizations as well. 
 
HIGH LEVEL OF FRUSTRATION 
-------------------------- 
7. (SBU) Chevalier, who had just returned from a trip 
to the region, described a high level of frustration 
and even pessimism among all actors involved, NGOs, 
civil servants, relief workers and especially victims. 
He said he believed there was still so much work left 
to do between "immediate" relief and "mid-term" 
reconstruction. "We are not making progress", he said, 
describing as an example a Japanese government USD 100 
million grant to this Indonesian government budget and 
none of it had yet been disbursed. 
 
8. (SBU) Chevalier said it was important at this stage 
to "avoid adverse feelings", i.e. to avoid inciting 
growing anti-international feelings among victims and 
NGOs, and even local legislators. He cited a resolution 
being discussed in the Sri Lankan Parliament.  As Sri 
Lanka  noted, the frustrations have a sectarian angle, 
and that he had seen leaflets being distributed that 
accused international donors of "neglecting" Muslims. 
Other frustrations included a lack of awareness of the 
rules in Sri Lanka.  For example, on housing, Chevalier 
noted that representatives from NGOs and even UN 
agencies could not initiate housing projects when the 
rules and requirements were not uniformly understood. 
 
9. (SBU) Mallet expressed his appreciation to A/S Wayne 
for his briefing on U.S. efforts.  He agreed on the 
need to continue to coordinate among major donor 
countries, especially regarding NGO projects and 
funding. 
 
10. (U) This message was cleared by Assistant Secretary 
Wayne. 
 
ROSENBLATT