US embassy cable - 05PARIS4724

UNCLAS PARIS 004724 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM USMISSION UNESCO 
FOR STATE IO/T JANE COWLEY, EB PAUL ACETO, OES/STAS 
ANDREW W. REYNOLDS 
STATE PASS USAID NORMAN RIFKIN 
STATE PASS NSC GENE WHITNEY 
 
E.O. 12958:     N/A 
TAGS: AORC, TSPL, EAID, SENV, IZ, UNESCO, KSCI 
SUBJECT:  USUNESCO: UNESCO PLANS SMALL EXPERTS 
MEETING IN TRIESTE ON RECONSTRUCTING IRAQI SCIENCE 
 
1.  Summary and Introduction:  The Director of 
UNESCO's Science Analysis and Policies Division, 
Mustafa El Tayeb, informed USUNESCO science officer 
and intern (notetaker) that his office plans a 
September 8 - 10, 2005 meeting in Trieste, Italy to 
discuss efforts to rebuild Iraq's science 
infrastructure. El Tayeb said that the planned 
meeting will be co-hosted by UNESCO and the Trieste- 
based International Centre for Theoretical Physics 
(ICTP).  It will include the Iraqi Vice Minister of 
Higher Education and three other Iraqi delegation 
members, as well as three UNESCO division directors, 
including El Tayeb and Georges Haddad of the Higher 
Education Division of the education sector. El Tayeb 
indicated that he and ICTP Director K.R. Sreenivasan 
would welcome USG involvement in the meeting. End 
Summary and Introduction. 
 
 
2.  Trieste Meeting Goals. The purpose of the 
planned Trieste meeting will be to follow up on 
discussions first launched at the February 22-23 
Iraqi Higher Education Seminar that took place at 
UNESCO headquarters in Paris. In Trieste, attendees 
will discuss and assess "needs-at-large," 
particularly for re-training of Iraqi scientists. El 
Tayeb indicated that the Iraqi delegation has 
requested advice from UNESCO's DG, who responded 
that water resources are the most important priority 
for Iraqi reconstruction. However, El- Tayeb noted 
that capacity building in Iraq will also require 
broad science training programs and technology 
upgrading. 
 
3.  Funding. El Tayeb indicated that there are two 
current sources of UN funding for efforts to rebuild 
Iraq's infrastructure. First, there is a United 
Nations Development Group (UNDG) fund, which is 
supported by donors, coordinated through New York 
and managed by a UNDG in Amman. The UNDG fund 
includes $3.3 million earmarked for water resources, 
plus another $20.1 million for education and 
technology. Second, there is a $15 million pledge 
from a Qatari Princess to benefit higher education 
in post-war Iraq; within UNESCO, the education 
sector is taking the lead on these funds. Of this 
$15 million, $300,000 has been earmarked for a pilot 
scientists training program that El Tayeb expects 
will take place in Amman, Jordan because of its 
proximity to Iraq and the presence there of 
necessary facilities. El Tayeb indicated that 
approximately $8 million has already been spent on 
equipment for universities, and that the balance of 
the $15 million is earmarked for additional 
equipment, dormitories and for 500 fellowships to 
train Iraqi scientists in other countries. El Tayeb 
posited that it makes sense to provide training for 
Iraqi scientists either in country or in neighboring 
countries. 
Oliver