US embassy cable - 05RANGOON974

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 000974 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2015 
TAGS: EAID, PGOV, PHUM, BM, NGO, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: UNDP CHIEF IN BURMA CALLS GLOBAL FUND'S DEMISE 
"THE RIGHT DECISION" 
 
Classified By: CDA Karl Stoltz for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: UNDP's Burma chief, the senior UN official in 
country, briefed donors on August 22 on the recent decision 
by the Global Fund (GF) to terminate it program in Burma.  He 
said the GF was never truly workable in Burma and he is 
relieved it was canceled before substantial commitments were 
made.  The UNDP rep expressed fear the cancellation may lead 
donors to conclude wrongly that it is not possible to provide 
humanitarian assistance successfully to Burma.  He also 
warned that the GOB could blame its Minister of Health, who 
has been forward leaning in addressing UN concerns.  Driven 
by GF requirements, UNDP has negotiated new mechanisms to 
deliver aid and wishes to prepare a new public health aid 
plan that preserves accountability safeguards already 
accepted by the GOB.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (C) On August 22 the UNDP Resident Representative for 
Burma, Charles Petrie, briefed key donor embassies in Rangoon 
on the recent decision by Global Fund (GF) to stop operating 
in Burma.  (Note: A/Charge represented the U.S. Embassy at 
the briefing that was deliberative, rather than 
confrontational.  End Note.)  Petrie said he supports the 
decision by the GF to withdraw support for Burma.  He 
admitted that the program was never workable from the start, 
because it was not possible to negotiate minutiae with the 
GOB and still keep to strict project timelines.  He was 
relieved that the GF had canceled now, and not later, when 
administrative and compliance issues would be further 
advanced and messier to resolve. 
 
3. (C) At the same time, the UNDP representative expressed 
fear that some donors will wrongly conclude that it is no 
longer possible to provide humanitarian assistance in Burma 
without strings attached.  Others at the meeting expressed 
concern that INGOs could be subject to the same "intolerable" 
restrictions as the GF.  Petrie noted that the GOB might try 
to split IOs from INGOs in country, cooperating with the 
former and trying to restrict activities of the latter.  He 
said, "We must stand together and not let that happen." 
 
4. (C) Petrie expressed concern that Burma's Minister of 
Health, Dr. Kyaw Myint, might also become a victim of the GF 
cancellation.  Petrie said this would be a sad day for Burma 
as Kyaw Myint is one of the only technocrats left in the GOB 
and one of "the last remaining lights in this government." 
The minister has been instrumental in persuading the GOB to 
allow safeguards for humanitarian assistance programs, and if 
he goes, UN missions may find their work even more difficult. 
 
 
5. (C) The UNDP believes that it now has four months left, 
before all GF funding ends, to try to put into place new 
mechanisms to deliver urgently needed public health aid to 
Burma.  The AIDS epidemic in Burma is poised to grow 
exponentially and this will have a strong ripple effect on 
neighboring Thailand, India, and China, erasing positive 
gains they have made recently.  Petrie stressed that it is 
essential to preserve the safeguards that the UN has already 
negotiated and not let the GOB use the GF cancellation to try 
to roll back those advances. 
 
6. (C) COMMENT: Judging from the UNDP representative's candid 
remarks to the donor group, we have the impression that he 
may expect his own tour in Burma to end in the near future. 
Petrie has had to walk a tightrope between the GOB 
straightjacket and donor constraints.  It is hard to imagine 
anybody wanting to take over the difficult role he has had to 
fill.  END COMMENT. 
Stoltz