US embassy cable - 05ROME3928

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 003928 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR IO/UNESCO M. SULLIVAN AND C. NOVO 
FOR IO/S L. SPRATT 
FOR ECA M. MACLEAN AND M. KOUROUPAS 
 
FROM THE U.S. MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME 
 
E.0. 12598: N/A 
TAGS: AORC, AFIN, KUNR, ICCROM 
SUBJECT: 24TH ICCROM GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 
1. Summary: the 24th session of the General Assembly of the 
International Center for the Study of the Preservation and 
Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) met November 9 - 
11.  The ICCROM Council recommended and the General 
Assembly approved the hiring of a new Director General.  A 
real growth budget of 7.7 million euros was approved for 
the 2005-2007 biennium (in keeping with the long-term 
financial strategy approved in 2003), but a zero nominal 
growth scenario will be a prominent part of the next 
General Assembly meeting in 2007.  A proposal to shift to a 
triennial General Assembly and budget cycle (vice biennial) 
was deferred at least until 2007.  AmCit Blaine Cliver was 
reelected to the ICCROM Council during the GA and was then 
elected Chair of the Council at the follow-on Council 
meeting on November 12.  End Summary. 
 
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Before We Begin 
--------------- 
 
2. Prior to the GA, USDEL had been in touch with both the 
Japanese and Germans (both ZNG advocates) and on the eve of 
the session, a formal meeting was held with reps from 
China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, and Spain to 
discuss the budget.  By the time the meeting was held, the 
Council had already voted to recommend the hiring of a new 
DG.  Thus there was some sympathy for giving a new leader 
the chance to make his own mark on the organization before 
imposing any "draconian" measures such as ZNG.  USDEL, 
supported by the Japanese and Germans, clearly advocated 
ZNG.  The Japanese went so far as to say they were prepared 
to withdraw their membership in ICCROM after 2007 if ZNG 
was not approved or if somehow their contribution continued 
to rise.  After the meeting, they also asked USDEL if the 
U.S. would continue to remain a member of ICCROM after 2007 
if consensus was reached on a budget level higher than ZNG. 
USDEL replied that the subject of withdrawal from the 
organization had never been broached and was unlikely, 
though nothing could be completely ruled out. 
 
3. In terms of what could and could not be accomplished 
during this GA, there was concern on the part of some that 
since the GA had approved zero real growth as a long term 
financial strategy in 2003 and the budget had been prepared 
on that basis, no substantive changes could really be made 
until the next GA in 2007 (see further explanation below). 
USDEL argued that the GA could do as it chose as the 
governing body, including disapproval of the budget for the 
2005-2007 biennium.  Unfortunately USDEL was clearly in the 
minority among those present.  Even the Japanese admitted 
that their "line in the sand" referred to the level of 
their contributions after 2007.  In the end, USDEL and the 
Japanese agreed that interventions would be made both under 
the agenda item dealing with the report of the Council as 
well as the budget agenda item. 
 
4. Director General: one duty of the Council is to make 
recommendations to the General Assembly regarding the 
hiring of the Director General.  Dr. Stanley-Price had 
already served one term and wanted to be reappointed. 
Lacking a clear definition of how the reappointment process 
should work, ICCROM's legal advisor determined that the 
organization should go through the entire solicitation and 
interview process, with Dr. Stanley-Price as one of the 
candidates.  A search committee of Council members was 
formed months ago and the committee came up with a short 
list of applicants (including Stanley-Price), each of whom 
made presentations to the entire Council immediately prior 
to the start of the General Assembly. 
 
5. In the end, the Council decided to recommend the hiring 
of a new DG, Mounir Bouchenaki, currently Assistant 
Director General for Culture at UNESCO.  The vote in 
Council was very close -- 12 supported Bouchenaki and 10 
supported Stanley-Price (this fact was not revealed to the 
General Assembly).  The Italians led the effort to replace 
Stanley-Price because of what they see as the "drift" of 
the organization over the past several years away from what 
they believe is ICCROM's core mandate.  In addition, 
Stanley-Price has regularly complained to the GOI (rightly, 
in our minds) about the state of the ICCROM facilities, 
which are supposed to be maintained by the Italian 
government but which have not received much of anything in 
the last twenty years.  Finally, in the opinion of U.S. 
Council member Blaine Cliver, Stanley-Price's presentation 
to the Council was relatively weak, focusing on what he has 
accomplished rather than on what he hoped to accomplish in 
a second term. 
 
------------------------------ 
And On To The General Assembly 
------------------------------ 
 
6. Once the cursory agenda items (acceptance of observers, 
credentials, welcome to new states, election of officers, 
adoption of minutes, awards) were dealt with, member states 
moved on to more substantive discussions.  Highlights 
included the following: 
 
DG Position 
--------------- 
 
7. There was some consternation among GA delegates 
regarding the Council's recommendation for a new Director 
General, but according to the rules, the only option for 
the GA was an up or down vote on the recommendation for 
Bouchenaki.  Had the General Assembly chosen to reject the 
recommendation, an interim DG would have had to be 
appointed and a new recommendation made to the next GA in 
two years' time.  No one wanted to see that happen, and 
ultimately, the voting reflected a fairly clear majority in 
favor of the Council's recommendation to hire Bouchenaki. 
Several interventions were made, both praising the work of 
Stanley-Price and advocating trust that the Council was 
doing what was best for the organization. 
 
Budget 
--------- 
 
8. USDEL was not able to convince enough like-minded states 
to accept any changes in the proposed budget for the 
current biennium (2005-2007).  Part of the reason is 
contained in the Rules of Procedure for the General 
Assembly, which require any proposals to change either the 
draft program of activities or the draft budget in any 
significant way to be submitted in writing at least 30 days 
before the opening of the GA, and prohibits discussion of 
any such proposals not submitted ahead of time.  USDEL made 
budget interventions under two different agenda items: 
during the report of the Council as well as during the 
discussion of the program of activities and budget. 
 
9. Per ref guidance, USDEL made the following points during 
the report of the Council: the U.S. is pleased that ICCROM 
has made use of results-based management principals, 
including goals and performance indicators; the process is 
nearly as important as the outcome because it forces the 
organization to continually examine itself, what it does 
well and not so well, and what its core mission is; and 
this is particularly important in an era of diminishing 
resources.  USDEL sought clarification on carryover funds 
from the 2003-2003 and 2004-2005 biennia (any carryover is 
deposited directly into the strategic reserve) and inquired 
as well as to why the zero real growth financial strategy 
was applied to member states' contributions rather than to 
the actual expenditures of the organization.  Even though 
actual expenditures were well above ZRG levels (7.1% v. 
5.6%), USDEL could not get much traction or support from 
others on this issue, including after a more or less non- 
answer from the Secretariat. 
 
10. Under the program and budget agenda item, USDEL again 
intervened, along the following lines: while we appreciate 
the thought that went into the program of activities and 
acknowledge that ZRG was previously approved as a long-term 
financial strategy, our policy toward all international 
organizations remains zero nominal growth; we did not 
support ZRG two years ago and do not support it now; while 
the U.S., Germany and Japan may not be able to win a GA 
vote, together we represent 50% of the organization's 
assessed contributions, we all advocate ZNG, and 
particularly with the prospect of complete Japanese 
withdrawal after 2007, we believe this is a matter for 
serious consideration; we urge ICCROM to absorb cost 
increases through prioritization and increased efficiencies 
(for example, using the strategic reserves to cover cost 
increases); we urge ICCROM to conduct a thorough review of 
all its activities with an eye toward concentrating 
resources on the organization's core competencies and 
strengths; and finally, we urge ICCROM to prepare and 
present a ZNG budget as the basis for discussion at any 
future gatherings. 
 
11. Similar interventions were made by the Germans and 
Japanese, and other calls for a ZNG budget were made by the 
Finnish and Czech delegations.  In the end, the budget for 
the 2005-07 biennium was approved as proposed, but in the 
statements of the Secretariat as well as several other 
member states, it became clear that USDEL was being heard 
and that a ZNG budget scenario will be prepared for the 
next GA in 2007.  This was confirmed at the Saturday 
Council session that followed the GA. 
 
Other 
----- 
 
12. A recommendation from the Council to adopt a triennial 
(vice biennial) General Assembly and budget cycle was 
withdrawn after it became clear that the GA wanted 
additional study and information from the Council on the 
ramifications of such a change.  Clarifications of the 
rules regarding the reappointment of the Director General 
as well as the election of the President and Vice 
Presidents of the General Assembly were approved, as well 
as a change in the statutes regarding sanctions imposed on 
member states in arrears, without discussion.  Thirteen new 
members of the ICCROM Council were elected for four-year 
terms, including the reelection of U.S. Council member 
Blaine Cliver. 
 
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Comment 
------- 
 
13. At the follow-on session for the newly elected Council 
on Saturday, U.S. Council member Blaine Cliver was elected 
Council Chair.  This puts Cliver in a prime position to 
influence the direction of the organization, particularly 
as a new Director General gets settled in.  Though acting 
in his personal capacity and not as a member of any 
government, Cliver is a retired National Park Service 
employee, has been engaged with ICCROM for many years and 
has cooperated fully with USG efforts involving the 
organization.  Now that he has attained what is arguably 
the most influential ICCROM position short of Director 
General, it is vitally important that the issue of USG 
financial support for his travel to Council sessions be 
resolved. 
 
HALL