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Viewing cable 10STATE5431, DEMARCHE REQUEST ON UN TRUST FUND SUPPORTING THE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
10STATE5431 2010-01-20 15:10 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Secretary of State
VZCZCXYZ0026
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #5431 0201516
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 201510Z JAN 10
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 9504
UNCLAS STATE 005431 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: NSC PREL PHUM PHSA EWWT KCRM KPIR SO XA XW
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REQUEST ON UN TRUST FUND SUPPORTING THE 
INITIATIVES OF THE CONTACT GROUP ON PIRACY 
 
(SBU)  1.  This is an action request.  USUN is instructed to 
demarche UN officials as appropriate on the proposed changes 
to the terms of reference for the International Trust Fund 
Supporting the Initiatives of the Contact Group on Piracy off 
the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS).  At its discretion, USUN may 
wish to make this demarche jointly with Germany, which has 
done much of the heavy work on this issue; in any case, 
please consult/inform the German Mission.  Post may draw from 
the points in paragraph three. 
 
(SBU)  2.  Background:  In order to develop a funding 
mechanism for the initiatives of the Contact Group on Piracy 
off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS), the participants of the 
CGPCS, led by Germany and with active involvement by the 
United States, negotiated Terms of Reference (TOR) for a UN 
Trust Fund in 2009.  The Trust Fund TOR was designed to 
provide industry groups a means of contributing to 
counter-piracy efforts, and emphasized the importance of 
funding prosecution-related efforts.  Throughout the 
negotiations, the UN and the CGPCS participants agreed that 
the Trust Fund,s Board, on which several UN agencies would 
serve as non-voting members, would make the decisions about 
which proposals would be funded and which would be given 
priority.  When the CGPCS plenary adopted the TOR at its 
plenary in September 2009, the CGPCS Chair authorized the UN 
to establish the Fund according to those Terms.  The UN was 
not authorized to make substantive changes to the ToR,s as 
negotiated and agreed upon by the UN and the CGPCS.  The U.S. 
subsequently pursued and was granted a seat on the Trust Fund 
Board by decision of the CGPCS participants.  After being 
approved by the Department of Political Affairs and the 
Office of Drugs and Crime, however, it appears the Terms of 
Reference have been changed by the UN Controller,s office. 
The U.S. strongly objects to the changes, which on their 
face, appear to alter the nature of the Trust Fund and its 
operation in substantive and significant ways. 
 
(SBU)  3.  Begin Points: 
 
--  We are very concerned that, less than two weeks before 
the Board was scheduled to convene for the first time and 
consider its first proposals, the UN Controller has proposed 
what appear to be substantive changes to the Terms of 
Reference, as agreed to by the CGPCS participants and the UN 
following many months of negotiations. 
 
-- The UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) has 
represented from the beginning of this process that the Board 
would make the final decisions about how the Fund will be 
spent, including which projects should be given priority.  In 
addition, at no point did the participants contemplate the UN 
Secretary General having any sort of approval authority over 
the selection of Board members as now called for in the 
revised TORs. 
 
-- It is simply unacceptable to renegotiate these 
fundamentals, especially at this late stage.  We urge you to 
speak with the UN Controller and explain that the UN has 
agreed to the substance of these terms and the manner in 
which the Fund will operate and any changes to the text at 
this stage must be limited to purely technical points. 
 
-- The Board cannot begin considering proposal until the 
Terms of Reference are finalized.  We hope the UN is as 
interested as we are in ensuring this Fund is operational in 
time for the upcoming, January 28 CGPCS plenary so that the 
work of supporting important counter-piracy initiatives of 
the CGPCS may begin without further delay. 
 
If raised: 
-- The proposed text is unacceptable to us, but we are open 
to compromise language that does not change the way the Fund 
operates, but may serve some internal UN requirements, 
assuming that is what is driving these last minute changes by 
the UN Controller.  U.S. Government lawyers can work with the 
UN on any such language, and can be contacted through USUN. 
 
-- If the Terms of Reference as edited by the UN Controller's 
office are not able to be modified, the U.S. will be unable 
to accept the new Terms of Reference, and would urge other 
members of the CGPCS to do the same. 
CLINTON