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Viewing cable 07BERLIN215, JOINT COORDINATION AND MONITORING BOARD: ENHANCED
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| Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07BERLIN215 | 2007-02-02 15:32 | 2011-08-24 01:00 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Berlin |
VZCZCXRO1507
PP RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHRL #0215/01 0331532
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021532Z FEB 07 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6890
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0442
RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASH DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASH DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASH DC
RHEBAAA/DOE WASHDC
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0088
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 BERLIN 000215
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDRESSEES ADDED)
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/A, SCA/FO (A/S BOUCHER, GASTRIGHT, DEUTSCH)
STATE PASS USTDA FOR DSTEIN/SGREENIP
STATE PASS OPIC FOR MOSBACHER AND ZAHNISER
MANILA PLEASE PASS ADB/USED
MSC FOR AHARRIMAN
USAID/AA/ANE FOR JKUNDER
TREASURY FOR ABAUKOL, VELTRI
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON PREL PGOV ENRG AF
SUBJECT: JOINT COORDINATION AND MONITORING BOARD: ENHANCED
STATURE, NEW IMPETIS FOR COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH
SUMMARY
¶1. At the high-level session of the Afghanistan Joint
Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) in Berlin January
30-31, donor Government representatives and Afghan partners
renewed their commitment to realize the political vision
outlined in the January 2006 Afghanistan Compact. In the
opening session discussions with key Afghan ministers,
Political Directors and senior diplomats from capitals,
together with Ambassadors from Kabul, took stock of key
challenges and issues facing Afghanistan and reaffirmed the
JCMB as the mechanism of choice for international
coordination. Most donors were in agreement that similar
high-level gatherings of the Joint Coordination and
Monitoring Board, held in a foreign capital outside of Kabul,
should become an annual event to keep Afghan reconstruction
in the spotlight. The U.S. won repeated kudos from the
assorted speakers for its announcement of $10.6 billion in
newly requested assistance. Assistant Secretary Boucher urged
donors to prepare for a year of testing in 2007 as insurgent
activity picked up, and called on other donors to consider
new commitments. Following Boucher,s lead, other donors
lent unprecedented support for the comprehensive approach
outlined by the U.S. at the January 26 NATO Ministerial.
Other key themes echoed by Political Directors included the
importance of:
Finding ways to strengthen Afghan ownership of the
reform process, as well as communicating the Government,s
political vision and delivering basic services to Afghan
citizens, especially beyond Kabul.
Accelerating security sector and judicial reform and
identifying funding for Afghan Government costs required for
stepped up Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police
recruitment.
Intensifying government anti-narcotics efforts.
Strengthening assistance coordination, particularly in
building Afghan government capacity and enhancing aid
effectiveness.
¶2. The second-day session, on January 31, took the form of a
regular Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board quarterly
business session. The agenda opened with a formal decision
to admit Spain to the Board, along with agreement to a pause
in considering additional new members until 2008. Reviewing
the government,s budget, Afghan Finance Minister Ahadi
signaled that requirements for additional security spending
would require additional budget support from donors, as well
as a greater degree of flexibility from the International
Monetary Fund. To address the security threat, Ambassador
Neumann called on partner countries to help cover the
additional salary costs of accelerated Afghan National Army
recruitment. Afghan National Security Adviser Rassoul
highlighted efforts on the civilian side, including progress
on police reform and plans for increased police recruitment.
The EU Special Representative announced EU progress towards a
final decision (probably in February) to send an EU Police
Mission to Kabul, and signaled interest in close coordination
with the well-established U.S. program for police training
and mentoring. Finally, a U.S. non-paper generated a strong
consensus that the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan needs
to engage the Afghan Government on early planning for the
2009 elections in order to sort through a multitude of
sensitive political and financial issues, including creating
a national voter registry, and completion of a national
census. Donors will need to consider additional funding for
new election expenses and back bills. Donors welcomed a
position paper circulated by the Afghans to frame the two-day
discussion, but there was minimal reference to an
accompanying Afghan list of priority projects requiring
additional funding support from donors. The regular
Monitoring Board meeting took decisions:
to establish a Ministry of Interior taskforce with key
donors to revisit the Afghan Compact,s target force levels
for the Afghan National Police;
that the Finance Ministry establish a more effective
donor assistance reporting system, and design a framework to
assess development outcomes;
that the Ministry of Counter-Narcotics prepare an
action plan for donor support of its National Drugs Control
Strategy; and
to extend three Afghan Compact benchmarks for drafting
Minerals Law regulations, completing a Skills Development
Labor Market Study, and liquidating state-owned banks that
have not been re-licensed.
There was a recurring theme of the Afghan Government,s need
to address corruption. The Government pledged in day one to
undertake an active eradication program and requested an
international review of the counter-narcotics strategy on day
BERLIN 00000215 002 OF 006
two. Several delegations noted their opposition to spraying.
END SUMMARY.
FRAMING THE POLITICAL DIRECTORS MEETING ) DAY ONE
¶3. On January 30 in Berlin, German Foreign Minister
Steinmeier and Afghan Foreign Minister Spanta convened the
first Political Director-level gathering of the Joint
Coordination and Monitoring Board. In his welcoming remarks,
Foreign Minister Spanta thanked the international community
for making possible the many positive achievements in
Afghanistan, while making clear that the Afghan Government
viewed the Board as its preferred entity for international
aid coordination. Spanta recounted progress on key Afghan
Compact benchmarks, and announced that the next Regional
Economic Coordination Conference on Afghan reconstruction
would be held in Islamabad, a significant development in
light of the recently strained relations between Afghanistan
and Pakistan. Spanta also called on Board members to
proportionately change the way aid was distributed, with a
focus on the important task of building Afghan capacity and
channeling more international aid directly through the Afghan
Government, a plea that was echoed throughout the session by
subsequent Afghan speakers -- Finance Minister Ahadi and
Minister of Education Atmar. He challenged donors to take a
hard look at their technical assistance expenditures,
alleging the international community had received less than
full value from the $1.6 billion spent since 2001 on foreign
consultants. Minister of Economy Shams detailed a greater
need to coordinate technical assistance with the Government
of Afghanistan.
¶4. On counter-narcotics, Spanta and Afghan Coordination and
Monitoring Board Co-Chair Ishaq Nadiri soundly rejected
ground or aerial-based spray initiatives during the coming
growing season. Afghan Education Minister Atmar subsequently
made an impassioned appeal for donor support in combating
narcotics trade. Atmar said that &narcotics are the enemy
of everything Afghanistan stands for, and are a matter of
life and death.8 He said that government has taken a
decision to step up its eradication efforts, seeing this as
its &only option at this point,8 given the record poppy
acreage planted to farmers. (Comment ) the Embassy had
reacted to an advance draft of an Afghan scope paper intended
to frame the Board,s discussion, by pointing out that the
draft emphasized the importance of developing alternative
livelihood incentives for farmers, without adequately
addressing the need for strong deterrence measures, including
interdiction and eradication. Atmar,s comments appeared to
be not only a reaction to the U.S. input but also a strong
reaffirmation of the need to eradicate. The Afghans had
immediately revised their scope paper to emphasize that
deterrent measures are a key component of their
counter-narcotics strategy. End Comment).
¶5. UN Special Representative and Board Co-chair Tom Koenigs
injected a sense of urgency, underscoring that it is a
critical moment for Afghanistan, and that the significant
progress in creating a new democracy could be undone should
international support be seen to waver. Koenigs
characterized Afghanistan as a &post-devastation8
situation, whereby long-term international commitment to the
country,s transformation will be critical to success. He
noted the need for increased government outreach and presence
beyond Kabul, and reported that the UN Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan is setting up new regional offices ) 4 opened
already in 2006 and another 5 are planned in 2007. Koenigs
also emphasized the importance of regional cooperation. In
this context, he specifically condemned reports that Pakistan
is proposing to mine its border with Afghanistan.
DAY ONE SPEECHES AND ATMOSPHERICS
¶6. The first-day meeting, which lasted over five hours,
yielded a steady chorus of speeches, with some familiar as
well also some new, constructive themes. A common thread
from all corners was the universal endorsement of the need
for a comprehensive approach combining military action with
civilian reconstruction. This sentiment represents a marked
evolution from the predominant debate of five years ago, when
the U.S. endured significant criticism for its introduction
of the Provincial Reconstruction Team concept and allegations
of how this model dangerously blurred the lines between
civil-military affairs. Other less useful interventions by
Board member delegations were a combination of donors
monotonously touting their own development achievements,
outlining challenges ahead, and offering generic suggestions
for improving aid coordination. France forcefully lamented
the proliferation of Afghanistan,s narcotics trade as a
threat to its own national security, but offered no new
proposals or initiatives to alleviate the problem. Italy
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unilaterally promoted its idea to host up to three future
events on Afghanistan ) a high-level international
conference, a Rule of Law event in Rome, and a February
roundtable in Rome with prominent Afghan women. However,
privately Italian delegate Anna de la Croce told Ambassador
Neumann that the idea of a broad strategic conference was for
domestic Italian consumption, and she did not expect her
government to push the issue. No new financial pledges were
made during the course of the Political Directors session,
though Norway did indicate it would double its annual
commitment to Afghan reconstruction from 30 million to 60
million euro.
¶7. Assistant Secretary Boucher outlined the new U.S.
assistance request of $10.6 billion as the culmination of a
detailed strategy review to pursue a comprehensive assistance
strategy combining security and reconstruction. But he
framed expectations by cautioning that the aid would not
materialize immediately; it would take at least 12 months for
this aid to turn into real projects on the ground. Boucher
urged donors to prepare for a year of testing in 2007 as
insurgent activity picked up, but not to lose focus on the
need to keep up political and economic support for
Afghanistan. Afghanistan had overcome a lot over the last
quarter century, but still faced a long road of challenges
ahead and the success or failure of international efforts
would have serious international ramifications. Combined
Forces Command-Afghanistan (CFC-A) Commanding Officer Lt.
General Karl Eikenberry lent his voice to outline broadly the
rationale and modalities behind U.S. efforts to build and
equip the Afghan National Army, consistent with the recent
Afghan Government decision to accelerate the pace of
recruitment.
8.(SBU) The political directors, discussion was also
flavored from time to time with subtle regional posturing,
but the dialogue remained constructive overall. India
proudly highlighted its recent announcement of an additional
$100 million assistance pledge (in addition to $750 million
already pledged since 2001), but also posited that &the
source of Afghanistan,s instability8 should be more
explicitly reflected in the quarterly Coordination and
Monitoring Board reports. During its turn to speak, Pakistan
was surprisingly restrained, pledging that a stable
Afghanistan was in the entire region,s interest and that a
holistic approach combining security and reconstruction was
needed to move forward. The Pakistani representative also
directly addressed the issue of mining its border with
Afghanistan (which Koenigs had earlier criticized in his
comments) by stating that its primary intent was border
stability but no final decisions had been made. Islamabad, he
commented, would be quite willing to consider any
alternatives that the international community could
recommend. Iran, in turn, highlighted its friendship with
Afghanistan and condemned the Taliban and other radical
elements while wondering aloud why the plethora of foreign
troops in the country was unable to stem the narcotics tide.
It called for accelerating the &Afghanization8 of the
national security forces in order to speed the departure of
foreign forces. China and Russia both highlighted
Afghanistan,s narcotics trade as a regional threat.
DAY TWO ) REGULAR JCMB IV
¶9. Board Membership: The January 31 session took the form
of a regular Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board
quarterly business session with delegations led for the most
part by Ambassadors and other Kabul-based member country
diplomatic and development agency representatives. This
day-two session opened with a formal decision to admit Spain
to the body. Co-chair Koenigs indicated that agreement on
specific criteria for membership had proved difficult in the
past, and he was not eager to resume that effort. In lieu of
this, he proposed agreement on a pause in taking in new
members, extracting consensus from those present that any
additional membership requests that may arise should be
deferred until 2008. In response to a UK inquiry suggesting
that members encourage the International Monetary Fund to
seek membership, Koenigs recalled that the Fund had passed on
membership earlier when the Board was being formed. He
ventured that any Fund interest at this point could be most
easily addressed through permitting it to participate in
future sessions upon request, but as a non-member. Should
the International Monetary Fund desire full membership, that
could be addressed in 2008.
¶10. Afghan Budget Pressures: Afghan Finance Minister Ahadi
then took the floor to present a Government of Afghanistan
report on Public Finances (a copy is being transmitted to the
SCA Afghanistan desk). Ahadi reported satisfaction over
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Government progress meeting revenue targets, and more
recently improving its performance on execution of its
development budget. For the current Afghan year 1385, he
reported a steady rise in expenditure of development funds
through the Afghan budget, which he expected to reach 60
percent of the budgeted figure, which would represent a
substantial improvement from the previous year. Ahadi
signaled, however, that achieving fiscal sustainability from
the government,s own resources, in connection with its
Afghan Compact benchmark, is proving to be a much bigger
challenge. According to Ahadi, the Government,s ability to
reach these targets has been seriously complicated by the
very strong and legitimate need for additional security
spending. He concluded that Afghanistan will need a
&significant increase in foreign assistance to both its
development and recurrent budget in this area,8 as well as
additional flexibility from the International Monetary Fund
to take into account these increased budgetary requirements.
To produce the required results, Ahadi added that a
significant increase in aid effectiveness is also a critical
ingredient.
¶11. Strengthening the Army and Police: Ambassador Neumann
called on partner countries to join in providing budget
support to help cover some of the additional salary cost
resulting from accelerated Afghan National Army recruitment.
Afghan National Security Adviser Rassoul then highlighted
parallel efforts needed on the police side, as the Government
moves to complete the third phase of its police reforms. The
EU Special Representative described EU progress towards
sending an EU Police Mission to Kabul. A decision is
expected in mid-February. This will be followed by the
development of a detailed concept. The mission might arrive
in Afghanistan by April or May. He cited the goals of
putting 160 police trainers and mentors in place in the
coming year. The German Ambassador then commended the latest
conclusions of Afghan probationary boards for senior police
appointments, and endorsed the need for a Joint Coordination
and Monitoring Board Task Force to look at increasing total
force requirements for the Afghan National Police from the
62,000 target that had been agreed within the Afghan Compact.
The Afghan Government is currently exploring the need for
force increases up to as much as 82,000 police, and a working
group will present a specific recommendation at the next
Board meeting to formally revise the London benchmark.
Ambassador Neumann endorsed the call to review Afghan
National Police force levels, welcomed the proposed EU police
mission, and indicated U.S. interest in developing effective
coordination between our efforts and those of the EU. Norway
and Canada expressed interest in cooperating with the EU
mission, and Canada described a shortfall of police forces in
the South as damaging to military efforts there. Finance
Minister Ahadi concluded that getting firm international
commitments for the Afghan Government,s Law and Order Trust
Fund for the police (known as &LOTFA8) was critical to the
budget he is finalizing for Afghan year 1386 (which begins
March 21). Ahadi plans to submit his budget on February 6,
and reported that it assumes commitments of $123 million
dollars by donors to the Trust Fund.
¶12. Election Issues: A productive discussion on the need
to prepare for Afghanistan,s next round of presidential and
parliamentary elections (scheduled for 2009) centered on a
U.S. non-paper that was circulated prior to the Board
meeting. Ambassador Neumann lamented the absence of any
meaningful discourse related to planning for the next
election cycle. He pushed the Afghan Government to take
ownership of the process and begin making difficult
decisions, including the establishment of a rational
elections calendar. Ambassador Neumann also urged the
international community to factor in requisite financial
support as governments prepared their out-year assistance
packages to Afghanistan.
¶13. The U.S. intervention was well received. Germany,
Canada, India, Netherlands, Norway, and the EU voiced strong
support for early elections planning, and called for the UN
Assistance Mission to initiate meetings with the Afghans in
Kabul to sort through the multitude of sensitive political
and financial issues facing Afghanistan, not the least of
which includes the completion of a national census. India
advocated against another expensive set of elections, and
implored planners to rationalize the cost structure of the
next elections in order to promote Afghan ownership and
decrease donor dependence. The UN remained mostly silent
during the discussion, except to note that the budget
shortfall resulting from the 2005 parliamentary elections had
still not been reconciled. Finance Minister Ahadi defended
the cost of the previous elections as justifiable when
considering what Afghanistan was emerging from and the value
of steering the fragile country on the path to a genuine
democratic future. Ahadi did acknowledge, however, that it
was time for the Afghan Government to step up and begin
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preparing for the next election cycle, as well as to rein in
costs, which were not sustainable.
¶14. Afghan capacity building: The World Bank drew attention
to a paper it had circulated (stimulated by a USAID draft) on
how to improve coordination of donor capacity building
efforts, and called for this to be a major focus for the next
meeting of the Afghan Development Forum (an annual Afghan
Government meeting with its development agency partners),
which is expected to coincide with the next Monitoring Board
meeting, now slated for late April. In response, Afghan
Minister of Economy Shams outlined Afghan plans to finalize a
national Strategy for Human Resource Development in time for
the Development Forum meeting. According to Shams, key
tenets will focus on vocational training, on-the-job
training, and civil service reform. Ambassador Neumann and
USAID Director Waskin highlighted our initiatives to enhance
Afghan capacity, and several delegations called for
consideration of a new Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund
window to permit donors to designate additional funds for
this purpose. Ahadi opposed the opening of an additional
window as complicating the Government,s budget management.
¶15. The World Bank representative additionally called
attention to the issues of Afghanistan,s eligibility in the
future for the bank,s International Development Agency soft
credit facility, which is due to be phased out for
Afghanistan over a 4-year period beginning with the bank,s
FY08 budget. According to the bank,s representative, the
phase-out is scheduled in accordance with current limits on
assistance for post-conflict countries, even though it is not
clear that Afghanistan accurately fits the definition of a
post-conflict state. (COMMENT: Embassy Kabul will follow up
on this issue and report on its implications to Washington).
The World Bank also drew attention to the significant work
that will be required to finalize the draft Afghanistan
National Development Strategy, which has a completion
deadline of March 2008.
¶16. Afghan Justice Minister Danish submitted a report on
capacity gaps in the legislative process, which included a
list of 20 prioritized pieces of legislation identified for
submission to parliament over the next year. He asked donors
to consider strengthening assistance to his ministry as well
as the Afghan parliament to help accelerate drafting and
coordination of new legislation. The EU Representative drew
particular attention to the draft media law as critical to
establishment of Afghanistan as a pluralist, democratic
state, and urged the government to ensure that the Parliament
does not undermine the freedoms laid out in the government,s
current draft bill.
¶17. The JCMB IV regular meeting concluded with a request
from Board Co-Chair Koenigs for endorsement of several
actions proposed by Afghan National Development Strategy
Working Groups that had coordinated input for the meeting.
Pursuant to his motion, it was decided that:
The Ministry of Interior will form a taskforce with key
donors to revisit the target force levels for the Afghan
National Police set in the Afghan Compact, and report its
recommendations to the next quarterly Board meeting;
The Finance Ministry should work with donors to
establish a more effective reporting system on assistance,
and design a framework to assess development outcomes, in
time for the next Board meeting;
The Government of Afghanistan should complete it
strategy for building Afghan Capacity in time for the next
Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board meeting; and
The Ministry of Counter-Narcotics should prepare an
action plan for better coordination of donor efforts to
support its National Drugs Control Strategy; and
Three Afghan Compact benchmarks should be extended
because completion by the original target dates is no longer
realistic, specifically:
o A 9-month extension for drafting Minerals Law
regulations.
o A 4- month extension for completing the Skills
Development Labor Market Study, and
o A 6-month extension for liquidation of state-owned
banks that have not been re-licensed.
17.(SBU) COMMENT: Revisiting the benchmarks set in London a
year ago and reaffirming the international community,s
commitment to Afghan security and reconstruction was an
important purpose well served by the Berlin meeting. Unlike
London, however, the Berlin meeting is likely to have little
resonance among average Afghans, whose focus is on delivery
of results now. The Joint Coordination and Monitoring
Board,s Afghan and international members will return to
Kabul determined to renew their effort to get the job done.
The Board remains the prime instrument for coordinating
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Afghan reconstruction; donors agreed that while minor
adjustment of the mechanism may be useful, there is no need
to look for new actors (e.g. NATO or the EU) to play a lead
coordinating role. The Afghan Compact remains the accepted
comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan. END COMMENT.
¶18. Assistant Secretary Richard A. Boucher has cleared on
this cable.
TIMKEN JR