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Viewing cable 07KINSHASA482, SCENESETTER FOR VISIT OF AMBASSADOR RANDALL TOBIAS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07KINSHASA482 2007-04-27 11:56 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Kinshasa
VZCZCXYZ0017
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKI #0482/01 1171156
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271156Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6041
INFO RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 0700
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5020
UNCLAS KINSHASA 000482 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR UNDERSECRETARY TOBIAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID OVIP PREL PGOV ECON SOCI CG
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR VISIT OF AMBASSADOR RANDALL TOBIAS 
TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary.  The Democratic Republic of the Congo is 
slowly feeling its way toward solutions to fundamental 
governance and development challenges following historic 2006 
national elections.  The Department's decision to identify 
the DRC as a priority assistance country reflected the 
achievements to date, the promise of the peace and 
democratization processes, and the importance of the DRC as 
the linchpin of Central Africa and beyond.  Your visit, 
following recent travel to the DRC by the French and British 
cooperation ministers, the Belgian foreign minister, the UN 
deputy secretary general, and the associate director of the 
UN Development Program, will underscore U.S. commitment to 
the goals of governing justly and democratically, peace and 
security, economic growth, humanitarian assistance, and 
investing in people.  End summary. 
 
-------------- 
The challenges 
-------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) Your May 6-8 visit to the Democratic Republic of 
the Congo comes at a key point following a difficult 
transition from dictatorship, mismanagement and devastating 
wars.  This situation calls for continued and sustained U.S. 
commitment to maintain stability and promote economic 
development.  There are important successes on which to 
build, but major challenges remain, and the performance 
record since elections thus far has been mixed. 
 
3.  (SBU) Historic presidential and parliamentary elections 
in 2006, the first free vote in some 40 years, produced a 
government which is only slowly seeking its way toward 
solutions to fundamental governance, development, and 
security challenges.  Although mitigated by the presence of 
MONUC, the UN's largest peacekeeping operation, security 
remains a major problem.  Human rights violations are common, 
and impunity is widespread.  The country, as large as all of 
western Europe, is rich in natural resources, but needs to 
develop the infrastructure, skills, and accountable 
institutions to ensure those resources benefit the 
population.  Poverty remains endemic, and health, education 
and other social services are nearly non-existent. 
 
4.  (SBU) Corruption, deeply entrenched during decades of 
misgovernment, remains a problem in all sectors.  A serious 
budget shortfall exacerbates the challenges for a 
newly-installed democratic government to meet popular 
expectations of change heightened by the success of the 2006 
elections.  Lastly, renewed violence in March and related 
political events have broadly raised questions as to whether 
the DRC's leaders are committed to democracy, or the country 
risks sliding backwards.  (Note:  President Kabila and close 
aides have expressed considerable resentment of criticism 
coming from the international community in the wake of March 
violence, complicating the DRC's foreign relations and needed 
partnership with donors.  End note.) 
 
5.  (SBU) The Department's 2006 decision to identify the DRC 
as one of seven priority assistance countries in Africa 
reflected the importance of achievements already made, and of 
the democratization process underway to promote regional 
stability and development.  The Mission's overriding policy 
goals focus on implanting a culture of democracy and 
accountable governance, while promoting broad economic 
development in a stable Congo at peace with its neighbors and 
itself.  Our assistance program fully supports and reflects 
the Secretary's transformational diplomacy goals.  The F 2006 
budget for DRC programs totaled $68m, including funds 
received from central accounts but excluding IFDA. 
Comparable figures for 2007 have fallen to $46m, but are set 
to rise in 2008 to $80.2m.  We appreciate the strategic and 
transformational nature of the projected budget figures, 
which will provide resources appropriate to the DRC's needs. 
 
 
6.  (SBU) Your visit, following recent travel by the French 
and British cooperation ministers, the Belgian foreign 
minister, the UN deputy secretary general, and the deputy 
chief of the UN development program, will highlight ongoing 
Mission efforts to develop and sustain partnerships that 
support USG goals in five key program areas:  Governing 
Justly and Democratically, Peace and Security, Economic 
Growth, Humanitarian Assistance, and Investing in People. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Governing Justly and Democratically 
----------------------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU) The July and October 2006 national and provincial 
elections signaled the end of the Transition Government 
created in 2003 to put an end to years of strife during what 
came to be called Africa's World War.  Joseph Kabila was 
inaugurated as president in December.  Antoine Gizenga, a 
former associate of independence figure Patrice Lumumba, 
became prime minister, and the National Assembly approved his 
five-year program and 59-member ministerial council in 
February 2007.  The constitution promulgated in February 2006 
provided for election of eleven provincial governments, which 
are in the early stages of organization. 
 
8.  (SBU) The new institutions have been marked so far by 
indecision and an apparent lack of urgency.  The challenges 
they face in establishing accountable democratic institutions 
are immense.  Authoritarianism and corruption have been 
endemic for decades.  "Good governance" is a slogan at best, 
citizens are inexperienced at holding their representatives 
accountable, the judicial system is dysfunctional, and there 
are significant abuses of human rights. 
 
9.  (SBU) USG programs for FY2007 aim to support good 
governance and institutional reform.  They focus on combating 
corruption and human rights abuses, developing independent 
judicial and legislative institutions, and facilitating 
decentralized state authority.  Their objectives incorporate 
longer-term reforms as well as direct citizen access to 
services. 
 
10.  (SBU) We continue to work with National Assembly 
deputies on drafting key legislative proposals, including 
laws relating to the political opposition, financing of 
political parties, decentralization, establishment of a 
national elections commission and protection of human rights. 
 We have also conducted capacity-building seminars for 
deputies and staff members, supported creation of provincial 
watchdog and advocacy groups to encourage citizen 
participation in democratic processes, and worked to develop 
skills of political party members, foster grassroots 
anti-corruption initiatives and establish mobile courts and 
legal aid clinics.  Our GDJ budget for FY2008 is $20m, a 
nearly 100 per cent increase from $10.2m in FY2007. 
 
------------------ 
Peace and Security 
------------------ 
 
11.  (SBU) The security situation remains precarious in many 
areas, particularly in the eastern provinces.  The Congolese 
military suffers from weak command and control, corruption, 
poor operational planning and administrative and logistical 
capacity, limited training, questionable loyalty on the part 
of some of its troops, and a troubling record of human rights 
violations.  Troops are poorly paid, when they receive 
salaries at all.  Border and customs controls are inadequate, 
and the capacity of the Congolese police urgently needs to be 
strengthened. 
 
12.  (SBU) Donor-funded security sector reform (SSR) and 
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programs 
have achieved mixed success at best, and low-level conflict 
remains in many eastern areas.  The government has abandoned 
established military integration protocols in the province of 
North Kivu in favor of an alternative process of "mixing" 
dissident and government troops into combined units that 
largely sustain their ethnic "identity" and that have added 
to fears of insecurity in the region. 
 
13.  (SBU) PS programs currently focus on reintegration of 
ex-combatants, conflict management, officer training, and 
destruction of obsolete ordinance.  Our reintegration efforts 
in North Kivu and northern Katanga are jointly funded with 
the World Bank; a third program, targeting ex-militia 
fighters in the Ituri District of Orientale Province, is a 
multi-donor initiative.  We are implementing four conflict 
management programs, in Orientale, South Kivu and Maniema 
provinces.  Our media support program (which you will visit 
in South Kivu) is a country-wide effort with an emphasis on 
the eastern areas of the country.  A training program for 
brigade-level officers is ongoing in Kinshasa; upon 
completion, officers will be deployed to integrated brigades 
around the country.  IMET funds U.S.-based courses that 
include English-language training.  NADR currently funds 
destruction of obsolete ordinance in Equateur and Katanga. 
 
14.  (SBU) Although USG involvement in security sector reform 
has received relatively limited funding, we anticipate 
additional activities in the near future.  Thanks to $5m in 
 
funding provided in the 2006 Iraq Supplemental, we are 
rehabilitating the officer training academy, providing 
officer training, and making significant investment in the 
military justice system.  For FY2008, $8.4m already allocated 
from FMS, INCLE, NADR and PKO funds will enable greater 
involvement in SSR activities including, for the first time, 
police training. 
 
--------------- 
Economic Growth 
--------------- 
 
15.  (SBU) The Congolese people have not benefited from the 
natural resource wealth of the country because of protracted 
war, civil disturbances, mismanagement and corruption. 
However, the promise of post-election stability has generated 
renewed multilateral and bilateral commitments.  The 
government is moving toward implementation of the Poverty 
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) approved in mid-2006 by the 
World Bank and IMF executive boards.  Its five-year program 
is based on the PRSP and includes a Good Governance plan 
covering the remainder of 2007.  It focuses on addressing 
five "chantiers" (literally "construction sites") identified 
by President Kabila:  infrastructure, employment, education, 
water/electricity and health. 
 
16.  (SBU) Anticipated, major shortfalls in the 
yet-to-be-drafted 2007 budget and reduced external budgetary 
support will make it difficult for the government to achieve 
its objectives.  However, the World Bank has just approved 
$180m in emergency funds, approximately half of which will be 
used for urban infrastructure in Kinshasa, with the remainder 
allocated to Ministry of Education programs and for domestic 
debt payments.  The Bank also recently announced a nearly 
$300m rehabilitation package for parastatal hydroelectric 
plants at Inga.  Further discussions will take place at the 
DRC Consultative Group meeting currently planned for June. 
 
17.  (SBU) The IMF suspended its regular stabilization 
program in March 2006, leading to the loss of some $40m per 
month of Central Bank reserve support and of nearly $200m in 
outside budget support.  GDP growth for 2006 was less than 
six percent, with GDP per capita close to $100:  at current 
rates, it will take until 2060 for per capita income to reach 
pre-independence levels.  Excessive public spending in 2006 
contributed to a budget deficit of over $50m, an already 
burdensome national debt and inflation of over 20 per cent. 
The government expects to present a draft budget to 
Parliament by mid-May, with the hope of having it approved 
before mid-June.  Estimates from the Ministry of Plan are 
that the budget will be around $2.4bn, with more than half 
needing to come from outside funding sources. 
 
18.  (SBU) USG programs in support of economic growth are 
currently relatively modest, and focus on agriculture. 
Programs include $1.4m to raise and distribute 
virus-resistant cassava, a regional effort to combat cassava 
virus and banana wilt, and $1.2m to revive palm oil, coffee, 
rubber and cacao production and commerce by small-scale 
farmers.  We have also developed a social marketing campaign 
to prepare for and combat the effects of avian flu.  We are 
working with mining firms in a Global Development Alliance to 
improve livelihoods of families of their employees, former 
informal-sector miners, and surrounding villages.  Funding 
for economic growth will increase to $10m annually in FY2008, 
and we plan to launch an expanded cassava virus program and 
support women's small enterprise development and access to 
credit for cassava production. 
 
19.  (SBU) The Mission also manages the Central African 
Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), a conservation 
initiative to slow loss of biodiversity and tropical rain 
forest in the nine countries of the Congo River basin.  In 
the DRC, CARPE works in seven priority "landscapes," 
including the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in South Kivu and 
the Virunga National Park in North Kivu, which have the 
highest rate of biodiversity in the region. The U.S. has 
contributed $50m to CARPE to date, with other donors 
collectively funding an equal amount. 
 
----------------------- 
Humanitarian Assistance 
----------------------- 
 
20.  (SBU) Four million people have died as a consequence of 
10 years of war and conflict.  Low-level combat continues to 
cause large-scale population displacements, particularly in 
eastern areas of the country.  Many social and economic 
 
support structures have collapsed as a result of neglect, 
corruption and lack of resources, leaving victims without 
livelihoods, access to medical services and in many cases, 
places to live. 
 
21.  (SBU) Disaster relief and food assistance funds 
represent approximately one-half of all U.S. foreign 
assistance to the DRC.  Total non-food IDFA funding in FY2006 
was $26m. OFDA provides transportation and a start-up cash 
package to returning IDPs, and is mounting labor-intensive 
road rehabilitation programs.  We also fund emergency health 
programs and water and sanitation supply in conflict areas, 
particularly in South Kivu, and distribution of seeds and 
tools in Ituri District and northern Katanga.  The USG 
provided $36m of food assistance in 2006, most channeled 
through the World Food Program for distribution in conflict 
areas.  If current trends continue, most emergency health 
activities will be transferred to developmentally-based 
health programs at the end of 2007. 
 
------------------- 
Investing in People 
------------------- 
 
22.  (SBU) Social indicators are dismal:  the DRC ranked 
167th out of the 177 countries in the 2006 UNDP Human 
Development Report.  Seventy-five per cent of the population 
lives on less than one dollar a day.  Infant mortality is 212 
per thousand.  Less than 25 per cent of girls graduate from 
primary schools. 
 
23.  (SBU) USG programs focus on primary health care, primary 
education and protection of vulnerable groups.  Health is our 
largest development effort.  USAID has made a four-year, $12m 
commitment for HIV/AIDS prevention and care, CDC funds 
surveillance and pediatric HIV/AIDS programs, DOD has 
programs for military prevention and care, and State has an 
innovative public diplomacy program to increase HIV/AIDS 
awareness.  We plan to program over $55m for primary 
pediatric health care in 82 rural health zones over the next 
three years, and continue to support national tuberculosis 
and polio eradication efforts. 
 
24.  (SBU) We are currently implementing programs to 
facilitate access to and upgrade primary education, with a 
particular focus on girls.  The Ambassador's Girls 
Scholarship Program provides 18,000 girls with primary school 
scholarships.  USAID grantees provide teacher training in 
Equateur, Bas Congo, Bandundu and South Kivu provinces.  The 
USG also works with other donors including UNICEF and the 
World Bank to responsibly reduce or eliminate Congolese 
school fees, and plans to distribute 50 tons of materials and 
supplies to primary schools and pupils this year.  The 
Mission also funds a holistic program in eastern provinces to 
respond to the needs of rape victims.  We are currently 
funding NGOs working to prevent and deal with child 
abandonment in Kinshasa and Eastern Kasai province. 
 
------------------------------- 
Leverage and donor coordination 
------------------------------- 
 
25.  (SBU) USAID currently co-funds a number of 
non-traditional partnerships which are bringing outside 
resources to bear on pressing development challenges.  These 
include investment in commodity processing and marketing with 
agricultural marketing firms, corporate social responsibility 
with mining multinationals, and HIV/AIDS prevention programs. 
 The USG is also an active participant in the Country 
Assistance Framework (CAF) process to align major donors' DRC 
assistance strategies during 2007-10 and support government 
efforts to implement the PSRP. 
 
------------------------ 
A message of partnership 
------------------------ 
 
26.  (SBU) We welcome your visit, which comes at an opportune 
time to encourage the government to build on its democratic 
gains, and urgently address the expectations of the Congolese 
people.  We ask that you help us to reinforce the following 
messages: 
 
--    The United States supports establishing in the DRC a 
culture of democracy, which will best ensure the country's 
development. 
 
--    Democracy is the open competition of ideas and 
 
policies, and therefore the rights of the political 
opposition must be guaranteed.  For its part, the opposition 
must act responsibly and remain loyal to democratic 
principles and elected institutions. 
 
--    The government should take immediate and tangible 
action to provide basic services to the people, provide 
economic stability, end corruption, and thereby encourage 
investment and growth.  An elected government is accountable 
to the voters.  This is what good governance is all about. 
The international community will help. 
 
--    It is imperative that the army and police act 
professionally, provide domestic security and respect human 
rights.  Their abuses must stop in order to maintain the 
goodwill of the international community. 
 
We are confident that adding your voice to these messages 
will help the leaders of the DRC make their country a valued 
partner. 
 
MEECE