Cablegate: Oecd: Partnership for Democratic Governance Pdg)- Council

VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHFR #3014 1931117
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121117Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8917
INFO RUEHFR/OECD COLLECTIVE
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0755
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 1922
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1132
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 1385
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0496

UNCLAS PARIS 003014

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

FROM USOECD PARIS

STATE FOR E, EEB, EUR, F AND S/P, NSC FOR STEVE NEWHOUSE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON ETRD OECD
SUBJECT: OECD: PARTNERSHIP FOR DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE PDG)- COUNCIL
APPROVES ESTABLISHING PDG ADVISORY UNIT

1. (SBU) The OECD Council on July 12 agreed to the establishment at
the OECD of an Advisory Unit (AU) for the proposed Partnership for
Democratic Governance (PDG) The decision was taken as an "A" point
- consensus having been reached prior to the Council meeting, with
no discussion by Permanent Representatives. This consensus was
obtained as a result of an extensive review on July 3 by the
Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and on July 10 by the
Executive Committee (ExCom) and follow-up discussions with the two
countries, the Netherlands and Austria, that had maintained reserves
following the ExCom deliberations.

2. (SBU) Next steps will be implementation of the decision,
including recruitment for positions in the newly established AU,
further refining of the terms of reference for the AU, and ensuring
full financial support from other contributors (currently Australia
and the U.S. have made formal pledges totaling 4.6 million USD, and
we understand that Canada will soon announce a substantial
contribution). The Secretariat hopes to complete the job
descriptions and begin advertising for the AU positions by the end
of July in order to ensure that the process of establishing the unit
moves forward quickly in the fall when the PDG itself is rolled out.
Another key element is the need to develop a public affairs element
as part of the PDG rollout strategy. The Secretariat has appealed
to us to coordinate the rollout to maximize the impact and clarity
of our statements.

3. (U) USOECD wishes to express its appreciation for the excellent
support provided by OECD posts in ensuring today's positive
decision. Special thanks to Embassies Brussels, The Hague and
Vienna whose efforts enabled us to avoid a potentially dilatory
discussion in Council. We look forward to working with OECD posts
as the decision is implemented in the fall and the PDG gets up and
running.

Morella

© Scoop Media