By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1karaoke112409.html
UNITED NATIONS, November 24, updated -- With the UN facing budget problems and accusations of corruption and of working with murderous Congolese army unit, at 4 p.m. on November 24 the head of the UN's Office of Human Resources Management convened a meeting in her office for a karaoke session.
Inner City Press was informed of the sing-along with outraged UN staff, and sent Ms. Pollard a request for confirmation and comment, which as of press (and karaoke) time was not returned.
A call, however, to Ms. Pollard's office -- asking "when the the karaoke begin?" -- yielded the response, "the invitation said 4 o'clock but they're still setting up." We'll call that confirmation.
Meanwhile with the UN Department of Public Information, for example, a staff member from New Zealand who served the UN for 28 years recently asked to begin her retirement party at 4 p.m. on a Friday and was rejected. Perhaps the OHRM karaoke, unlike a tribute to a long time staff member, can be written off as a team building exercise.
Update of 5 p.m. -- Ms. Pollard did to her credit respond:
From: Catherine Pollard [at] UN.org
Date: Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 4:36 PM
Subject: Re: Press question(s)
To: Inner City Press
Dear Mr. Lee, Thank you for your interest. This is an internal OHRM event that I have organized in recognition of the work done by OHRM staff in the spirit of the Holiday season. Best regards, Catherine Pollard
Likewise the reception, also on November 24 but starting at 4:30 p.m., for reporters to meet and "raise a toast" to incoming Spokesman Martin Nesirky. He declined to confirm to the Press that he was getting the job, then on November 23 took to the briefing room to make a statement downplaying the role of Korean speaking in his selection. But he took no questions after his statement. Will the toast raising be on the record?
Update of 5:30 p.m. -- while on or off the record did not become an issue, it was clarified that Mr. Nesirky beings on December 7, which to some is a day which will live in infamy. We hope not.
Footnote: Inner City Press was seated, it was said, next to Mr. Nesirky at the UNA-USA gala on the night of November 23 at Cipriani's on 42nd Street. But the prosciutto and mozzarella salad with pear assigned to Mr. Nesirky sat uneaten while UNA's Tom Miller spoke at length about the "Land Mine Treaty" and Business Council, four events for 150 executives. He toasted William J. McDonough, of whom no one was explained any safeguards between his role in private finance and with Planet UN.
In the audience were the Ambassadors of, for example, Uganda, Iraq and Viet Nam (South Korea's came late at 8 o'clock), UN officials like Warren Sach and the Capital Master Plan's Michael Adlerstein -- who declined to say even where he was sitting -- Kim Won soo and, of course, the Secretary General.
After a high school teacher spoke, passionately, Leslie Stahl said she'd be in his class any day. In the audience, not paying the listed $1500, were other teachers in training from Colombia University. The UN contains many worlds, some nose to the grindstone, some fancy and others... karaoke. We try to cover all levels.
