By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/uncope2offmessage102809.html
UNITED NATIONS, October 28 -- On climate change, while even Yvo de Boer of the UN says it's unlikely the deal will be sealed in Copenhagen in December, the UN Secretariat still maintains that there is no Plan B. And apparently that is true: while they got "SealTheDeal2009.org" to advocate for an agreement, "SealTheDeal2010.org" was recently obtained by another, through GoDaddy.com.
With all the resources the UN is devoting to Copenhagen, one might have expected them to at least take the 2010 domain name off the table. But perhaps they thought it would show a lack of faith.
Meanwhile, as a response to Inner City Press' article documenting nepotism in the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly, including PGA Ali Treki bringing his daughter and a cousin into the Office, Inner City Press has been informed that Treki asked the United States to second a staff member to his office on the climate change issue. The Obama administration has yet to come through.
From the October 27 UN transcript:
Inner City Press: I’ve been told that the, the Office of President Treki asked the United States to appoint a staff member to cover the issue of climate change, I guess to second a staff member from the United States Mission or the United States State Department to serve in the Office. Is that something you’re aware of? Is that true?
Spokesperson Jean-Victor Nkolo: Well, I don’t think I would like to go into staffing matters in a specific office at the United Nations. I don’t think that would be proper. But what I can tell you is that the Office of the President of the General Assembly is definitively staffed by a wide array of personnel coming from all horizons -- Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America. It’s a very international team and I think that it will be good that the international profile of this team continues to be reinforced. What I wouldn’t like to comment on are specifics regarding staffing matters.
Inner City Press: Is there currently somebody, I mean maybe you can comment on this one, is there, on the issue of climate change, is there currently a staff member of the Office covering that issue?
Spokesperson Nkolo: What I can tell you is that we are only a few a weeks after the General Assembly started its session, and as you know, the work of any session of the General Assembly starts in mid-September. It takes some time, usually, to actually have all the positions filled and this process is still ongoing and it does not, it’s not limited to the climate change issues. There are other areas that are being filled and the cabinet of the President of the General Assembly is working hard to make sure that all areas are filled quickly, but as efficiently and professionally as possible.
So they haven't filled the climate change post, this close to the Copenhagen meeting? Watch this site.
And see, www.innercitypress.com/uncope2offmessage102809.html
