UNITED NATIONS, May 28 -- The UN is trying to move parts of its $5 billion peacekeeping support function to Italy, over the objection of troop contributing countries like India and Pakistan, with little to no disclosure or other press coverage.
When the UN Department of Field Support proposed to move unspecified functions from New York to Brindisi, Italy, the UN's own Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions told DFS chief Susana Malcorra of Argentina to be sure to consult with the troop contributing countries.
According to Permanent Representatives of major TCCs interviewed by Inner City Press on May 28, when the proposal was slated to be voted on, Ms. Malcorra never made the consultation. "She's asking us to vote on a slogan," one of the TCC Perm Reps said.
Another described the strategies used to try to pass the proposal in the UN's Fifth (Budget) Committee over the objections of the countries most impacted. "They tried to turn the Africans against us," this TCC Perm Rep said, "by tying the proposal to Entebbe," an new DFS hub in Uganda. "We separated those two."
An African Perm Rep told Inner City Press that Entebbe is an insubstantial proposal anyway.
"Then they tried to turn GRULAC" - the Latin American and Caribbean Group -- "against us," the TCC Perm Rep continued, "using that Ms. Malcorra is from Argentina." He laughed. "But that didn't work either."
The first TCC Perm Rep continued. "DFS handles about five billion dollars a year, supporting peacekeeping operations. Half of that gets paid to TCCs' Permanent Missions in New York, largely to India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Morocco. Now they want to move unspecified functions out of town. Which functions? Even the ACABQ report, at Paragraph 109, says she should have consulted with us."
Inner City Press asked Ms. Malcorra about the proposal at her and Alain Le Roy's press conference on May 28, at the tail end because Inner City Press was only allowed a second question after others got four and five questions in. Inner City Press had to ask about any follow-through on the death of UN staffer Louis Maxwell; Ms. Malcorra had very little update. Video here. On the reform /job shift proposal, Ms. Malcorra offered a rosy view, not responsive to these TCCs' concerns.
The first TCC Ambassador then leaned forward. "Even without any approval," he said, "they have moved a Police Unit to Brindisi, and already advertised jobs."
It is reminiscent of when the Department of Peacekeeping Operations held a ribbon cutting for its technology center in Valencia, Spain before they had any approval. Except this time, DFS is on notice of the opposition of the large TCCs. So who runs the UN? Watch this site.
