By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, November 25 -- After talk at the UN of a "big bang" in Ban Ki-moon's Secretariat, a re-organization for his second and final term as Secretary General started January 1, now the shakeup is described by sources as small, more of a re-shuffling.
For example, the sources predict, current Under Secretary General for Field Support Susana Malcorra is tapped to move up to Ban's Deputy spot, maintaining the position for a woman from the developing world, albeit no longer an African.
With Lynn Pascoe slated to leave the Department of Political Affairs by February or at latest April, the US is known to have made a play to keep the DPA post.
Strangely there is talk of moving Pascoe over to the Chief of Staff (or "Chef de Cabinet") post held throughout Ban's first term by Vijay Nambiar. One source said "Pascoe wouldn't be viewed as a second high level American, since he wasn't appointed under Obama."
Nambiar awaited departure would, of course, leave India down a major post. While not suggested by the Ban administration sources, moving Indian Atul Khare from his current "made up" post of Change Management to replace Malcorra as USG of DFS might be an elegant way to solve that problem.
But a diplomatic source noted that Pakistan, too, "deserves" a high post, just as it is taking a seat on the Security Council overlapping in 2012 with India.
Other USGs are being told to look for jobs in the field. Source say that USG for Management Angela Kane was encouraged to apply to field jobs, for example the Lebanon post vacated by Michael Williams, with Nicholas Hayson now thought to wait longer into the reshuffle. But Kim Won-soo, who might leave, is said to be encouraging Y.J. Choi, the campaign manager who engineered Ban's first term, to seek the Lebanon job.
Several sources marveled at how Ban has thus far ignored requests not only from the African Group but also G-77 to fill the Special Adviser on Africa post.
Inside the Department of Political Affairs, Pascoe is said to be finding the safest places possible for this proteges, while his Department is hard-lobbied by at the middle level by the Turkish Mission, "muscularly," a DPA staffer told Inner City Press disapprovingly. And so it goes at the UN.
