By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 10, updated June 11 --
Even before
Jan Eliasson
starts as Ban
Ki-moon's
second Deputy
Secretary
General on
July 1,
complaints of
nepotism and
corrupt hiring
have been
made.
Whistleblowing
sources
tell Inner
City Press
that
Eliasson's
"former
Special
Assistant Ms.
Shirin Pakfar
has been
brought from
Libya on a
Temporary Duty
Assignment for
90 days to
help start his
office,"
at an
estimated cost
of $70,000.
Inner
City Press has
also learned
that outgoing
DSG Asha Rose
Migiro's
chief of
staff, before
taking up the
Burundi post
he has won, is
slated to stay
on in New York
for the entire
month of July
to help
Eliasson
settle in. So
what is the
total cost of
this Deputy's
transition?
Worse,
the complaint
continues,
"Ms. Pakfar
has also made
it known to
many of her
colleagues
that she will
ultimately be
employed at a
key
P5 position
within the
Deputy
Secretary-General's
office after
she
completes a
year in Libya
and satisfies
the mobility
requirement
for
a promotion."
This
apparent
"gaming" of
Ban Ki-moon's
supposed
mobility
policy, which
for favored
officials like
Robert Orr and
Kim Won-soo
means only
moving
laterally
without
leaving New
York,
shouldn't
accompany
Eliasson's
tenure even
before he
begins.
While
the
complainant
had attempted
to send all
this
information
directly
to Ban
Ki-moon, they
suspected that
it would be
cut off and
not reach
Ban. Therefore
Inner City
Press is putting
it online,
here.
Inner
City Press
also sent it
and sought
comment from
Ban's top and
Associate
spokesmen, and
from Pakfar at
the UN.
Update: more than 24 hours later, the following was received as is, as "expected," being published here in full:
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] UN
Date: Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 3:24 PM
Subject: Response to your question on Sunday about anonymous accusations
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Cc: Martin Nesirky [at] un.org
In answer to your question from Sunday 10 June, the Spokesperson has this to say and expects the full text to be printed:
First, let me make it clear that we do not in the normal course of events respond to anonymous accusations. The more so where they impugn specific staff members without attribution.
However, in response to your query, the Secretary-General’s office does, from time to time, call on the service of staff members from various offices of the Organization, for limited periods of time, to help support his immediate office. This has allowed the Office to benefit from the rich experience of staff thorough out the Organization while ensuring that the maximum number of staff have the experience of working with the Secretary-General’s immediate office.
With regard to the transition between the serving DSG and the incoming DSG, it is recognized that the current level of activities of the Office must continue and staff of the office are fully engaged in supporting DSG Migiro. Therefore, as is the norm, short term assistance is brought to bear to help coordinate the transition of incoming DSG Eliasson. This is a time bound and focused activity.
Finally, the Executive Office of the Secretary-General has been consistent in its approach to staffing the office. Following the Secretary-General's open letter of 19 January 2007 on positions in his office, in which he invited staff members who meet the qualifications to express interest in being considered for placement in his office, posts have been and continue to be circulated to staff at headquarters and the field. For your information, there are currently three positions posted in iSeek, 2 D-2 level and 1 P-5 level. Others will continue to be circulated as well.
This is the open letter from 2007:
19 January 2007
Dear Colleagues,
My first three weeks in office have been busy ones, as I have staked out a number of priorities in the work of the United Nations. In addition to the many challenges in peace, development and human rights, I believe there is also a need to change the working culture of the Organization itself.
I am convinced that for the United Nations to meet the global challenges of the 21st century, we need to build a staff that is truly mobile and multi-functional -- a staff better equipped to serve our Member States, and uphold the purposes of our Organization.
To give life to those principles in an open and transparent manner, I intend as far as possible to lead by example. That is why I am taking steps to promote mobility in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. As a first step, I have decided to initiate a new practice of circulating a number of EOSG positions on iSeek for a period of 10 working days, with a view to opening these positions to expressions of interest from UN staff members, both at headquarters and in the field. I hope you will study closely the job descriptions below, and I invite you to express interest if you consider that you are fully qualified and meet all the competencies required for one of the positions. We look forward to receiving a broad range of expressions of interest from throughout the UN.
As I undertake these efforts to lead by example, I look to all senior managers to follow suit and promote mobility among their staff in the same manner, beyond the requirements of managed mobility.
I thank all of you for your diligent service and dedication to the work and ideals of the United Nations.
Yours sincerely,
Ban Ki-moon
Date: Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 3:24 PM
Subject: Response to your question on Sunday about anonymous accusations
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Cc: Martin Nesirky [at] un.org
In answer to your question from Sunday 10 June, the Spokesperson has this to say and expects the full text to be printed:
First, let me make it clear that we do not in the normal course of events respond to anonymous accusations. The more so where they impugn specific staff members without attribution.
However, in response to your query, the Secretary-General’s office does, from time to time, call on the service of staff members from various offices of the Organization, for limited periods of time, to help support his immediate office. This has allowed the Office to benefit from the rich experience of staff thorough out the Organization while ensuring that the maximum number of staff have the experience of working with the Secretary-General’s immediate office.
With regard to the transition between the serving DSG and the incoming DSG, it is recognized that the current level of activities of the Office must continue and staff of the office are fully engaged in supporting DSG Migiro. Therefore, as is the norm, short term assistance is brought to bear to help coordinate the transition of incoming DSG Eliasson. This is a time bound and focused activity.
Finally, the Executive Office of the Secretary-General has been consistent in its approach to staffing the office. Following the Secretary-General's open letter of 19 January 2007 on positions in his office, in which he invited staff members who meet the qualifications to express interest in being considered for placement in his office, posts have been and continue to be circulated to staff at headquarters and the field. For your information, there are currently three positions posted in iSeek, 2 D-2 level and 1 P-5 level. Others will continue to be circulated as well.
This is the open letter from 2007:
19 January 2007
Dear Colleagues,
My first three weeks in office have been busy ones, as I have staked out a number of priorities in the work of the United Nations. In addition to the many challenges in peace, development and human rights, I believe there is also a need to change the working culture of the Organization itself.
I am convinced that for the United Nations to meet the global challenges of the 21st century, we need to build a staff that is truly mobile and multi-functional -- a staff better equipped to serve our Member States, and uphold the purposes of our Organization.
To give life to those principles in an open and transparent manner, I intend as far as possible to lead by example. That is why I am taking steps to promote mobility in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. As a first step, I have decided to initiate a new practice of circulating a number of EOSG positions on iSeek for a period of 10 working days, with a view to opening these positions to expressions of interest from UN staff members, both at headquarters and in the field. I hope you will study closely the job descriptions below, and I invite you to express interest if you consider that you are fully qualified and meet all the competencies required for one of the positions. We look forward to receiving a broad range of expressions of interest from throughout the UN.
As I undertake these efforts to lead by example, I look to all senior managers to follow suit and promote mobility among their staff in the same manner, beyond the requirements of managed mobility.
I thank all of you for your diligent service and dedication to the work and ideals of the United Nations.
Yours sincerely,
Ban Ki-moon
