By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, January 7, updated -- The UN makes mistakes both large and small, but often does not fix them or even try. Sometimes the opposite is true.
UN Peacekeeping fled Rwanda in 1994 while 800,000 were killed; the French helped the genocidaires escape to Goma and environs. Now Herve Ladsous a French diplomat who defended this is in charge of UN peacekeeping, and refuses to answer Press questions about his partners' rapes outside of Goma. Video here.
This is another story, though, about other part of the UN: the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
When Inner City Press noticed that OCHA's report on Haiti cited "promiscuity" in the camps for Internally Displaced People, it raised the issue on the Internet,tweeting at OCHA chief Valerie Amos then OCHA itself.
Just before 10 am on Monday, OCHA tweeted back: "@innercitypress @ValerieAmos -- Thanks for highlighting translation error. Revised report will be up shortly."
While it remains to be seen what French word was used and "mistranslated" as promiscuity, it's notable that OCHA unlike the Department of Peacekeeping Operations responded to the question, even online, and acknowledged an error.
The UN won't acknowledge its role in bringing cholera to Haiti; in the Congo, DPKO ended up claiming it had done a good job in Goma, even as it did nothing as the M23 mutineers took it over.
Now Ladsous has three times on camera refused to answer questions about at least 126 rapes in Minova by the Congolese Army, which his DPKO supports. It's becoming too late to admit error. Watch this site.
Update of 11:08 am -- OCHA by tweet at Inner City Press explains:
We note for what it's worth that Google Translate leads with "promiscuity" as the translation, with "overcrowding" third. But OCHA to DPKO, there is no comparison. There should, however, be action on DPKO. Watch this site.
