By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, January 20 -- Amid generally self-congratulatory talk at the UN on January 20 Ameerah Haq, perhaps freed to speak by leaving her UN position, acknowledged that the UN “can't demonstrate” its stated zero tolerance policy for sexual abuse.
Given the lack of punishment or even trials for some UNpersonnel allowed to flee countries like Haiti after being accused of rape, the statement seems obvious. But UN officials, chief among them UN Peacekeeping's Herve Ladsous, refuse to admit or even answer questions about it.
So upon hearing Ameerah Haq's candor, Inner City Press ran down for the question and answer session. The event was in Conference Room 5, sponsored by the Netherlands, whose foreign minster (and former UN envoy to Cote d'Ivoire and Mali) Bert Koenders was on the panel, next to Ameerah Haq.
When question time came, however, only the Permanent Representatives of countries were allowed to ask - or mostly just say - things. The United Arab Emirates noted how the UAE's foreign minister signed on for the UN's He4She campaign, for example; Koenders chimed in to call his colleague a leader.
The context was that the Netherlands is running for a Security Council seat for 2017-2018. Koenders raised this earlier on January 20, speaking across First Avenue from the UN, noting his country's contribution to peacekeeping. (They carried out air strikes in Northern Mali, it seems, that very day.)
As the already-beginning US electoral race to culminate in November 2016 shows, it is never to early to start campaigning. But we'd suggest that Koenders and the Netherlands, and other candidates, make sure to take a wider range of question than just from other Permanent Representatives going forward.
Beyond running an accessible race, the only way the UN will improve on issues like sexual abuse is by moving beyond self congratulation and addressing its weaknesses and lack of accountability.
And on Ameerah Haq's candor, and how this issue might be addressed in the ongoing review of UN Peace Operations, heading from Dhaka to Rio but hopefully hearing from elsewhere including Haiti, we'll have more. Watch this site.
