UNITED NATIONS GATE, December 9 – While the Saudi kingdom is still stonewalling on the role of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, UNESCO has a Memorandum of Understanding to train the staff of MBS's Misk Foundation, Inner City Press can today report and exclusively publish, here on Scribd; for download on Patreon here. It is signed between UNESCO and Ali Alzabarah, CEO, Misk Initiatives Center, and begins:
"Considering themutual désire of Misk Initiatives Center at MiSK Foundation (hereinafter "PartnerInstitution") and the United NationsEducational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization (hereinafter "UNESCO"), to establish a general framework of collaboration between them and to provide an opportunity for the Trainees to acquire a firsthand working experience at UNESCO; The Partner Institution and UNESCO (together referred to as the "Parties") hâve agreed to establish the
Sponsored Traineeship Programme as follows:
ARTICLE 1 Purpose
1. The purpose of theSponsored Traineeship Programme is threefold:
a) To offer to the selected Trainees specialized in the areas related to the work of UNESCO, the
opportunity to enhance their knowledge and consolidate their experience through practical work assignments;
b) To expose Trainees to the work of UNESCO, and enable them to gain a better understanding
of its mandate, programmes and processes, and thus promoting and strengthening UNESCO's
work in the areas of its mandate;
e) To benefit from the input of professional individuals, who can bring new ideas." A fish rots from the head: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who earlier this year took a $930 million check from MBS, himself also partners with Misk through his Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake. But the training role of UNESCO under Audrey Azoulay is particularly ghoulish. It comes as a Saudi diplomat is trying to get the post in UNESCO in charge of the protection of journalists, reported here by Inner City Press which is now informed from an insider in the bureau of human resources, that the Director of HR, Hong Kwon and close friend of Ban Ki-moon (as we already reported – see here and here) signed and MOU with the MISKFoundation to train staff. Inner City Press' sources, who see UNESCO being destroyed under Azoulay and Guterres, view this as a total breach of the UNESCO values and basic principles. Not abrogating the MOU after the murder Khashoggi is a new low - but follows Guterres continuing his Youth Envoy's MOU.
This is not the first time Hong Kwon is exposed to severe criticism inside UNESCO for dealing with serious matters in a non-professional and incompetent manner. Seconded to UNESCO from the UN where he was promoted almost every two years by his countryman Ban Ki-moon, who pushed Bokova to appoint him with a promotion at UNESCO last year. Most of the staff is keenly expecting his departure back to New York like his predecessor Ruth de Miranda by the end of July 2019. Furthermore, the introduced illegal changes by Kwon Hong in the reclassification of staff policy last August, superseded the decision-making power of the General Conference of UNESCO. These changes are since then severely objected by the two staff unions of UNESCO and, together with other pending files reflecting accumulated problems due to the total malfunctioning of the bureau of human resources may lead to an official disruption of the relations between the staff unions and the administration of Azoulay. This is consistent with Guterres' contempt for staff's rights and even lives, as shown in the DRC. The newly appointed ADG for Administration from the UK is now expected to request his departure in the coming weeks, but this may be objected by the Korean Ambassador to UNESCO and close friend of both Ban Kimoon and Hong Kwon. We will keep following closely what the final say of Azoulay will be on that one and whether she will be politically strong enough to challenge the Korean Ambassador who is also the Chairman of the Executive Board of UNESCO for 10 more months. This as UNESCO, like Guterres, used also in decay UN Security to physically oust people based on their views. Another Guterres echo: the July 3 so-called altercation, ban, and bogus review. Even as othersissued Khashoggi-related cancellations of attendance as Saudi-funded events, two officials of the UN of Secretary General Antonio Guterres attended and even spoke on October 16 at the Saudi-funded event "New York/Arab World Culture Forum: Art for Sustainable Futures" at the Asia Society in New York. UNESCO's Marie Paul Roudil gave a speech (video here), and long time UN lobbyist Rob Skinner, a close collaborator and one time competitor for the job of Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric, was in attendance as not denied by the UN. Here is Skinner's speech, in which he calls himself a "UN bureaucrat." There was no misunderstanding: others have publicly pulled out of the event, funded by the Riyadh-based Misk Art Institute, founded under the auspices of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud: MBS. So why is Antonio Guterres' adminstration, which itself maintains a secret "banned" list which includes since July 3 not only Inner City Press but also"demonstrators" and "political activists," so chummy with MBS and Saudi?
Sponsored Traineeship Programme as follows:
ARTICLE 1 Purpose
1. The purpose of theSponsored Traineeship Programme is threefold:
a) To offer to the selected Trainees specialized in the areas related to the work of UNESCO, the
opportunity to enhance their knowledge and consolidate their experience through practical work assignments;
b) To expose Trainees to the work of UNESCO, and enable them to gain a better understanding
of its mandate, programmes and processes, and thus promoting and strengthening UNESCO's
work in the areas of its mandate;
e) To benefit from the input of professional individuals, who can bring new ideas." A fish rots from the head: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who earlier this year took a $930 million check from MBS, himself also partners with Misk through his Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake. But the training role of UNESCO under Audrey Azoulay is particularly ghoulish. It comes as a Saudi diplomat is trying to get the post in UNESCO in charge of the protection of journalists, reported here by Inner City Press which is now informed from an insider in the bureau of human resources, that the Director of HR, Hong Kwon and close friend of Ban Ki-moon (as we already reported – see here and here) signed and MOU with the MISKFoundation to train staff. Inner City Press' sources, who see UNESCO being destroyed under Azoulay and Guterres, view this as a total breach of the UNESCO values and basic principles. Not abrogating the MOU after the murder Khashoggi is a new low - but follows Guterres continuing his Youth Envoy's MOU.
This is not the first time Hong Kwon is exposed to severe criticism inside UNESCO for dealing with serious matters in a non-professional and incompetent manner. Seconded to UNESCO from the UN where he was promoted almost every two years by his countryman Ban Ki-moon, who pushed Bokova to appoint him with a promotion at UNESCO last year. Most of the staff is keenly expecting his departure back to New York like his predecessor Ruth de Miranda by the end of July 2019. Furthermore, the introduced illegal changes by Kwon Hong in the reclassification of staff policy last August, superseded the decision-making power of the General Conference of UNESCO. These changes are since then severely objected by the two staff unions of UNESCO and, together with other pending files reflecting accumulated problems due to the total malfunctioning of the bureau of human resources may lead to an official disruption of the relations between the staff unions and the administration of Azoulay. This is consistent with Guterres' contempt for staff's rights and even lives, as shown in the DRC. The newly appointed ADG for Administration from the UK is now expected to request his departure in the coming weeks, but this may be objected by the Korean Ambassador to UNESCO and close friend of both Ban Kimoon and Hong Kwon. We will keep following closely what the final say of Azoulay will be on that one and whether she will be politically strong enough to challenge the Korean Ambassador who is also the Chairman of the Executive Board of UNESCO for 10 more months. This as UNESCO, like Guterres, used also in decay UN Security to physically oust people based on their views. Another Guterres echo: the July 3 so-called altercation, ban, and bogus review. Even as othersissued Khashoggi-related cancellations of attendance as Saudi-funded events, two officials of the UN of Secretary General Antonio Guterres attended and even spoke on October 16 at the Saudi-funded event "New York/Arab World Culture Forum: Art for Sustainable Futures" at the Asia Society in New York. UNESCO's Marie Paul Roudil gave a speech (video here), and long time UN lobbyist Rob Skinner, a close collaborator and one time competitor for the job of Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric, was in attendance as not denied by the UN. Here is Skinner's speech, in which he calls himself a "UN bureaucrat." There was no misunderstanding: others have publicly pulled out of the event, funded by the Riyadh-based Misk Art Institute, founded under the auspices of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud: MBS. So why is Antonio Guterres' adminstration, which itself maintains a secret "banned" list which includes since July 3 not only Inner City Press but also"demonstrators" and "political activists," so chummy with MBS and Saudi?
