by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
UN GATE, June 2 – How corrupt and decrepit has the UN system become under Antonio Guterres, in this case due to Guterres?
Inner City Press is today publishing a memo leaked to it, even while Guterres bans it from entering the UN, about 20% cuts but with exceptions: "The budget reduction will not apply to (i) the International Court of Justice (Section 7), (ii) the Regular Programme for Technical Cooperation (Section 23), (iii) the Development Account (Section 35), (iv) the jointly financed activities (Section 31), (v) Special Expenses, including After-Service Health Insurance (Section 32) , (vi) contributions to the Peacebuilding fund (within Section 3), (vii) contributions to the Resident Coordinator system (within Section 1) and (viii) the Secretariat of the United Nations Staff Pension Committee."
The memo from ASG Comptroller Chandramouli Ramanathan tells two pages of cc's, "Your proposal is to be submitted to my Office at controller [at] un [dot] org by 13 June 2025, specifying the subject “Revised Estimates – Budget reduction proposal for [ENTITY NAME]”. Fill in the blanks... Memo here.
Previously letter by CoS Rattray on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud here
Back on May 13, 2025 he sent sent a letter to staff, leaked to Inner City Press, in which Guterres bemoans leaks: "I realize that “leaks” and rumours may create unnecessary anxiety. We are currently in the proposals development phase... It is important to emphasize that these internal consultations and functional reviews are preliminary steps aimed at generating ideas and exploring options. They do not represent the final position of management." We'll see.
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