Link of Colombia's World Cup Team to Cocaine by UN Goodwill Ambassador Van Dam Raises Again Need for Reform

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 18 -- The UN system has said it is trying to clean up its Goodwill Ambassadors program, as Inner City Press exclusively reported in January, here.

  But now UNICEF's Dutch Goodwill Ambassador Nicolette van Dam, in the middle of the World Cup, has tweeted a photo-shopped mock-up of Colombia national team members James Rodriguez and Falcao Garcia snorting, like cocaine, the white spray now used to limit how close to stand to a free kick.

  "Colombian wall," was Nicolette van Dam's caption.  Click here to view.  Many Colombians naturally were less than pleased, as were some in the UN system (at least at UNICEF in Colombia). But what will be done?

  (Colombia's team is set to play Cote d'Ivoire on June 19.)

Previously, that Libya's Colonel Moammar Gaddafi's daughter Aicha Gaddafi was a UN "Goodwill Ambassador," when first reported by Inner City Press in February 2011, was an issue the UN did not want to address. 

  First Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson's office left the question unanswered after Inner City Pressasked at the February 20, 2011 noon briefing. Three days later, former UN Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown told Inner City Press he hoped it wasn't true -- but it was.

  Now UN sources have exclusively provided Inner City Press with a draft proposal that, if implemented, might avoid for the UN some such embarrassments and outrages in the future. The proposal, from UNDP, is that the UN system discourage naming as Goodwill Ambassadors "immediate family members of individuals holding or running for political office, as well as members of Royal Households."

   Ironically, UNDP even as it makes this proposal has as a Goodwill Ambassador Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway. But it would apply to many other current UN system Goodwill Ambassadors, such as the First Ladies of Cameroon and the Dominican Republic, and Royal family members of Jordan, the UAE, Morocco, Norway, Denmark, Monaco, Bhutan and Thailand.

  Here exclusively are two proposed paragraphs, then how they would apply to current UN practice, and a comment -- appreciated and included for fairness -- from the UN's Outreach Division chief, Maher Nasser, that updates are needed. 

  Some might call them too-rare reforms:

Messenger of Peace/Goodwill Ambassador draft guidelines & meeting minutes

Dear All, With our apologies, please find a revised version of the draft guidelines. We neglected to add language that UNDP had proposed.

FN3: "immediate family members" replaces "spouses"

The designation of immediate family members of individuals holding or running for political office, as well as members of Royal Households, is discouraged to avoid the appearance of vested interest.

PARA18: the following text has been added

5. Appointment letters should specify the beginning and end dates of the term of the appointment. If a decision is made to terminate or not renew a partnership with a Goodwill Ambassador or Messenger of Peace, an official letter shall be sent expressing appreciation for his/her services and clearly indicating the date on which the partnership comes to an end. Language should also be included specifying that as of that date, the individual should no longer use the title of Goodwill Ambassador or Messenger of Peace, and that his/her biographical data, websites and other promotional materials should be modified accordingly.

We understand that some of you have shared the previous version with your legal departments, and very much regret this inconvenience.

As always, we look forward to your feedback.

Please review the guidelines and convey your agency's approval of this version by 31 January.

Best regards,

Chief, NGO Relations, Advocacy & Special Events
NGO Relations
Creative Community Outreach Initiative
Messenger of Peace Programme

   Aicha Gaddafi was, clearly, an immediate family member of a person holding office. But currently, for example, the UN system has the following as Goodwill Ambassadors, many of them " members of Royal Households" --

Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan, spouse of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Ruler of Dubai

FAO: Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak al Ketbi (United Arab Emirates)

Margarita Cedeño de Fernández (Dominican Republic) First Lady

UNAIDS: HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit (Norway)

Her Serene Princess Stephanie (Monaco)

UNICEF: HM Queen Rania (Jordan)

UNESCO: Chantal Biya (Cameroon) First Lady of Cameroon

H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover (Principality of Monaco)

H.R.H. Princess Firyal of Jordan

Bahia Hariri (Lebanon) Parliamentarian

H. R. H. Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco

UNWOMEN: HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol (Thailand) Granddaughter of the Thai King

HRH Princess Basma bint Talal of Jordan

UNDP: Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway

UNFPA: Princess Basma Bint Talal of Jordan

Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck (Bhutan) Queen Mother of Bhutan

Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark

WFP: HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (Thailand)

Inner City Press sought comment from the UN's Outreach Division; its director Maher Nasser quickly replied: 

"On the Goodwill Ambassadors, the existing guidelines are several years old and in need of an update.  We have been working with the focal points in the UN System on Goodwill Ambassadors to update them for quite a while now. Until these are approved by all, this is still work in progress, so I cannot comment on the specific language until it is final.

"The revised draft aims to ensure consistency in the selection criteria of GWA across the UN system and that we are able to best harness the potential created by a celebrity's association with a UN organization and/or a certain cause."  We'll have more on this. Watch this site.

   

UN Proposes Discouraging Ruling & Royal Goodwill Ambassadors After Dodging Inner City Press' Aicha Gaddafi Expose

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, January 21 -- That Libya's Colonel Moammar Gaddafi's daughter Aicha Gaddafi was a UN "Goodwill Ambassador," when first reported by Inner City Press in February 2011, was an issue the UN did not want to address. 

  First Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson's office left the question unanswered after Inner City Press asked at the February 20, 2011 noon briefing. Three days later, former UN Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown told Inner City Press he hoped it wasn't true -- but it was.

  Now UN sources have exclusively provided Inner City Press with a draft proposal that, if implemented, might avoid for the UN some such embarrassments and outrages in the future. The proposal, from UNDP, is that the UN system discourage naming as Goodwill Ambassadors "immediate family members of individuals holding or running for political office, as well as members of Royal Households."

   Ironically, UNDP even as it makes this proposal has as a Goodwill Ambassador Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway. But it would apply to many other current UN system Goodwill Ambassadors, such as the First Ladies of Cameroon and the Dominican Republic, and Royal family members of Jordan, the UAE, Morocco, Norway, Denmark, Monaco, Bhutan and Thailand.

  Here exclusively are two proposed paragraphs, then how they would apply to current UN practice, and a comment -- appreciated and included for fairness -- from the UN's Outreach Division chief, Maher Nasser, that updates are needed. 

  Some might call them reforms:

Messenger of Peace/Goodwill Ambassador draft guidelines & meeting minutes

Dear All, With our apologies, please find a revised version of the draft guidelines. We neglected to add language that UNDP had proposed.

FN3: "immediate family members" replaces "spouses"

The designation of immediate family members of individuals holding or running for political office, as well as members of Royal Households, is discouraged to avoid the appearance of vested interest.

PARA18: the following text has been added

5. Appointment letters should specify the beginning and end dates of the term of the appointment. If a decision is made to terminate or not renew a partnership with a Goodwill Ambassador or Messenger of Peace, an official letter shall be sent expressing appreciation for his/her services and clearly indicating the date on which the partnership comes to an end. Language should also be included specifying that as of that date, the individual should no longer use the title of Goodwill Ambassador or Messenger of Peace, and that his/her biographical data, websites and other promotional materials should be modified accordingly.

We understand that some of you have shared the previous version with your legal departments, and very much regret this inconvenience.

As always, we look forward to your feedback.

Please review the guidelines and convey your agency's approval of this version by 31 January.

Best regards,

Chief, NGO Relations, Advocacy & Special Events
NGO Relations
Creative Community Outreach Initiative
Messenger of Peace Programme

   Aicha Gaddafi was, clearly, an immediate family member of a person holding office. But currently, for example, the UN system has the following as Goodwill Ambassadors, many of them " members of Royal Households" --

Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan, spouse of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Ruler of Dubai

FAO: Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak al Ketbi (United Arab Emirates)

Margarita Cedeño de Fernández (Dominican Republic) First Lady

UNAIDS: HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit (Norway)

Her Serene Princess Stephanie (Monaco)

UNICEF: HM Queen Rania (Jordan)

UNESCO: Chantal Biya (Cameroon) First Lady of Cameroon

H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover (Principality of Monaco)

H.R.H. Princess Firyal of Jordan

Bahia Hariri (Lebanon) Parliamentarian

H. R. H. Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco

UNWOMEN: HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol (Thailand) Granddaughter of the Thai King

HRH Princess Basma bint Talal

UNDP: Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway

UNFPA: Princess Basma Bint Talal of Jordan

Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck (Bhutan) Queen Mother of Bhutan

Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark

WFP: HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (Thailand)

Inner City Press sought comment from the UN's Outreach Division; its director Maher Nasser quickly replied: 

"On the Goodwill Ambassadors, the existing guidelines are several years old and in need of an update.  We have been working with the focal points in the UN System on Goodwill Ambassadors to update them for quite a while now. Until these are approved by all, this is still work in progress, so I cannot comment on the specific language until it is final.

"The revised draft aims to ensure consistency in the selection criteria of GWA across the UN system and that we are able to best harness the potential created by a celebrity's association with a UN organization and/or a certain cause."  We'll have more on this. Watch this site.

   

As UNDP Uses Arab Spring for Green, Had Aisha Gaddafi as Ambassador

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 2 -- In what some see as opportunism, the UN Development Program which had Aisha Gaddafi as a Goodwill Ambassador today proclaimed that "the 'Arab Spring' shows need for greener development." One wag wondered: is UNDP's reference to Gaddafi's Green Book?

Then at UNDP's press conference, among the few questions was one about hydro-fracking. Despite opportunistically using environmentalism to raise money -- that is, "green" -- UNDP said it is no expert and to ask Nick Nuttall of UNEP. (Nuttall has repeatedly refused to answer press questions about Ban Ki-moon giving a UN post to Samuel Koo of South Korea.)

During the Arab Spring, the UN system's coordinator for Libya, UNDP official Costanza Farina, had in fact been praising Gaddafi's regime. She said, “''Libya has made immense progress and is well positioned among the countries that will be able to say that they have reached 8 of the Millennium Objectives in 2015.” And click here, 2010 "UNIC Tripoli organizes Reception at UN House in celebration of UN Day."

She also praised Gaddafi on women's rights, as Libya is on the board of UN Women:

“the UN chief for Libya, Costanza Farina, said that the fight against violence against women was one of the priorities of the agencies operating in the country and announced that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), thanks to a contribution from the Dutch embassy in Tripoli, would be able to support the programme financially. Farina added that Libya is one of the 41 members elected to the executive committee of the new UN Women agency, which was created on July 2 to show the desire of governments to respect women. Farina also said that "Libya confirmed the equality in rights between men and women in 1969.”

Maybe she is unaware, as “local UN officials said, the new coordinator of the UN in Libya, Costanza Farina, credited only last June 1, is located in Geneva.”

On February 17, Inner City Press had asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky

Inner City Press: Is there any thought of using the existing UN programs on the ground, whether it is UNDP or otherwise? There was some criticism of this training of police in Egypt prior to the — there was criticism by NGOs that it didn’t bring in human rights activists but rather Government people. Is there some thinking of how — the UNDP website about Libya hasn’t been updated now in several months, I guess — it seems to some, due to the turmoil. What about these UN…?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Who might that be? Who is it, these people who think it might be?

Inner City Press: People that look at it and have seen that it was updated all the way, until suddenly there was turmoil in the country and then it is not updated any more. What’s the role, according to the Secretary-General, of the existing UN programmes in countries like Libya and Yemen, where Helen Clark visited and didn’t say anything about democracy?

Even since then, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark has declined numerous requests from the Press and UN correspondents to hold a press conference at UN Headquarters and answer questions.

Instead, UNDP sends out members of its extensive "communications" team, to block questions to each other and refer other questions to other UN system agencies.

While the Human Development Report has interesting section that will surely be used in future articles, when an agency has this much money, and tries to raise more citing the Arab Spring despite its record, while its Administrator refuses to answer questions, this is the result.

On Libya, As Malloch Brown Hopes Gadhafi Kin Not UNDP Ambassador, Belated Firing, Ban Ki-moon Dodges

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 23 -- Amid the UN's sudden claims to be getting tough with Libya, Inner City Press since February 20 has been reporting that the UN system named Aicha Gadhafi, the Colonel's daughter, a Goodwill Ambassador.

Inner City Press sought comment in writing from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky, without answer.

On February 22, Inner City Press asked at the noon briefing for confirmation:

Inner City Press: can you confirm that Colonel Qadhafi’s daughter, Ayesha, is a UN system Goodwill Ambassador with a Laissez-Passer that remains open until 2013? And what does… If so, what does the Secretary-General think about this goodwill ambassadorship? Will it be revoked? Is it, what is your position on it?

Spokesperson Nesirky: As I understand it, she is a national Goodwill Ambassador in Libya for UNDP [United Nations Development Programme]. On the other details you have asked, I will check.

Since Nesirky had checked and gotten the answer from and about UNDP, it is unclear why he didn't answer the pending written question. Perhaps he hoped that, with briefings truncated by meetings, the question couldn't be asked in person.

On February 23, in person, Inner City Press asked former UNDP Administration Mark Malloch Brown about Aicha Gadhafi being a Goodwill Ambassador.

“I hope she's not a UNDP Ambassador,” he said. “I don't think it's UNDP. I was surprised when I saw that... she was an Ambassador to any part of the UN system.”

But it was UNDP. And only on February 23, the day after Nesirky's first confirmation, did the UN announce a belated removal of the Ambassadorship:

“I was asked yesterday whether one of Colonel [Muammar] Qadhafi’s daughters is a Goodwill Ambassador. And as I mentioned, Aisha al-Qadhafi was appointed as National UNDP Goodwill Ambassador for Libya on 24 July 2009. Her appointment at that time enabled UNDP to address the issues of HIV/AIDS and violence against women in Libya, both culturally sensitive topics in the country. Following the recent events, UNDP has terminated the agreement with Ms. Qadhafi, based on article 30 of the UN Guidelines for the Designation of Goodwill Ambassadors and Messengers of Peace. By the way, I can tell you that UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors do not get paid, they volunteer their time, and they do not hold UN laissez-passer travel documents.”

Later on February 23, Ban Ki-moon appeared at the UN North Lawn second floor stakeout and took a handful of questions. When asked if he was calling on Gadhafi to step down, Ban dodged the question then left.

At Malloch Brown's event, the selling of his new book “The Unfinished Global Revolution” in the UN bookstore, Inner City Press asked him about the process for selection the UN Secretary General. He replied that he had wished Ban's 2006 selection had included “hustings and manifestos.”

He contrasted this with the “two most successful Secretaries General, Dag Hammarskjold and Kofi Annan,” while noting that those who voted for them hadn't read their biographies.

Under Dag Hammarskhold, would the daughter of Libya's dictator, who killed his opponents as far back as the 1970s, have been made a UN system Goodwill Ambassador? Watch this site.

Footnote: Malloch Brown, before answering Inner City Press' question, said it should buy a copy of his book, for the “pain extracted from me for so many years.” While it may refer back to some profanity he used, compared to current UN system leadership, at least Malloch Brown purports to take and answer questions.

As Libya Kills Protesters, Gadhafi Daughter is UN Ambassador, UNDP Silent

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 20 -- As in Libya the forces, including mercenaries, of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi shoot and kill peaceful protesters, the UN has been nearly entirely silent.

On the morning of February 20, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky:

In the wake of the gunning down of 46 democracy protesters in Libya’s second largest city, Benghazi, by security forces under the command of Colonel Gadafi, is the UN reassessing its relationship with Col Gadhafi’s daughter, Aicha, who the UN has designated a “Goodwill Ambassador?

Has the Secretary-General sought to use the UN’s special relationship with its Goodwill Ambassador Dr Aicha Gadhafi to persuade her father not to use such excessive force against peaceful demonstrators?

Nine hours later, no response at all from the UN. Inner City Press also asked Ban's spokesman Nesirky “in this context, the Secretary-General's planned trip to California to meet and greet 'the entertainment industry,' how much is this trip costing, and is it funded by the Regular Budget of the UN -- and if not, what is the funding source?” Again, no answer.

On February 17, Inner City Press had asked Nesirky

Inner City Press: Is there any thought of using the existing UN programs on the ground, whether it is UNDP or otherwise? There was some criticism of this training of police in Egypt prior to the — there was criticism by NGOs that it didn’t bring in human rights activists but rather Government people. Is there some thinking of how — the UNDP website about Libya hasn’t been updated now in several months, I guess — it seems to some, due to the turmoil. What about these UN…?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Who might that be? Who is it, these people who think it might be?

Inner City Press: People that look at it and have seen that it was updated all the way, until suddenly there was turmoil in the country and then it is not updated any more.

Inner City Press: What’s the role, according to the Secretary-General, of the existing UN programmes in countries like Libya and Yemen, where Helen Clark visited and didn’t say anything about democracy?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, there are lots of, as you know, across the region, there is a UN presence in different constellations; country teams with different components, whether it is UNDP or other UN agencies, funds and programmes. Of course, given that they are already on the ground, given that they have been working there in different capacities on different projects, they are well placed to be further involved. But this is part of a bigger picture, and it is being very carefully coordinated.

Inner City Press: Is there any change of policy? I guess I am saying, given that the announcement today that the UN is sort of taking cognizance of all this, is there, is that…?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, Matthew, it’s hardly an announcement today. This is something that has been said consistently for a number of weeks now. And indeed, further back, as you know, the Human Development Reports on the Arab world have been saying this for the best part of a decade. So, okay, thank you very much.

But what had the UN been doing about Libya? Watch this site.