At UNDP, Clark's Talks and Photo-Ops But Dodging on Somalia, Biter, Consultants' Pay and Royal

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/undp1hclark072709.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 27 -- At the UN Development Program, one hundred days after former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark took over the top job, she has yet to hold a press conference for correspondents at UN headquarters. To mark her stealth one hundred days, she appeared from New York on New Zealand television. When asked how much she gets paid, she answered "I think you can go into the website."

It's not that there is not real news about UNDP. The organization was targeted in Somalia by Al Shabaab essentially for taking sides in a civil war. Conflict extended into UNDP headquarters itself, where as exclusively reported by Inner City Press a staff member complaining of hiring irregularities and nepotism was maced and taken to the local police precinct after biting of UN Security Officer on the arm. In Panama, UNDP is in damage control mode faced with criticism of paying consultants there more than the president of the country.

Weeks after asking Clark's UNDP for responses on its programs including in Cyprus, but receiving no response, Inner City Press on July 27 asked the UN system's Associate Spokesperson Farhan Haq questions about UNDP, from the man bites man incident to Helen Clark having given a speech at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington from which the public was excluded until they paid at least $200.

Inner City Press: the head of UNDP, Helen Clark, gave a speech in Washington at the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, and they charged $250 admission. Is there any kind of rule applicable to UN officials speaking in a for-pay environment and who reviews, obviously it was a fund-raiser, but what comment do you have on that?

Associate Spokesperson Haq: I don’t. I would suggest that you talk to UNDP for any comment on this. It’s their event and I don’t have any of the details of it.

Inner City Press: Is there any UN system rule, to your knowledge?

Associate Spokesperson Haq: Well, UN officials do not receive payment for the speeches that they give. But I don’t know about what kind of event this is. Whether this was an outside group that was charging or whether UNDP was. For that you really have to get the details from UNDP.

Despite UNDP still refusing to answer long-pending questions including about its programs in Cyprus, Inner City Press sent a few questions to two of the agency's spokespeople, including to Administrator Clark's personal spokesperson Christan LoNigro:

Please comment including on compliance will all applicant UN and UNDP rules and principles on Helen Clark speaking recently in DC at a fundraising for which $200 or $250 entrance was charged: how are the beneficiaries of such UNDP fundraising chosen? Who reviews the beneficiaries? Which similar invitations has Ms. Clark, or Mr. Dervis in 2008 and 2009, declined? On what basis?

Please state when Ms. Clark will finally hold a press conference Q&A in Room 226, and why this has not yet been done.

Please provide all available UNDP information on the biting incident I asked about at noon: Farhan says UNDP tells him the biter was a job SEEKER, and that the recruitment was transparent. Please name the underlying job, the job seeker, and what happened.

Please comment on this from Panama, UNDP criticized for paying consultant(s) more than that country's president makes

http://www.critica.com.pa/archivo/07152009/nacional.html

Please state on what basis some but not all UN correspondents who cover UNDP were invited to the embargoed briefing on UNDP's report on Human Security and the Middle East / Arab world.

Please comment on / respond to Al Shabaab's criticism and expulsion of UNDP (but not WFP, for example) -- how many UNDP staff have left Somalia? What has UNDP done, if anything, in the face of criticism that it lacks balance in Somalia? How much money has UNDP spent on security personnel in Somalia in 2008 and 2009 and name the donors. And again, the Cyprus. Thanks in advance.

Some six hours later, some but not all responses arrived, from the "Press Office to the Administrator" Helen Clark, Christina LoNigro:

Subj: RE: Stephane- UNDP questions
From: [Ms. LoNigro at] undp.org
To: Inner City Press
Sent: 7/27/2009 6:22:24 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

UNDP Administrator Helen Clark spoke at the Women’s Foreign Policy Group’s first event in its “Women in Power” series in Washington DC on July 24 in her official capacity. UN officials often speak at events that share the goals and ideals of the UN. Miss Clark received no compensation for speaking at this event and obtained clearance from UNDP’s Ethics Office prior to accepting the invitation. Miss Clark spoke about development issues and achievement of the MDGs. You can find her full remarks here.

On Panama, UNDP values its relationship with the Government of Panama, and everyone involved is committed to ironing out any issues. On Friday 17th July 2009 , UNDP Panama met with Minister Vallarino, the National Comptroller, Carlos Vallarino and the Vice-minister for Economy, Frank de Lima to clear up any misunderstandings. The new government expressed its desire to continue working with UNDP.

There was an unfortunate and isolated incident involving an employee of UNDP on 23rd June 2009. UN Security and the New York Police Department responded, and it is now being handled by the authorities of the host government.

UNDP continuously assesses the security situation on the ground in Somalia and acts accordingly, taking into consideration the safety of our staff and the effective delivery of our programmes. For the safety and security of our staff we are not able to comment on their numbers and location. We can say that UNDP programmes and operations continue uninterrupted in Somalia.

On Cyprus, Stephane will be sending you something soon.

This last has been said for months. But what, as simply one example, about the question of when Ms. Clark will finally take questions from the Press? Watch this site.

Footnote: UNDP's side site to "respon[d] to inaccurate press reports," long dormant, is back, proclaiming that "UNDP, through its office in Geneva, has indeed been in discussions with Ms. Segolene Royal, as the President of the Regional Council of Poitou-Charentes, within the context of cooperation between regional and local communities in the developed countries and those in the developing world, in particular as regards issues of climate change."

Who knew? And what does UNDP have to say about Ms. Royal's reported involvement in trying to de-fund a music festival due to one artist, Orelsan's, lyrics?

Update of July 27-28, 2 a.m. -- After weeks' long delay, suddenly these answers about UNDP's funding of media in Cyprus arrived:

Q - Is it possible for you to tell me who received the money and how this money was spent?

A - As indicated in the description of the project on the internet, funds were provided to Radio May to produce and broadcast informational programs across the island.

Q I understand the radio station (was?) established just to support the Annan Plan. Is it true?

A- No.

Q - Did the recipients of the funds report back on how they spent the money? Did they submit receipts, etc?

A - Yes.

While there's more to be said about these UNDP (and USAID) programs, for now we'll simply run in full what UNDP sent.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/undp1hclark072709.html

In Africa, Russia Says It's Back, Gbagbo Bristles At France's Blast from Past

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/africa1back072509.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 25 -- This week at the UN showed that in Africa, it is back to the future. The representative of Cote d'Ivoire Alcide Djedje, in front of the Security Council, told the Press about "unacceptable" comments by France. Video here.

Off camera, Ivorian sources told Inner City Press that French president Nicolas Sarkozy not only spoke of "cleaning up" Abdijan, but had complained to Ban Ki-moon during their meeting in New York that Laurent Gbagbo "is not worth of confidence." Which even the sources acknowledged may well be true -- but colonial power France is not the one to say it.

On July 24, Russia sent to the Security Council its president's representative to Sudan, Mikhail Margelov, who blusteringly briefed Russian journalists at a table beside the stakeout. Afterward, a long time correspondent explained to Inner City Press the headline Moscow wanted: in Africa, Russia is back. The theory is that during the USSR days, Russia had a lot of projects there, and upper crust Africans were educated in Russia. Now they aim to recapitalize on those connections, as natural resources run short. Back to the future, indeed....

Inside the Security Council on July 24, Sudan's Deputy Permanent Representative took a shot at France, for harboring in Paris Darfur rebels who, in his telling, refuse to join the peace process and favor only the armed struggle.

After the Council session, top UN peacekeeper Alain Le Roy rushed by the stakeout with an aide. Inside, he had spoke of armored personnel carriers stuck in Port Sudan. But when Inner City Press called out about the long stalled Nepali APCs, Le Roy's aide said the problem has been solved. We'll see -- watch this site.

Footnote: Two days after the UN refused in response to Inner City Press' question to confirm they were giving the Darfur force commander job to Rwandan Lt. General Patrick Nyanvumba, on Friday they announced it. Back on July 22:

Inner City Press: Can you confirm that the Rwandan Lieutenant General Patrick Nyamvumba has been appointed to replace Mr. Agwai in Darfur?

Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe: Well, if we have an appointment generally it’s announced, it’s sent to the Security Council. So if it’s not out yet, we don’t have an announcement yet.

Inner City Press: it’s reported in the Kenyan press quoting Rwandan officials…

Deputy Spokesperson Okabe: Well, the Secretary-General, when he appoints a Force Commander, writes about his intention to appoint someone like that to the Security Council. As far as I know, that letter has not gone yet.

The letter, it's reported, was dated July 16. The UN Spokesperson's Office seems to be the last to know. Including about questions, publicly raised, about Nyamvumba....

And see, www.innercitypress.com/africa1back072509.html

At UN, Man Bites Man as Contracts Cut, Snafus of Relocation, Flushing Out the Press

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unin2out072409.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 24, updated July 27 -- A UN security officer was bitten earlier this month, not by a dog but by a just-terminated staff member. Special Operations officer Peter Kolonias, responding to a disturbance in the UN's building on the west side of First Avenue and 44th Street, was confronted by an individual distraught by his contract's termination.*

The UN sources who told Inner City Press about the biting, which has not been reported by the UN at its noon briefing nor in any other media, said that further adverse reactions by staff are to be expected, with the UN having eliminated the so-called permanent contract as of July 1, and now moving remaining staff members out of its headquarters to locations as far west as Madison Avenue and as far east as Long Island City.

In the course of Inner City Press' reporting on July 24 to confirm the man bites man story, a range of staff members complained about their moves, in connection with the UN's Capital Master Plan renovation. Members of the Office of Human Resources Management, after being told there would be no more changes to the relocation plan, were recent told they will move across the East River into Queens.

Longtime Conference Management staffers have been told they will relocate to "above the liquor store" on Second Avenue. "Whiskey for breakfast," one staffer said, questioning moving his unit four blocks away from the meeting rooms they service.

The UN's Under Secretary General for Management Angela Kane told the Press earlier this week that the temporary General Assembly building rising on the UN's North Lawn will not have a bar, as the current building does in its second floor Delegates' Lounge. Ms. Kane spoke rosily of the contract changes that resulted in the elimination of permanent contracts -- and, the Staff Union says, in the death of the independent international civil service -- and of progress with the Capital Master Plan.

CMP chief Michael Adlerstein, who along with Ms. Kane changed previous plans for enclosed media work space to an "open office" system in which whistleblowers could not approach the Press, is said to be angered concerned about a Dear Colleague letter circulated in the U.S. House of Representatives about this aspect of the CMP, and a Kane-led meeting to target the Press. But this reporting on events at the UN will continue -- particularly when man bites man. Watch this site.

Update of July 27 -- Three days after Inner City Press published the above, UN Associate Spokesperson Farhan Haq confirmed the a biting incident took place in the DC-1 building, and stated that the biter was, according to the UN Development Program, a job seeker, and argued that the underlying recruitment process was transparent. Haq referred all other questions - including whether the individual was maced and taken to the local police precinct - to UNDP. Inner City Press has asked UNDP, which has declined in the past to answer basic questions, and any update will appear on this site.

Update of July 27, 6:35 p.m. -- Inner City Press asked UNDP in writing:

Please provide all available UNDP information on the biting incident I asked about at noon: Farhan says UNDP tells him the biter was a job SEEKER, and that the recruitment was transparent. Please name the underlying job, the job seeker, and what happened.

Six hours later, UNDP's Christina LoNigro replied:

There was an unfortunate and isolated incident involving an employee of UNDP on 23rd June 2009. UN Security and the New York Police Department responded, and it is now being handled by the authorities of the host government.

But what of the biter's name, the specifics of the post and recruitment, and what happened at and after the 17th police precinct? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unin2out072409.html

At UN, Chomsky Calls Sri Lanka A Rwanda-like "Atrocity," IMF and Oil Explanations

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/imfsri1chomsky072309.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 23 -- During the UN's July 23 debate on Responsibility to Protect, Inner City Press asked Noam Chomsky if he thought the concept of R to P applied to or had been implemented in Sri Lanka this year. No, Chomsky said, calling what happened an "atrocity."

He said the Western powers just didn't have enough interest, although something "could have been done." He analogized it to Rwanda, both the genocide in 1994 and the lead-up, including with "structural adjustment," in the 1970s. Video here, from 22:35.

Later on July 23, Inner City Press asked outgoing UK Minister Mark Malloch Brown about Sri Lanka's pending application for an International Monetary Fund loan, which as reported is set for decision by the IMF board on Friday. Malloch Brown said, "Friday... there is a discussion at the IMF."

Inner City Press asked, will anyone speak? I don't know, said Malloch Brown. Since he would know if the UK planned to speak, approval seems immanent. Never again?

Chomsky went on, regarding the UK, to say that former prime minister Tony Blair may have been involved in Israel's deal with British Gas for natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip. It's reminiscent of Sri Lanka's move to redeliniate its sea claims, and the little reported finding of oil and gas off the coast of North Sri Lanka. Does that as some say explain the military assault? Time will tell.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/imfsri1chomsky072309.html

In Nepal, Over 100 Armed Group in Terai, Indian Arms Would Violate Agreement, UN Says

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unmin1terai072309.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 23 -- There are 107 armed groups in the Terai region of Nepal, and human rights defenders there feel more at risk now than at the height of the civil war, Karin Landgren, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Nepal told the Press on Thursday. Inner City Press asked for the position of the UN Mission in Nepal on possible arms sales by India to Nepal. Ms. Landgren said that the Nepali defense minister is in India, but that UNMIN's view is that arms sales at this time would violate Article 5.3 of the agreement on monitoring arms and armies signed in Nepal.

While UNMIN has been viewed as one of the UN's most (or few) successful missions, of late it has been unraveling. Maoists were caught on video bragging that they had or have far fewer fighters than counted and "verified" by UNMIN and the UN Development Program. Inner City Press asked Ms. Landgren if the UN's credibility is not in doubt. See our May press release, Ms. Landgren answered.

Another attendee of Thursday noon briefing mocked the proceedings, which began with the read-out of a statement by Ban Ki-moon from China about the benefits of long lasting light bulbs. "It's like she's talking about the Dear Leader," he snarked, referring to North Korea. Ms. Landgren, at least, acknowledged there were problems. It's more than most UN envoys do.

Ms. Landgren's predecessor Ian Martin has been seen around the UN recently, on Thursday on his way into the panel discussion on the Responsibility to Protect, looking for Noam Chomsky. More and more it seems that Martin's on the hunt for another UN post. There've been worse envoys..... Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unmin1terai072309.html

In Cote d'Ivoire, UN Calls Registration "Credible," Disagrees that Troops Aren't Needed

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/cote1choi072309.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 23 -- The UN's envoy to Cote d'Ivoire Choi Young-jin told the Press on Thursday that the contester voter registration process in the run up to long promised Presidential elections was "credible," and that there is no need to draw down UN peacekeeping troops in the country at this time. Local sources say that up to 20% of those who should have been registered to vote, weren't.

Meanwhile when Inner City Press asked Cote d'Ivoire's representative at the UN on Thursday if his country needs troops or peacekeepers, he said "no." An advisor to President Gbagbo told Inner City Press that the UN is spending over $400 million a year for reporting on crime, but will remain in the country "going to the beach" because that's how the UN works.

Another way the UN works in Cote d'Ivoire is to stay quiet. Inner City Press asked Mr. Choi if his office had any involvement in inquiring into the disappearance of journalist Guy Andre Kieffer, which an Army major recently blamed on those around the President's wife Simone Gbagbo. That is a bilateral matter, Mr. Choi twice said, declining to answer further. Video here, from Minute 9:29.

Later Mr. Choi made a sales pitch for his mission, saying it could become the most successful of all of the UN's 18 mission because Cote d'Ivoire has a budget of $5 billion a year, and 40,000 soldiers and police, all paid by the government. Inner City Press asked him, in light of the litany of negative reviews this month of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's first two and a half years, if he had any defense to offer, or if he thought his Mission was not praised enough by the press.

Choi largely avoided the questions, other than saying he is loyal to the Secretariat. That may have done without saying -- or, compared with the behavior and refusal to file financial disclosure and otherwise obey of certain other UN envoys, perhaps not. Watch this site.

Footnote: while Inner City Press didn't ask it this time, there has still been no reporting by Choi or the UN on what discipline, if any, was meted out to the Moroccan peacekeepers repatriated from Cote d'Ivoire in the face of accusation of sexual exploitation and abuse. A report should be given.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/cote1choi072309.html

At UN, Questions of Ban's Son in Law's Hirings and Promotion Unanswered, In Denmark

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/uns1family072309.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 23, updated -- In today's United Nations, questions of possible nepotism and family connections have become taboo. Few pose or pursue them and if asked, they are not answered. The lack of transparency starts at the very top. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's son in law Siddharth Chatterjee, well placed sources tell Inner City Press, has recently transferred with a promotion from the UN Mission in Iraq, from which patron Staffan de Mistura has left, to the UN Office of Project Services in Copenhagen, Denmark, under a new patron, Jan Mattsson.

In late May, Inner City Press traveled with Ban Ki-moon and senior advisors including his speech writer to Sri Lanka and back. On the return leg, after photo opportunities including a scene in the government run internment camp in Vavuniya in which detained children sung the name of Mr. Ban, the UN plane stopped in Copenhagen. An environmental conference for business executives was taking place in the Bella Center, which will host December's climate talks.

Outside the Center, Inner City Press met and interviewed an official from the UN Development Program. He said his job that Sunday was to drive Mr. Ban's wife to meet with the wife of UNOPS chief Jan Mattsson. He added incongruously that he'd been told to wait off to the side of these meeting of spouses. Inner City Press alluded to this in its dispatch from Copenhagen, wondering but not directly asking if this was an appropriate use of UN money and staff time.

In New York this month, well placed UN sources told Inner City Press that Siddharth Chatterjee had quietly shifted from the UN in Baghdad to UNOPS in Copenhagen back in early May, once it was clear Staffan de Mistura was leaving his post of Ban's envoy in Iraq to take the number two post in the World Food Program. (Inner City Press was the first to report de Mistura's departure and replacement by UNDP's Ad Melkert, here and here.) The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity due to express fear of retaliation, said that Ban's son in law was getting a promotion.

When Chatterjee took the Baghdad job as de Mistura's chief of staff, he was slated for a promotion. After Inner City Press and then the Washington Post wrote about it, the UN quickly and some felt defensively announced that Chatterjee would not be moving up a grade in UN pay scale. The Post reported that "This has greatly upset the U.N. rank and file, who are fretting that maybe Chatterjee is trying to leapfrog other qualified staff to get the assignment "

When Inner City Press asked about it, spokesperson Michele Montas replied on video that "we feel the publication of any information that increases the risk to any staff member and to the mission as a whole is not very helpful." (Apparently this argument is now being extended from Baghdad to Copenhagen). Team Ban hastened to argue that since Chatterjee had known de Mistura before, no nepotism was involved and again that the hire should not have been reported at all.

But de Mistura, as a savvy UN player, has a history of hiring the relatives of powerful Headquarters officials. He hired the son of Kofi Annan's chief of staff Iqbal Riza, even creating a middleman for payment to skirt rules or scrutiny. The source opine to Inner City Press that Mattsson, until recently criticized in the UN system for UNOPS' lack of audit and then identified system flaws, is emulating de Mistura. It is a fact that during the recent New York meeting of the executive board of UNOPS and UNDP, Ban issued a ruling that gave Mattsson greater freedom in staffing decisions, used to increase the number of higher level D-1 and D-2 positions at UNOPS in Copenhagen.

Against this backdrop, Inner City Press on July 20 asked Ban's speech writer, who is also the Director of Communications, about what whistleblowing staff had said of Chatterjee. Under Kofi Annan, Inner City Press would simply have gone to then UN spokespeople and asked a factual question, as it once did about a trust fund controlled by the family of Annan's wife. Such factual questions deserve factual answers; counter interpretations of the facts can be offered too, and included as quotes in stories. On this story, all that Team Ban has said is that Ban is concerned about safety, and sensitive to family.

Also on June 20, Inner City Press put factual question about Chatterjee to Ban's chief Spokesperson Michele Montas. She said she would get the answers. Inner City Press said, in light of Team Ban's argument that Ban is sensitive to family matters, that it would choose to question and await answers outside of the UN's formal noon briefing. At the June 21 noon briefing Inner City Press asked about Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and Afghanistan but not the Chatterjee questions, choosing instead to approach Ms. Montas afterwards expecting response to the simple factual questions. But none were given.

Nor the next day, June 22, on the eve of Ban's and his Spokesperson's trip to China and Mongolia. On July 23 a 10 a.m. debate on the "Responsibility to Protect" hosted by General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann will not include Ban due it's said to his trip. A source on Ban's 38th floor, long after working hours, nodded despairing, "why don't they just answer the questions? To refuse to just makes Ban look worse," adding hopefully that management, media relations and communications changes may be made "for the good of the UN" during Ban's time in his native country in August.

The UN's own Office of Internal Oversight Services appears to do nothing in this regard. Even in the face of the President of the General Assembly's unexplained hiring with UN money of two relatives, reported first by Inner City Press and then the Times of London, OIOS has not acted. Inner City Press asked and was told that jurisdiction is being "looked into," but that complaints by anonymous sources, even those fear retaliations, should not be given weight.

The issue arose at a recent UN noon briefing, where Inner City Press was told that no more questions about the hirings would be accepted. At much lower levels of governance, questions about boss' son in law being hired and promoted within the Organization would be asked and answers given. Why is it different within this UN? Watch this site.

Update: Four days after Inner City Press off-camera asked the UN Office of the Spokesperson to confirm that Mr. Ban's son in law got a promotion at UNOPS, still with no answered the question was asked at the July 23 noon briefing. The question was dodged, but after the briefing Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe quietly confirmed that yes, Ban's son in law now works at UNOPS. She would not state how many ranks he'd been promoted, saying despite its relevance to the Secretariat that all questions should be directed to UNOPS's spokesperson. He is out of the office into August, but half-responded below the following questions:

Hello. I have been directed by the UN Spokesperson's Office, Marie Okabe, to direct questions to you about UNOPS' hiring of Siddarth Chatterjee, the Secretary General's son in law:

what is his current position: D-1 or D-2? What was his position before: P-5? Please state and confirm or deny. Please state what will be Mr. Chatterjee's compensation. was the vacancy announced? what was the vacancy number? many applicants for the vacancy were there? beyond specific responses to the questions above, please describe the UNOPS recruitment and hiring process, and any safeguards in place.

Please confirm that the spouses of the Secretary General and Mr. Mattssson met in late May, describe all use of UN system personnel in this regard and the cost. Please describe and disclose all communications between the Bans and the Mattssons, in connection with the hiring, with S-G's decision to increase UNOPS' autonomy in hiring and the increase in D-1 and D-2 positions and otherwise.

The next day, just before the noon briefing, the following arrived, responding to some but not all of the above questions:

Subj: response from UNOPS to your question
From: [Deputy Spokespeson at] un.org
To: Inner City Press
Sent: 7/24/2009 11:48:20 A.M. Eastern Standard Time

Response from UNOPS on the selection of Siddharth Chatterjee as UNOPS Regional Director for Europe and Middle East

Siddharth Chatterjee, was appointed in May 2009 as UNOPS Regional Director for Europe and the Middle East (EMO). He was awarded the position after competing successfully in a routine and transparent recruitment process independently managed by UNOPS.

Mr. Chatterjee met or exceeded all the criteria for the post. UNOPS totally rejects any suggestion that he gained the position due to family connections.

For 12 years Mr. Chatterjee held positions of increasing responsibility in UN peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Iraq, and working for UNICEF in Sudan, Indonesia and Somalia. Earlier he served 12 years with distinction in the Indian Army Special Forces, including duty as a military observer for the UN, rising to the rank of senior Major. During the recruitment process he impressed the selection panel with his 24 years of leadership and experience handling UN tasks in conflict and post-conflict settings.

The post of regional director was advertised on UNOPS website and in prominent international media. UNOPS received 121 applications, and short listed five candidates based on their specific experience and their match to the competencies sought for the position. UNOPS conducted a formal panel interview with these five, asking identical questions of each. The candidates were ranked based on their interview scores. References were checked and the successful candidate offered the position.

This response does not state Mr. Ban's son in law's new rank nor compensation, nor describe "any safeguards in place" nor "confirm that the spouses of the Secretary General and Mr. Mattssson met in late May, describe all use of UN system personnel in this regard and the cost. Please describe and disclose all communications between the Bans and the Mattssons, in connection with the hiring, with S-G's decision to increase UNOPS' autonomy in hiring and the increase in D-1 and D-2 positions and otherwise."

These questions were reiterated to UNOPS and the UN Spokesperson's Office on July 24. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/uns1family072309.html

Uganda Won't Implement ICC Warrant on Bashir Until "Verified" by AU, Can LRA's Joseph Kony Copy?

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/iccau2bashir072209.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 22 -- Uganda's foreign minister Sam Kutesa told the Press on Wednesday that his country is "obligated to implement International Criminal Court warrants" such as the one against Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, but that as a member of the African Union, Uganda is not implementing the al Bashir warrant until the AU "verifies" it. Video here, from Minute 1:24.

While some might welcome a process for regional appeals of ICC indictments, it raises the question: why for example can't Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony, who Uganda referred to the ICC, forestall execution of the ICC warrant against him by commissioning a study such as the one of Bashir? That is, how prominent does the study group have to be, to justify an ICC member not acting on an ICC indictment?

On July 17, Inner City Press asked the President of the ICC's Assembly of State Parties, Liechtenstein's Ambassador Christian Weneweser, about Uganda's positions on al-Bashir. Some in the administration of President Yoweri Museveni had said Bashir would be arrested if he came to Uganda, then Museveni said no and reportedly apologized.

Wenewaeer said that on July 16, he had a long conversation with Uganda's Ambassador who gave assurances was committed "to its obligations under the Rome Statute" -- that is, to arrest al Bashir. Since Museveni had invited al Bashir to Uganda, Inner City Press asked Wenaweser if this might be a set up. "Ask him the question," Wenaweser said, referring to Uganda's Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda. Video here, from Minute 6:42.

While Inner City Press later that day did ask Uganda's Ambassador the question -- click here for the answer -- on July 22 his boss, foreign minister Kutesa, was at the UN to debate post-conflict peacebuilding. Afterwards Inner City Press asked him to clarify Uganda's position. "Uganda's position is very clear," he said, adding it is obligated to implement ICC warrants but as a member of the AU it will await the findings of the AU group headed by South African's former president Thabo Mbeki.

Then you will implement the warrant? Absolutely, Kutesa said, once the AU has verified the indictment.

And if it is not verified, Inner City Press asked, then what?

"Then the AU will take a position," Kutesa said. So apparently, the African Union trumps the ICC, at least for Uganda. Watch this space.

Footnote: Minister Kutesa held a lunch for ambassador at which, one attendee told Inner City Press, he spoke in more detail about Somalia that at the Council stakeout. There, when Inner City Press asked about peacebuilding and the DRC and Somalia, he answered vaguely that both are ready for peacebuilding. Since al Shabaab is throwing at least parts of the UN out of Somalia, its readiness for the PBC is in question.

Kutesa appeared with the suddenly omnipresent Chilean Ambassador Geraldo Munoz, chairman of the Peacebuilding Commission, head of the investigation of the murder of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, and speaker for pro Responsibiliy to Protect NGOs now at the UN. Some say Munoz is looking for a UN job. Watch this space.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/iccau2bashir072209.html

In 2012 Games, China for World Bank, Europe Gives Up IMF to Take Ban's UN Place?

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1traded072109.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 21 -- As the press coverage of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's first two and a half years has grown more and more negative, Ban's defenders have rushed to come up with explanations other than lack of accomplishments to explain the bad reviews.

The most interesting theory, which may even be true, was explained to Inner City Press by two separate senior advisors to Ban. It paints Ban was the victim of European horse trading involving the International Monetary Fund. The scenario, which because we have seen it nowhere else in print we will call an Inner City Press exclusive, goes like this:

--There are three major international posts which become vacant or up for renewal in 2012: the World Bank, IMF and UN Secretary General. The United States has historically held a monopoly over the top job World Bank, with the Europeans controlling the IMF, as shown during Dominique Strauss-Kahn's ascent in 2007 to replace Rodrigo de Rato.

--The world however has changed, with the United States needing China more and more, to the point where the U.S. would give up leadership of the World Bank to China, in exchange for commitments by China to continue to invest in the U.S., its Treasury bills and otherwise.

--The European would be willing to give up the job of Managing Director of the IMF, if they could name a new Secretary General in 2012 to replace Ban Ki-moon.

By unwritten rule, however, the Asian group has dibs on two terms atop the UN, or even three terms if Ban were replaced in 2012 by another Asian such as Jose Ramos Horta (who perhaps relatedly as editorialized today in the Australian press about Western Sahara, a UN issue far from Timor Leste).

But if China, the center of gravity of the Asian Group, were to get the top job at the World Bank, they could be persuaded to allow a candidate from (Eastern) Europe to take over from Mr. Ban.

Could this explain or come up on Ban's current trip to China? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1traded072109.html

In Somalia, As UNDP Is Expelled by Shabaab, UN's Ban Claims Target is All UN

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unsc4somalia072109.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 21, updated -- The day after Al Shabaab in Somalia attacked and targeted for expulsion three UN system agencies, specifically excluding other UN agencies from the ban, the UN put out a statement on July 21 that 'the Secretary General condemns the looting yesterday of UN offices in Somalia [which] target the whole gamut of UN peace and humanitarian operations in Somalia."

While the UN and Ban Ki-moon might wish the statement were true, it is dubious. Al Shabaab, as they did in earlier attacks on the UN Development Program, picked a particular part and approach of the UN system. UNDP was the middle man for unnamed, largely European and former colonialist funders of the armed forces, with questionable human rights records, which defended the Transitional Federal Government..

By contrast, as Inner City Press asked and wrote about last week, the UN World Food Program recently met with Al Shabaab, seemingly connected to WFP staying in the country.

UNDP will say, as its paid defenders have, that it takes sides in this civil war and chooses the TFG because it is entity the UN helped set up. But with so many of its parliamentarians not even living in Somalia, the TFG's credibility is questionable. And UNDP insiders tell Inner City Press that UNDP's reason for siding with the TFG is not unrelated to the fact that UNDP had make fees as middleman on funding to the TFG, while Al Shabaab is not getting, or even asking, for international aid.

Perhaps there are legitimate reasons why one part of the UN system -- in this case, UNDP, Ould Abdallah's UNPOS and Department of Safety and Security -- takes sides in a civil war and get thrown out of the country, while another part (WFP, UNICEF and others) speaks with both sides and stays in. A debate on these two approaches might be helpful. Instead, the UN rushes out a blurry statement which is inaccurate on its face, and expects that nothing will be said.

It is time for UNDP and its no longer so new Executive Director Helen Clark to come and take Press questions. There are been developments with regard to UNDP's involvement in diamond mining in Zimbabwe, and over-compensation of consultants. Written questions put to UNDP have been pending for months. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unsc4somalia072109.html