UNDP Fudges Eveline Herfkens' Part-Time Work, Dodges on Lockheed Martin Connection to U.S. Committee for UNDP, Other Staff Files Withheld

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un38herfkens022508.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 25 -- In the wake of the UN Development Program's poverty czar Eveline Herfkens having been found to have accepted $7000 a month in rent from the Dutch government for years, in violation of UN rules, UNDP has continued to defend her. As Inner City Press reported, UNDP's Associate Administrator Ad Melkert has lobbied for Herfkens to not have to pay back the housing subsidy, on the theory that she did not know the rules. On Monday, UNDP placed online her contract, to claim that despite the housing subsidy windfall, her annual salary from 2002 to 2006 was $134,331 -- or, the contract says, 80% of that. Click here for the contract. There are two problem. In a January 9 online posting, UNDP said Herfkens was working 75% at the time. And while Herfkens claims ignorance of the rules as a defense, the contract says that the rules have been provided, and even talks about offset for UNDP housing allowance.

UNDP's online posting of Herfkens contract contradicts its crackdowns on whistle-blowing staff members and contractors. Apparently it is not the type of document made public that constitutes a problem, but rather who makes it public and why. If to expose corruption, it is a firing offense. But if to defend a politically-connected get-over, disclosure of contracts is fine. Melkert was to be found on Monday singing the praise of corporation, specifying UNDP's partnership with Cisco and Google, click here for video. Partnership with Google, indeed.

While UNDP issues defenses of Herfkens and Melkert, it leaves other questions unanswered. On Monday Inner City Press asked UNDP fewer than ten questions, none of which were answered by day's end. One of the questions was a matter Inner City Press has already written about, questioning the basis for the Africa business development for military contractor Lockheed Martin being on the board of directors of the US Committee for UNDP, and what safeguards are in place to make sure that no apparent conflicts of interest arise from Lockheed Martin's status as a major contractor to the UN, including a recent $250 million no-bid contract in Sudan. There is no answer, no answer at all.

Footnote: while UNDP self-servingly posts online Herfkens' contract, questions to the UN about the contract status of sadly high profile computer technician have been met with a stonewall, a response from the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General that "the United Nations does not disclose information of a personal nature relating to individual employees." UNDP's Hefkens upload puts a lie to that. Now what? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un38herfkens022508.html

In UN's Corporate Frenzy, Western Union Dismisses Immigrants' Remittance Boycott, Coke Exonerates Itself in India, UNICEF Plays Footsie for Good

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1corp022508.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 25 -- The UN system's partnering with the corporate world has reached a fever pitch, with safeguards still in evolution, virtually non-existent in such entities as the US Fund for UNICEF and the U.S. Committee for the UN Development Program. At a panel discussion on Monday, Inner City Press asked the CEO of Western Union about a boycott by a coalition of immigrant groups based on over-priced wire services. "There will always be issues that occur," was the pat response, followed by a reference to Western Union's "advocacy" to keep immigrants in the U.S. --hardly surprising, given its business model -- and its philanthropy. Video here, from Minute 2:36:39.

As was demonstrated on February 21 at the UN, at a briefing by Leena Srivastava of the New Delhi-based group The Energy and Resources Institute, TERI, corporate funding of non-profits has many motives. Coca-Cola funded TERI to review it use of water in India, and the resulting study was reported as exonerating Coke and militating for its continued sales on college campuses. Inner City Press asked Ms. Srivastava if it wasn't a conflict of interest, to study Coke with Coke's money. "Who else would pay for it?" she asked. Video here. But Pepsi is also a TERI funder. Or, more productively, perhaps the student boycotters should have been approached for funding.

While UNICEF has strenuously avoided in-person responses about its role in giving the UN's North Lawn to Gucci earlier this month, for a fundraising event that Gucci claimed was to celebrate its opening of a store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, UNICEF's Hilde Johnson was on Monday's panel. Inner City Press asked about the Gucci event, and Ms. Johnson replied that while UNICEF used the so-called "FTSE-4-Good" principles, it has no control over US Fund for UNICEF, which fronted the Gucci event. But then stop the Fund, like the national committee in Germany, from using the logo to bring it into disrepute.

Since the Gucci event, a number of ambassadors for major UNICEF-funding countries have approached Inner City Press with their concerns about the event, that UNICEF would feel it needed money so much as to make the UN look bad. Maybe UNICEF and the wider UN will learn from this. It appears clear that the US Fund for UNICEF, which never answered follow-up questions about the event, feels it has nothing to learn, just more lawns and logos left to trample. Likewise, the U.S. Committee for UNDP has on its board of directors a representative from UN (and military) contractor Lockheed Martin, the safeguards regarding which Inner City Press has asked UNDP, without answer.

After Inner City Press asked Ms. Johnson of UNICEF for a response, it was quickly told that it shouldn't have been allowed to ask a question, despite a previous moderator inviting questions from throughout the ECOSOC Chamber. Ms. Johnson's answer could barely be heard over the threat, "Should I call security?" This is the free press at the UN these days.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1corp022508.html

Soft Porn Sold in UN Lobby, Contrary to Gender Advisor's Complaints to UN's Department of Management

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1gendersoft022508.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 25 -- As the UN on Monday launched its Campaign to End Violence Against Women, in the lobby of UN Headquarters, soft porn remained for sale. At the newsstand next to the elevator to the Secretary-General's offices on the building's 38th floor, titles such as Curve and Smooth and King, along with Dirty South, were on display, with oiled-up women vamping for the camera.

Following a press conference at noon at which time apparently did not permit Inner City Press to ask this question despite a hand raised high throughout the question and answer period, the question was put to the UN's Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Assistant Secretary-General Rachel N. Mayanja. "I am glad you are raising it," she told Inner City Press. "I am very appalled. I had already raised it to the Department of Management and had been assured they were going to ask them to take it down."

Inner City Press asked how long ago the request had been made to the Department of Management, headed by Under Secretary General Alicia Barcena. "At least six months ago," Ms. Mayanja said. "I am going to go back to them. It should be removed."

While the sale of soft porn on the newsstand in the United Nations lobby may raise First Amendment issues, it appears to be the UN's position that while the UN is in the United States, it is international territory to which the U.S. Constitution does not apply. Perhaps then it is Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that has constrained the UN from removing the pornography from the newsstand it licenses in its lobby. Recently, the Department of Management and Ms. Barcena have had no problem condemning journalistic coverage of a death at the UN as causing "complete shock and outrage," as being "insensitive" and "clearly transgress[ing] accepted boundaries of professional journalism." Soft porn which the UN's own Special Adviser on Gender Issues six months ago asked the Department of Management to have removed, however, has generated no such shock or outrage within the Department of Management, nor apparently even a letter to the newsstand.

Footnote: to the UN's credit, even when time or a moderator deny a journalist a question, most (but not all) UN officials are willing to slow down and provide at least some answer to a question, if a reporter is persistent enough. The matter of soft porn in the lobby is one that Inner City Press has wanted to ask ASG Mayanga about for some time. And despite obstacles on Monday, the question was asked, and now we'll see what happens. Watch, if not the UN lobby, this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1gendersoft022508.html

While UN's Dutch Poverty Czar Eveline Herfkes Is Allowed to Keep Illegal Money, Brooklyn Woman Was Jailed in Similar UN Case

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/undp28herfkens022408.html

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 24, updated Feb 25 -- The receipt of $7000 a month in free rent by the director of the UN Development Program's anti-poverty Millennium Campaign has been the subject of heated debate in the Dutch parliament. UNDP's Administrator Kemal Dervis, asked about it by Inner City Press, admitted that the payments were improper. So has the Office of the Spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. But now should Evelyn Herfkens, to whom the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs paid the housing subsidy in violation of UN rules, be required to pay the money back? Should there be any punishment at all?

After extensive lobbying on Ms. Herfkens behalf by UNDP's two top executives, and a senior advisor from the UN Secretariat, it is reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sees no reason to reclaim the money from Herfkens "as it is not clear if Herfkens knew she was not allowed to take the money and she never asked for it."

This is in stark contrast to a case earlier this decade in which a single mother in Brooklyn through a clerical error received hundreds of thousands of dollars into her Chase Bank account that had been intended for a UN Environment Program trust fund. Susan Madakor, who used the part to for example set up an education fund for her son, not only was required to make restitution of the money, under a legal theory of unjust enrichment -- she was also prosecuted and convicted of a crime. So why the kid's glove treatment for Ms. Herfkens?

In order words, why would the UN prosecute a low-income woman for the type of windfall that it allows, with impunity, for a politically-connected ex-diplomat who was already getting paid $225,000 a year by the UN for part-time work ostensibly for the poor?

Ms. Madakor, who found the money erroneously deposited in her account, said she thought she had won an international lottery. Nevertheless, then UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said that the UN would employ "all legal options available" because "this money does not belong to Ms Madakor." Eckhard's deputy Manoel de Almeida e Silva later told the press that "Susan Madakor, a Brooklyn resident who had received wire transfers mistakenly credited by Chase Manhattan Bank that were intended for the United Nations Environmental Program, was convicted of bank larceny and bank fraud. Last week she was sentenced to two years in prison. United States District Judge Shirley Kram ordered her to begin serving her sentence by May 16, and also ordered her to pay restitution to Chase."

So what legal options are being considered given Ms. Herfkens improper receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars in housing subsidy from a government while ostensibly working for the UN? None, apparently. Rather, senior UNDP and UN officials have put their credibility on the line to insist that Ms. Herfkens never knew that the housing subsidy was against the rules.

This is questionable: records show that Herfkens was intimately knowledgeable about UNDP's rules for such things as the authorization to fly business class rather than coach. She asked to be allowed to fly business class even after she shifted to part-time contractor status in order to appear eligible for a U.S. green card. Significantly, the prohibition on receiving housing subsidy or benefits from a government is included in employment contract she signed.

Inner City Press is also told that UNDP Associate Administrator Ad Melkert attended numerous social events in Herfkens' posh Dag Hammarskjold Towers apartment. Apparently it never occurred to him to wonder, or ask, how this apartment was being paid for.

[Update of Feb. 25: UNDP spokesman David Morrison writes to state that "Mr. Melkert never set foot in the apartment," and deny any "impropriety or negligence" by Melkert. Duly noted. Apparently, UNDP does not contest that Melkert (and Kemal Dervis) lobbied Dutch officials to reach a finding the Eveline Herfkens didn't know she was breaking UN rules, and UNDP sees no need (or no way) to explain the disparity of low-income Brooklynite Susan Madakor being prosecuted and jailed for inadvertently receiving funds, as well as being required to make restitution, while UNDP's Director of the Millennium Campaign faces no prosecution and, apparently at UNDP's lobbying, is not required to pay back a single cent. We will continue to follow this.]

Once exposed for receiving the subsidy, Herfkens told the press that she needed a nice apartment. Note to Herfkens, from / in the spirit of Susan Madakor: they are cheaper in Brooklyn, to say nothing of The Bronx.

While UNDP has loudly claimed that Melkert never received housing subsidy from the Dutch government while employed by UNDP, or even before that at the World Bank, testimony in the Dutch parliament raises questions about other improper payments to UN officials by the Dutch government. It has been acknowledged that Dutch government payments were also made, as employer, into Herfkens' ongoing Dutch pension, even while she was employed by UNDP. Such payments also violate UN rules and the Charter. As with housing subsidy, and particularly in light of the asserted defense that Ms. Herfkens never asked for the payments, there is no reason to believe that she was the only Dutch UN official improperly receiving governmental benefits.

Three weeks ago, Inner City Press approached former Dutch diplomat Peter van Walsum, who is employed by the UN as its envoy on Western Sahara. A staffer cut off access to van Walsum, who is known to avoid the press. Inner City Press asked, are you his spokesperson? No, he doesn't have one, was the response. Inner City Press asked if van Walsum received any benefit from the Dutch government, and was quickly (and in a whisper) told that he doesn't live in New York, making housing subsidy unlikely. His public financial disclosure form, for the record, lists no outside activities or payments. But what about pension or other benefits?

Inner City Press was directed to ask a specific person in the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, who was said to know whom to call on van Walsum's staff to get the answer. Inner City Press immediately made the request and was told that inquiry would be made. Three weeks later, nothing. There is also a Dutch Assistant Secretary General employed by the UN's anti-avian flu unit, and numerous Dutch D-1s and D-2s. Will senior UNDP and UN officials lobby for all of them? Will Eveline Herfkens ultimately face anything like Brooklynite Susan Madakor? Will Herfkens face justice in court? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/undp28herfkens022408.html

Ally of UN's Ban Ki-moon, Han Seoung-soo, Is Accused of Under-Reporting His Assets in South Korea, As His UN Disclosure Is Called Into Question

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un6findisclosed022108.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 21 -- A controversy in South Korea about the accuracy of prime minister-designate Han Seoung-soo's financial disclosure raises questions about the adequacy of the UN's public financial disclosure regime. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named Han Seoung-soo his special envoy on climate change, triggering financial disclosure requirements. A disclosure form was placed online, in which Mr. Han checked that he was voluntarily making financial disclosure, accurately. On February 21, Inner City Press asked Mr. Ban's spokesperson Michele Montas if, in light of the questions raised in Seoul, the UN still stood behind Mr. Han's public financial disclosure and believed that it was accurate. Ms. Montas answered that it is a South Korea question. But Mr. Han made his filing with the UN in New York, and put it on the UN's website. Mr. Han is quite close to Ban Ki-moon. So what is the answer?

Later on February 21, Ban's spokesperson's office provided a written answer, that "PriceWaterhouseCoopers has vetted all the financial disclosures, and the ones we've posted all indicate no need for further action. Any other questions should be asked of the Korean authorities who have their own criteria which we do not comment on." This appears to mean, by saying there is "no need for further action," that the UN considers Han's disclosure adequate and accurate. Click here to view it.

In the confirmation debate in Seoul, there is talk

"that Han and his wife bought thousands of square meters of land in Seoul and Gangwon Province, just before the areas were developed. Han bought houses and land in southern Seoul three times, in 1977, 1981 and 1988, and his wife also bought more than 5,000 square meters of land in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, in 2001 before a cultural industry complex was built there. As Han was in positions that gave him access to the information on government development plans, liberal lawmakers claim that Han's actions were unethical and suspicious. President-elect Lee is known to have named Han, a special envoy on climate change for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as his first prime minister due to Han's wide-ranging diplomatic experience."

Meanwhile, after a report that Ban himself wanted to attend the presidential inauguration in Seoul, then more reports that his senior advisor Kim Won-soo would go, on February 21 it was announced that Mr. Kim and Lynn Pascoe would travel east -- not only to South Korea, but also to Japan. But apparently this was an inauguration not to be missed...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un6findisclosed022108.html

UN Official Michael Adlerstein Speaks of Punishing the Press, Alleges Cowardice, Threatens Ouster from UN for 1 or 2 Articles: Capital Master Plan?

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1freepress022108.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 21 -- Senior UN officials are trying to formulate responses to investigative documentary journalism about recent events at UN Headquarters. These include a February 17 death on the South Lawn, allegations of UN involvement in censorship and questions of ambulance access to an apparent heart attack victim. On February 21 the chief of the UN's rehabilitation effort Michael Adlerstein spoke heatedly to Inner City Press for ten minutes. The official immediately above him, Under Secretary General for Management Alicia Barcena, also sent a four-paragraph missive in the form of a letter to the editor, which is published in full at www.innercitypress.com/un1freepress022108.html.

We begin with Mr. Adlerstein's comments because they were less scripted, including accusations of cowardice and references to punishment for the material Inner City Press has published. Another journalist was accompanying Inner City Press and tape recording an impromptu interview with the director of a non-governmental organization in India when Mr. Adlerstein, the Assistant Secretary General for the UN's Capital Master Plan, doubled back and began by asking "about this photograph that you published." Inner City Press replied that while it had already taken down the photograph, and had informed Ms. Barcena and others of this fact, any and all questions would be answered, there in the lobby where Mr. Adlerstein chose to dialogue, or in a subsequent column, including the interchange.

On Sunday, February 17 there was an emergency meeting of the Security Council at 1 p.m. about Kosovo. In preparing to cover it, the death, and the placing of bags over the decedent's hands, were inescapable. Mr. Adlerstein asked, "What does that have to do with the photograph?"

Inner City Press replied, and replies, Because that's what the photograph is of, that the bagging of the hands to preserve evidence.

"I've heard people say, maybe you should just have written. And I understand that position; I don't think that's an unreasonable position. I don't know where it is written that a body under a blanket, which AP ran, and it went all over the world, and nobody has said anything to them from the UN. The UN has said to me that if AP did it, it's okay. But if you did something different than AP, we're going to come down on you like a bag of bricks... Now I've received a letter from Ms. Barcena saying 'we're outraged,' cc-ing Vijay Nambiar, Mr. Akasaka, and I'm not sure what the purpose of that is. I'm going to run the letter, and that's fine, that's her position. I don't want to treat it in any disrespectful way, but I'm not, from what I heard yesterday, she seized on it as an opportunity to attempt to throw me out of the UN."

Whereupon ASG Adlerstein said, "What should be your punishment?"

But where in the mandate of the Capital Master Plan does punishing journalists figure?

Adlerstein asked, "Can you say yes or no, did you make a mistake?"

"I don't like the line of reasoning. If I say I made a mistake--"

Adlerstein then cited questions that have been asked of him, about ongoing litigation about an alleged conflict of interest involving a former position in New Jersey, "It's the same line of reasoning that you use on everybody else. You always say, you know, did you screw up here? Your job as a reporter is to hold us accountable. And to hold yourself accountable. Did you make a mistake?"

"I took the photograph down. If that's how you want to interpret it."

Adlerstein said, "I'm not interpreting anything. I'm asking you, did you make a mistake?"

"At the time I ran it, I thought it made sense. Now, I don't think it makes sense to keep it up anymore, that's why I took it down. If anyone is offended, I apologize for it. I know why it was run at the time though."

ASG Michael Adlerstein: You said you apologized to the people who personally know her. It's offensive to mankind to run pictures of victims of suicide, murder victims.

ICP: Watch Al Jazeera, it's on all the time. Al Jazeera is showing footage from Somalia where people killed and dead on the ground.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: Oh, great. Great example. There's a moral--

ICP: Are they being thrown out of the building? They're not. There's not one standard here. If you don't like Al Jazeera, you don't watch it. And if you don't like Inner City Press, you don't have to read it. I want to deal with this correctly.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: So you didn't make a mistake.

ICP: What is the ramification if I say that I do?

ASG Michael Adlerstein: You'll let me know whether you think you made a mistake. I'm not a reporter, I don't give a damn.

Other journalist: It seems to me, if I may interject--

ASG Michael Adlerstein: I find it very cowardly that you won't take a position. Did you make a mistake or not?

ICP: I took the photograph down. You tell me what the ramification for answering is, and I'll answer it. You seem to believe it is legitimate to try to throw a journalist out for one story, and I think that is totally improper. I don't think the UN gets to choose, based on content, who covers it and how they cover it. I do not. And I find it outrageous

ASG Michael Adlerstein: Is it two stories that you need? Two stories are needed?

ICP: I don't know, you tell me.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: You're saying one story is outrageous. Are two stories okay?

ICP: They tried to get the Staff Union to support them. I'm not looking for support. It's just that this is a free country. The White House doesn't throw out a reporter on one story. The Federal Reserve doesn't do it. This place, maybe it thinks it's exempt from those laws.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: Is that what you're saying, two stories is okay?

ICP: Write a rule, and I'll comply with it. They've been trying to set up a process on how to throw people out. And whatever the rule is, that will be fine. But they don't have a rule. And you cannot just zero in on one story. You really can't. You can try.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: That's what I'm asking.

ICP: I don't know, I don't know what the rules are going to be. They're being negotiating between UNCA and DPI. We had a meeting about it two weeks ago.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: Very cowardly. You won't account for yourself.

ICP: I'll write a whole story about it tonight, and I'll say something about it. But I'm going to write about this as well. And that's fine.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: About what?

ICP: This, this conversation. Why not? You tell me. And I will answer your questions, in writing. And you can say whether it's cowardly or not... When somebody kills themselves at the UN, the regular press corps can't get in here. This is one of the reasons I covered it. I guarantee you -- for whatever you believe -- I didn't come that day to cover it. I didn't want to cover it. I came to cover the Kosovo meeting. But as a journalist, if I come in and there's a medical examiner and people's hands are being bagged, I'm going to cover it. And many people in this building have said to me 'please keep looking into that.' I actually would rather not to.

Other journalist: What he did, in terms of reporting the story, I think is in the best traditions of -- inadvertently, because it's outside his expertise -- crime reporting.

ICP: I'm amazed. I had no idea that this was your view of the press. I had zero idea...

ASG Michael Adlerstein: I haven't expressed any view of free press. I asked you whether you made a mistake.

ICP: And you said "would it take two stories to throw you out" and you said "you asked us a lot of questions, what about you". This is a retaliatory thing. You are an official here.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: I'm not saying anyone should be thrown out of here.

ICP: You said two stories, throw you out.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: You said one story is not justified.

ICP: You said how about two.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: How about two. What's the number?

ICP: You said "what should be your punishment?" Most times, if an institution and an official doesn't like coverage, like McCain in the New York Times, you write a letter. That's what you do. You don't imply that you can throw somebody out because you don't like the article.

Other journalist: You have to establish objective rules.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: I walked over here to find out what's going on, what's your position.

ICP: Have you read Ms. Barcena's letter?

ASG Michael Adlerstein: No.

ICP: And she has a conflict. She shouldn't be the one pushing this. She expressed deep anger for me when I wrote about her getting a job for a friend of Ahlenius. And so I don't think she should be the one making the UN's decisions on what to do about this incident. Beyond taking down the photograph and running an apology, I don't know what more they want. She should not be the one running it. She has a personal motive.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: You're asking me right, I don't know.

ICP: I know you're a high official.

ASG Michael Adlerstein: I have no idea whether she's written you a letter or not; I've never seen a letter. I have no idea what you're talking about.

ICP: How did you learn of this? Did you stumble across it?

ASG Michael Adlerstein: People are talking about it.

ICP: Many people talked to me who never even saw it. They heard from Barcena that it showed the woman's face, and that's false. That's one of the reasons I didn't want to take it down, because now they are trying to say that something was what it wasn't. If the problem's the photo, it's down. She said to the Staff Union that it showed the face. Now what am I supposed to do, show the photo again? To show it doesn't? She knows it doesn't. She tried to stoke them up.

Ms. Barcena's letter is online at www.innercitypress.com/un1freepress022108.html. Beyond having incorrectly alleged that the photo showed the decedent's face, she tried to inflame even OHRM staff on the fifth floor to denounce Inner City Press based on articles not read, photos not seen, because removed from the Internet to placate her. Inner City Press was told by the spokesperson's office that not only had USG Barcena written a letter, that the Department of Public Information (apparently, the head of its Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit) would also be writing a letter.

One wonders if MALU wrote a letter to, for example, Al-Jazeera, when in the wake of the deadly bombing of the United Nations in Algiers in December, it placed online an interactive poll which asked if people supported or opposed the bombing of the UN. In that case, not only was no public or even to-file letter written by MALU -- the media outlet was quickly awarded an exclusive interview with Ban Ki-moon, and has been placed on the UN's in-house TV network. For the record, Inner City Press supports Al Jazeera's right to freedom of the press. These freedoms must be consistently and expansively applied.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1freepress022108.html

Faced with Online Poll About Bombing of UN in Algeria, UN Stayed Quiet, Granted Interview to Pollster Al-Jazeera

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un2algeriapoll022108.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 21 -- In the wake of the deadly bombing of the United Nations in Algiers in December, Al Jazeera placed online an interactive poll which asked if people supported or opposed the bombing of the UN. The poll drew responses, not all of them negative.

At UN Headquarters in New York, there was anger at Al Jazeera, a sense that the media outlet had clearly transgressed accepted boundaries of professional journalism. While one might have expected some public protest, instead the UN chose to deploy a unique form of diplomacy. A high profile Al Jazeera correspondent was contacted. He in turn contacted the top management of Al Jazeera. In short order, two things happened: the poll was removed from the Internet, and Al Jazeera was granted an exclusive one-on-one interview with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which the UN's own website heavily promoted.

Because of the surprising incongruity of this UN response, Inner City Press on February 21 asked two UN communications officials, one in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General and the other in the spokesperson's office, to confirm or deny these basic assertions:

"Is it not the case that after the December bombing of the UN in Algeria, one accredited media outlet here ran an online poll if people agreed with the bombing? That the UN asked, but only privately, for the media outlet to take it down? And, that once it was taken down, the Secretary-General granted the media outlet an exclusive interview?"

The UN's answer, which to be fair we run in full, seems to go out of its way to put the poll, or management's responsibility, in the best possible light, in order to distinguish it from other current and apparently desired reactions to reporting the UN does not like:

No. The poll was brought to our attention, as well as reports on other websites about the poll. Those reports indicated that the Al-Jazeera Editor-in-Chief and management were taken by surprise at the question asked by the poll and realized that it was inappropriate. They admitted publicly (in these website reports) that it was a mistake and said that they had removed it and disciplined the journalists responsible.

The SG and his team, recognizing that Al-Jazeera had acknowledged it's mistake, decided that the Head of DPI would write a Letter to the Editor of Al-Jazeera, regretting this series of events and underling the importance of telling the UN story to the Arab world in order to develop a better understanding of what the UN does, etc.

Subsequently, Al-Jazeera requested an interview and it was granted.

Well-placed sources contest this account. The second line asserts that the media organization's management itself took action to take down the poll, before hearing from the UN. Inner City Press' sources counter that the UN reached out to a former UN correspondent to try to get the poll taken offline, that the disciplining of journalists emphasized by the UN response may never have taken place, and that there was a quid-pro-quo relation between the taking down of the poll and the granting of the interview.

Even the UN's version of the story is contrary to current and apparently desired reactions to reporting the UN does not like, with its reference to a letter from the Head of DPI, Kiyotaka Akasaka, "regretting this series of events and underling the importance of telling the UN story." Other media outlets accused by UN management of having "clearly transgressed accepted boundaries of professional journalism" wonder when the gentle "regretting" of events and "underlining of the importance of telling the UN story" starts -- and when the interview will be scheduled.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2algeriapoll022108.html

Ambulance Responds Too Late for Journalist at UN, Hans Janitschek, 24 Minute Delay as Fire Truck Is Stopped at 1st Ave Gate, Another Investigation

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1ambulance022108.html

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 21, updated Feb. 22 -- A journalist was taken out of the UN by an ambulance, apparently too late, on the night on February 21. Hans Janitschek, a correspondent for Austrian media, had recently returned to the UN press corps, asking questions ranging from the bombing of the UN in Algiers to a more recent February 17 death at the UN Headquarters. Janitschek had long covered and been affiliated with the UN, and his fellow journalists appreciated his expertise and sense of humor. He was still smiling when, at 7:10 p.m. Thursday, he fell to the floor. A co-worker, according to his written statement which Inner City Press has seen, immediately called the UN operator on three occasions "to report what had happened to Mr. Janitschek, however, they could not provide any assistance." Regular New York City "911" emergency services were not called, due to previous difficulties and delays in them gaining access to the UN campus, which is international territory. Only after UN Security and Safety Services were called directly did anyone appear, and even then, with oxygen equipment that was less than functional.

According to the written account, in which a senior UN Security official was involved, it was fully 24 minutes until Emergency Services Technicians arrived, and by then it was too late. Another reporter on the UN's press floor at that time states that the ambulance was held for precious minutes at the gate from First Avenue, as for example the bottom of its chassis was inspected with mirrors. The reporter questioned why ambulances responding to medical emergencies are searched for so long.

Han Janitschek had spent his Thursday at the UN asking questions. At the day's noon press briefing, he asked about another death at the UN, four days previous, alluding to discordant reports in the Viennese press. Spokesperson Michele Montas replied that there was no indication of foul play. Later in the briefing, a staffer handed her a note, and she amended her answer to say that the investigation is still underway. Video here.

Thursday night, the room in which Mr. Janitschek had been was strewn with medical emergency detritus. UN Security said that, in order to conduct an investigation, the room would have to be sealed, so that nothing could be taken, including computer files, the UN security official said. So, another investigation. One wonders if this investigation will also extend to why ambulances responding to medical emergencies at the UN are searched for so long, and the impact on this case.

Update: on Feb. 22 at the UN noon briefing, Inner City Press asked:

Inner City Press: How long did it take and what is the policy of the UN on letting emergency medical personnel on the UN property?

Associate Spokesperson Farhan Haq: First of all, there were emergency medical personnel on hand at the time. As I just mentioned, three UN security officers who are qualified EMTs performed CPR on Mr. Janitschek, and there was no sign of life at the time. A defibrillator was used to try to start his heart, to no avail, and appropriate medical protocols were followed. The person who was with Mr. Janitschek, Mr. Casella, your colleague, had immediately called the UN operator, who called security, who then called the emergency responders, including a direct call to New York hospital. The first responder was actually a fire engine truck. They were not allowed in, because they could not provide the level of care needed, compared to the trained EMTs, who were there on site already, the three UN security officers. An ambulance arrived 10 seconds later, and that ambulance and paramedics were let in directly. Like I said, all of that was to no avail, ultimately. Mr. Janitschek gave no sign of life throughout this process.

Inner City Press: First of all, who decides whether to let in or not to let in a New York City fire truck? And what is the policy of the UN in terms of this? Does it automatically allow emergency or fire personnel without [searching or blocking them]?

Associate Spokesperson: We have the protocol to call in emergency responders when there is an emergency in the building, and that protocol was followed. As far as checking vehicles that come in, that is a standard security procedure, but that did not result in any significant delay. Like I said, the ambulance and paramedics were let in directly.

The UN later added that [After the briefing, the Spokesperson’s Office confirmed that the ambulance was not stopped at the front gate at all.]

Editor's note: beyond that fact that several witnesses continue to describe the searching of the ambulance, no one has rebutted or even denied the 24 minute response time. In the UN's scripted statement at Friday's noon briefing, highlighted above, it is said that a fire truck was denied entry. A UN security officer after the briefing confirmed that when FDNY vehicles come to the UN, the policy is to not let them in unless there is / the UN is aware of a fire. There's a problem: FDNY took over EMS ambulances some time ago, and FDNY personnel are trained in the procedures which were needed Thursday night. So why have a policy that includes turning away official NYC emergency responders from the FDNY? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1ambulance022108.html

UN Ignores ICC Indictments of Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, Evidence Collection in Congo, Pleas for Pakistan Probe

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1lradrcpak022008.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 20 -- The UN Secretariat's relations with and commitment to the International Criminal Court are increasingly in question. Wednesday, Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson praised without equivocation an agreement in Uganda which appears to several human rights groups to sidestep the ICC's indictments of the leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army. When Inner City Press asked, twice, whether the Secretariat stood behind the primacy of the ICC's indictments, it was told first that a statement was coming, then that that statement could not be further explained. Video here, from Minute 11:08.

Similarly, while the UN announced findings that Congolese rebel Laurent Nkunda's forces killed dozens of civilians in the run-up to the peace deal recently reached in Goma, it remains unclear if this evidence gets forwarded to the ICC. Inner City Press on Wednesday asked just that, and was told that in the nature of a dodge that the UN mission has expressed concern. But is the evidence given to the ICC for prosecution? Apparently not.

In fact, Nkunda is already speaking dismissively of the ICC. In a recent interview, he outright denies recruiting child soldiers, of which the UN or parts of it maintains there is ample evidence. In this context, the question of whether the UN forwards the evidence it has and says it has to the competent international court is a key question, that which has yet to be answered.

Finally, on Wednesday, Inner City Press asked whether in light of the outcome of Pakistan's elections, a request by the new government for UN involvement in investigating the death of Benazir Bhutto would be favorably viewed. "The government is not constituted yet," the spokesperson said. "Our guidance on that has not changed." Great....

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1lradrcpak022008.html

Murky World of UN Mainframes Serviced by Non-Staff Personnel, Outsourcing without Bids

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1whoicc022008.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 20 -- The UN still uses mainframe computers, which often lead to delays and are serviced by mistreated non-staff personnel, it has emerged. The murky world of the UN's computer systems was alluded to this week, when Under Secretary General Alicia Barcena wrote to staff that her Department of Management's Information Technology Services Division has its work performed "under a service agreement [with] the International Computing Centre, an entity sponsored by the World Health Organization." As it turns out, WHO's own internal auditor has recommended a "critical review of WHO's continuance as host for the Centre... WHO is no longer fully informed of financial and contractual arrangements entered into by the Centre. Senior management has accepted the Office's recommendations and has notified the Chairman of the Management Committee of WHO's intention to relinquish the role of host organization."

The Centre, it turns out, was formed by UNDP and WHO in 1971; its work then as now, still, includes working on mainframe computers. Yes, the UN still uses mainframes. Just this week, portions of the UN secretariat suffered delays in sending and receiving e-mail, and the UN's web site's performance was impaired. Meanwhile, questions about this ICC entity, which maintains the mainframes and even acts as internet service provider to some in the UN system including the International Labor Organization and the are met with blank stares, and admonitions to "ask WHO." The what? Come again?

The ICC has been "hosting databases for thirteen UN agencies, funds and programs." Sources tell Inner City Press that these UN entities use the ICC rather than their own staff because fewer benefits are paid to the ICC personnel. While it is a form of outsourcing, there is no competition, no bidders, no comparables to compare costs with. Despite calls for and vows of transparency and access, the Assistant Secretary General for ICT has even now yet to hold a press conference since his installation. Developing.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1whoicc022008.html

UK Says Somalia Too Complex For Any UN Decision in a Month on Peacekeeping, South Africa Disagrees But Votes for UK-Drafted Resolution

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un2somalia022008.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 20 -- The Security Council on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution re-authorizing the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia for six months. The resolution, drafted by the UK, was only half-heartedly supported by South African, whose Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo told Inner City Press that the UN Secretariat's failure to table an overdue report on creating a UN force reflected a lack of commitment to Somalia. It's a tough neighborhood, he said, like The Bronx, where some of us live. But it has to be dealt with, it has to be helped. Video here.

UK Ambassador John Sawers sought to convince reporters that there was little or no divergence of views in the Council, since Somalia's problems are so complicated that even in six months, a UN force is not likely. When Inner City Press asked if the six month African Union force roll-over made it less likely that the UN will act for Somalia in the short term, Amb. Sawers said "it is unlikely that an issue as complex as a peacekeeping effort in Somalia can be considered in just a couple of weeks." Video here, from Minute 1:59. But between the one month proposed by South Africa, and the six months pushed by the UK, it seems a compromise was possible but was not offered or reached. It really does matter, then, which country drafts and takes the lead on a Council resolution.

Meanwhile, on the case of Somali member of parliament Mohamud Ahmed Kulalihi, who states that guards of UNICEF beat him with the back of a rifle, nothing further has been said. On February 15 Inner City Press asked UN deputy spokesperson Marie Okabe about it, and later was told by UNICEF that an incident occurred and would be investigated. On the question of whether UNICEF's guards in Somalia, said to be local hires, are claming immunity, there has yet to be an answer.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2somalia022008.html

Misuse of Vacant Posts in UN Pension Fund and in Geneva, Job Trading, Staff Union Complains of Justice Delays

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/dfs4unjspf022008.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 20 -- Even when the UN appears to take abuse by supervisors seriously, it bends the rules to accommodate the abuser. How else to explain the strange situation these days at the UN Pension Fund, where Executive Officer Peter Goddard has effectively been replaced by Ms. Sevil Alirzayeva. But following exposure of staffer Mathew George's complaint of abuse by Goddard, the Department of Management under Alicia Barcena was forced to put on hold Goddard's ill-fated venture to join the UN's Chad peacekeeping mission. Ms. Alirzayeva had already traded in from peacekeeping, leading to musical chairs.

For now, Goddard has been accommodated by shifting him to an empty post, that of Senior Legal Officer. A recruitment announcement for the position has been published on the UN's Galaxy system, with a due date of April 12. In the interim Goddard has been stashed in the job. It is similar, insiders say, to the way former head of the Office of Human Resources Management Jan Beagle was parked in the empty Assistant Secretary General for UNCTAD position in Geneva. The Group of 77, in December's budget, specifically protested this (mis) use of posts. But it continues, right here in New York, in the Pension Fund on Second Avenue.

On the case of Peter Goddard, DM's Alicia Barcena faced a formal complaint from the UN Staff Union. More recently, the Staff Union has had to complaint about Ms. Barcena, to the Secretary General and his Deputy. In a February 13 letter to Mr. Ban, Staff Union president Stephen Kisambira "noted with grave concern the compact of the Under Secretary General for Management with the Secretary-General wherein it is indicated that the Internal Justice Council will be established by 1 May instead of 1 March, as mandated by General Assembly resolution 62/228." In Ms. Barcena's compact, ostensibly a document taken very seriously, either there is a two month typographical error, or a conscious disregard of the General Assembly's timeline. We will endeavor to determine which it was.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/dfs4unjspf022008.html

French Ex-Minister Douste-Blazy Takes $1 a Year UN Post, Says UNDP and UNICEF Should Release Audits, Will Work with Google

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1finenvoy021908.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 19 -- The UN must show its donors where their money goes, former French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters Tuesday, upon being appointed the UN's Special Adviser on Innovative Financing for Development. Starting with the big picture, Inner City Press asked if Douste-Blazy believes that aid to counter-act climate change, a topic much discussed in the past month at the UN, should be able to count as overseas development aid, of the type pledged at the G-8 meetings. "As you know," Douste-Blazy said, "there is a close link between poverty and climate change. It is very difficult to set up two different funds."

Getting more specific, Inner City Press asked him if he believes that the UN Development Program and UNICEF should break from their current policies and begin routinely providing copies of audits to donors, without censorship or restrictions. "Yes," Douste-Blazy answered, continuing on to refer to developing "new tools with the computer." Video here, from Minute 40:41. Douste-Blazy said "it is possible to study with Google," and said he would work with them. Video here, from Minute 38:48.

Ironically, earlier in the briefing when Douste-Blazy was still in UN protocol's green room, spokesperson Marie Okabe was asked by two media outlets about Google's reported "censorship of a UN-accredited journalist," which Ms. Okabe said she had read about, and would look into. Video here, from Minute 22:44. Later, Okabe repeated by e-mail the denial of UNDP, which does not address any censorship request by the U.S. Committee for UNDP, on whose board of directors serves a representative of military contractor Lockheed Martin, click here for that. And click here for an update.

Douste-Blazy was asked if this would be a full time job and said yes, "it is a full job." Later in the day, however, the spokesperson's office put out an amended announcement, adding that while Douste-Blazy will be a UN Under-Secretary-General, he will received only one dollar a year. Some in the press corps wondered, how can it be a full time job? One recalled back to a scandal in Morocco, first reported by Le Canard Enchaine, when a broken-up hotel room attributed to Douste-Blazy was repaired at the expense of the King of Morocco. Innovative, indeed. None of this means that Douste-Blazy may not do an excellent and needed job raising funds to help the poor -- we hope we does, and will continue to report on it. And on this:

That Douste-Blazy is now a USG makes him subject to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for USGs to voluntarily disclose their personal finances, Ms. Okabe confirmed to Inner City Press after the briefing. But as a USG, can Douste-Blazy receive benefits from the French government? Staff members cannot. But can honorary, dollar-a-year USGs? This remains to be seen.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1finenvoy021908.html

A Week's Exclusion from Google Raises UN-answered Questions

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un2google021908.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 19 -- One week after excluding Inner City Press from its Google News service, and after protests and media coverage, Google quietly resumed including the publication's articles in the database, without apology or explanation. The company's responses to journalists' inquiries, that the removal was based on receipt of a single complaint, from a complainant Google would not identify, raise more questions than they answer.

If Inner City Press filed a complaint against, say, the New York Times, would that publication be removed?

If the deletion of Inner City Press from the database on February 12 was, as Google now claims, a mistake, why did it take the technology company a full week to reverse the process?

Was Inner City Press only restored because other journalists and citizens came to its defense, while the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was on Tuesday asked about UN involvement in "censorship" (video here) and television appearances were scheduled?

Despite the denial by the UN Development Program that it filed the complaint, was a complaint as indicated by sources filed by its affiliate the U.S. Committee for UNDP, whose board of directors includes a representative of UN contractor Lockheed Martin, the subject of recent investigative coverage?

The questions, and issues to be covered, only continue to multiply. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2google021908.html

As UN Names Decedent on South Lawn, Push-Back at Photos, Run-Around on Computer Job Specifics

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN

UNITED NATIONS, February 19 -- In the aftermath of the death on February 17 of Maria Di Biasi on the UN's South Lawn, the UN has issued to the press a statement that Ms. Di Biasi technically worked for the World Health Organization, not the UN Secretariat, although she maintained the computers on the Secretariat building's 19th floor for ten years. On the UN's Intranet, Under Secretary General for Management Alicia Barcena posted a four-paragraph letter to all staff, saying that "Ms. Di Biase was a staff member of the International Computing Center (ICC), an entity sponsored by the World Health Organization that provides services to the UN system." Ms. Barcena's letter refers to a "tragic death at UN Headquarters on Sunday," but does not say more than that.

Sunday evening, Inner City Press published an article with two photographs. The first showed Ms. Di Biase's hand protruding from a blanket placed over her body. In the second, her hands have been covered with bags and tape by the authorities. That day, police sources told Inner City Press that the bags and tape are used when there is a chance of DNA evidence from a struggle being recovered. That is why Inner City Press published the photograph, adding a warning that it might be upsetting to some readers.

Tuesday, two UN officials criticized to Inner City Press the publication of the photo. Both urged that the photo be removed. From the UN's executive office on the 38th floor, an official called the publication "tasteless" and said that the "staff is angry." But on the 5th floor, the office of the UN Staff Union, no such anger was expressed. In fact, solemn encouragement was given to further look into Ms. Di Biase's death, including on the theory that if -- "if" -- she chose to jump out of the 19th floor of the UN, she was not looking for a private and unreported death. Which of these views represents that of UN staff?

In fairness, the anger at reporting is not only from the 38th floor. Sources at a meeting held Tuesday report that a director-level official known throughout the UN system for having been accused then exonerated of procurement fraud, spoke out about the photos and the publication running them. If in the face of this anger at reporting it needs to be explained again, when a person in their 40s is dead on the UN's South Lawn, it is news to be covered. This is true anywhere in New York City, for example, but the UN seems to think that it is different, that it can choose what is covered and how. That is not the case. At the request of the official from the 38th floor, however, a quote from the Security Council's Sunday emergency meeting in Inner City Press' mid-day Sunday first article on the death, wondering at a connection between the computer worker's death and the lack of e-mail notice of the meeting to the interpreters and to journalists, has been excised.

Inner City Press on Tuesday asked spokesperson Marie Okabe what arrangement exists between the UN Secretariat, where Ms. Di Biase worked, and the World Health Organization, which Ms. Okabe said signed Ms. Di Biase's paychecks. Inner City Press was directed to ask WHO, which seems strange. But continue to ask we will. Watch this site.

On Kosovo, UN's Ban Takes Only Two Questions, then Rostrum Taken from Serbia Too

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, February 18 -- The UN Security Council's debate about Kosovo on Monday was predictable, with the U.S. and European members favoring recognizing independence and Russia, China and the president of Serbia calling it a dangerous precedent and asking Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to deem it illegal under the Council's Resolution 1244 of 1999. It ended without output and was the Council's third meeting on Kosovo in five days, Inner City Press stories on previous meetings here, here and here. For Monday, we turn to... rostrum-gate, or another symbolic Serbian loss.

While the president of Serbia on Monday fruitlessly pleaded with the UN Security Council member and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to declare Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence illegal, outside the Council chamber a dark-wood rostrum was rolled up to the stakeout, for Mr. Ban to speak at. Other speakers at the stakeout, including Ban's predecessor Kofi Annan, have simply used the stand-up microphone. But last year Ban deployed a music stand to put his notes on, and now a full rostrum has been custom-built. Inner City Press asked the staffers who rolled it in when it was made, and was told five months ago. "It is only for the Secretary General," one of the staffers said. This would prove to be true. Left unanswered for now is whether, if built outside of the UN, the lowest bidder was sought and selected, a small but perhaps telling detailed. This rostrum is larger than any previous one at the UN stakeout.

Sunday, Inner City Press asked Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, about his legal argument that Kosovo's declaration is illegal, who is Russia asking to rule on the issue? Ban Ki-moon, was the answer. Video here. But Monday was Ban was asked, as the second of only two questions allowed, if Kosovo's move was legal or not, Ban said he was not here to say if it is legal or not. Then his deputy spokesperson said, that was the last question, claiming that the president of Serbia was waiting. Video here.

As it turned out, it was Serbia's young foreign minister Vuk Jeremic who came to speak. He stood behind the rostrum and prepared. Then they tried to pull the rostrum away from him. He clung to it. From the journalists' side of the stakeout, one wag -- okay, this one -- said that the rostrum belongs to member states. Another joked that it must be a virgin rostrum, or at least monogamous. Serbia's foreign minister, twenty five seconds into his presentation, said he needed a microphone. Video here. The Serbs lost not only Kosovo but even the lectern. Call it rostrum-gate.

Lockheed Martin's Seat on US Committee for UNDP's Board, like UNICEF Germany, Raises Conflict Questions

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, February 18 -- A representative of Lockheed Martin, the military contractor's head of business development in Africa and the Middle East James F. Jamerson, serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Committee for the UN Development Program. Lockheed Martin in October 2007 was awarded a $250 million no-bid contract to build infrastructure for UN - African Union hybrid mission in Darfur, UNAMID. Previous board members have included representatives of JPMorgan Chase and Honeywell, and also a board member regarding whom nothing is disclosed. Might these involve conflicts of interest? UN agencies like UNDP and UNICEF finds uses for the U.S. committees, but claim to have no control over them.

This sleight of hand was on display earlier this year when UNICEF refused to answer questions about a fundraiser held for it and for Madonna's organization Raising Malawi by the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, to which Inner City Press was referred but which never, after the fundraiser, provided promised information about its partnerships and safeguards. Across the Atlantic, UNICEF Germany is embroiled in a scandal in which, among other things, consultants were being paid $1200 a day, not based on any written agreement, now-resigned director Dietrich Garlichs' house appears to have been repaired with UNICEF Germany funds and UNICEF Germany was paying to maintain benefactor Gustav Rau's art collection, including making payments to his private secretary. Click here for a benign summary translation of one of KPMG's two reports on the matter. While the other report, and more detail, has been promised, UNICEF's director has not spoken publicly about the controversy, nor answered public questions about the U.S. Fund for UNICEF's Madonna - Gucci event, which Gucci claimed was to celebrate its opening of a store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.

Telling, "people close to UNICEF" have said that the favorite to take over UNICEF Germany is Klaus Zumwinkel, who "German authorities said earlier this week they are probing for possibly evading $1.5 million in taxes by transferring money to Liechtenstein." But does he have an art collection?

UNDP's relation with its U.S. Committee can be shown by the role of Fred Tipson. While he testified to Congress earlier this year in a hearing about irregularities in UNDP's now-suspended programs in North Korea as UNDP's Washington liaison, he is listed on the U.S. Committee for UNDP's web site as a previous board member, who moved on to work at AT&T and Microsoft. Any conflict there? UNDP is active in suggesting to developing countries which technology to use.

Mr. Tipson at the hearing told Congress, in defense of UNDP having taken local staffer dictated by the Kim Jong-il government and having paid their salaries directly to the government, "when I worked in China with AT&T, as the private sector we had to hire people through a government agency. That's the way China required it to be done."

The relation between UNDP and its ostensibly independent U.S. Committee is made clearer still by James Gustave Speth, UNDP Administrator from 1993 to 1999, later serving on the board of the U.S. Committee for UNDP. Currently on the board is a representative of Wall Street's Goldman Sachs.

The US Fund for UNICEF, under "About Us," lists corporate partners, including not only Gucci but also Citigroup, GE and ExxonMobil. Its board of directors includes representation from Kimberly-Clark and the ubiquitous JPMorgan Chase. Are these the directors who are supposed to be ensuring that other corporations, like Gucci, don't exploit the UN for commercial gain? A $600 "Gucci Loves New York" handbag is one thing, a $250 million no-bid contract for Lockheed Martin's something else. In both cases, further transparency is needed. Watch this site.