WFP's Sheeran Says Speculators Are a Cause of Food Price Crisis, But Has No Suggestions

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/wfp1foodprices042408.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 24 -- As it raises money to respond to the food price crisis, the UN's World Food Program faces at least two issues, one of them head-on, the other less directly. Asked Thursday about the role of speculators in driving up food prices -- and, by implication, how to ensure that additional emergency funding doesn't just further benefit the speculators -- WFP director Josette Sheeran said she is not an expert in this, that WFP's focus is on feeding people. If not WFP, who in the UN system would know and be able to address the financial underpinning of today's global food markets? Video here, from Minute 41:19.

Ms. Sheeran spoke at greater length about shifts in WFP's procurement toward, she said, the developing world. But she also said that WFP does not want to compete with local markets where there is a shortage, and therefore looks to surplus markets in order to make purchases. WFP has two goals at cross-purposes: buy in poorer, more food-starved countries in order to build capacity, but don't buy in food-starved countries so as not complete with local markets.

Ms. Sheeran mentioned WFP purchases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and of salt in Senegal. She said that Mozambique after its floods faced logistical challenges "like after [Hurricane] Katrina, and that WFP had bought 70% of its food to response from inside Mozambique itself. She did not address WFP's sometimes-controversial work-for-food programs. She demonstrated a solid, almost troubling knowledge of intra-UN politics, going out of her way to praise not only FAO's Jacques Diouff, with whom she obviously must work closely, but also Kemal Dervis who she identified with the UN Development Group, and President Wade of Senegal. She said she was aware of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission meeting that Inner City Press asked about, but then declined to make any recommendation about limiting or regulating speculation.

Case in point is Dwight Anderson's Ospraie Capital, which Inner City Press explicitly asked Ms. Sheeran about. Video here, from Minute 41:19. Anderson has profited handily from the crisis, but now seeks to fly under the radar, buying up the rights to all photographs of himself. How to ensure that WFP's intervention into markets doesn't just benefit speculators like Anderson? One would like to think that WFP and Ms. Sheeran are making sure this doesn't happen. But nothing was said in this regard on Thursday. We will continue to follow this issue.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/wfp1foodprices042408.html

Italy's Heroism at UN Council's Gaza Meeting is Denied, Corriere della Sera Report Questioned

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1corriere042408.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 24 -- Heroic moves at the UN have become rare, and so sometimes they are invented. Take, for example, the leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera's front page article of April 24, blaring that Italy's Ambassador Marcello Spatafora had stopped the Security Council on April 23 as soon as Libya's deputy permanent representative compared the Gaza Strip to World War II concentration camps, by telling the Council's president to suspend the session. But when Inner City Press on April 24 asked the Council president Dumisani Kumalo if Amb. Spotafora had in any way suspended the session, Kumalo said "No, I am not familiar with that, I don't remember any procedural thing." Video here, from Minute 2:05. So is the Corriere wrong?

Inner City Press' reporting indicates a comedy of errors leading to the frankly erroneous headline in Italy's leading newspaper. An Italian wire service was told by a spokesman of the Italian mission to the UN that Spotafora stopped the meeting by signaling the president. Rather than ask the President, the wire service ran an urgent bulletin about Italy's heroism, based only on the spin of the Ambassador's press spokesman. Corriere's editors saw the wire service piece, and decided to cover the issue on their front page.

Thereafter the Italian mission offered a tale of lesser heroism, that Spotafora told Kumalo before the meeting that if things got ugly, he might close the meeting, based on a signal from Spotafora, a form of winking. Based on Kumalo's on-camera answer on Thursday that he did not remember any such communications calls even the wink-and-nod story into question. But will Corriere, or the Italian mission to the UN, make any correction? Watch this site.

Footnote: Italy's Ambassador to the UN Marcello Spatafora, who was so accessible to the press in the month in 2007 when Italy held the Security Council presidency, has not done a single "stakeout" interview in 2008. He was seen during last week's Africa Council session escorting Prime Minister Prodi around, including to a terrace meeting with Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo. On April 23 at the UN noon briefing, Inner City Press asked, "Did the Secretary-General meet with Prime Minister Prodi of Italy?"

Spokesperson: Yes, he did.

Inner City Press: And you know if it is okay to as if, whether, among other things, a possible post with the UN was discussed?

Spokesperson: Not that I know of.

We'll see -- watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1corriere042408.html

At UN, Russian Drone Denials, Ties for Beijing Games, France's Earplug Storm-Out

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un4238muse042308.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 23, updated April 24, 10:20 a.m. -- Who shot down the Georgian drone over Abkhazia? Wednesday morning outside the UN Security Council, the Georgian delegation gave the Press a copy of a compact disk containing video seemingly shot from the drone. Land appears beneath, then a jet in the sky. A missile is fire and approached. The screen goes to static. Georgia's representative told reporters that in the region, only Russia has that kind of jet. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, meanwhile, gave the drone flight provocative, and noted that Abkhazia claims to have shot down the drone.

Inner City Press asked Amb. Churkin for Russia's position on Tblisi's offer of forms of autonomy to Abkhazia. While calling the proposal hardly new, Churkin also criticized the Security Council for not allowing any Abkhaz representative to come and speak to the Council. Video here.

After Georgia's representative reign minister answered Inner City Press' question about peacekeeping by arguing Russia should not longer be allowed to domination the Abkhazia mission, Inner City Press asked this month's Council president Dumisani Kumalo how the private meeting had done. It was like a bilateral, he said, Georgia and Russia talking, they could have done it on their own. Asked if he'd seen the drone video, he said, "this place and video," shaking his head. Video here.

South African Ambassador Kumalo, as he spoke, wore a Beijing Olympics tie. The Games are going to be great, he pointedly told reporters.

As Security Council President, Kumalo had been so hopeful. After a session Wednesday morning in which the lack of running water and electrical power in the Gaza Strip was detailed, Kumalo convened the Council late Wednesday to agree on a short statement on the problem.

But according to sources in the closed door meeting, when Libya's Deputy Permanent Representative compared life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to that in the concentration camps in World War II, French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert yanked off his translation ear phone and stormed out of the room, followed by "other Western Ambassadors."

This group did not include the UK's Permanent Representative John Sawers, according to him, because he was not there at the time. Syria's Ambassador, asked at the stakeout about Libya's comments, said that the comparison to World War II was accurate. And so it goes at the UN.

Update of April 24, 10:20 a.m. -- Libya's Deputy Permanent Representative, off-camera at the stakeout Thursday morning, confirmed his earlier comments and raised them: he said the situation in Gaza is worse that in the concentration camps, because of "daily bombing." The U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative Alejandro Wolff confirmed that he, too, walked out of Wednesday's meeting once the comparison was made. One wire service correspondent asked another, "Is there a second day story?" The answer seems to be yes, the Glass House in the news....

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un4238muse042308.html

China Asks UN to "Desist from Harboring" North Koreas, Mbeki "Colors" Programs for Zimbabwe Refugees, UNHCR Deputy Says

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1refugees042208.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 -- China has asked "that we desist from harboring North Koreans," the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees L. Craig Johnstone told Inner City Press on Tuesday. "I would expect that the Chinese are ruing the day they ever went along with the Olympics. It's more of a political issue than they would have anticipated."

Asked whether politics, specifically that of South Africa's president Thabo Mbeki, has influenced UNHCR's ruling that those fleeing Zimbabwe are not refugees, Johnstone said no. He said that UNHCR's programs are "colored" by the attitude to the problem by host governments like South Africa.

Inner City Press asked about UNHCR's current involvement in refugee protection controversies in Greece and Liberia. Johnstone reiterated that Greece has many improvements to make in how it handles asylum seekers, and that he does not see merit in their arguments. On Liberia, he said that most of those resisting to the country do so to boost their chances of resettlement in the United States. But only last week, the UN's envoy to Liberia spoke of systematic rape of under-aged girls. Would fleeing from that make one a refugee?

"If the situation in any country, if the internal violence, crosses the threshold, then we assume prima facie that those fleeing are refugees," Johnstone said. He gave Iraq as an example of a country with this status. Inner City Press asked him if the U.S. is doing enough to take in refugees from Iraq. No, he said. He praised the relatively meager goal of 12,000, but said that even that may not be reached, the U.S. is lagged behind the target. Inner City Press ask if UNHCR acknoweldges those fleeing Somalia, often in dangerous and deadly boats to Yemen, are refugees. "That would be a safe assumption," Johnstone answered. He declined the list the countries with this status. "Then you affect things," he said.

Johnstone noted that the UN Department of Safety and Security is "discrete" in its changes to threat levels for a country. This may explain the discrepancy between Yemeni press reports that the UN Development Program has closed or suspended some operations in Sana'a due to threats, and UNDP's denials. Inner City Press earlier on Tuesday asked UN Spokesperson Michele Montas, "can you confirm that in Yemen some change is taking place in UN operations?"

Ms. Montas responded, "I contacted UNDP about this and they said that, contrary to press reports, the UNDP office in Sana'a has not been closed and UNDP staff continue to go about their work. A security assessment is now under way and all UNDP programs in the country continue to operate and all UNDP project offices outside of Sana'a remain open."

Inner City Press asked, "Is the UNDP compound there MOSS compliant?" This is a required safety status, including such things as sufficient set-back from streets where car bombing is possible.

Ms Montas said, "I don't have that information. We would have to get the information from DSS who, as you know, will not really give specifics on security issues."

On the insurance inquiries that started the process leading to the interview, Johnstone said it would be fair to assume that the money paid out by UNHCR came from its operating budget. He promised to provide further information about the status and reasoning of UNHCR's non-participation in the rest of the UN system's Malicious Acts Insurance Policy. Click here for the more UNHCR-specific part of Tuesday's Johnstone interview, and watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1refugees042208.html

Donors Ask for UN Jobs, America Owns Some, UNHCR Deputy Johnstone Says

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1hcrjohnstone042208.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 -- Donor countries ask for jobs, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees L. Craig Johnstone told Inner City Press on Tuesday. In the last week alone, he said, three countries have lobbied him for more representation based on the money they give. "I would cast an eye toward trying to help a country out," Johnstone said.

Following Inner City Press' reporting on UNHCR's agreement with the United States to aim to hire 13% of its professional staff from the U.S., UNHCR's spokesman stopped responding to questions, including about the agency's lack of insurance for those working for it in Algiers, impacted by the December 11, 2007 bombing there. Even without a stonewall from UNHCR, Inner City Press published that story, and one on staff dissatisfaction within the agency. Johnstone came for a 45 minute interview, to clear the air.

Johnstone's selection as Deputy High Commissioner is explained by some close observers as a deal in which the Europeans supported his candidacy in exchange for UNHCR directing its out-posting of jobs not to Asia but to Eastern Europe. Simultaneous with Johnstone beginning at the number two UNHCR post, the agency announced the awarding to Budapest of back-office jobs moved from Geneva.

Johnstone pointed out that the U.S. essentially owns the Deputy High Commissioner slot. He said that High Commissioner Gutteres reserved the right to go outside the selection process if he was not satisfied with the result. "To be perfectly frank," Johnstone told Inner City Press, "I got added to the list to make sure that wouldn't happen."

On a secondary theory, that PriceWaterhouseCoopers was given the job of choosing or recommending the out-posting city in exchange for contributions, Johnstone said, "Ask Wendy," Chamberlin, his predecessor.

Inner City Press asked why Africa hadn't even been one of the four locations considered . (The others were Bucharest, Chennai and Kuala Lumpur.) "Is Africa the right place to establish a procurement center?" Johnstone asked. "A payroll center? What are the capability of the local people to carry out the functions?"

He said that Hungary gave a building free of change. "Did that help? Of course." But is this who the UN should do business, if the result if the exclusion of Africa?

A former UN envoy to the DR Congo, William Lacy Swing, is the U.S. candidate to take over as head of the International Organization on Migration. Johnstone asked, Has his battle with Brunson McKinley been resolved? He said, "to be perfectly frank," that those casting secret ballot in the IOM election need to "think carefully" about not having an American head up an agency of which the U.S. is the major funder. And so we've come full circle.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1hcrjohnstone042208.html

UN Women's Agency Controversy Banned from Kidman Press Conference, But SayNoToViolence.com

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un2unifemkidman042208.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 -- The UN women's agency UNIFEM held a press conference on Tuesday, but a question was disallowed about the major recent controversy surrounding UNIFEM, concerning the selection as new director of Ines Alberdi of Spain, a major donor, over India's Gita Sen and others, including acting director Joanna Sandler who was present. Nicole Kidman headlined the press conference, pitching a website www.SayNoToViolence.com, an issue on which she has been UNIFEM's Goodwill Ambassador for two years. The question was directed to her his that capacity, about the award of UNIFEM's top post to Spain, which gave $4 million to UNIFEM and $700 million to the UN Development Program. Does she think the process was correct, and could anything be done better? Video here, from Minute 32:50.

No answer, however, was forthcoming. The moderator cut in saying that the UNIFEM question was somehow not relevant for a UNIFEM press conference. The controversy has, as noted, been reported on wire services including Reuters. "Let's stick to the subject of the press conference," he nevertheless said, then re-directing the question to the UN Foundation's Tim Wirth, who while saying "I am not an apologist" acknowledged that it was a fair question, but purported to respond for the whole panel by talking about Deputy Secretary General Asha Rose Migiro's leadership in raising the profile of women's issues in the UN, which Wirth says he'd like to see more of.

Does this mean that move are afoot to create another women's mega-agency in the UN system? Or to upgrade what is now Ms. Alberdi's and Spain's post to the Assistant Secretary General level?

Ms. Kidman, who to some appeared ready to answer, was not allowed to, as the moderator moved on to a question about a specific case in Cuba, another one about Hinduism, and one about climate change. None of these topics were called irrelevant or unrelated to UNIFEM. Only the UN's actual process is taboo at the UN.

The goal of fighting violence is laudable, and as requested the link is included - twice! - in this article. Senator Wirth to his credit acknowledged reading ex-UN envoy Stephen Lewis' recent speech criticizing the UN for not doing enough on the topic, particularly as relates to facilitating the "Acts of Engagement" agreement in the Congo which provides for amnesty, and does not even mention rape or sexual violence. Wirth asked, "Have you been to Eastern Congo?" The implication was that the UN is doing the best that it can. He mentioned that the second in comment in UN Peacekeeping is Jane Holl Lute. But she is leaving soon, having an "Acting" post like Ms. Sandler.

At the press conference's conclusion, as paparazzi surrounded Nicole Kidman muttering that there is no way she is seven months pregnant, a correspondent - not this one - mused that Ms. Sandler should have been allowed to answer the question, or the Deputy Secretary General, who presumably played a role in the selection of the UNIFEM director. Ms. Alberdi briefed only the Spanish press. Will the question be deemed irrelevant when she hold a press conference? Only at the UN...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2unifemkidman042208.html

As UN Host Country Committee Discusses Access, Press is Excluded, by UN Office of Legal Affairs

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1hostclosed042208.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 -- The UN's Host Country Committee was in an uninviting mood on Tuesday. As a meeting on questions of access to the United States and the UN began, the Committee Secretary, Surya Sinha of the UN's Office of Legal Affairs, approached this reporter. "Inner City Press? You have to leave."

The agenda for the session, which does not say "Closed meeting," had only two items: "entry visas issued by the host country" and "other matters." Previous meeting have allowed reporters, although few have opted to attend. There was a dust-up between Venezuela and the U.S. in September 2006 that BBC, among others, was allowed to cover. Click here for Inner City Press' last article about the Committee, based on openly attending its January 2008 meeting. Now, the Committee Secretary and according to his staff, the Chairman, claim that the committee's meetings have always been closed.

Inner City Press went and got a representative of the UN's Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit, who came and told the staff that the press should be let in. No, the staffer said, adding that the UN 's own Department of Public Information was allowed to attend, and would issue a press release.

"But then the meeting isn't even closed," it was pointed out. "What's the point of excluding independent, non-UN journalists?"

The spokesman for the President of the General Assembly went in and to his credit tried to inquire into the matter. His boss, Srgjan Kerim, has spoken publicly of General Assembly transparent and reform, and of openness to the press. But the spokesman emerged saying that he had not been able to resolve the matter.

The UN's own in-house press release of the last meeting, in January, notes the attendance of officials of the City of New York and of the UN's Office of Legal Affairs. As may or may not be related, the head of OLA is Nicolas Michel, who has said he will not speak with Inner City Press following reports that the $10,000 or more a month he took from the Swiss government while ostensibly working only for the UN were not included in his public financial disclosure. As to the lawless and standardless closing of meetings, an answer has been promised, but the meeting has already been missed. Only at the UN...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1hostclosed042208.html

UN Cites Outsourcing to Defend Blocking Web Sites of its Critics, Censorship Alleged

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un2censorweb042108.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 21 -- Following its exposure that the UN blocks access by its employees to websites such as anti-cnn.com and DailyMotion.com, Inner City Press asked Spokesperson Marie Okabe to justify the censorship. She responded "an answer is in the works for you, the UN is no different than any other organization in that it does have a management policy for its website." She provided a half-page printout of an email, stating that

"I read the Inner City Press article and there are three sites mentioned... anti-cnn.com, this site is blocked and is in the 'Spam' category; DailyMotion.com, this site is blocked and is in the 'Pornography' category... We have equipment installed in between our internet connection and the internal UN network which has a 'web content filter.' This company that provides this filter collects information from thousands of web sites throughout the world and categorizes them on a daily basis. The UN currently filters sites that are categorized as gambling, pornography, anonymizers, malicious sites, peer-to-peer and personal storage, remote access, spyware, hacking, spam."

But, for example, the web site "GlobalCompactCritics.net" is blocked. Attempts from inside the UN, by staff or in the library, to read the site results in a message from the "ICT Security Unit" that "you have been redirected to this page because the site you are attempting to access is blocked according to the policy as detailed in ST/SGB/2004/15.

This Secretary-General's Bulletin allows staff "limited personal use of ICT resources" unless these involve "pornography or engaging in gambling" or would "compromise the interests or the reputation of the Organization."

But whether or not the UN Organization agrees with the critique offered, for example, by GlobalCompactCritics.net, it is neither pornography or gambling. If this site "compromise the interests or the reputation of the Organization" then any number of other sites could be blocked. Inner City Press has asked the Chinese Mission to the UN about the blocking of anti-cnn.com. We will not publicly criticize it, was the answer, but they shouldn't criticize us. Inner City Press early on April 21 asked UNESCO's spokesperson in New York

"On deadline, this is a request for a comment from UNESCO on the fact that within UN Headquarters, web sites such as www.anti-cnn.com, dailymotion.com and, reportedly, globalcompactcritics.net, are blocked and cannot be accessed by UN staff. Is UNESCO aware of any other non-gambling, non-pornography sites which are blocked within UN headquarters? Does UNESCO monitor this? If not, why not? If so, please name the sites. If the response is that filtering sites has been outsourced, is that a response that UNESCO would find acceptable from governments?"

We'll continue to follow this issue -- watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2censorweb042108.html

UN Confirms and Defends Deletion of Ban Statements from Transcripts, What Else Gets Erased?

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/ban1transcripts042108.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 21 -- At the UN statements, like web sites, can be made to disappear. While the range of web sites blocked inside the UN, which Inner City Pres first reported on earlier this month, includes watchdog sites like GlobalCompactCritics.net, on Monday UN Spokesperson Michele Montas defended the omission from the UN's online transcript of Ban Ki-moon's April 16 Q&A session with the press of an answer he gave about Iran.

According to, yes, the UN's transcript, at Monday's noon briefing Inner City Press asked
I noticed last week when there was a stakeout by the Secretary-General, he made a statement about Iran, and when I read the transcript, it wasn't in the transcript. There was a whole paragraph where he said that he welcomed cooperation by Iranian authorities with the IAEA.
Spokesperson Montas: It was simply that the question was about Iraq and he answered on Iran so on the transcript, we put his answer on Iraq.

Inner City Press: Okay, I guess I am saying, the thing on Iran stands. That is his position on Iran.

Spokesperson Montas: Yes.

Inner City Press: I guess I am wondering, has there been a thought on whether the transcript should be changed in that way?

Spokesperson Montas: No, because he was not asked that question. The transcript is supposed to reflect really the questions asked and the answers that occur at a stakeout or a briefing.

But the answer that actually occurred was excised from the transcript. On April 15, Ban was asked a question about the situation in Iraq and an upcoming meeting in Kuwait. Video here, at Minute 13:25. Ban responded about Iraq's neighbor, Iran, that "Iranian authorities should fully comply with the most relevant Security Council resolutions," adding that he is "satisfied with the progress" of Iranian authorities in complying with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Video here, from Minute 13:35. Then his spokesperson Michele Montas whispered that the question had concerned not Iran but Iraq.

Ban gave a brief answer, which is the only part of the answer that the UN's transcript includes:

Question: What are your comments on the situation in Iraq, and what would be your message to Iraq's neighbors who are meeting next week in Kuwait?

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: This is going to be a very important meeting. Unfortunately for me, I will not be able to participate in person, because of a scheduling problem. As I said, I am going to visit African countries exactly on that day, therefore I am going to dispatch Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Mr. B. Lynn Pascoe. But I am going to convene, and myself preside over an International Compact with Iraq [meeting] in late May, May 29th , in Stockholm.

Ban's responses about Iran, clearly visible on the video, are simply excised from the UN's written transcript. If "the transcript is supposed to reflect really the questions asked and the answers that occur at a stakeout," why erase the answer that actually occurred? Anyone can make a mistake. But since this got deleted, what else is being concealed?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban1transcripts042108.html

Kosovo "Respects Dual Citizenship," But Dodges Abkhazia Question, Downed Drone Deferred

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/un1udis042108.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 21 -- Kosovo's prime minister Hashim Thaci was asked on Monday what he would do face with a request for recognition by the breakaway republic of Abkhazia. "We will see very carefully," he said, walking away from the microphone. Video here, at Minute 7:09.

The exchange highlighted the fall-out from Kosovo's February 17 unilateral declaration of independence and subsequent entropy in Georgia, even Bolivia and the Far East. Georgia has requested an emergency Security Council meeting on the situation in Abkhazia, including what it calls Russia's shoot-down of a Georgia unmanned drone. Monday morning Inner City Press asked Georgian Ambassador Irakli Alasania about reports the Abkhaz shot it down. We have proof, Amb. Alasania said. Asked about reports of electricity being cut to the Russian CIS peacekeepers, he said he hadn't heard about it. Video here.

Late Monday the Security Council decided that the requested Georgia meeting will be held Wednesday, although participation by the Abkhaz has still not been determined. Previously, Russia complained that the U.S. declined to grant visas to Abkhaz representatives. Russia's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin late Monday alluded to countries which talk a lot about free speech but don't want all sides to be heard.

While many at the UN on Monday said there was "no news" in the Council's meeting on Kosovo, at the stakeout afterwards several things emerged. The UN Mission in Kosovo, which the U.S. says is winding down but Serbia and Russia say must remain, as apparently backed off from opposing Serbs in Kosovo voting in Serbian parliamentary elections on May 11. Since UNMIK's Joachim Ruecker never came to take questions from reporters, Inner City Press asked Kosovo's prime minister Thaci for his position on the elections. "We respect dual citizenship," he said, but "local elections" by Serbs in Kosovo "would be illegal."

Some say that these too will be allowed, and may even benefit UNMIK and Pristina -- how else would they know who to deal with, going forward, other than through elections? Inner City Press asked Serbian President Boris Tadic about the elections, and he said there "is no problem" with the parliamentary elections, and that about the local, they will talk to UNMIK.

At the UN's noon briefing on Monday, Inner City Press asked about reports that UN Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno will travel to Belgrade for meetings. Afterwards an answer arrived by e-mail, that you "asked whether Jean-Marie Guehenno will visit Belgrade. Yes, he expects to visit Kosovo and the region soon, in his role as head of peacekeeping."

Later Monday, Inner City Press asked President Boris Tadic what Serbia would be asking Mr. Guehenno for. "I'm not going to meet Mr. Guehenno," Tadic said. "Some other members of our government are going to, they are in charge."

Sources tell Inner City Press that Guehenno requested a one on one meeting with Tadic, and was turned down. Meanwhile, on his way into the Security Council, UNMIK's Joachim Ruecker was asked, "Are you resigning?" He answered, "Should I?" For more on Ruecker, click here.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1udis042108.html

Blog of UN's Kovoso Envoy Ruecker Invites Questions, But Financial Disclosures Not Made

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1ruecker042108.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 21 -- Jan Pronk, it turns out, was not the only blogging Special Representative of the Secretary-General. Joachim Ruecker, who is said to be under review for promotion from the UN Mission in Kosovo to the Under Secretary General for Management post at UN Headquarters, if and when Alicia Barcena leaves, has a blog, or at least a private website. It's www.joachim-ruecker.de, and it has pages not only in German but also in English and French -- always an important pairing in seeking a high UN post. There are pictures of his family and a thumbnail bio, with stints as mayor of Germany city of Sindelfingen, home of the largest Mercedes plant, and perhaps relatedly as Germany's consul in Detroit.

In 1993 Ruecker was quoted as the new mayor of Sindelfingen by the Toronto Star that in light of cut-backs, "we'll never be as well off as we were... it's hard to conceive how a community can cope with such drastic setbacks."

Reucker's online presence, of the type that got Jan Pronk thrown out of Sudan, is particularly surprising in light of his refusal of Ban Ki-moon's urging to make at least basic public financial disclosure. On Ban Ki-moon's website, Rucker's form states that "I choose not to disclose." Joachim, we hardly knew ye...

Ruecker's web site says, in English, "if you want to ask me something, please do it here: ruecker@un.org." So on the morning of April 21 he was sent a question: why did you decline to follow Ban Ki-moon's urging to make at least basic public financial disclosure? By 9 p.m. on Monday, he had not answered the question. On his way past the press in front of the Security Council Monday afternoon he was asked, Are you resigning? He answered, "Should I?" Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1ruecker042108.html

Of FIFA and Coca Leaf, Evo Morales at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1morales042108.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 21 -- FIFA is more powerful than the United Nations, Bolivian President Evo Morales told the Press on Monday. The International Federation of Football, called soccer in New York where Morales was speaking, has ruled that Bolivia cannot play its World Cup qualifying games in La Paz, due to the altitude. Inner City Press asked Morales about this, and about his response to the UN's International Narcotics Control Board's stance again use of the coca leaf in Bolivia. While criticizing both "dictatorships," Morales said that he will file a complaint a human rights complaint with the UN in Geneva, against "discrimination against altitude," and that the FIFA thinks it's bigger than the UN.

And, as one wag mused afterwards, FIFA is more decisive. While for example the UN on Monday issued two positions on the longstanding paralysis in Western Sahara, FIFA says no games in La Paz, and it's no games in La Paz.

Morales' press conference took place in the run-up to an autonomy referendum in the more affluent, and less indigenous, parts of Bolivia on May 4. Morales called the referendum illegal, but was vague on how his government will respond on the day of voting. At a demonstration across First Avenue from the UN, activist in support of Morales denounced what they called USAID's involvement on the side of those seeking autonomy. While not mentioned at the demonstration, it's worth comparing this position with the U.S. Administration's opposition to moves for autonomy and independence by residents of the Abkhazia and South Ossetia "breakaway" regions of Georgia.

Morales was the big draw at the first day of this year's meeting of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. While climate change is this year's theme, last year the big issue was the passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, over the opposition of four countries. Since then one of the four, Australia, has changed its position on the Declaration as it did on the Kyoto Protocol, following the election of Kevin Rudd. One down, three to go, one of the proponents said on Monday.

But that's what the governor of Santa Cruz in Bolivia is saying.. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1morales042108.html

UN Procurement Dominated by Developed World, U.S. Grabs 25% Not Counting Lockheed Martin, France and Italy over 10%, Reports Misleading

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un3procure042108.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 21 -- Despite talk of increased diversity in the UN system's procurement, developed countries like the United States, France, Switzerland, Italy and even Monaco continue to hold most of the systems contracts for the UN's peacekeeping operations, an Inner City Press analysis has revealed. Of $2.3 billion spend on contracts for all peacekeeping missions in the past two years, U.S.-based firms grabbed $541 million or 23% of the business. While this includes for example a $90 million contract for Cisco Systems, it does not include Maryland-based Lockheed Martin's $250 million no-bid contract since it is only for Darfur and not other missions, nor does it include food supplies other than a $15 million joint venture with Esko, which is located for tax purposes in Monaco, and got 17.18% of the contracts.

While France got over 11% of the contracts, including a $115 million contract with Renault, and Italy over 10%, including Agmin's $100 million contract for pre-fabricated buildings, China received less than two percent, and South Africa less than half of one percent, for only two items, barbed wire and UN caps. India-based companies got even less: a single $1.5 million contract for sandbags.

The largest contract to a China-based firm, $34 million in generators from Zhejiang Kangle Group, is being contested within the UN, and may be re-awarded to Italy-based Intertrade International, which already has a $25 million contract with the UN.

The UN General Assembly in 2000 directed the Secretary-General to take steps to diversity contracting to the developing world. After some steps were taken in that direction, Inner City Press' sources in UN procurement say, the developed world contractors, and governments on their behalf, fought back. The UN stood steps that disfavored smaller bids, such as requiring pre-bid trips to New York and trips to Brindisi, Italy, both of which require visas, and requiring the posting of bonds, even though the UN pays three to six month after work is completed. Insiders describe a confidential report to UN on its air chartering business by an external consulting find that the UN's bidding and awards process is overly complex. But this complexity favors sophisticated developed world companies.

To deceive the General Assembly's interest member states that progress is being made, the Secretariat has filed a report on "UN Procurement Activities," A/62/525, which lumps together the UN Secretariat's purchasing, through its Procurement Division, with the purchases of funds, programs and agencies, which are donor-funded and sometimes required to go to specific contractors. Since the Secretariat and the funds and program have different procurement systems and vendor lists, there was no basis to lump them together, except to create misleading numbers, sources say. Whether in the upcoming May session of the General Assembly's Budget Committee these issues will be addressed remains to be seen.

While Australia receives only 0.73% of the UN's systems contracts, it was all in one $17 million deal for radio equipment, with Barrett Communications.

Austria-based Rosenbauer International got a $14 million contract for "Rapid Intervention Vehicles."

Canada's Newcon Optic sold night vision binoculars; Czech SVOS sold $26 million of armored "VIP vehicles."

Denmark's DAN Office is well known for dominating IT business at the UN, as Denmark wins UN sub-headquarters such as UNOPS slush-fund fuels move to Copenhagen.

France, which is said to be in line for a big Darfur contract, including by having the Request for Proposals changed at the thirteen hour (click here for that), had its Renault selling $115 million in heavy-duty trucks to the UN.

Germany's Fleischhacker GmGH sold $15 million in medical equipment, while India sold only $1.5 million of sandbags.

Ireland's MMI Group sold $2 million of medals -- not metals, but medals.

Israel's Odis sold water plants. Italy's Agmin sold over $100 million in pre-fabricated buildings.

Japan's biggest contract is with Nissan, for 4 by 4s which Toyota also sells.

South Africa's big items are UN Caps and concertina wire. Uganda made the list for a single contract, Entebbe (airport) Handling Services, a fraction of Lockheed Martin's PA&E contract in the Congo.

The UK's Jankel sold $27 million in armored VIP vehicles to the UN.

The U.S. makes out best: $93 million to Motorola, $90 million to Cisco Systems and, understated, the $15 million joint venture between Monaco-based Esko and Lockheed Martin.

Footnote: on the UN's no-bid $250 million Darfur infrastructure contract to Lockheed Martin, sources say that 28 new auditors have been brought in under a "Letter of Assist" with Spain. But as reported last week by Inner City Press, in Darfur the UN's international staff are living in containers far from toilets, click here for that. Where did the Lockheed money go? And what of the inquiry by the Office of Internal Oversight Services which the General Assembly demanded last December? Developing.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un3procure042108.html

As UNDP's Selective "For the Record" Omits Alberdi Flap, Scandals Proliferate

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/undp4208media042008.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 20 -- Alone among UN agencies, the UN Development Program has spent money and time to create a media "fast reaction team" to seek to ostensibly rebut and discredit reporting and reporters critical of UNDP and its high officials. When the coordinator of its Millennium Campaign Eveline Herfkens was accused of taking $7000 a month from the Dutch government while ostensibly working only for the UN system, UNDP's online "For the Record" leaped to her defense. Once the charges were proved, UNDP simply moved on to attack other media reports, stating for example that

On allegations about procurement irregularities in Burundi...In January 2007, UNDP's office in Burundi submitted a request for procurement of $2.3 million worth of medical supplies from Hospital Services (Burundi). After looking into the matter, the request was rejected by UNDP’s corporate procurement review due to a perceived non-transparent procurement process. Contrary to recent allegations, UNDP’s own internal controls identified the shortcomings and halted the procurement action.

UNDP's seeming rebuttals are selective: the gist of Inner City Press' reporting about UNDP in Burundi is that UNDP refused to give information about the contracting irregularity to representatives of two donor member states who asked -- and then arranged a job for one of the requesters. Despite a track record of refusing to show documents and audits even to its funders, UNDP has now claimed that it would be willing to show anything on its Intranet to interested reporters. But UNDP has delayed and finally declined in answer basic factual questions from Inner City Press, preferring to wait and respond selectively on its "For the Record" blog-like page. UNDP is clearly proud of the page. But what does it choose to respond to?

Earlier this month, the Associated Press ran articles severely critical of the award, by UNDP, of the top spot at UNIFEM to a Spanish national, over a more qualified candidate from India, in the shadow of Spain giving $700 million to UNDP. AP reported that "UNDP spokesman David Morrison refused to answer any questions about the selection process." There was no response from UNDP on its "For the Record" page, which is subheaded, "Official responses to inaccurate press reports." Either UNDP agrees that the post award was determined by money, or is afraid to critique what it considers a media outlet more mainstream not only than Inner City Press, but also than Fox News. So "For the Record" should be more accurately labeled, a response to media that UNDP is not afraid of. Or perhaps it is the range of NGO outrage at the selection process -- most recently, opposition has been expressed by, among others,

-the Fiji Women's Rights Movement (Pacific)

-International Women's Human Rights Law Clinic (USA)

-Popular Education Network of Women from Latin America and the Caribbean

-Women's Action for Change (Pacific)

-Women's Development Collective (South East Asia)

-Women in Development Europe

-Young Women Activists (Global)

UNDP also claims it shares the information on its Intranet with its "NGO partners." We'll see

Regarding UNDP's claims that it would happily show information from its intranet to reporters, and offer briefings on subjects needing clarification, not only have Kemal Dervis and Ad Melkert not taken questions in months, here after a week's delay was UNDP's response to two simple factual questions from Inner City Press:

In a message dated 4/2/2008 1:03:50 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, christina.lonigro [at] undp.org writes:

On your questions regarding compensation for the Algiers bombing, due to the ongoing processing of claims and the Brahimi investigation, I have no information to give you at this time.

On your question at the briefing regarding a Fox News story about an alleged "no bid contract" in Venezuela, I encourage you to look at our response posted on our website. http://www.undp.org/for-the-record/index.shtml The process for this contract was competitive and the article contained many mischaracterizations and inaccuracies.

Underlying the still-disputed Venezuela contract issue, and the Algiers insurance question which the UN Secretariat, unlike UNDP, realized it must answer, there are numerous questions to UNDP this year which the agency has chosen not to answer, after promising responses. Ironically, one of the questions involves which media outlets UNDP provides payments to. Now having patiently waited more than a month for responses to factual questions to UNDP, each will be reported in turn. Among many other things, there's lack of confidence in UNDP management in Bangladesh, plagiarism, and another contract controversy, in Trinidad.

UNDP also recently reached out to take issue with media reports in Malaysia, in a way that may reflect those its "media monitoring" is going --

"In a related development, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) clarified that UNDP national expert in Sarawak for the peat swamp project, Dr Alexander Sayok, is a staff of the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) and not a staff of the UNDP and thus Dr Sayok's comments on the lack of enforcement against wildlife abuse in Sarawak was his personal view.

"When contacted, the UNDP Kuala Lumpur spokesman said that the UNDP did not have an office in Sarawak and thus it could not give any official comments on issues in this state. 'However, the coverage by The Star on this endangered animal's issue has been listed as among the top most important articles from among the news events in more than 100 countries monitored by the UNDP over the past few days,' she said."

So, not only does UNDP monitor "more than 100 countries" every few days -- its goal in doing do is to rebut its own lower-level employees and contractors comments that are critical of any government. That is, UNDP's media monitoring attacks not only reporting and reporters who question UNDP's actions, but its own employees who question any government's or UNDP's actions...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/undp4208media042008.html

France's Role in Chad is "Normal," Rama Yade Says, of the Evicted in N'demena and the Disappeared

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1ramayade041608.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 16 -- Even before the Security Council debate on Africa began, France's Rama Yade told the Press that the meeting would be "determining.. if it were useless, would you all be here?" Inner City Press asked if as French minister for human rights she thought President Sarkozy has done enough to restrain Chad's Idriss Deby, whom France has kept in power, from carrying out mass evictions in N'dajemena and disappearing his political opponents.

"The political and military situation in Chad is not easy," Rama Yade said. "The role of France is normal." She said that Sarkozy raised the issue of "politicians who disappeared" with President Deby a few weeks ago. Video here, from Minute 3:27.

Many have noted that after that meeting, Chad pardoned the French staffers of Zoe's Ark, previously convicted of kidnapping 103 children form Chad and from Sudan. Time or the Mission did not permit this question to be asked of Rama Yade. Instead, a journalist in French asked if these high level gabfests are useful. Rama Yade said yes, mentioning the World Food Program -- by its French acronym PAM -- and the crisis in Somalia. France's main Somalia concern of late has been the return of a French yacht from the pirates who captured it off Somalia's coast.

Tuesday Inner City Press asked France's permanent representation to the UN Jean-Maurice Ripert about his government's reported request to Somalia to put the pirates it capture on trial in France. Ripert said generally that France will fight piracy wherever. Inner City Press followed up, but what of jurisdiction? Amb. Ripert called the question too specific.

Asked about a call by NGOs that the UN's Working Group on children and armed conflict visit Sri Lanka and take action, including moving to refer recruiters there to the International Criminal Court, Ripert said the Working Group is doing a lot. He said that Radhika Coomaraswamy is planning a visit to Sri Lanka. But previously she sent Amb. Rock of Canada in her stead, to her homeland due to alleged conflict of interest. Ripert declined comment on that one as well. Video here. The search for answers will continue, watch this site.

Footnote: inside the Council and at the stakeout, the buzz was of Rama Yade's looks and her young age. These was the specter of resentment, not expressed for example regarding Serbia's also-young Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic. "Maybe Sarkozy couldn't find a fifty year old for the job," one reporter said. Or maybe he wanted somehow who'd be more grateful for the job....

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1ramayade041608.html

Gordon Brown in Sea of Snubs, In Private Press Conference, Zim Election Observers Called For

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN

www.innercitypress.com/uk1gbrown041608.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 16 -- For Gordon Brown at the UN on Wednesday, it was a morning of snubs. His meeting with South Africa's Thabo Mbeki was cancelled. He in turn cancelled his previously-announced press conference for all UN correspondents. Rather, he blew by the stakeout with an entourage of two dozen, on his way to a room in the basement to speak only with the British traveling press.

"How can they do this?" Inner City Press asked the UN staffer controlling access to Brown's briefing.

They booked the room, was the subsequent answer.

When?

Initially it was just to leave their bags in. Then, an hour and a half ago, they said they wanted to use it for this.

"Booking rooms by the hour, like a hot sheet motel," another correspondent grumbled afterwards.

When Gordon Brown came out, Inner City Press asked him if he had met with Mbeki. He nodded and smiled. Inner City Press asked, "No snub?"

"No snub," one in his entourage replied. And then they were gone, down to lunch with Michael Bloomberg and to meet with Wall Street bankers.

A source who was in the Brown presser reports the emphasis inside was on a two hour meeting earlier in the week, as the rebuttal of the snub. Outside, a five minute "brush-by" was described. Ah, diplomacy....

The substance kept secret, it's said, was a call for international observers of any second round of voting in Zimbabwe. We'll have more on this -- when we can.

Update 1 -- The UK's Lord Malloch Brown, stopping in the hallway to speak with reporters, phrased it this way, "Don't build cheat on cheat." If the first round was irregular, a second round is not the solution. He said that sending UN elections observers would not require a Security Council vote, but would require the invitation or consent of Zimbabwe's government.
He declined to comment on allegations in the British legislature that one or more of the Zimbabwe resident representatives of the UN Development Program, which he used to head, have accepted favors and even land from Robert Mugabe. One doesn't comment on the personnel practices of an agency one no longer works for, he said. He referred to a denial on UNDP's web site -- so, he remains at minimum an observer. So how about the exponential growth of "cost sharing," which he promoted, leading now to a situation where UNDP expends more in Latin America than in African, with over 90% of UNDP's expenditures in Latin America consisting of little more than doing the bookkeeping (and rule evasion) for a government's programs in its own country? More on this to follow.

Update 2, of April 17, 2:20 p.m. -- the UK Mission to the UN contested, not to Inner City Press but to the well-meanin UN staffer put in the position of keeping the press out, that as a member state the UK could use the room for free, without paying. The article above has been modified to characterize it as a "booking" and not a "renting" of the room. The issue of the exclusion of the press by the UK private press conference, however, remains. The distinction was not "UN correspondents out, travelling press in," as select UN correspondent were, in fact, allowed in, uncontested by the UK mission. It is another selection process, for which the UK Mission has become known.

One final footnote: from within the UK Foreign Office, and not its Mission to the UN, comes a different theory of snubs, under which the George Bush administration had Gordon Brown come at the same time as the Pope, in order to make the U.S. press less interested in Brown. (As noted, only a single photographer waited for Brown outside the Waldorf Towers on Wednesday.) This purportedly goes back to Brown characterizing his first meeting with Bush as "frank," diplo-speak for angry, creating the impression that unlike Tony Blair, Gordo stood up to W. W's revenge? Gordo's eclipse by the Pope. A sea of snubs, indeed....

And see, www.innercitypress.com/uk1gbrown041608.html

UN's Darfur Mission Only 30% Staffed, Living in Containers Despite Lockheed's No-Bid Contracts

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1unamid041508.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 15 -- Despite paying Lockheed Martin $250 million for infrastructure in Sudan's Darfur region, the staff of the UN's mission there are living in metal containers, often far from restrooms. Despite the General Assembly passing a billion-dollar budget, the mission's independent contractors complain of not being paid. Only thirty percent of the approved posts have been filled. A contingent of UN peacekeepers from Nigeria had to stage a protest in order to get pay three months overdue.

In the run-up to the Security Council's meeting on the UN's cooperation with regional organizations, particularly the African Union, recent findings in and about the hybrid UN - AU mission in Darfur paint a picture of mis-planning by the UN in New York, and funding problems with AU contingents like that from Nigeria.

South Africa's permanent representative to the UN, Dumisani Kumalo, decried a situation in which the General Assembly has not allowed the UN to directly fund AU deployments such as that in Somalia. Assistance is given bilaterally, or even in a circular fashion like the United States' funding of Maryland-based Lockheed Martin for initial work in Darfur. This contract was handed off to the UN, to continue payments to Lockheed Martin's PAE subsidy on a no-bid basis, as was a smaller feeding contract. On that, the UN has responded:

"PAE managed 32 AU/AMIS camps providing catering services based on an agreement between the AU and various donors until 31 Dec 2007. The UN extended the AU-PAE catering contract for 90 days (1 Jan-31 Mar 2008) to allow a UN rations contract to be initiated. As of 1st April, there is a UNAMID contractor providing rations. The El Fasher PX facility opened in mid Dec 2007. Catering services have been opened in Nyala and El Fasher on a pay-as-you-eat basis for non-entitled staff since there are very few commercial establishments."

This last phrase is an understatement. People are living in metal containers. In response to Inner City Press' questions about the transfer of these containers to Darfur from other UN missions and logistics base in Brindisi, Italy (UNLB), the UN has responded that it "has arranged two sealifts to move UNOE from Burundi (ONUB and BINUB) to Sudan, between Sept and Oct 2007. There have been two other sealifts between UNLB and Sudan, between August 2007 and March 2008." The efficiencies and costs of a "sealift" from Burundi to Darfur will be explored in future columns.

Despite the push for Lockheed Martin as the UN contractor coming from the United States, sources just back from Darfur describe the visit of an "efficiency - expert American" who implemented changes to make it more difficult and expensive for staff in Darfur to take leave, if only to Khartoum.

Previous UNMIS personnel in South Sudan describe an informal process in which a staffer's daylong trip to Khartoum would be considered a day of work, to make the break meaningful. Some consider this wasteful. But in response to Inner City Press' question, "what is the status of filling the international staff posts in UNAMID?" the UN has answered that "as of 4 April, around 30% of all international civilian posts had been filled." While DPKO's recent responsiveness to questions is appreciated, there are other questions pending -- this story is to be continued.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1unamid041508.html

Cannes Confidential, UN TV Show "21st Century" Refuses to Disclose Payments to Host Daljit Dhaliwal

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1cannes041508.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 15 -- The UN hired a television reporter, Daljit Dahliwal, to host its new television series, 21st Century, but refuses to disclose how much it paying Ms. Dhaliwal, nor how much it spent flying two UN staffer to Cannes, France, to offer the show for free to TV networks. The show's trailer does not mention any UN connection, and Inner City Press' sources describe filming session in which UN photos and logos are covered up to not be shown.

Questions have arisen about what benefit the UN and its paying member states receive from the money spent on such a show, and why the amount of the expenditure is confidential, as the head of UN TV and Radio Susan Farkas on April 15 told Inner City Press.

Ms. Farkas was one of the two UN staffers who flew this month to Cannes, for the MIP TV convention. Describing it to Inner City Press as a junket, sources suggested that the cost of the trip, how it differed from previous years, and the amount paid to Ms. Dahliwal to host it be inquired into. On April 11, Inner City Press sent written questions to the UN Spokesperson's office, and received a response that same day from Ms. Farkas, who confirmed that she "travelled to France for MIP TV, the international television production market held twice yearly in Cannes."

While not stating how many other UN people traveled there, Ms. Farkas wrote that "some other UN agencies also attended and very useful meetings about cross-agency coproduction and cooperation were held...I am referring to UNifeed, our daily satellite feed of news material, the feature series, UN in Action, and the monthly magazine program 21st Century."

Ms. Farkas came to UN TV from stints at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and then from NBC. The UN-hired host of 21st Century is the BBC and CNN journalist Daljit Dhaliwal. On April 15, asked how much the UN is paying Ms. Dahliwal, Ms. Farkas said simply, "that is confidential." But the UN has procurement and hiring rules, and what it pays outside contractors, particularly for work such as this, is presumptively public.

Following questions about the Cannes venture and the budget of the 21st Century show, a breezy description of the trip was put on the UN's intra-net. But this did not say how much the outside contractor is getting paid.

In fact, there has already been controversy in the UN system regarding whether it is ethical for the UN to pay journalists who might (otherwise) cover the UN. In a memo this decade to the UN Communications Group, former spokesman of the UN Development Program William Orme proposed among other things that the UN not hire journalists, or at a minimum make full disclosure of all sums paid. Either this proposal was never accepted, or it never reached UN TV. We will have more on this.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1cannes041508.html

UN's Congo Envoy Speaks of Disarmament and Trains, No Comment on China Resource Deals

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1monuc041508.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 15 -- We're not leaving the Congo any time soon, the UN's top envoy to Kinshasa, Alan Doss, told the press on Tuesday. He said roaming armed groups still remain, mentioning Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army and the FDLR, whose fighters the UN is encouraging to disarm and return to Rwanda. Inner City Press asked if those who return to Rwanda have any sort of immunity. For insurrection, yes, came the answer. But not for genocide. Those who would be charged just don't return.

Inner City Press asked Doss about the critique of the Kinshasa-based newspaper L'Avenir, that Doss met with Rwanda's president Paul Kagame without explaining the outcome. Oh, L'Avenir is often critical of me, Doss said. He said the meetings with Kagame began during a visit by Ban Ki-moon and have continued since. In part these talks concern the repatriation of the ex-Interahamwe.

A MONUC staffer after the briefing explained that there has been some confusion that a March 15 deadline set meant the commencement of military action. It is just a ratcheting up, he said, just changing the incentives. When the time for military action comes, if it comes, it will be alongside the Congolese army.

In a recent speech in New Orleans, former UN special envoy Stephen Lewis specifically criticized both Ban and MONUC for not doing enough about rape in the Congo. Doss, without mentioning the speech, spoke about his efforts, which include now filing monthly reports with the Congolese Army about evidence against its soldiers of abuse.

Doss said he served twenty years ago as the UN Development Program resident representative in the Congo; he spoke nostalgically about the train service at that time, which is now intermittent at best. Asked about a pending deal between China and Kinshasa, to build road in exchange for resources, Doss said he hadn't heard about it. "It's on BBC," Inner City Press pointed out. Doss said that the government shouldn't own resources, but should look out for the national interest. As with his meeting with Kagame, it wasn't entirely clear for whom Mr. Alan Doss was speaking.

Inner City Press asked about the strike of MONUC's national staff and casual day workers. Doss blamed the UN's budget committee, for saying to shift away from "CDWs," of whom there have been 3000 for MONUC. We try, he said. Some say that the least the UN should be doing in the Congo is to treat its workers fairly.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1monuc041508.html

Banning the Olympics, UN Chief Prefers Beijing in July to Heat of August 8, Questions Persist

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/ban2olympics041508.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 15 -- With attention mounting on which world leaders are not going to the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony on August 8 and why, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's excuse was made slightly more specific on Tuesday. Inner City Press asked Ban's director of political affairs Lynn Pascoe if there were any political ramifications to Ban's not going. He is "going to China at a time" he can have "serious discussions with China," Pascoe said, adding with apparent annoyance, "The Secretary-General is very straight forward on the issue." Video here, from Minute 2:13.

But Ban's spokesperson declined to confirm that he will visit Beijing and Seoul in connection with the G-8 meeting in Japan in July. And when Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe answered Inner City Press' question last week about whether Ban had been invited to, and would attend, the opening ceremony, she said only that Ban "conveyed to the Chinese Government some months ago that he may not be in a position to accept the invitation to attend this important event due to scheduling issues." She declined to say that the scheduling issues were, and the phrase became something of a joke worldwide, being rephrased as a "diary clash" in the British press.

Pascoe added, "you had a chance to ask the Secretary General" the question earlier in the day, when Ban took ten minutes of questions between a lunch and a three o'clock meeting, his first press availability at UN Headquarters in four weeks, since March 17. But time was short; Inner City Press which was going to ask the question and kept hand raised through the ten minutes was not called on. Hours later at the same spot, Inner City Press asked Pascoe as head of UN political affairs if the reaction to the Olympics no-show announcement had been somehow unforeseen by the UN. "I'm not going to restate the Secretary General's answers," Pascoe said. But there has still not been an answer directly from Ban Ki-moon.


That the issue should be addressed should not even require a question. Ban Ki-moon has said the UN should better explain what it does and why. Now then is the time. Tuesday evening, rather than at the UN, Ban's plans included the Korea Society, and meeting with his country's new president Lee Myung-bak. This meeting was not listed on Ban's public schedule. Perhaps plans for the July trip to Seoul -- and, for now at least, Beijing too -- will be discussed. Watch this space.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban2olympics041508.html

Somali Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Jama Says Contacted by U.S. on Missiles and on Pirate Trials by France, Talks Cell Phones

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un4somalia041508.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 15 -- "We have a very close relations with both the United States and France," the Somali Transitional Federal Government's Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Jama told the Press on Tuesday. "They are close and friendly states." Inner City Press had asked about the firing of missiles into Somalia by the U.S., whether the TFG is consulted before military action is undertaken. "They have contacted us," Ali Ahmed Jama replied. He was asked about the killing of civilians, both by the TFG and the Ethiopian troops who put the TFG in power in December 2006. He called the deaths unfortunate, and said the Ethiopia does everything possible to minimize collateral damage. That is not what human rights groups, and Inner City Press' sources on the ground, report. But Ali Ahmed Jama moved on, portraying those Somalis who criticize the Ethiopian presence as spoilers. In the front row of the press conference, the UN's envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, nodded at this and other statements.

Inner City Press asked how the TFG will respond to requests that the recently captured pirates who took over a French yacht off the coast of Somalia be tried in France, thousands of kilometers away from where the crime occurred. "They have contacted us," was Ali Ahmed Jama's reply. He said that a "holistic" process could "address the issues that France and other powers are concerned with." Video here, from Minute 23:31.

On the ground in Somalia, some towns have passed back into the control of the insurgents or resistence. Ali Ahmed Jama was asked to respond to a theory under which the UN Security Council is holding back from committing peacekeepers to Somalia not only due to violence, but also from concern that the TFG is "not stable." Ali Ahmed Jama disagreed, said the Security Council "represents the whole world" and should "tackle Somalia in a holistic manner."

The president of the Security Council for April, South Africa's Dumisani Kumalo, continues to urge that the Council visit Mogadishu. He told Inner City Press on April 11 that he remains "very firm" about taking the trip, despite recalcitrance from the UN Department of Safety and Security. "They are not happy about the idea that we won't go... I will be very disappointed if I have to go to a nice hotel in Kenya to talk about Somalia right over the fence." Video here, from Minute 7:48.

Nodding back at the UN's Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, Ali Ahmed Jama said that a pamphlet has been published about good indicators in Somalia, that the "Western media" should cover more. He mentioned telecommunications, and this is true. Whether the innovation is attributable to the TFG is dubious; those on the ground note that investment recommenced once the Islamic Courts pushed out the warlords. And what is happening now? We will continue to follow this.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un4somalia041508.html

UN Plots a Global Lottery, While Laying Claim to U.S. Staffers' Stimulus Payouts

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1lotto041408.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 14 -- A "global lottery" is among the innovations in financing for development that former French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy mentioned to the Press on Monday. Given the widely acknowledged regressive nature of raising funds through lotteries, Inner City Press asked Douste-Blazy if a lottery was really the best or most innovative way to try to help the poor. "You mean, on the ethical plane?" Douste-Blazy asked. Yes, that would be the question.

While agreeing that this is "a real question" (sur la table is how he put it in French, a question that is on the table), Douste-Blazy spoke of the social goals of lotteries in Belgium and France. Video here, from Minute 19:35. "We are working on it," he said. And he's not kidding -- "global lottery" has been mentioned before in this context by the UN, click here. Douste-Blazy also discussed raising funds off airplane tickets, saying there are only three main sites that make reservations over the Internet. Let the games begin...

Meanwhile, in the run-up to the release of the $600 stimulus payments by the U.S. Treasury, Inner City Press was told Monday that the UN's Office of Legal Affairs has ruled that UN employees who receive the stimulus payment will be expected to turn it over to the UN. The UN Staff Union has argued that since it is not a tax rebate, but intended to stimulate the U.S. economy, giving it to the UN is not, they say, appropriate.

While others consulted by Inner City Press on Monday did not disagree that the payments be endorsed and signed over to the UN, one wonders if this was intended as a stimulus to the UN, and how the money will be spent.

Footnote: One impacted staff member marvelled that OLA chief Nicolas Michel is being allowed to keep the ten thousand dollars a month, minimum, he received in housing subsidy from his Swiss government since 2004, while his Office rules that lower down employees must return $600 received from their government. Only at the UN...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1lotto041408.html

General Assembly's Kerim Refuses to Disclose Payments from WAZ Media Group, No Olympics Showing Either

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un4pgafunding041108.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 11 – The President of the General Assembly Srgjan Kerim declined in a press conference on Friday to disclose his financial relationship with the WAZ media group, calling it irrelevant. In response to questions from Inner City Press, Kerim acknowledged that "if a government pays the president of the GA, he has to have a relationship with that government." Asked why it would be different if a corporation pays him, particularly but not only if it were a contractor with the UN, Kerim said, "of course if it would be a contractor with the UN then you would have a conflict of interest." He added, "In this case we don't, my company has nothing to do with the UN." Video here, from Minute 24:50.

In the more than five minute exchange Friday, Kerim repeatedly said "this is a matter of principle," and not about him personally. Inner City Press agrees, and has informed Kerim's spokesman, that it is not personal, that after Kerim told Inner City Press candidly and to his credit that those who give funding ask favors, the question about funding from WAZ had to be asked.

President Kerim's spokesman, from whom Inner City Press tried to get these questions answer prior to and outside of the press conference, has stated in writing that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

"Government has made an arrangement with Dr. Kerim’s employer the WAZ media group allowing for the one year release of Dr. Kerim to take up his duties as the GA President. This agreement allows for maintaining his contractual status with the media group. Dr. Kerim has a five year contract with WAZ and the details of that contract are confidential."

But public financial disclosure is not only for cases where the discloser acknowledges a conflict of interest -- rather, they are across the board, in order to identify possible conflicts of interest. Kerim on Friday said that "member states knew that I came from the private sector and represent a company, they did not object to it." Very few of the Ambassadors asked this year about President Kerim's arrangement knew that the president of the GA might still be paid by a private company, until they read it in Inner City Press.

Press analysis: There has to be a better way. At a minimum, presidents of the General Assembly should disclose where their funds come from, as well as with whom they meet. These modest reforms do not have to wait for any vote on General Assembly revitalization, they could be implemented right now. There is nothing personal, but perhaps something precedential as well as presidential, about it.

Olympic footnote: Inner City Press also asked Kerim if he will attend any part of the Beijing Olympics. No, he said, "I have some other commitments and tasks to do." Earlier in the week, also in response to Inner City Press' questions, Ban Ki-moon's Deputy Spokesperson said Ban will not attend "due to scheduling issues." These are the top two officials in the UN, and Chinese is a Permanent Member of the Security Council. One wonders if the "we will not attend" positions will survive through August 8. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un4pgafunding041108.html