In Demoting Anna Tibaijuka, UN's Ban Did Not Consult His Gender Advisor, It Seems, UNIFEM and ECA Have No Comment

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un5unon030509.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 5 -- At the UN celebrated Women's Day and itself, questions continued to grow about its demotion of Tanzanian Anna Tibaijuka from the top post at the UN Office in Nairobi. Ban Ki-moon's Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Woman, Rachel Mayanja, was asked by Inner City Press if Ban consulted her before demoting one of his most senior female officials.

"I am not very familiar with this issue," Ms. Mayanja said. "I need to look into it and get properly informed before answering to you." Video here, from Minute 5:45. It seems clear that Ban did not consult his Special Adviser on Women's Advancement before demoting a top female UN official.

Nor has Ban complied with the UN General Assembly's call that he appoint an independent Special Adviser on Africa. It is known that Ambassadors, for example from Mozambique, have written in protest to Ban. His spokesman, however, said he remains "comfortable" with his decision.

Ban is calling on Sudan's al-Bashir to reconsider his decision to expel NGOs from Darfur. Ban has been asked to reconsider his demotion of Tibaijuka in favor of the German Achim Steiner. But on Thursday on the UN's intranet, the appointment of Steiner was formally announced.

No one at Headquarters seems to want to answer on this. Representatives of UNIFEM, the UN's women's agency and of ECA, Economic Commission for Africa, both declined comment when asked by Inner City Press. But the questions continue to grow. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un5unon030509.html