By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, May 26 -- How does the UN system deal with Africa? Is its approach coordinated?
At the African Union events in the past two days, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with three foreign ministers, of Mauritania as well as Norway and the US' John Kerry. Click here for Inner City Press story on these.
Meanwhile UN Development Program administrator Helen Clark met with at least two African heads of state with whom it appears Ban Ki-moon didn't meet: Ghana's John Dramani Mahama and Chad's Idriss Deby.
(Clark's UNDP does not issue Ban-like read-outs of such meetings, only tweets of 140 characters including photos, no replies to mentions. Nor does Clark do press conferences in New York, as Inner City Press has repeatedly requested - we'll have more on this.)
At least to Deby, there are things Ban should have had to say: Deby's recent invitation to and reception of International Criminal Court indictee Omar al Bashir of Sudan, and the perhaps related reports of Chad's Army attack anti-Bashir rebels in Darfur. (The UN, typically, went late to where that was reported, and then reported they say nothing: click here for Herve Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping's response to Inner City Press.)
In all this, where was Ban's supposed Special Adviser on Africa Maged Abdelaziz? To the consternation of the African Group of states at the UN, Ban left that post vacant or filled only half time for years - then gave it to Egypt's Maged Abdelaziz, long time Mubarak ambassador to the UN, after Mubarak fell.
A Google News search find no mention of Maged Abdelaziz in the last 30 days, not in Addis Ababa nor anywhere else. Meanwhile a UN webpage for the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, under OSAA Press Coverage, has nothing since January 2011, more than two years ago.
Is this the UN system's approach to Africa? What does it say? Watch this site.
