UNITED NATIONS, February 1 – In today's UN system, decay and rot are rarely addressed and cleaned up. Rather, those who complain are retaliated against. And if the Press reports on it, it to faces retaliation - in Inner City Press' case, a ban from even entering the UN that now stands at 212 days with no end in sight. In that context, the leaked just keep on coming. In December Inner City Press reported on complaint against the head of the UN Mine Action Service, Agnès Marcaillou of France, adding that UNSG Antonio Guterres' peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix was seen by UNMAS staff as covering up for Marcaillou. Since then Inner City Press has learned of more complaints against Marcaillou and of her attempt, which many staff call desperate, to address or shut them up. For the February 1 noon briefing that Inner City Press was again banned from attending in person, it before the briefing in writing asked Guterres and his spokesman Stephane Dujarric (also French) questions including: "February 1-3: On UNMAS please immediately confirm or deny what whistleblowers tell Inner City Press, that there are over a dozen harassment, bullying and abuse of authorities cases filed at UN against head of UNMAS Agnès Marcaillou and that the cases came to attention to head of DPO rule of law and security ASG Alexander Zuev and Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Francois Renaud Lacroix. Was she politely asked to resign but refused to do so? Confirm / explain her statements: " Today I want to appeal to those of you who have shared their discontent with colleagues, partners, inside and outside the UNMAS/UNOPS circles, to please not break UNMAS; what you have work so hard for; please do not split the strong and capable team that has made UNMAS the worldwide respected entity it is today; do not undermine what most colleagues have worked so hard for in the past 6 years that I have been here with you. I feel that there is too much for UNMAS to lose!"
Despite Dujarric's on camera promise to answer such questions, and the written promise of USG Alison Smale, there has been no answer. So here is more of Marcaillou's "address to staff," in advance of a meeting she and other USGs will be attending in Geneva on February 4 - how soon will she be fired? From her address to all staff: "today’s UNMAS team picture is not all pink and rosy. All is not well in UNMAS when a few of you are unhappy. Unhappy to the extent that they have reached the highest echelons of the Organization, complained about their condition and about their Director on a number of mostly undisclosed grievances. From what I gather, some of the grievances are related to the fact that my standards are too high; that I am overly demanding; that staff are being victimized and drawn to seek counseling and medical support. Some of you have also made disparaging/belittling statements about me, and also about UNMAS performance, to quite a large and diverse audience; a few of you have even stated, wide and large enough to reach me, that my leadership “was mean on purpose” and “my management ineffective: that they needed to clear their way, and, according to rumors, that because I had not been forced into retirement last Summer, “with some more push I would be ousted soon and even maybe before the end of the year”. This means a lot to me... I was obviously blinded by a rising UNMAS, by its accomplishments, good results and the enthusiasm shared by other colleagues; I thought I was coaching an “all- winning team" .. Today I want to appeal to those of you who have shared their discontent with colleagues, partners, inside and outside the UNMAS/UNOPS circles, to please not break UNMAS; what you have work[ed] so hard for; please do not split the strong and capable team that has made UNMAS the worldwide respected entity it is today; do not undermine what most colleagues have worked so hard for in the past 6 years that I have been here with you. I feel that there is too much for UNMAS to lose! ... I am committed to presenting, at the earliest, in January 2019, to Under Secretary-General Lacroix a forward-looking plan; this requires your inputs. I will also seek his and other UN departments support to help us, his staff, all of us together, to rebuild a unified, strong and happy team. He has always been open to listening and meeting his staff and I do not expect him to react any differently to our demand for support and help... I thank you for your attention. Agnès Marcaillou Director UNMAS." So Marcaillou is counting on Lacroix. Inner City Press has tweeted the issue at @Lacroix_UN. Watch this site.
