| The
Epstein Fabrice Aidan Scandal 1st Reported
by Inner City Press Now Festers at UNESCO By Matthew
Russell Lee &
sources,
Exclusive UN
GATE, Feb 15
– UNESCO,
like the whole
UN system
under Antonio
Guterres was
been
falling apart
in corruption
and fraud. Inner
City Press has
been reporting
on serious
malfeasance by
the French
Audrey Azoulay
administration
at UNESCO in
Paris, almost
as bad as
Antonio
Guterres'
corruption in
and of the UN
in New York. A
fish rots from
the head. The
UNESCO
corruption
series is now
more than 140
stories
long. Audrey
Azoulay
stepped down
in November
2025, and
three months
later, the
same people
she appointed
continue to
manage
UNESCO's
day-to-day
affairs, with
tacit approval
and no
corrective
action
whatsoever by
the new
Director-General
El-Enany, of
Egypt.
New crash
tests are
looming for
El-Enany's
administration.
The first
issue to be
tested will be
his
willingness to
investigate
the reasons
and
circumstances
surrounding
Fabrice
Aidan's
appointment to
UNESCO, within
the Cabinet of
France's
Azoulay. Inner
City Press,
after first
reporting on Fabrice
Aidan's murky
activities for
and with Terje
Roed-Larsen
before being
thrown out of
the UN by
Antonio
Guterres,
followed up
from outside
in 2022 and
asked the
following
question in
2022 (here) "3)
What is the
assignment
given by SG
Azoulay to the
member of her
Cabinet, the
French Fabrice
Aidan? For the
record, Aidan
was the
closest
collaborator
of Terje
Roed-Larsen,
the former UN
top Mideast
envoy, who
along with his
wife and still
Norway
ambassador to
the UN Mona
Juul benefited
personally
from the
generosity of
the notorious
pedophile
Jeffrey
Epstein. So,
what is
Fabrice Aidan
doing at
present in her
Cabinet?"
While the
French
government
claims this
week it is
shocked that
its official
Fabrice Aidan
is in the
Epstein files,
his case was
actually
exposed as
early as 2011.
On May
5, 2011, Inner
City Press
asked "part
time UN envoy
Terje
Roed-Larsen if
he took a UN
staff person
with him on
his trip in
April to
Bahrain. “I do
not wish to
comment on
that,â€
Roed-Larsen
said. Moments
later, Inner
City Press
asked UN
acting Deputy
Spokesman
Farhan Haq to
confirm or
deny that UN
staff member
Fabrice Aidan
accompanied
Roed-Larsen on
a trip that
Haq on April
18 said was
not "in any UN
capacity."
After years of
total
smokescreen
covering their
tracks, French
authorities
are finally
investigating
the
relationship
between
Epstein and
Aidan. Two
separate
investigations
have been
launched by
the Ministry
of Foreign
Affairs and
the Ministry
of Justice. The
question is
whether the
Egyptian
Director-General
of UNESCO will
have the
courage to do
the same
internally or
whether he
will once
again shy away
from
embarrassing
his French
predecessor
Audrey
Azoulay.
This is an
important
test. Until
now, since his
election,
El-Enany has
always bowed
to the French,
but now that
they are
investigating
the matter
themselves, he
may find the
nerve to do
the same
within the
organization
he heads. It
will be
awkward for
the new
administration
not to clarify
to member
states why,
after learning
that an FBI
investigation
was underway
against Aidan,
Audrey Azoulay
nevertheless
decided to
appoint him to
her Cabinet at
UNESCO.
If this is not
done, then the
case would
prove that Mr.
El-Enany is
simply not fit
to hold the
UNESCO
leadership
job. Under
such
circumstance,
Member States
may step in.
The presidents
of the two
governing
bodies – Mr.
Nasser Bin
Hamad Al
Hinzab of
Qatar,
President of
the Executive
Board, and Mr.
Khondker Talha
of Bangladesh,
President of
the General
Conference –
have the power
to impose an
investigation,
which would be
the first step
in countering
the damage to
UNESCO's
reputation
caused by
Audrey Azoulay
with the
appointment of
Fabrice Aidan
to her
Cabinet.
The
second
immediate test
for Mr.
El-Enany
concerns the
appointment of
his ADGs. As
Inner City
Press wrote on
January 25 (here
), the
recruitment
panel approved
by Mr.
El-Enany for
the
appointment of
the new
Assistant
Director-General
for Culture
was completely
flawed.
Despite
several
warnings, the
Egyptian
Director-General
gave his
approval to
the panel
proposed by
his French
director of
his Cabinet,
Margaux
Bergeon-Dars.
The fact that
she
successfully
persuaded the
new
Director-General
to approve a
procedure that
proved to be
irregular
shows her
ability to
undermine his
authority that
led to
cancelling the
recruitment
process.
Indeed,
following our
publication,
this
recruitment
process was
cancelled and
the post
Assistant
Director-General
for Culture
was
re-advertised.
This shows how
easily
influenced is
El-Enany by
those around
him lately. He
was expected
to have
heavyweight
advisors, he
ends up with
advisors that
are
overweight.
Regarding
recent
appointments
made by the
DG, staff in
the
Communication
and
Information
(CI) sector
have informed
Inner City
Press that
Mariya Gabriel
of Bulgaria,
who has just
been appointed
ADG for CI,
does not have
the years of
experience
required for
the position
as specified
in the vacancy
notice. In
this regard,
all rejected
candidates who
met the
requirements
but were
vetoed by
El-Enany can
challenge this
decision and
are assured of
winning the
appeal.
Indeed, the
ILO Tribunal
in Geneva is
very clear on
this point: in
its judgment
2584, it
states that if
the
organization
has selected a
candidate who
possesses
other
qualifications
deemed
desirable by
the
Director-General,
this does not
exempt the
organization
from applying
the rule that
the selected
candidate must
possess all
the
qualifications
specified in
the vacancy
notice. In
other words,
Ms. Gabriel's
career at
UNESCO depends
on a single
protest before
she is
dismissed for
not having the
qualifications
required for
the position.
How El-Enany
and the Human
Resources
Office could
have made such
an elementary
mistake
remains a
mystery,
unless
political
pressure was
insurmountable.
So,
this is
another weird
decision by
El-Enany who
was announcing
himself as
adamant as
concerns the
quality of the
senior team
members but,
of course,
that was
before
stepping into
the tough
reality of the
balance of
forces in
multilateral
diplomacy and
losing
completely and
actually quite
rapidly his
independence
both of
thinking and
of
acting.
This is yet
another weird
decision by Mr
El-Enany, who
had declared
himself
uncompromising
when it came
to the quality
of his senior
management
team. Of
course, that
was before he
was confronted
with the harsh
reality of the
balance of
power in
multilateral
diplomacy and
quickly lost
his
independence
of thought and
action.
On
another
footing, the
EU Group
Ambassadors'
retreat was
held on 12
February at
the Chateau de
Montvillargence.
The EU
delegation to
UNESCO under
Christina
Kokkinakis is
lacking basic
decency. At a
time of
serious
financial
crisis at
UNESCO,
organizing
such a meeting
in such an
expensive
location and
spending
taxpayers'
money on
comfortable
destinations
speaks volumes
about the
arrogance of
EU countries.
No one can
imagine the
Africa Group
or the
Asia/Pacific
Group spending
money in this
way when
UNESCO lacks
funds to
renovate
schools in
post-conflict
zones, for
example.
The excerpt
presenting
some of the
questions
included in
the retreat
agenda shows
how political
UNESCO is and
will remain in
the years to
come: "How can
the EU project
influence at
UNESCO? How
can we shape a
new UNESCO
architecture,
aligned with
our strategic
interests? How
can we use new
formats of
cooperation
(plurilateral
formats ia.)
to advance EU
priorities at
UNESCO?
What
conclusions
can we draw
for the EU on
the US leaving
UNESCO? How
are we going
to address
dynamics
between
Russia, China
and the Global
South?". This
EU retreat and
the visit of
the
Ambassadors to
the Château de
Chantilly
actually shows
once more the
DG who is in
charge of the
money. The DDG
and the DG
special
advisor also
attended that
meeting
instead of
meeting with
the
Ambassadors at
the UNESCO
premises as
for all other
regional
groups.
This is where
UNESCO stands
today,
weakened by
the former
French
administration
and still
insignificant,
ravaged by
financial
misappropriations,
conducive to
the
proliferation
of abuse of
power,
corruption,
and nepotism.
Watch this
site. This is
where UNESCO
stands today.
We will have
more on that.
Watch this
site.
*** Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Past (and
future?) UN Office: S-303, UN, NY 10017 USA
Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis. Copyright 2006-2020 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com for |
Saturday, February 21, 2026
The Epstein Fabrice Aidan Scandal 1st Reported by Inner City Press Now Festers at UNESCO
