After Internship in UN Auctioned for $26,000 for RFK Young Leaders, Buyer Might Not Be Let In, ICP's Told, Forms Reformed?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 20 -- An internship in the UN was auctioned off, ultimately for $26,000, in a process extensively covered and questioned by Inner City Press. The UN said it was embarrassed by the auction or the "optics," and resisted Inner City Press' questions about the sale.

After Inner City Press asked several times about, the description of the internship being auctioned was "amended," as the UN spokesman put it, to read:

"Take advantage of this exclusive opportunity for a 6-week internship in NYC working for Bruce Knotts, Chair of the UN-NGO Committee on Human Rights. You will gain inside knowledge of just how the UN really operates and have tremendous opportunities to make invaluable connections. This truly is the ultimate internship opportunity for any college or graduate student looking to get their foot in the door!"

The auction, on CharityBuzz.com, said it was to benefit the RFK Young Leaders. Press inquiries to that entity and its parent, the RFK Center, did not yield any answers. But today, at least, we have a detailed answers about how such internships or grounds-passes work, from the Director of the UN Department of Public Information's Outreach Division, Maher Nasser.

  Inner City Press, along with another DPI question to which it is still awaiting the answer -- why was UNTV shut off while Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat was giving a speech on Monday morning -- asked Nasser, "I heard when you told DPI-NGO orientation that it makes the UN look bad, and that the UN is not obligated to let the person ('m. alam') who purchased the internship into the building. Is that the case? And you could keep me informed on this, when the purchased internship is to begin and what the UN / DPI does?"

  To his credit, Nasser provided Inner City Press with the most detailed UN response to date on the auctioned internship:

Subject: Question re the auctioned internship, thanks
From: Maher Nasser [at] un.org
Date: Mon, May 20, 2013 at 2:38 PM
To: Matthew Russell Lee [at] InnerCityPress.com

Hi Matthew, On the internship issue, as you know from the relevant website, this was for an internship with an NGO, not an internship at the UN. The optics of it and use of the UN's image implied otherwise, which is why I flagged it in the orientation with newly associated NGOs as something that hurts the UN and is not acceptable.

Every NGO associated with DPI is entitled to only six yearly passes, two of which are for youth representatives. The names to whom the passes are issued are provided by the president/head of each NGO. By providing the names, the NGO certifies that these names represent the NGO concerned. Up till now, we have had no reason not to grant a pass to people designated as representing an NGO. An old system of temporary passes issued throughout the year was discontinued by DPI several years ago.

With reference to the six names provided, and as I said above, this has not happened in the past, if we find out that someone had to pay or buy a slot on that list, we would take it up with the concerned NGO and depending on the feedback, not endorse that name for a pass.

In view of the case of the auctioned internship, we are preparing language to be added to the forms to be completed by DPI associated NGOs to avoid such possibilities in the future.

  So at a minimum, the "m. alam" on whose behalf $26,000 was bid for this internship might not be endorsed for a pass to actually enter the UN. Would they get a refund? And what do the UN-NGO Committee on Human Rights and the RFK Center have to say? Watch this site.

Footnote: While we await another division of DPI's promised answer to the Free UN Coalition for Access about how and why UNTV shut off during Saeb Erakat's speech, we note complaints received about the press corps move-back to the Secretariat building, particularly among broadcasters about special charges, special deals, special inquiries. The DPI official in question is aware of several of these complaints; watch this site.

Internship in UN Sold for $26,000, Final Winner Perused Rolling Stone, Too, This Is For RFK Young Leaders

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 14 -- The sale at auction of a six-week internship in the UN has been completed; the bidding just closed. The winner, identified as "m.alam," bid $26,000 on May 3.

Inner City Press, before that, first exposed the sale of the internship in the UN, and asked the UN about it. At first the UN said that since it was IN but not FOR the UN, it was not problem.

Then the UN said that its Office of Legal Affairs was seeking out the Non-Governmental Organization at issue, then that the advertisement had been amended.

But it still showed the UN Headquarters and said that the winner would learn how the UN really works -- indeed -- and make invaluable connections.

Inner City Press asked the spokesperson for RFK Center, whose RFK Young Leaders is the beneficiary, with whom such connections were being sold -- without answer.

 But Inner City Press' coverage was picked up and credited in Talk Radio News Service and on AlJazeera.com, among other places.

The auction web site CharityBuzz listed the value of the internship at $10,000. How? Not only unpaid - an internship a person, or their parents, pays for.

Inner City Press' research finds that "m.alam" had bid on other internships, for example with Rolling Stone magazine. Where would the "connections" be better?

It has been implied to Inner City Press that the UN might ban the buyer (here, "m.alam" from entering the UN. We'll see. Watch this site.

On Internship in UN for Sale, Spokesperson Nesirky Said Modified, DPI Says "Hurts UN;" No More Questions?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 7 -- The auctioning of an internship in the UN for over $20,000 was exposed by Inner City Press on May 1 and asked about since then, for four days in a row. But UN spokesman Martin Nesikry on May 6 complained to Inner City Press he was answering "for the umpteenth time."

  Four days of questions is not "umpteenth," which by definition must be more than twelve.

  And on the fifth day, May 7, Nesirky ended the briefing abruptly, amid a question about Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Syria chemical weapons prober Ake Sellstrom, video here. 

  So Inner City Press could not answer an obvious follow up about the internship, which is still being auctioned, under photograph of UN Headquarters.

On May 6, Inner City Press asked:

Inner City Press: this internship at the UN question, just one follow-up. I have spoken this morning with a P5 member of the Security Council who suggested that the UN’s remedy may be to not allow someone who wins the internship for $26,000 to actually come in. I am not aware of that being something the UN could do. What’s the UN’s thinking? Is there any update? Can you respond to the suggestion by a mission to the UN that that’s what the UN either could or should do?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, just to repeat, for the umpteenth time, Matthew, that the internship being auctioned off on this website, charitybuzz.com, is not a United Nations internship. The details of the internship in question have been amended on the website to clarify that the internship is not with the United Nations. And, as we have said repeatedly — and I just said just now — internships at the United Nations are not for sale and they cannot be put up for auction.

Inner City Press: So, when it says a way to learn how the UN works and to get your foot in the door, does that mean a foot in the door with a particular NGO or with the UN system?

Spokesperson: As I have said, Matthew, internships at the United Nations are not up for sale and the details of the internship in question have been amended on the website.

  Inner City Press wrote about the scandal, again, on the evening of May 6 (it was another of Inner City Press' pieces that night with which Nesirky took issue on May 7, taking out a print out and reading from it, video here.)

  Then on the morning of May 7 the head of Outreach for the UN Department of Public Information Maher Nasser took out his own print out, of the auction ad as amended, and said "this hurts the UN." Video here, from Minute 2:05. He said it now "in the media."

  The ad says the auction benefits the RFK Young Leaders, a part of the RFK Center, whose press contact Meaghan E. Baron did not respond to detailed messages left by the Press on both of her listed numbers. 

  Nasser said the UN will not necessarily let in the person who wins the internship (currently m. alam for $26,000), "because we control the process" -- precisely what Inner City Press asked Nesirky about the day before.

  If Nesirky had not so abruptly ended the briefing, it might have been possible to get his gloss on what seems to be a split between DPI and the UN Office of Legal Affairs under Patricia O'Brien. They have had the case since May 1, but the image of the UN, and the language about "foot in the door," remain in the ad.

  We'll have more on the Office of Legal Affairs tomorrow. Watch this site.

On Syria Rebels' Sarin Gas Use, Carla Del Ponte Undercut by US & UN Panel, Ban Ki-moon's Sellstrom Team Not Interested?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 6 -- As we predicted this morning, but even faster, the UN and the US distanced themselves from the statement of UN Human Rights Council appointee Carla Del Ponte of strong suspicions of the use of sarin gas by the Syrian opposition, not the government.

  At Monday's UN noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Martin Nesirky if Ban's prober Ake Sellstrom would at least look at the evidence Del Ponte cited from "victims, doctors and field hospitals" in neighboring countries.

  Nesirky told Inner City Press, " I would simply refer you to what the Commission of Inquiry said in its press release," which he summarized as "clarifying that it has not reached conclusive findings about the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict. And, as a result, the Commission said it is not in a position to further comment on the allegations at this time."

It's one thing for this UN "Independent International Commission of Inquiry" to not have public comment -- but shouldn't two arms of the UN, the Commission and Sellstrom's team, as least share evidence?

  In Washington, Obama administration spokesman Jay Carney said, "We are highly skeptical of any suggestions that the opposition used chemical weapons. We think it highly likely that Assad regime was responsible but we have to be sure about the facts before we make any decisions about a response."

  In terms of US public opinion, and a survey as scientific as Sellstrom's has been to date, Inner City Press was a guest on several radio shows on Monday, ranging across the US from Chicago to the Arizona, Nevada and California tri-state area up to Pacifica's Flashpoints in San Francisco.

  These stations, including the one covering Arizona, wanted to question Senator John McCain; the Chicago station was a defender of President Barack Obama. 

  But it's strange, about the Obama administration: they were fast Monday to criticize or disbelieve UN official Carla Del Ponte, but they have been slow to criticize the UN for, as simple one example exposed by Inner City Press, allowing a UN-accredited NGO to auction off an internship "in the UN" for $26,000. Watch this site.

As US Celebrates Senior Advisory Group, Deployment Exceptions, CoE Reservations, Shavendra Silva in the Mix?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 6 -- Not only US Ambassador for Management Joe Torsella, but also Permanent Representative Susan Rice, issued positive comments Monday about the UN Budget Committee resolution on the report of the Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations.

  Ambassador Rice's statement said the adopted SAG recommendations "extend the typical troop rotation period from six to twelve months -- saving millions and allowing troops on the ground to gain valuable expertise."

  During the negotiations on the report, it was noted that many Troop Contribution Countries, particularly in Latin America, have constitutions prohibiting deployments for 12 months.

  And in the Budget Committee meeting on Monday, held while the UN Security Council was meeting on Eastern Congo and the death of a UN Peacekeeper in Abyei, it was said that exceptions to 12 month deployments can be issued by Ban Ki-moon.

  So that's what the word "typical" means.

  Going bigger picture, Togo spoke up after adoption to say the UN should pay interest on what it owes to Troop Contributing Countries, due to delays.

  Likewise on the idea that a Troop Contributing Country would lose funding if it deployed with broken Contingent Owned Equipment, Department of Field Support Under Secretary General Ameerah Haq read out a long clarification, for which India's Deputy Permanent Representative Manjeev Singh Puri praised her. 

  (The Group of 77 took a reservation to it, citing with approval Haq's clarification, while Togo called it "unjust.")

This type of specificity did not apply, it seems, to Ambassador Torsella's statement, which thanked "all members of the SAG." Video here, from Minute 25:35

  Did this include Shavendra Silva of Sri Lanka? We'll await clarification before saying more. (This was only the Budget Committee approval - the full General Assembly is still required, perhaps Friday, chairperson Miguel Berger said.)

The larger irony is that while the US Mission here praised the UN process, and has yet to criticize the online auctioning for $26,000 of an internship "in the UN," to benefit the RFK Young Leaders of the RFK Center, in Washington White House spokesman Jay Carney was very quick to disbelieve UN Human Rights Council appointee Carla Del Ponte on strong suspicions of the use of sarin gas by the Syrian opposition, not the government.

  Carney said, "We are highly skeptical of any suggestions that the opposition used chemical weapons. We think it highly likely that Assad regime was responsible but we have to be sure about the facts before we make any decisions about a response."

  But that skepticism is not applied to smaller but more concrete example of seeming corruption involving the UN, or to attack in and by the UN on smaller, investigative press, from raids on offices to anonymous trolling by Western wire services that dominate the UN Correspondents Association, trying to get the investigative press thrown out of the UN. We'll have more on this.

On Internship in UN, UN Tells ICP "Details Amended on Web," But Foot Still In, RFK Center Still No Answer

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 6 -- On the internship at the UN being auctioned off, now for $26,000, Inner City Press asked again on May 6. UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky replied that "the details of the internship in question have been amended on the website."

  Inner City Press, have looked at the slightly amended ad, asked if the "foot in the door" still referred to meant only a foot in the door of the NGO, or of the UN system. 

  We await an answer to this question, which we have posed to the listed spokespeople for CharityBuzz.com, the RFK Young Leaders as well as the wider RFK Center, in which at least one Security Council mission may have an interest.

Inner City Press asked the French Mission to the UN to comment on the auction of an internship at the UN. Mission spokesman Guillaume Dabouis came out of the Security Council to say he had no comment. (Another question asked has not yet been responded to.)

It is understood, however and to France's credit, that it PAYS its interns, and only selects them through them a human resources process, not an auction. Others have been asked.

Here is the ad of what's being auctioned, as of noon and 4:30 pm in New York on May 6:

Lot Details

Take advantage of this exclusive opportunity for a 6-week internship in NYC working for Bruce Knotts, Chair of the UN-NGO Committee on Human Rights.

You will gain inside knowledge of just how the UN really operates and have tremendous opportunities to make invaluable connections. This truly is the ultimate internship opportunity for any college or graduate student looking to get their foot in the door!

Requirements for the internship:

An interest in Human Rights/Climate Change

Proficient in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint

Strong writing skills

Must be willing to take initiative and be pro-active

Able to provide a resume

Proceeds benefit RFK Young Leaders.

   Wag: What? Pay $26,000 and still have to provide a resume??

  It has been suggested the UN could not let in or otherwise vet the person on whose behalf $26,000 is paid. Nesirky did not yet answer this Inner City Press question.

    It seems strange, particularly in light of Buzz that the RFK Center may not be the true beneficiary of the auction, that so far the only response to multiple inquires to Sierra Ewert and then Meaghan E. Baron from the the RFK side has been this:

From: RFK Info info [at] rfkcenter.org
Date: Mon, May 6, 2013 at 3:04 PM
Re: [Second] Press Q on deadline for comment on the [modified?] auctioning off of an internship at the UN, thanks
To: Matthew Russell Lee [at] InnerCityPress [dot] com

Thank you for contacting the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. A representaive from the Center will contact you once he or she receives your inquiry. Thank you again and have a great day.

Watch this site.

As "Internship at UN" Is Offered for $22,000, UN Won't Contact NGO, Haiti Cholera Echo

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 2 -- How hard can it be for the UN to look into the online sale of an "internship at the UN"? Inner City Press wrote about just this on the morning of May 1 and asked about it at that day's noon briefing.

  Since then Inner City Press has reported that a bidder named "Aygul" is for now ahead, bidding $22,000. The RFK Center, for which the auction is being conducted, has notresponded with any explanation.

  And even 24 hours later, the UN purported it could not find out the details, then pushed back when Inner City Press said how they could easily do this. (TNRS coverage). From the UN's May 2 transcript:

UN Spokesperson Martin Nesirky: I think you had another question, Matthew? And then we’ll wrap up.

Inner City Press: yesterday I had asked you about this internship at the UN and I appreciate the answer that the UN is checking with Charity Buzz and that you don’t think that it is a UN internship. I was looking at the way it was advertised and, one, it is advertised as something that will teach you how the UN really works and get your foot in the door, and it’s not clear if that means with the RFK Center or the UN. But more than --

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well…

Inner City Press: can I just finish the question?

Spokesperson: Please do, please do.

Inner City Press: even if it’s a non-UN internship, if an NGO accredited here is part of an advertising scheme or, you know, set-up in which people are bidding $22,000 and it is being offered as sort of a way to get into the UN, is this a problem from either OLA’s [Office for Legal Affairs] point of view or the Secretary-General’s point of view that access seems to be being sold?

Spokesperson: We have said very clearly that no UN internships can be sold. That’s not how we operate. We also said very clearly to you and to others who have asked that we are in touch with this website to try to understand what is going on exactly, because we do not know. We are trying to find out. So, we can’t really comment further until we know the background on this. But, I think it is clear, we said very clearly, that UN internships are not for sale. Simple; end of story.

Inner City Press: I appreciate that. It seems like the internship is being offered with an NGO that’s accredited here, so there seems like another way to probably find this out --

Spokesperson: Well, as I say, Matthew, thank you for telling the Legal Affairs Office how to do their job. I can assure you they are looking into it. All right. Thanks very much. Have a good afternoon. Thank you.

This is the same UN Office of Legal Affairs which after 15 months of delay tersely ruled that all claims about the UN bringing cholera to Haiti were "not receivable." So, no, we do not have confidence in them cleaning this up. Watch this site.

Scoop Update II: After ICP Asks of Sale of Internship AT UN, UN Spins It's Not a UN Internship; Who's RFK "Winner" Aygul?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 2 -- Yesterday morning Inner City Press published an expose that an internship at the UN was and is being sold, online, for more than $20,000. Then at theMay 1 UN noon briefing, Inner City Press asked the UN to justify that

Inner City Press: people should pay $22,000 to work in the UN, it’s for the UN NGO Committee on Human Rights, for six weeks. They are auctioning it off openly to benefit something called the RFK Young Leaders Foundation. It says, you’ll learn how the UN really works.... I have written an article about it... I am wondering if the UN is comfortable with positions inside the building being sold for money online.

Spokesperson Nesirky: I’ll have to look into that; I am not aware of that particular unusual story, Matthew. [Video here, at 13:42]

  Nearly eight hours later after some others jumped on that story if only on Twitter, some far away giving credit or hat tips and some closer at hand troublingly not, the UN sent Inner City Press this answer:

Subject: Re: Your question today
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, May 1, 2013 at 7:53 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

Internships at the United Nations are not for sale and cannot be put up for auction. We are trying to find out the details of how this came about and have contacted 'charitybuzz.com'

Inner City Press immediately published this answer, in a second story noting that it had asked the RFK Center's Sierra Ewert:

"I am a journalist who covers the UN; this morning I wrote a story, then asked the UN a question, about the RFK Center's RFK Young Leaders role in the auctioning off of a "UN internship" for over $20,000 on CharityBuzz.com. I want to ask you, on deadline, what the RFK Center's knowledge of, involvement in, and position on this auctioning off of an internship at the UN is. Please respond ASAP."

  The RFK Center has yet to respond; some have come to its defense, or to the defense of Bruce Knotts. But is that the point?  Inner City Press put in other requests for comment.

   For what it's worth, the bidding started at $500 then got into a contest between "m.alam" and "Aygul," with the latter the interim (Young?) leader at $22,000.

  The UN, after publication of Inner City Press' second story, sent a "further to" clarification:

"Further to the earlier email, just to add that we do not believe that the internship in question is a UN internship. As mentioned, we are trying to establish the details of this case and have contacted 'charitybuzz.com.'"

  It was at this point, using precisely this "further to" language from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson's office, that another slowly came to the story. How did it happen? 

 What was the role of the spokesperson's office, which just last week didn't answer Inner City Press' April 25 noon briefing question about Ban meeting with former French president (and now investment adviser for Qatar) Nicolas Sarkozy -- then gave the answer to Agence France Presse? There is a growing pattern of this.

  The auctioned internship story has hit a nerve given the parallel debate about the ethics of unpaid internships; some have become aware of it through that world, and that's good. But in the smaller world of those who cover the UN, there are troubling developments on which we have also put in questions. In the UN fUN-house it is "World Press Freedom Day;" one would expect answers. Watch this site.

After ICP Exposes Sale of UN Internship at UN for $20,000, UN Contacts CharityBuzz

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, May 1 -- What does the UN do when it is shown that an internship at the UN is being sold, online, for more than $20,000?

  First it jests, then it asks. But the position remains for sale, with bids open until May 14, here.

  On the morning of May 1, Inner City Press exposed a "bid over $20,000 for an unpaid six week 'internship at the UN in New York City working for the UN-NGO Committee on Human Rights'... This UN has put up with many conflicts of interest, for example envoy Tony Blair being paid $11 million by Kazakhstan. By given the first question only to UN Correspondents Association who pay $70 dues, the UN has allowed a 'pay to question' system. But this?"

  After publishing this article, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Martin Nesirky at the May 1 noon briefing (video here, from Minute 13:42)

Inner City Press: there is a UN internship that’s being auctioned off online. I am not assuming that you’d know of this, but I have seen it, I have written an article about it --

Spokesperson Nesirky : Well, you want it? You want it or something?

Inner City Press: No, no, not at all, I wanted to know if it is legal. They are saying that people should pay $22,000 to work in the UN, it’s for the UN NGO Committee on Human Rights, for six weeks. They are auctioning it off openly to benefit something called the RFK Young Leaders Foundation. But, it seems to smack of… it says, you’ll learn how the UN really works. I am wondering if the UN is comfortable with positions inside the building being sold for money online.

Spokesperson Nesirky: I’ll have to look into that; I am not aware of that particular unusual story, Matthew. But, I am happy to look into it.

Inner City Press: Thank you.

  Throughout the afternoon, Inner City Press received responses from all over. But from the UN Spokesperson, nothing until after 7:30 pm:

Subject: Re: Your question today
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, May 1, 2013 at 7:53 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

Internships at the United Nations are not for sale and cannot be put up for auction. We are trying to find out the details of how this came about and have contacted 'charitybuzz.com'

  Well, that's something. But RFK's Michael Sandel was asked; later, Inner City Press asked the RFK Center's Sierra Ewert:

"I am a journalist who covers the UN; this morning I wrote a story, then asked the UN a question, about the RFK Center's RFK Young Leaders role in the auctioning off of a "UN internship" for over $20,000 on CharityBuzz.com. I want to ask you, on deadline, what the RFK Center's knowledge of, involvement in, and position on this auctioning off of an internship at the UN is. Please respond ASAP."

  Watch this site.