After Ng Bribery Conviction, ICP Asks UN About Global Compact, Meena Sur Email, More

By Matthew Russell Lee, Video and audio

UNITED NATIONS, August 17 – Three weeks after the UN bribery verdict of six guilty counts against Ng Lap Seng was delivered by the jury on July 27, on August 16 Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his response to the verdict. He scoffed and walked off. Video here. On August 17 Inner City Press asked Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq about trial exhibits it has begun to receive, on Meena Sur and the Global Compact, for first examples. Video here; from the UN transcript: Inner City Press: now that the Ng Lap Seng verdict has been rendered, Inner City Press has been obtaining the exhibits.  And I wanted to ask you, because, even going back and looking at the audit, several things were not solved.  Number one, there’s now specific emails involving current DGACM (Department of General Assembly and Conference Management) employee Meena Sur to Francis Lorenzo regarding the insertion of the name Sun Kiang Ip Group into a GA (General Assembly) document, that’s referenced in the audit.  Many people say Mr. [Ion] Botnaru retired.  That’s why nothing was ever done.  I guess what I want to know is, what’s been done?  Is there some explanation, again, of a current UN official having worked on the insertion of this company name into a GA document improperly?

Deputy Spokesman:  Regarding the general issue, without getting into the cases of specific individuals, the fact is the Department of Management has followed up on the various conclusions brought in by these reports and has made sure that all actions are properly undertaken.

Inner City Press: There’s another email, which is the Global Compact responded to Francis Lorenzo actually but about Sun Kiang Ip Group joining the Global Compact.  And it said, “We’ll get back to you after review of one or two weeks.”  So, I wanted to know, in terms of the Global Compact, given that Sun Kiang Ip Group is involved in casinos and other businesses, what review on the front end… I know it’s often said, once you join the Global Compact, the only thing that’s required is the filing of reports, not anything substantive.  But what review is done if, in fact, a casino business itself already involves controversy at the time can join?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, I believe the Global Compact on its own website tells you exactly what its priorities are and what it asks of incoming members, so I would just refer you to that.

Inner City Press:  So how do they join?

Deputy Spokesman:  No, just look at the website. It shows you what it expects from incoming members.  Have a good afternoon, everyone.

  On October 7 Judge Vernon S. Broderick allowed Ng to remain under house arrest, at least pending sentencing. Ng's $4 million 47th Street apartment, across the street from what was the office of his South South News, was called "not large" despite its 3,100 square feet. On August 7, he was allowed to remain out of jail. In the hearing, which Inner City Press attended, it emerged that Ng has had a closed-door masseuse four to ten hours a day, who also cooked for Ng's guards for "Guidepost Solutions LLC," whose Brendan P. Finn acknowledged visitors are not body searched and conversations in Chinese are not understood. Inner City Press rushed north to the UN and at Secretary General Antonio Guterres' spokesman's noon briefing asked for a list of any UN affiliated person has visited or had contact with Ng since his indictment in October 2015. Video here. The spokesman, Stephane Duajrric, said no, apparently without checking. Ng has hired Paul D. Clement for his appeal. It's a nice life if you've got money. More to follow. Inner City Press began asking the UN about the people still at the UN who were shown to have worked for or taking money from Ng, or both. So far the UN has done nothing. For example, the trial exposed the role of Carlos Garcia, former Salvadoran Ambassador and since then a bridge for NGOs, in helping "free" Lorenzo's bribe money from Ng. On August 4, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcripthere: Inner City Press: has to do with the Ng Lap Seng case, believe it or not.  In the case, among the evidence that… that came out leading to the guilty verdict was evidence of former Permanent Representative of El Salvador, Carlos Garcia, assisting Francis Lorenzo in getting ill-gotten gains released from the Dominican Republic.  I've asked you about him before because, since serving as a permanent representative, he seems to be a kind of bridge to NGOs [non-governmental organizations].  He had an NGO called Global Governance for the UNSDGs.  I still see him around 1B squiring people around.  So, my request to you is, given… and, again I don't know if OIOS [Office of Internal Oversight Services] tracked the case or not.  Given what was shown on the screen and put into evidence regarding his assistance in Mr. Francis Lorenzo getting bribe money released, does he have some, he has some kind of a pass.  Is there some kind of emeritus status for diplomats, or how it does it work?

Spokesman:  I'm not aware of any em… emeritus, yeah, emeritus status except for journalists, so I will look into it.  Thank you.

  We'll see - and we'll follow up. For further example, during the trial an email was shown that current UN official Meena Sur emailed back and forth helping on the brochure for Ng's fraudulent UN conference center.  But even today, in the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management organogram, Meena Sur is the chief of the "Documents Management Section." Documents for Ng Lap Seng. There is a history here: for the Dominican Republic mission, that is Francis Lorenzo, Meena Sur was also involved with a shadowy IGO "World Sports Alliance," heavily involved in mining but not sports. See for example this: "The World Sports Alliance (WSA) team briefed President Leonel Fernandez on his 19th September visit to Baruch College of the City University of New York during Hispanic Heritage Month. The World Sports Alliance is a multi-stakeholder partnership launched by XL Generation Foundation, Give Them a Hand Foundation, and the Informal Regional Network of the NGO Section/DESA that uses sports to create local economic development and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Ambassador Francis Lorenzo of the Mission of the Dominican Republic to the UN facilitated the meeting. Ms. Meena Sur, Programme Officer of the NGO Section/DESA, Mr. Gordon Tapper,
President of Give them a Hand Foundation, as well as Mr. Alain Lemieux, President of
the WSA, attended the President’s speech at the college as Special Guests of thePermanent Mission of the Dominican Republic." More on this soon - who in the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services followed up on any of this? The UN is corrupt - and incompetent. DGACM's UN Journal for August 3 calls that day, a Thursday, "Tuesday." Photo here. We will continue on this. Where is OIOS under Heidi Mendoza? They never followed up on the blatant conflict of interest of DPI chief Gallach, who appears in OIOS' own cover-up audit of the Ng Ashe affair, in evicting Inner City Press, and leaving it still restricted. The UN is corrupt. UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq who has repeatedly dodged questions about the case from Inner City Press wasquoted by Reuters that the UN was "a victim of these crimes" and later that "We are exploring the possibility of requesting restitution as a victim to these crimes, including recovering expenses incurred to provide the requested cooperation." On July 31, Inner City Press asked Haq's also holdover boss Stephane Dujarric to explain how this could be, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: last week, as you know, Ng Lap Seng was found guilty in one day on six charges of bribery, foreign corrupt practices act, money-laundering.  And I just want… I really want to understand this.  I've been looking at the idea that the UN will be… is… considers itself a victim of the case and will be requesting restitution as a victim.  And I wanted to understand.  It was said by Farhan [Haq], and I didn't have a chance to ask him about… is this just OLA [Office of Legal Affairs] trying to… in the same way as Haiti cholera, cover itself by saying we're a victim, we bear no responsibility, or is it literally António Guterres' position that the UN should be paid for a process in which its own DGACM [Department of General Assembly and Conference Management] gave a document to the guy?  There are still people here that worked on the proposal… I want to understand…

Spokesman:  I think the overall point is that the UN was used for what it appears for criminal activity by the gentleman who was found guilty.

Inner City Press:  Right, but what about the office South-South Cooperation?  Is there any guilt on the side of the UN side? Mr. Yiping Zhu that left immediately upon the indictment, is… was he victimized?  Did he not understand what he was doing?

Spokesman:  Mr. Yiping Zhu is no longer a staff member of this organization.

Inner City Press:  Right, but doesn't an organization have some responsibility for what its people do?

Spokesman:  I will leave it at that. 

  We won't. Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Haq on July 28 to explain how the UN is the victim, and how it dares say it should be get for corruption. Video 8 from Minute 8:40. Haq said, This is the position of our Legal Council. Now Inner City Press has asked above. Watch this site. The UN even refused to tell the prosecution whom it spoke to for its Task Force Report, which said it has no ethical standards. The UN will ask for money, while paying nothing to the 10,000 people it killed in Haiti? Reuters doesn't even raise that - it has a conflict of interest.  UN official Ion Butnaru put the name of Ng's company Sun Kian Ip Group into a General Assembly resolution long after it was voted on, took a free trip to Macau and an iPad there. Victim? Ng's company South South News bought full page ads in the ball program of the UN Correspondents Association, then went to their ball at Cipriani and got photos with then Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. (Reuters then as now had a seat on UNCA's board, something not disclosed in its coverage of Ng and the UN). A current UN official Meena Sur was shown in the trial to have held on Ng's brochure for his planned Macau conference Center. The UN remains UNreformed. Inner City Press, which has covered the scandal from the beginning and remains restricted by the UN for its coverage, rushed down to the courthouse and asked Ng Lap Seng, as he left by the side door to Worth Street, what he thinks of the UN and those there who took his money and favors, a list well beyond John Ashe and Francis Lorenzo. Periscope video here. He did not answer, understandable. He will be back in court on August 7 for arguments on if his house arrest can continue. Before Ng left, Inner City Press witnessed his lawyers leaving. They told the judge they will appeal. But now that Ng is guilty, will the UN act on those exposed as corrupt, and reverse its censorship?

 Ng Lap Seng's $3 billion UN convention center plan had been assisted by Meena Sur, still working for the UN Department of General Assembly and Conference Management. Inner City Press asked the UN spokesman Farhan Haq, who dodged by saying the UN was waiting for the verdict. But the UN is not on trial, because it has and cited immunity. 

Likewise, high UN official Navid Hanif attended Ng Lap Seng's murky event in Macau in August 2015, and remains at at the UN. Spokesman Haq refused to answer about him, while telling Inner City Press that lower UN staff member Frances Fuller “separated from service” in September 2016, just after Inner City Press asked about her. 

Francis Lorenzo, who took more money from Ng than the now deceased John Ashe, was given a UN.org email address by DGACM despite never being pictured among Ashe's Special Advisers, and never giving up his day job as the Dominican Republic's Deputy Permanent Representative. 

Even on July 26, DGACM's Executive Officer told Inner City Press that the UN still hands such UN credential to anyone whom a President of the General Assembly tells them too. So nothing has been reformed. 

The Department of Public Information under Cristina Gallach took Ng Lap Seng's money for its slavery memorial, and allowed fraudulentevents in the UN lobby. But UN lead spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who allowed the content of Ng's South South News to be included in UNTV archives under his watch, said this was just an issue of “judgment,” not malfeasance. 

The UN Correspondents Association, to whom Dujarric “lent” the UN Press Briefing Room then evicted and still restricts Inner City Press for seeking to cover the event to see if they discussed taking South South News' money and providing a venue for Ng's photo op with Ban Ki-moon, did not have a single member correspondent covering the month-long UN bribery case. Other dubious events were being hosted. 

And so, while awaiting the jury's verdict on Ng Lap Seng - which may be not guilty given how corrupt the UN and the star witness against him Francis Lorenzo have been shown to be - it is clear that the UN has not reformed and remains corruption and a censor, seven months into the reign of “new” Secretary General Antonio Guterres. It is the UN that should be prosecuted, or invited to leave. Watch this site. 

Legal footnotes: counsel to Ng Lap Seng, Park Jensen Bennett, Partners Tai H Park and Douglas Jensen in New York; and Alexandra Shapiro in New York; Assistant US attorneys Douglas Zolkind, Janis Echenberg and Daniel Richenthal of the US Attorney’s Office, David Last, on detail with the criminal division fraud section's FCPA unit.

On Coal, Inner City Press Asks UNFCCC's Figueres Of Funding by Banks in UN Global Compact, Supply Chains

By Matthew Russell Lee 

UNITED NATIONS, January 28 -- When Christiana Figueres of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change came with three others to take questions on green investment on January 27, Inner City Press asked her about banks continuing to fund coal -- including banks who are members of the UN Global Compact -- and about murky supply chains. Video here.

  Figueres responded on coal, saying it is on the way out in the US due in part to shale gas (or hydro-fracking); she said unabated coal has no place in the energy system. So, again, what are these banks funding it? We'll have more on this - especially the UN Global Compact members.

 Appearing with Figueres on January 27 were Thomas DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller; ; Michael Liebreich of the Advisory Board, Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Philippe Defosses, CEO, public pension fund for French civil servants (ERAFP).

Back on November 20, 2015, Inner City Press asked UN official Janos Pasztor about requests that the Green Climate Fund not accredit HSBC or Credit Agricole, given their track records.

  Pasztor earnestly answered the questions, though he said he was unaware of the request to the GCF about the two banks (see here).

On October 13 Inner City Press asked Pasztor about criticism of the OECD's claims about developed countries' progress toward $100 billion in 2020, and about the IMF's or Christine Lagarde's call for a carbon tax.Video here.

  Pasztor replied that at the meeting in Peru, finance ministers had raised questions about the OECD's methodology, which he said the OECD Secretary General had responded to. He called Lagarde's proposals “an important way that countries can address this issue.”

  Back on September 21 the 2015 Equator Prize winners were announced at a UN press conference featuring Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin, UNDP's Helen Clark and UNFCCC's Christiana Figueres, about whose 3 degree Celsius prediction Inner City Press asked last week.

 Inner City Press asked Figueres about her fellow UN official Janos Pasztor's prediction that current Intended Nationally Determined Contributions would equate to 3.5 degrees. She did not disagree; UNDP's Helen Clark said the INDCs are not ambitious enough yet.  

  Given UNDP's direct work with governments, Inner City Press asked Helen Clark about, for example, the Democratic Republic of the Congo being accuses of going soft on illegal logging, for example on Lebanese-owned firm Cotrefor. Video here.

  Alec Baldwin cited Canadian tar sands, and also ExxonMobil (earlier on September 21, Inner City Press asked about BNP Paribas funding coal power plants). Climate Week began... 

  Inner City Press on September 17 asked UN's Assistant Secretary-General on Climate Change Janos Pasztor whether INDCs to date would raised temperatures by 3 degrees Celsius, as Christiana Figueres has said, or 2.5 degree as the Guardian has an unnamed UK official saying.Video here.

  Pasztor's answer to Inner City Press included "3.5 degrees;" Figueres' spokesperson chimes in this is the difference between frying and cooking. But who was the Guardian's anonymous "merely warming" source?

  Amina Mohammed, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning, spoke about financing issues, on which Inner City Press asked about how to count if the $100 billion goal is reached by 2020. 

Back on August 11 after the climate change announcement of Australia, Inner City Press on August 11 asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about it, video here, transcript here:

Inner City Press: in the statement about the countries coming out with their climate change targets, Australia came out with one.  It's sort of become a touchstone, many people are saying there's no way it would lead to 2°C…

Spokesman Dujarric:  First of all, we very much welcome countries that issue their INDC.  It's an important step, and we very much hope that all Member States will do so.  They really need to be seen as a floor and not a ceiling.  They're a starting point.  There will be discussions prior to Paris.  There will, obviously, be discussions in Paris.  People are free to, obviously, express their opinion on certain countries' INDCs, but for our part, we're glad we have them, and we do see them as a starting point in the discussions.

Back on June 18 when the UN gave a climate change briefing by UNDP's Cassie Flynn, and Jo Scheuer, on June 18 Inner City Press asked about the under-funding of the Least Development Countries Fund, and if South Korea is backsliding in its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. Video here.

  The answers, on film, were to promote other funding vehicles, and to say that South Korea has still yet to file its INDC.

Back on June 4 the UN's Assistant Secretary-General on Climate Change Janos Pasztor held a press conference and Inner City Press asked him about unspent funds at the Clean Development Mechanism in Bonn, and about reported backsliding by South Korea on its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions on greenhouse gas reduction.

  Pasztor said that the CDM is still needed; he said country have committed not to backslide. Video here. (South Korea had yet to submit its INDCs, it seems). Inner City Press asked Pasztor to provide a comment, if he has one, once South Korea's filing is made.

Back on May 5, Inner City Press asked him about criticism of the Green Climate Fund, including at the recent Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Video here and embedded below.

  Specifically, why will the "Green" Climate Fund provide financial for coal-powered plants? Pasztor replied that some felt that an exclusion for coal would have been divisive. On statements at the PFII that the UN is helping to "monetize" nature, Pasztor replied that most states feel differently. But what about the indigenous?
  
  Pasztor in his opening statement had praised the UN Pension Fund for now investing in "green equities" and "green bonds." Since the UN has responded to Press questions about irregularities alleged at the Pension Fund by emphasizing how separate and independent it is, Inner City Press asked Pazstor if the UN Secretariat had brought about this Pension Fund decision.

 Pazstor replied that the Pension Fund answers to the Secretary General and that "she" - Carolyn Boykin, presumably - had made this decision. We'll have more on this, after noting Pasztor by no means the least responsive UN official...

 When last September 21 the People's Climate March assembled at Manhattan's Columbus Circle, there were anti-corporate puppets in front of the Trump International Hotel and Tower, speeches by coal miners and from the Marshall Islands.

   Many called on the UN to do better. But UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon joined the march mid-way, at Radio City Musical Hall with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. Senator Chuck Schumer was on hand, walking by a Bronx contingent chanting how Fresh Direct has broken its promises.

  Inner City Press' 90 second video of the march is here.

  The UN's or "BKM" (Ban Ki-moon) Climate Summit will feature Cargill and Walmart, Credit Agricole and Bank of America. The last of these is the first, in terms of funding mountain top coal removal. These are the contradiction. Inner City Press tweeted photos on@InnerCityPress. More to follow.

  The night before the People's Climate March, the UN buildings on First Avenue lit up with photos and footage of trees and fish and written messages. It is called "illUmiNations." Inner City Press video here.

   Inner City Press late on September 19, after covering the Ukraine,Iraq, Ebola and Iran nuclear meetings inside the UN, went out and found a sort of trial run for the screening taking place on First Avenue, alreadylined with NYPD cement blocks. Photo here.

   Looking back at the UN's press release for the upcoming "VIP Press Screening" -- hard to know how they could exclude non-VIPs from it, or why they would want to -- there were laudatory quotes about UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and: 

Obscura Digital has staged similar large-scale architectural mapping projection events on the Sydney Opera House, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. For examples of previous work, please visit the following link http://wdrv.it/1tx7Emd.

 In that video compilation, well worth watching, there are also corporate projects for Coca-Cola and YouTube owned by Google, with history at the UN. 

  A message Inner City Press photographed on September 19, here,  was "In nature's economy, the currency is not money but life." Is this true of Coca-Cola?

   There are questions about the UN's UNcritical approach to corporations and corporate "partnerships."

   In the run up to the UN's September 23 Climate Summit, the UN put out a media advisory promoting the participation of 14 corporations ranging from Saudi Aramco through Cargill, McDonald's and Walmart to Bank of America and Credit Agricole. 

  Inner City Press on September 16 asked Summit promoter Robert Orr how these 14 were selected for listing in the media advisory, and if the UN had reviewed their wider record. For example, the recent court decision involving Cargill and child slavery in Cote d'Ivoire, or Saudi Aramco not allowing employees in Saudi Arabia to protest.

   Orr mentioned a luncheon during the summit about carbon pricing and the UN Global Compact, a branch of the UN which repeatedly says it does not enforce substantive standards, only encourages reporting and dialogue.  Well, Saudi Aramco did not respond to the complaint about “employees allegedly dismissed after being detained for participation in civil rights protests in Saudi Arabia.”

   And what of the environment? Bank of America has been the number one funder of mountain-top removal coal mining, but Ban Ki-moon made it chairman the chief of his Sustainable Energy for All initiative.

  On behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access, Inner City Press asked that those making commitments, like the 14 corporations named, hold question and answer sessions during the summit. We'll see.

Inner City Press Asks UN Global Compact's Lise Kingo If Arms Trade Can Join, Yes If Legal, She Says

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 21 -- When new UN Global Compact chief Lisa Kingo took questions about upcoming private sector events on September 21, Inner City Press asked for her view on the need for substantive standards for this UN program, to avoid "blue-washing."Video here. 

  Kingo replied that the focus on the Global Compact is on reports. Inner City Press asked, then, if arms manufacturers or traders could join.

 Kingo replied that "illegal areas like the ones you mentioned" couldn't join.

 But, Inner City Press pointed out, armed manufacturing and trading is legal. She replied that "special kinds of bombs" might not be. So: no standards? We'll have more on this.

Back on June 25, 2015, the UN Global Compact was studied and praised in a 205 page study by DNL-GL. Inner City Press asked DNL-GL's Henrik Madsen if he has listened to critics of the Compact as "bluewashing," having as members banks like HSBC which engage in tax evasion and predatory lending.

  Madsen replied that he would be telling companies later in the day that they should pay their taxes. Fine - but HSBC has helped its customer to evade taxes. What about that?

  Georg Kell of the Compact said Madsen will be joining the Compact board of directors; earlier he said he's told the Compact principles are in the Koran.

 Inner City Press asked about Westpac, which cut remittances to Somalia. This was not directly answered.

Back on June 5 financial inclusion was the topic at the UN when Queen Maxima of the Netherlands held a press conference at the UN, for which she's the the “Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.”

  Inner City Press asked Queen Maxima what she has done on the issue of banks like Barclays and Westpac cutting of remittances to Somalia.Video here.

   Queen Maxima, who had cited remittances in her opening statement, replied among other things that banks take a “risk-based approach,” and that the smaller profits they make on remittances make them cut them off. 

  It is on just this type of thinking, we'd say, that this UN office ought to be raising its voice, for example in the case of Westpac, which is a member of the UN Global Compact.

 Inner City Press also asked Queen Maxima if UN agencies like UNRWA and UNHCR are working on the issue of the unbanked, trying to ensure that the payments they make help recipients to establish bank accounts. This too is unclear - the answer was that the UN is studying this, is producing knowlege. It will be good to produce results. We will stay on this.
   

At UN, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands Talks Remittances, Inner City Press Asks of Somalia, Barclays & Westpac, UNRWA and the UNbanked

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 5 -- Financial inclusion was the topic on June 5 when Queen Maxima of the Netherlands held a press conference at the UN, for which she's the the “Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.”

  Inner City Press asked Queen Maxima what she has done on the issue of banks like Barclays and Westpac cutting of remittances to Somalia.Video here.

   Queen Maxima, who had cited remittances in her opening statement, replied among other things that banks take a “risk-based approach,” and that the smaller profits they make on remittances make them cut them off. 

  It is on just this type of thinking, we'd say, that this UN office ought to be raising its voice, for example in the case of Westpac, which is a member of the UN Global Compact.

 Inner City Press also asked Queen Maxima if UN agencies like UNRWA and UNHCR are working on the issue of the unbanked, trying to ensure that the payments they make help recipients to establish bank accounts. This too is unclear - the answer was that the UN is studying this, is producing knowlege. It will be good to produce results. We will stay on this.
   

At UN, Praises Sung of Shell & Anglo-American by HSBC Director Moody-Stuart, Softball Questions from Global Compact and FT: Bluewashing

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 28 -- When Mark Moody-Stuart appeared against the background of the East River with Wall Street behind it on April 28, it was a UN classic event: fauxinterview, self-congratulation and critical questions not taken.

Moody-Stuart largely sung the praises of Shell Oil and then Anglo-American. A Financial Times journalist was brought it to toss soft ball questions and then pick, along with a UN Global Compact staffer, questions from the floor.

These consisted of questions like, How can you expand the Global Compact, and what do responsible companies like Shell do with corrupt governments? One chosen questioner didn't himself disclose that he is on a board of the Global Compact; another was a UN official.

Inner City Press indicated that it wanted to ask a question, even directly approached the question-distributor, who nodded. But no question was ever allowed. When it ended and Inner City Press walked out, a "business and ethics" scribe approached saying he had interviewed Moody-Stuart at some length earlier in the day. Inner City Press asked: did you ask about the global financial meltdown caused by predatory lending? Apparently not.

It should be noted that the UN uses as its bank JP Morgan Chase, even as a draft resolution by the Group of 77 circulated condemning Chase for essentially diplomatic redlining. Critical questions were not taken: there were a stack of books to be promoted, and a lot of backs to be patted. 

  There may have been some improvements at the Global Compact, such as a described working group on remittances that might address such issues as Barclays' Somalia cut off.  But this type of controlled Q&A and self congratulation is indicative of continued blue-washing. Watch this site.

   

As UN Global Compact Member Sonera Linked to Uzbek Probe, UN Defers & Spins, Blue-Washing

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 14 -- Company join the UN Global Compact, but when they are charged with corrution and money laundering, what happens?

This week, Inner City Press put this question to new / old UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric:

Now that UN Global Compact member Telia Sonera has been linked to the Uzbek bribery and money laundering probe, what is the UN or its Global Compact's response? To assist you answering:http://yle.fi/uutiset/sonera_linked_to_uzbek_bribery_probe/7134014 News 

Sonera linked to Uzbek bribery probe One of Finland’s largest telecom operators has been indirectly tied to a money laundering investigation into the flamboyant daughter of Uzbekistan's president

and

http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/news/2013/teliasonera-becomes-a-member-of-the-un-global-compact/

TeliaSonera becomes a member of the UN Global Compact 21 February 2013 The UN Global Compact, with over 10,000 corporate members and other stakeholders across 130 countries, is the largest voluntary corporate responsibility initiative in the world. It is a leadership platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible and sustainable corporate policies and practices. In February, TeliaSonera became a signatory and a member of the UN Global Compact.

  The first day, Dujarric just ignored the question as if it had not been asked. Inner City Press published a story, one in a series. On March 14, the following came in, which we publish the same day:

Subject: Your question on the Global Compact
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org>
Date: Fri, Mar 14, 2014 at 1:54 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Cc: Stephane Dujarric [at] un.org

Regarding your recent question on the Global Compact, the Global Compact Office has the following information:

The UN Global Compact is a voluntary multi-stakeholder platform for dialogue, exchange of good practices and collaborative solutions in the business arena. It is neither the UN Global Compact’s mandate nor its intention to monitor or judge participants’ performance, and participation in the initiative does not constitute a seal of approval.

Nevertheless, the UN Global Compact has in place Integrity Measures to promote continuous improvement and assist participants in aligning their actions with their commitment to the Global Compact principles. When it receives information suggesting that a participant company is not committed to continuous improvement, the UN Global Compact will endeavor to encourage dialogue (Dialogue Facilitation) between the company concerned and those who have raised the concerns. The UN Global Compact will make enquiries of its Nordic and Netherlands Local Networks about this matter. It will also forward the matter to the company itself asking for their reply.

  To which one UN observer opines, "That lame response dodges the main point: that shabby companies like this sign up for the UN Global Compact because they think it will make them smell better. The UN demands payola from these companies (for the blue-washing) and they get to use the UN's name on their websites and stationery as a sort of Good Housekeeping seal of approval. And when a story like this comes in, the UN paternalistically say that they will start asking questions to the company in question."

  Sounds like the UN... Watch this site.

   

On Corporate Donations, HABITAT on Ericsson Cites Compact, UN Defers on Samsung, Censors' Set?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 9 -- How does or should the UN "partner" with big private businesses? The question arose recently when Secretary General Ban Ki-moon used a two-question stakeout about sustainable energy to praise Shell Oil and Bank of America, implicated in the 2008 predatory lending meltdown.

On Monday, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesperson, and UN-HABITAT chief Joan Clos, about being intertwined with Samsung, Ericsson, even TomTom.

  Clos replied that UN-HABITAT only partners or accepts donations or staff from corporation which are members of the UN Global Compact. But is that enough? Can companies use their contributions as a basis for advertising, even an implicit claim of endorsement by the UN?

  The Samsung question is closer to home, right in the UN Headquarters. Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesperson Martin Nesirky about a donation of television screens or sets by Samsung, where the UN reports the donations it gives, and the terms. He said he would check.

  Even before this interim answer was given, another one cut in from long time member of the United Nations Correspondents Association, which as Inner City Press has reported decided to accept a Samsung television screen after being assured there is no conflict of interest by none other than the UN itself.

  While the question Monday was not put to the UNCA representatives in and next to their labeled "Holy Seat," the hissed reply seemed to be that UNCA is not accepting a television screen -- does that mean not accepting any free TV labeled "Samsung," or arguing that it is being lent by the UN out of a donation from Samsung?

  UNCA under its 2013 and apparently 2014 president Pamela Falk sent out this explanation, provided to Inner City Press by an outraged or disgusted UNCA member:

"There was discussion about whether or not UNCA should receive a donation from Samsung and whether or not a Mission was involved. DPI was able to clarify the donation information, which does not involve a mission. This note was received: This is to confirm that once we get the donations from Samsung to the UN, DPI will loan a TV screen to UNCA to replace one of your old ones."

  Is this going forward? And when will the UN answer the questions asked Monday at noon, including about the protests in South Korea about Samsung exposing its workers to environmental diseases?

From the Korea Times in September of this year:

The Lawyers for Democratic Society and a labor rights group of Samsung Electronics have written to the United Nations about occupational diseases among the company’s employees.

The organizations told a press conference in front of Samsung Group headquarters in southern Seoul on Wednesday that the move was designed to pressure Samsung and the Korean Government to take responsibility for occupational diseases and the damage they caused to victims and their families.

“The occurrence of occupational diseases and their consequences are clear violations of labor rights, and the UN must be made aware of this development,” said a spokesperson for the protesting groups.

There are numerous avenues of complaints and petitions that protesters can file with the UN, but the Korean groups chose to put their allegations in a letter.

The letter alleges Samsung has been withholding the results of tests and evaluations in suspected cases of occupational diseases.

It says Ministry of Employment and Labor have failed to stop workers being exposed to harmful chemicals and other hazardous substances, and that tougher initiatives are needed to protect workers’ rights.

  Also in that HABITAT portion of the briefing, Inner City Press asked Clos about HABITAT's work in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan. He said they have an office there, then continued that in planning a city (like, say, Tacloban) it is important that 30% be set aside for public space, rather than the two to ten percent that happens under "spontaneous" development. We'll see. Watch this site.