UN Waste In Dump Caused Malaria in Central African Republic Under Ladsous, Bermann Next?

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Series

UNITED NATIONS, February 3 – Despite having killed more than 10,000 people in Haiti with lax sanitation practices, the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations in Central African Republic, under its fourth consecutive French director in a row Herve Ladsous, is dumping waste negligently, a UN memo leaked to Inner City Press shows.

  The memo states that "following complaints by the local population living in the vicinity of the dumpsite" a UN investigation found that the dumpsite sludge dams breed insects which result in sickness. Eighty-one percent of the UN's victims are children, the memo says.

  The report, under "Community Discontent," cites malaria. It notes that when concerns were raised, "police force was used to quell the dissent."

  Inner City Press has long questioned Ladsous, for example about his linking of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers to "R&R" or rest and recreation, here. Ladsous replies, "I don't answer your questions, Mister."

  Now under new UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, many are interested who will replace Ladsous. While other Under Secretary General posts like Cristina Gallach's atop the Department of Public Information are now subject to public vacancy notices, DPKO has not. Why not? Inner City Press asked, but UN holdeover spokesman Stephane Dujarric didn't answer.

  Sources will Inner City Press France is trying to hold onto DPKO for the fifth time in a row, albeit with a women, on information and belief Sylvie Bermann, since 2014 France's ambassador in London. Five times in a row? Given this kind of mismanagement, in a former French colony?

Exclusive: UN Waste In Dump Caused Malaria in Central African Republic, Report Leaked to Inner City Press S... by Matthew Russell Lee on Scribd

  This concerned the Kolongo dumpsite in Bangui. Related memos refer to the UN in Mali as well.

  Tellingly, this UN memo warns of litigation, "taking into account lessons learned in the Haiti case." But was did the UN learn?

  Ban Ki-moon, who after leaving the UN on January 1 has found his campaign for South Korea's Presidency implode amid corruption charges, dodged legal papers about Haiti for years. In his last month he promised millions but so far less than $2 million have been raised, more than half of it blood money from South Korea.

  In the Central African Republic, UN peacekeepers have been accused of sexual abuse, including of minors. The UN itself recently accused 25 Burundian peacekeepers of sexual exploitation and abuse, but UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, the fourth French national in a row to hold the position, determined to continue to pay the Pierre Nkurunziza government for 800 more troops.

  New UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is considering who will replace Ladsous. He should consider and act on this as well.

  UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, while declining to explain Ladsous' reasoning, recent answered only two and a half of 22 questions Inner City Press posed in writing. UN Department of Public Information chief Cristina Gallach evicted Inner City Press from its UN office without due process, confining it still to minders to cover the General Assembly.

  The UN reflexively covers up its abuses. Even after killing 10,000 people with cholera in Haiti, these practices continue in the Central African Republic.

  Other memos have been leaked to Inner City Press. Meanwhile even the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, rather than dealing with the substance of a UN Ethics Office memo Inner City Press published, has Tweeted a press release saying it is all unsubstantiated. Really? The UN must be reformed.

As Bed Net Bribes Pushes Search to Tanzania, UN's Malaria Man Ray Chambers Praises Twitter

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 13 -- Amid happy talk on malaria, the question of what to do with the two largest bed net producers both charged with corruption was raised Thursday at the UN by Inner City Press.

Ray Chambers, Special Envoy of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for Malaria, replied that "none of us has the complete picture." 

  He went on to say, "from what we've heard, it was two local people, nothing to do with senior management." But what about command responsibility? A committee of the Global Fund will meet soon to consider what to do with the companies, which Chambers called "Vestergaard and Sumitomo."

  (Vestergaard Frandsen is based in Switzerland; when the New York Times referred to Sumitomo Chemical of Japan, they had to correct it to Sumitomo Chemical Singapore.)

  Chambers mentioned another bed net producer, A to Zed in Arusha, Tanzania. Later on Thursday a long time UN global public health expert told Inner City Press "We've been trying to build up a company in Tanzania but there have been problems;" he mentioned electricity.

  Inner City Press also asked about the response on malaria in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda. 

  Dr. Robert D. Newman, Director of the Global Malaria Program at the World Health Organization cited a recently publication; Ban's spokesperson Martin Nesirky offered to provide contacts for WHO in Geneva (then proceeded to refuse to take a second question from Inner City Press, while given another scribe a total of four).

Chambers said that the offers of monetary and other help for Typhoon Haiyan have never been greater, which he attributed to social media, Facebook and Twitter and people using them to come together. Video here from Minute 20:55.

Given lack of transparency and double standards at the UN, including in what questions can be be asked to Ban Ki-moon and his top officials like UN Peacekeeping's Herve Ladsous (video here, UK coverage here) the new Free UN Coalition for Access is using social media to bring together people wanting and needing information from the UN. We'll have more on this. Watch this site.

   

Amid Crackdown in Turkey, Ban Ki-moon's UN Is Silent, No Response to Press: Reducing Access, Turkish Lounge Indeed

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 3 -- Amid the protests and crackdowns in Taksin Square, Istanbul and elsewhere in Turkey, what has the UN had to say? Nothing.

  It's not that they were not asked. Early on June 1, more than 45 hours before finally publishing this, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's three top spokespeople, "does the UN have any comment or guidance on the response to protests in Istanbul and elsewhere in Turkey?"

  Not only was there no response to or acknowledgment of question, which was accompanied by a request for Ban's response to 19 members of the US Congress writing about his dismissal of 5000 legal claims for the UN bringing cholera to Haiti, and on other issues -- the UN has put out no statement at all.

  Statements are what this UN has been reduced to. They churn them out at breathtaking speed, and those who cover Ban write them up, as it's calls, as fast as they come out. Ban is "deeply concerned" about this, "concerned about that," "calls for restraint," and so forth.

  In this case, it's not that Ban and his Office have not been cranking out statements: about malaria, Tanzania, post-2015 development, Madagascar, the World Bank and, of course, Syria. But nothing on #OccupyGezi or Turkey -- one of the West's and Ban's allies on Syria. Could that be it?

  Meanwhile Ban's UN, having orchestrated an entirely unnecessary reduction in press access and media workspace in front of the relocating Security Council, has also gone silent. Knowing of a 10 am Monday deadline, unlike Ban's Office of the Spokesperson the responsible department did contact Inner City Press.

A request was made to hold off to allow the checking and consideration of information provided by the new Free UN Coalition for Access back on May 21, when the proposed rule (apparently supported by the old UN Correspondents Association and explicitly by Ban or at least his Office of the Spokesperson, video here). Inner City Press did turn closer to home and hold off, it's unclear for what.

Ironically, a cause or justification for the impending reduction in media access is... a new so-called Turkish Lounge. We'll have more on all this. Watch this site.

On Malaria, UN's Ray Chambers Explains Net Slow Down, Heat, Douste-Blazy's MassiveGood's Quiet Death

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 25 -- Why did the number of malaria bed nets distributed in Africa fall from 145 million in 2010 to only 66 million last year?

  Thursday was World Malaria Day -- WMD, to some -- so Inner City Press asked at the UN's noon briefing about bed nets, and about the failure of the “MassiveGood” fundraising trumpeted by Philippe Douste-Blazy, former French foreign minister and now sometime-UN official.

  Both questions were addressed by Ray Chambers, with the long title of “Special Envoy of Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for Malaria and for the Financing of the Health-related Millennium Development Goals.” 

Inner City Press asked Chambers about MassiveGood back on December 14, 2010, here.

 OThursday, Chambers said he hadn't heard anything about MassiveGood for the past year.

  Exactly -- it closed down, albeit quietly, in November 2011. What's Douste-Blazy doing now? (Other than this hiring, on which the UN only answered Inner City Press on New Years Eve, here.)

  On bed nets, Chambers said that there had been a push for as many nets as possible in 2010, which inevitably led to a fall-off afterward. Then the Global Fund had to be “re-structured” -- a diplomat word, that -- and so there was less money to buy nets.

  But now, he said, it is turned around. In the first quarter of 2013, some 36 million nets were produced, which he projected to 140 million on the year. And they will be needed: the children who've slept under nets since 2010 now have no immunity at all.

  Chambers explained that there's a move to nets that last longer than three years, but that will require more “tensile strength” to avoid breaking when kicked at by a child. But that makes the nets heavier, and hotter to sleep under, leading some to then not use them.

Joy Phumaphi, Executive Secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, added that there's a move to standardize net size, which will make them cheaper to produce, rather than trying to tailor the size of nets to different regions and preferences. The whole ten minute exchange is here, from Minute 27:22.

  On fundraising, Chambers recounted going to Washington last week, to meet Senator Lindsey Graham and then, drum roll, Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett last Friday. 

  Chambers screened the trailer of “Mary and Martha,” a movie involving malaria that premiered on HBO on Saturday. Call it World Malaria Week, with the less tainted acronym WMW. Watch this site.

At UN, Of Global Fund & Blazy, Jim Kim, Malaria & Myanmar, Ban On the Run?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 23 -- At malaria day at the UN on Monday, questions of gaps emerged and were largely dodged. Inner City Press asked Jeffrey Sachs about the resistant strains of malaria, starting along the Myanmar - Thailand border. He replied that resistant is a misnomer, it's a product of mono therapy.

  Ray Chambers promoted a company in Geneva which he says may solve this problem. But until it does? Inner City Press asked Chambers about the Global Fund scandal, and when it will be back up and running. By the beginning of next year, Chambers said. And until then?

  Gabriel Jaramillo, former Banco Santander and Sovereign Bank executive, was supposed to be at the press conference but wasn't. So Inner City Press went to a chicken lunch in the re-opened replacement Delegates' Dining Room. There, Jaramillo said he would keep his answer short, "because my chicken will get cold."

  Chambers, another finance titan, spoke up incoming World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim and even praised Philippe Douste Blazy and UNITAID, whose project to raise money with airplane tickets not only failed but was exposed as corrupt. Click here for Inner City Press' first exclusive story. So much for accountability.

  A representative of Medecins Sans Frontieres in the audience spoke up about a major increase of malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Inner City Press asked where and was promised a press release tomorrow). Note that the UN has stonewalled on its waste of funds in Walikale in Eastern DRC in the "Meece's Mills" scandal exposed by Inner City Press, here.

  The representative of the Gates Foundation, contrary it seemed to Jeff Sachs' downplaying of the resistant strains in Myanmar and Thailand, said these are a problem.

  Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, it was announced, would speak to the press about Myanmar at 5:30 pm. Then a 5:45 photo op with the Azeri Ambassador was added. Fifteen minutes for presentation and questions? Resistant, indeed. Watch this site.

UN Slow to Act on Douste Blazy Misuse of MassiveGood Funds, Malaria in Myanmar

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 14 -- Former French foreign minister Philippe Douste Blazy's misuse of millions of dollars in funding from UNITAID has yet to be effectively acted on by the UN system, it emerged on December 14.

At a press conference on malaria, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy on the topic, Ray Chambers, what has been done since Inner City Press' questions and expose more than five month ago.

We are watching it, Chambers said, adding later that his past work as an investor made him wary of “start ups.” But Douste Blazy presented his Millennium Foundation and its MassiveGood program as nearly a sure thing. He paid Spike Lee $500,000 to make a promotional film that featured Bill Clinton, Paul Auster and others. And then... nothing, or very little.

As Inner City Press showed, the Millennium Foundation was stocked with associates of now former French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, recently fired by Nicolas Sarkozy. Chamber on December 14 said that “to the best of our knowledge,” UNITAID gave some $8 to $10 million to Douste Blazy's Millennium Foundation, which has been hampered by “software problems.” Video here, from Minuyte 37:20

But where is the accountability? To fight malaria is laudable. But who approved this transfer of funds?

In the rest of the press conference, from which WHO chief Margaret Chan left without taking any questions, Inner City Press asked about the UN's response to malaria in Pakistan after the floods, and about WHO's involvement in a company's work with genetically modified mosquitoes.

WHO's Doctor Rob Newman, in Chan's absence, acknowledged WHO's engagement with genetically modified mosquitoes. Video here, from Minute 45:07. Inner City Press was not allowed a follow up question about the specifics.

On Pakistan, Newman said that WHO sent a situation assessment team from its Eastern Mediterranean office, and has procured and shipped the “commodities” needed. But how will malaria spread in Pakistan?

How is are resistant strains of malaria spreading along the borders of Thailand with Cambodia and, more recently, Myanmar? Watch this site.

Footnote: WHO's Newman says he wrote to 39 companies to urge stopping production of single drug malaria products, and got only two responses. It seems that these, targeted by African leaders as recounted to his credit by Ray Chambers, are mostly based in India, which is joining the UN Security Council next month.

Notably, as Inner City Press reported last week from India's Mission to the UN, India argues that Myanmar is NOT a threat to international peace and security, and should not be on the Security Council's agenda. But if resistant malaria is spreading, isn't THAT a threat to international peace and security?

As UNICEF Drugs Resold in Sierra Leone and Holiday Cards Misrun, UN's Ban Is Silent

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban1unicef112908.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 29 -- Medicine and mosquito nets given for free by the UN system to the government of Sierra Leone have reappeared for sale for profit in Free Town. The abuse is widespread. Inner City Press on November 25 asked UN spokesperson Michele Montas if Ban Ki-moon or his envoy on malaria Ray Chambers have any comment, any plans to address this re-sale of UN aid. First let's see if it's true, Ms Montas said. But it has been captured on film, by the BBC's Panorama program, summarized here.

In the first instance, Inner City Press asked UNICEF for an answer, and got this

Hi Matthew, Just for your info, I think it is important to note - a) it is the Government that distributes products, b) that UNICEF does conduct monitoring and requests action...

"Cotrimoxazole is on the essential medicines list of most countries and is one of the products in highest demand from UNICEF. It is a well-tolerated and cost-effective life-saving intervention for children living with HIV or who have been exposed to HIV. To help save the lives of children in Sierra Leone, UNICEF provides supplies of nets and drugs to the Government for distribution.

"The Government provides quarterly reports on health programme implementation and UNICEF regularly conducts spot-check monitoring of distribution. If irregularities are uncovered, UNICEF informs the Government and it takes action...

"It is unrealistic to expect that all of the drugs and nets we provide will be used for the purpose for which they are intended... Where we have information about large-scale leakage from our programmes, we investigate and take action."

But what action has been taken in this case? Contrast this well-crafted answer, though, with the underlying report, here. There is a need for the head of the UN system, Ban Ki-moon or at least his Malaria Envoy Ray Chambers, to speak and act on the resale for profit of UNICEF-granted drugs in Sierra Leone.

UNICEF also recently answered Inner City Press' question about its auditors' criticism of the use of holiday card sale proceeds, to

"Please provide UNICEF's comment / response on deadline to para 42 from

A/63/474, that '[a]t UNICEF, the Board observed that some National Committees were retaining up to 100 per cent of the gross proceeds from the sale of greeting card products even though rule 9.04 of the special supplement to the UNICEF Financial Regulations and Rules states that they may be authorized to retain only up to 25 per cent of such sales. The Advisory Committee concurs with the Board that UNICEF should ensure that the 25 per cent retention limit is applied and that, if necessary, UNICEF should evaluate and formalize any exceptions to the rule.'"

Inner City Press asked, "what is UNICEF's response, what is UNICEF doing in response?" Subsequently the following was received:

Hi Matthew, Here's an answer re the Greeting Cards.

"In 2007, the UNICEF greeting card business generated sales of $ 156 million and made a net contribution to UNICEF programmes of $ 61 million, a healthy 39% operating margin, comparing favourably to the industry average of 4% to 8%. As with all consumer-product businesses, there are costs associated with the sale of UNICEF greeting cards. These include direct selling and marketing costs, production and manufacturing, logistics, and distribution.

"In some markets, UNICEF has recently faced increased competitive pressure coupled with market contraction. This has resulted in lower than expected sales and higher than expected selling costs. In these markets, UNICEF and the relevant National Committees are presently reviewing alternative distribution models to improve the cost to sales ratio and improved levels of profitability."

Despite UNICEF's spokesman's always erudite answers, one wonders if "the relevant National Committees" include UNICEF Germany, faced earlier this year with scandal which UNICEF also minimized, at least initially. We await Ban Ki-moon's views and action on the sale for profit of UNICEF-given drugs in Sierra Leone.

Working for children is laudable, but oversight is needed. This can appear to be lacking at UNICEF, witness not only the above but also the UN's reticence to openly criticize UNICEF's chief's granting of the UN's North Lawn to Madonna and a Kabbalah-affiliated charity earlier this year. UNICEF's chief has yet to hold a press conference with Q&A in UN headquarters since then.

Footnote: And now some observers of both the UN and United States political scenes opine that the top position at UNICEF may soon be in for a change to be believed in...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban1unicef112908.html

At UN, Malaria Week is Nothing But Nets, Sri Lankan Lessons on the Margins

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1malaria042508.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 25 -- It's World Malaria Day, or rather Week, and it is impolitic to question the series of feel-good announcements, from the Bush Administration, religious denominations and the United Nations. The UN on April 24 circulated Secretary-General BAN's planned remarked, which spoke of ending malaria deaths by 2010, with a reference to "full coverage." Once this headline got reported, the UN more quietly clarified that malaria deaths, even in this scenario, will continue after 2010. The "full coverage" refers only to bed nets, casting the buzzword of the week, Nothing But Nets, in a new light.

The figure given at the joint UNICEF / UN Foundation press conference on April 23 was that 250 million nets are needed, of which 700,000 have so far been acquired. UNICEF's Ann Veneman was asked by a South Asian correspondent about the quiet rising in the net price of nets from three dollars, a figure the correspondent said was used by the ubiquitous Jeffrey Sachs, to the new figure of ten dollars, cited by none other than the NBA's David Stern. They are better nets, Ms. Veneman answered. They better be bigger, too -- the UN says that 250 million net will serve 500 million people. For those counting, that two people for each net.

More than 24 hours after the press conference, UNICEF issued its own press release, that "Yesterday, the agency announced a partnership with religious, business and sports leaders to supply insecticide-treated bed nets for Africa. 'Nothing But Nets,' a grassroots campaign created in 2006 by the UN Foundation (UNF) to raise awareness about malaria, helps fund the distribution of life-saving bed nets."

Inner City Press asked a question about the follow-through on these announcements. If, as happened in Sri Lanka, campaigns against malaria stop before the end, the disease can return and ravage a population that no longer develops immunity. In Sri Lanka now, over 10,000 people die of the disease every year, according to The Economist. (The UN's IRIN disagrees.) Ms. Veneman answered that these new and more expensive nets are chemical treated and last from three to five years.

Inner City Press asked the same question to Ray Chambers, BAN's envoy on malaria, previously a financier with WESRAY Capital. Chambers, who reportedly complained to UN staff about previous questioning of his dropping off other corporate boards, responded and then went and spoke at length in the Delegate's Dining Room, complete with scripted Q&A with World Food Program chief Margaret Chan. He said, "the first question is for you, Doctor Chan," then read out a softball question. "Good question, Ray," she said. And it went from there.

While Ms. Veneman's answers, which have been infrequent every since the controversial hand-over by UNICEF of the UN's North Lawn to Gucci and Madonna, were appreciated. But she might want to review the April 24 briefing given by her counterpart at the World Food Program, 55 minutes on any topic reporters wanted to ask, including speculation on food prices and critiques of WFP's procurement and transportation spending. If you run a UN agency, these are the questions you should answer. We'll see.

Footnote: Since Inner City Press' question about Sri Lanka was asked on behalf of the wider press corps, this too must be noted: the UNICEF / UN Foundation press conference began with the first two rows of seats marked "reserved," not for journalists but assorted entourages. In the room were bed net manufacturers and, at the thirteenth hour, a man dressed up as a mosquito. Who approved these things? And, a number of reporters wanted to know, who thought there was news in the April 23 news conference? We are showing we have new partnerships, one of the proponents protested. Only at the UN.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1malaria042508.html