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.

   

As DJ David Guetta Projects Video on UN, Will Glitz Pay Off for Philippines?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 22-- Friday night a dozen floors of the UN's headquarters were blacked out so a music video by DJ David Guetta could be projected. 

   It urged viewer to tweet what the world needs more of. We say: #Accountability for #Haiti #cholera, #SriLanka,#Minova rapes by #DRC Army. We'll see.

  Before the screening there was an extended photo op in front of the Dag Hammarskjold Library. Guetta was there, solo (here) and with the UN's Valerie Amos (here) and then Ban Ki-moon (UN sure to publicize.)

   Other bold face names, at least to some, came through; sometimes the photographers whispered, who is that?

  Outside looking up at the UN building, some found the video too short, the music not loud enough. You can't please all the people all the time. The statement by Valerie Amos in the UN Press Briefing Room that this would help victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines will be a measure. But where will the UN report?

  Back on November 12, Inner City Press first reported that D.J. David Guetta was in the house, the Glass House of the UN, wearing a hard hat and orange construction vest as the UN Capital Master Plan showed him around. Tweeted photo here.

At the time, Inner City Press asked what Guetta was doing in the UN. He's here to help, was the answer.

   They built a white tent and set up the lights; those leaving the UN on Thursday night -- including UN Peacekeeping deputy Edmond Mulet -- were diverted to leave another way, to make way for the tent and lights.

  Previously, Beyonce premiered a video in the now-closed General Assembly hall. (Her entourage demanded the deletion of photographs, which the Free UN Coalition for Access protested.)

  Ali G, UNauthorized, filmed in the Security Council, with a tour guide who later moonlighted as Albania's information minister.

  When the UN brings in, or allows in, pop figures one is left wondering for example: do they know the UN brought cholera to Haiti and now refuses to even accept court papers about it? Linkin Park, it seems, didn't. Will David Guetta? Would, for example, New York-based DJ Tim Sweeney of Beats in Space? Who should DJ at the UN? 

 On Friday morning, the lights were covered with sheet plastic amid drizzle. Inner City Press tweeted photo here. Is it on, rain or shine? The UN's Media Alert lists a "red carpet" at 7:30 pm....

  The carpet was black, and the screening didn't happen until 8:10 pm. Beyond that, we'll see.

   

After Typhoon Haiyan, UN Says Philippines Should Decide on Relocation, Cites Areas UNreachable by Media: Leyte and Samar

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 22 -- The UN has resisted criticizing the Philippines government in responding to typhoon Haiyan / Yolanda. John Ging of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told Inner City Press that OCHA's relationship with the Philippines is as good as any it has.

  The most recent OCHA Situation Report as of November 21 lists as a "gap or constraint" that "no legislative decision has yet been made on alternative re-settlement or re-location arrangements, or on response to movements of people."

  Inner City Press on Friday asked OCHA chief Valerie Amos to explain this and one other gap or constraint, regarding media coverage.

  Amos explained that as people fled Tacloban and four other islands, some went as far as Manila and do not want to return. It is important to know as soon as possible, she said, what the policy and the returns will be, to know where to invest resources.

  The other gap Inner City Press asked about was that "most of the affected areas in Leyte and Samar provinces remain unreachable by media." After thanking Amos on behalf of the new media Free UN Coalition for Access, Inner City Press asked if there are no local media, and what OCHA meant by this.

  Amos replied that media -- size and nationality not specified -- focused on Tacloban but these other areas need coverage as well. She described other places where the downtown looks OK, but the coastal road is destroyed.

  Both moderator Farhan Haq and Amos herself said the briefing was "Philippines only," and so it was. 

  One correspondent wanted to ask about Syria but was rejected. While for example Amos has been much more detailed about visa denial and delay by Syria than by Sudan, still some are propagating a story of Amos covering up for Assad, and bringing in the UN's actual whitewash in Sri Lanka. 

  This is a crowd-pleasing line in some quarters, and made Amos' "Philippines-only" stance all the more noteworthy. But what about Southern Kordofan? Watch this site.

   

In Philippines, UN Won't Work With Parties to Conflict - DRC, AU Contradiction?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 15 -- In responding in the Philippines to the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, the UN according to its humanitarian operations chief John Ging has accepted help from the militaries of the US, Malaysia, UK, Israel, Australia, Japan and Sweden.

  Inner City Press asked Ging about concerns he has elsewhere acknowledged about the blurring of lines between humanitarian and military action. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, UN Peacekeeping has become a party to armed conflict but still blends in with aid work.

  Ging said the rule is to not work with a party to a conflict, under the Oslo Principles being applied in the Philippines. But what about the DRC, where now supposedly UN Peacekeeping will be going after the FDLR militia?

  Inner City Press asked Ging about the following online paragraph: "The U.S. Marines were reportedly instructed not to let Philippine government officials and politicians touch the relief goods that will arrive in Samar. Five C130 panes are scheduled to arrive, carrying relief goods from the United Nations."

  Ging said not to read too much into that; his co-panelist, UNICEF's Ted Chaiban, added that the Philippines has been working well with the UN.

  More was said in the briefing, but the UN insisted on beginning in even as three African Union Permanent Representatives spoke at the Security Council stakeout. Back in September, the UN delayed the noon briefing while the prime minister of Israel spoke, then started it during Iran's right of reply.

  When Inner City Press asked why, the spokesperson said that all journalists who cover hard news understood why this was done. But why talk-over the African Union ambassadors, while saying later in the briefing how much the UN values Africa?

  (There also seemed to be surprise, not from Ging, when Inner City Press asked for an update on getting polio vaccines into Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. Ging said Sudan has shown flexibility, agreeing to a meeting even the UN said was unnecessary.)

It was the Free UN Coalition for Access which asked that Friday's noon briefing be delayed. UNCA's Pamela Falk of CBS, rather than protest, rushed in to thank Ging (and use the name of UNCA). Inner City Press did not say FUNCA, but said the two events should have been coordinated. We will continue to push on this. Watch this site.