UNITED
NATIONS, April
5 -- How
dysfunctional
the UN's
relations with
its
staff have
become under
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon was
shown
Friday by staff's
walkout of a
meeting with
Ban's
departing
chief of
the Department
of General
Assembly and
Conference
Management,
Jean-Jacques
Graisse.
Inner
City Press
staked out the
meeting, held
in Conference
Room 7 in the
UN's North
Lawn building,
and published
a story about
it as the
meeting broke
up.
In
the three
hours since,
Inner City
Press has been
provided with
an audio
recording of
the meeting,
and runs
the 16 minutes
question and
answer
session, here.
As
if in a dark
comedy about
layoffs and
austerity, an
official of
the
Office of
Human
Resources
Management
tells a 21
year UN
veteran, I
understand you
are upset, but
you need to
market
yourself.
Another
participant
reminds
Graisse and
his Assistant
Secretary
General Franz
Baumann of the
UN Staff Union
wide vote of
“no
confidence” in
Ban Ki-moon,
and says it
extends to
those
officials
present.
They
are mocked for
earning
$200,000 but
still claiming
they need
housing
subsidies,
while 59 or
100 jobs are
slated to be
cut.
Graisse
is
accused of
mis-stating a
UN dispute
tribunal
ruling on 19
posts.
Graisse said
only nine were
in the Inspira
computer
system, 10
were
“in the
pipeline.”
The
name of Ban's
chief of staff
Susana
Malcorra,
who many say
got her
former
colleague
Graisse the
job as she has
moved in so
many others,
is cited.
Who
is running the
show at the
UN, while for
example it
conducted a
raid
on Inner City
Press' office
on March 18,
as the
president of
its UN
Censorship
Alliance,
Pamela Falk of
CBS, took
photographs?
Immediately
after Ban's
spokesperson
was contacted
by an outside
journalist
about the
raid,
photographs of
Inner City
Press' desk
and bookshelf
were leaked to
BuzzFeed.com
by an
anonymous
e-mail account
“Concerned UN
Reporter.” Who is behind
this?
Ban
Ki-moon,
typically, has
been away all
week, in San
Marino,
Andorra
and Monaco.
Now with a
flourish he's
confirmed he
will stay away
to
meet
President
Barack Obama
on April 11.
Could
an elected
politician
act this way,
leaving chaos
at home, no
confidence?
No. But this
is
the UN. Watch
this site.
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