At
UN,
Top DFS Post
Maybe For Haq,
Reverse on
Silva as
Price,
Conflict of
Maged
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 21 --
The UN's Ban
Ki-moon has
given top jobs
to many
unqualified
people, some
of whom still
don't even try
to do their
jobs,
Peacekeeping's
Herve Ladsous
being a case
in point.
So with
the top post
of the
Department of
Field Support
vacant as
Susana
Malcorra moves
to be Ban's
chief of
staff, many
expected this
to be
another
patronage or
"bean-counting"
post.
It
has been
suggested,
however, to
Inner City
Press that a
qualified
official
from the top
troop
contributing
country should
get the post:
Ameerah
Haq of
Bangladesh,
who has served
in Timor
Leste. She has
has the
courage to
criticize the
UN where
necessary;
unlike Ladsous
she has
not shied from
questions.
But
is Bangladesh,
despite the
number of
troops it
contributes, a
powerful
enough
country? Is it
trying out for
the post?
Bangladesh's
Permanent
Representative
Monem is often
among the most
honest of UN
diplomats on
such issues as
the
Peacebuilding
Commission.
Not long
ago hetold
Inner City
Press that he
told Sri Lanka
that it should
switch its
Permanent
Representative
Palitha Kohona
as Asia Group
member of the
Senior
Advisory Group
on
Peacekeeping
Operations for
General
Shavendra
Silva, who
stands accused
of war crimes.
But
sometime after
that, Monem
changed his
tune. One
begins to
wonder, is
this the price
of moving into
Ban Ki-moon's
USG circle?
Time will
tell.
Another DFS
candidate,
Catherine
Pollard, has
or should have
been hurt by
her failure to
timely and
fairly process
a claim of
sexual abuse
in OHRM in 380
Madison
Avenue.
Atul Khare of
India has been
hurt,
subcontinent
sources say,
by fellow
Indian Vijay
Nambiar's
insistence to
retain an
Under
Secretary
General's rank
even in a part
time Myanmar
job.
Meanwhile
the Ban
administration
remains
unaware or
resistant to
the idea of
conflicts
of interest.
From the UN's
March 20 noon
briefing
transcript:
Inner
City
Press: Special
Adviser on
Africa, maybe
you will
either comment
or find this
out:
factually,
when does Mr.
Maged
Abdelaziz
begin as
the Special
Adviser on
Africa, a post
he was named
to from here?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Del Buey: I’ll
have to check,
I don’t have
that
date with me.
Inner
City
Press: And
given that he
is now a
prospective UN
high official,
is there, what
is your
comment to
some who say
that there is
a
conflict of
interest now?
He works for
Ban Ki-moon,
but he is
still
negotiating
budgetary,
i.e., troop
cost issues in
the C-34
[Special
Committee on
Peacekeeping
Operations]
with the
Secretariat
that he
has already
taken a job to
work for? Is
there some
problem with
that?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, he will
begin to work
for the UN
when he begins
to work. Until
then, he is
probably
earning a
living doing
something
else.
Inner
City
Press: Right,
but is there,
I mean, do you
see why he is
already
working for
the side he is
supposed to be
negotiating
around
how UN funds
go to
peacekeepers,
but he is
already
working for
the
entity that
actually pays
the money. So,
it’s, there is
no
safeguards
about this?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, there is
no conflict of
interest right
now
because he has
not begun his
job yet.
Inner
City
Press: He has
already been
given the job
though.
Deputy
Spokesperson:
But he hasn’t
begun his
functions yet.
Inner
City
Press: So, he
is…
Deputy
Spokesperson:
When he begins
his functions
he will be
expected to
work solely
for the UN.
Inner
City
Press: So at
this point
though, he has
to have zero
loyalty, or
not loyalty,
affiliation to
Ban Ki-moon,
it’s not, the
idea is that
this has no
impact on his
behaviour of
advocacy
status.
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, I’d have
to check on
that with the
appropriate
authorities.
In
the day and a
half since,
nothing has
been said. For
shame. Watch
this site.
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