UN
Shunts Malala
Fans to Gordon
Brown's Wife's
Charity, No
Answers
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 12 – The
UN made much
of Malala Day,
and at least
Malala herself
did not
disappoint in
her speech.
But what is
the UN
connection?
The
UN referred
the Press and
many people to
“A
World at
School” --
which turns
out to be a UK
charity set up
by Gordon
Brown's wife
Sarah in 2002.
When
Gordon Brown,
out of power,
was given a UN
Envoy job by
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, he
linked it to
his wife's
charity.
But
neither
Brown's
office, nor
his wife's A
World at
School,
responded when
contacted – as
the UN
directed – on
Friday
morning, nor
to a request
for
information
about their
connection(s)
and budget.
Malala
spoke
movingly;
Gordon Brown
and Ban much
less so.
Malala
said, "a deal
that goes
against rights
of women is
unacceptable,"
readable
as a reference
at
negotiations
with the
Taliban by the
US and others.
The
UN Department
of Public
Information,
which fumbled
or worse on
transparency
in media
access to the
event, devoted
much time to
promoting it
with verbatim
quotes, and
links to
Gordon Brown's
wife's
charity.
In fact, even
the "UN"
website of Gordon
Brown's office
as UN Envoy
was registered, not
by the UN, but
by the Office
of Gordon and
Sarah Brown.
What
is going on?
More
than a week
ago on July 3,
the UN
Department of
Public
Information
announced that
“Education
activist
Malala
Yousafzai will
mark her 16th
birthday, on
Friday, 12
July 2013, by
giving her
first
high-level
public
appearance and
statement...a
limited number
of seats will
be available
for media,
contact” the
UN Media
Accreditation
and Liaison
Unit.
Inner
City Press
immediately
wrote to MALU,
also on behalf
of the new Free UN Coalition for Access, asking
“this
is a timely
request for
access to
cover youth /
Malala events
on July 12.
Please
confirm, and
also, How many
media seats
ARE available?
Also, what
about media
seats to cover
the new /
interim
General
Assembly hall,
and
separately,
media
worktables in
the photo
booths, as the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
raised to DPI
on June 10?
The request
for media
worktable(s)
at Security
Council
stakeout also
remaining
outstanding.”
The
chief of MALU
wrote back
that “We have
put you on the
list of people
who have
requested a
ticket. I am
waiting to
hear from the
organizers how
many tickets
there will be
for the press.
There is no
mezzanine in
the temporary
GA for extra
seating.”
But
a week late on
the eve of
Malala Day, as
resident
correspondents
covering the
July 11
Security
Council
meetings on
Sudan / South
Sudan and
the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo
were told to
stand back and
not block
photographs of
Gordon
Brown and his
entourage,
there was
still no word
on media
access to
cover Malala
Day and her
speech.
Inner
City Press,
again on
behalf of
FUNCA,
inquired with
UN Media
Accreditation
Thursday
afternoon and
was told they
still didn't
know how many
tickets there
would be.
Despite
further
explanation by
FUNCA of how
bad the UN
will look if
it continues
to totally
exclude the
public from
the new
General
Assembly hall
in the North
Lawn building,
and excludes
the press
from all but a
handful of
translation-less
photo booths
during the
General Debate
in September,
both positions
were
reiterated.
At
the UN's noon
briefing on
July 10, Inner
City Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky.
We
will return to
that ongoing
issue, and to
recent UN
reductions in
access and
even threats
to
accreditation.
But as to
Malala Day,
after the
second inquiry
on the
afternoon of
July 11, there
was still no
word that
evening, nor
on the morning
of the speech
/ Day, less
than two hours
before it's
all set to
begin.
Like
the exclusion
of the press
and public
from the new
General
Assembly Hall,
and the
continuing
defense of
that despite
detailed
critique and
constructive
suggestions
from FUNCA,
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
what does this
say about the
UN? Watch this
site.
Update:
After
publication of
this article,
UN
Media Accreditation
& Liaison
Unit e-mailed
that it:
"will
not receive
any tickets
from the
organizers for
mezzanine
seats to
attend Malala
Day from 9:30
am to 11:30 am
in the
Trusteeship
Council. For
any inquiries,
contact Justin
van Fleet
justin [at]
educationenvoy.org
or Mara Sirbu
mara [at]
aworldatschool.org"
This
means that if
you followed
the directions
of UN DPI a
week ago -- to
write to MALU
to access --
you were left
until two
hours before
the event and
then told to
contact Gordon
Brown's
flacks.
WORSE:
Gordon Brown's
wife's charity,
which didn't
answer. Transcribing
Malala's speech
from
the hall
outside the
Trusteeship
Council
Chamber, there
was loud
hammering and
a tour group.
The 2013
president of
the UN's
partner UNCA
was inside the
TCC; the
partner,
predictable,
did not
complain of
how (other)
media was
excluded. It's
an Alliance.
Again, what
does this say
about the UN?
, 
