Obama's
Head
On a Starving African Child's Body is MDGs Promo, UN
Questioned
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 13 -- A composite photograph of US President
Barack Obama's head atop the emaciated body of an African child, set in
a limousine and used
in a UN funded website called WeCanEndPoverty.eu, has drawn criticism
both from African Ambassadors and Obama supporters.
Inner City Press
is told by each camp that the photo is offensive. The wisdom of the
UN Development Program -- and the propriety of it funding a dot EU
website -- are being questioned in the run up to the Millennium
Development Goals summit later this month in New York.
To see the photo,
click here,
then, placing cursor on the right side of the screen until an arrow
appears, scroll three photos to the right.
The photo chosen by the UN: before it come off
shine? Shame not shown
UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon told the press on Monday that he will be meeting
with Obama during the MDGs summit and after, about such issues as
Sudan. Did Obama give his blessing to this photo composite?
Outgoing president
of the General Assembly Ali Treki offered tepid praise for Obama
later on Monday, questioning the US wars in Afghanistan and
elsewhere. Treki then presided over a GA session in which, in turn,
Venezuela, Iran and Cuba denounced the MDGs outcome document as going
soft on capitalism, neo-liberalism and the IMF.
The UN Development
Program's leadership on the MDGs has already been brought into
question, for example by Millennium Project leader Eveline Herfkens
taking $7,000 a month from the Dutch government on top of her
$200,000 a year UN system salary. Ms. Herfkens said she couldn't live
in New York and entertain on a mere $200,000 a year. After she was
forced to step down, she remained as a consultant, getting paid on a
“per diem” basis.
Who was
responsible for the Obama head on top of a child's body?
Obama and UN's Ban, use of photo composite for MDGs
not shown
It was
selected in a competition in which the head of the UN's Department of
Public Information Kiyotaka Akasaka was one of six members. The
Partners include the UN and a slew of media companies; the .eu
apparently means the UN Regional Information Center for Europe.
The group's
“Friends” include Philippe Douste-Blazy, a former French
diplomat who has yet to explain the scandal surrounding his
“MassiveGood” MDG program, exposed in detail by Inner City Press
here.
Watch this site.
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