On
Somalia, ICP Asked UN of Still
Lax Sanitation, After UN Killed
10,000 in Haiti
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
February 1 – After an attack
on a UN compound in Mogadishu
on January 26 Inner City Press
asked UN Spokesman Farhan Haq
about it, from the UN
transcript, below. Now on
February 1, the UN itself is
implicated, in the type of
negligent sanitation that had
the UN kill more than 10,000
people in Haiti. From the UN's
February 1 transcript:
Inner City Press: the UN
mission in Somalia is
irresponsibly dealing with
sewage and other matters,
putting people at risk, and
particularly, given what the
UN is widely thought to have
done in Haiti in terms of
cholera, what is the UN's
response to this damning audit
of its practises?
Spokesman: You know,
this was, of course, a UN and
UN-requested audit of our own
operations, so I think it's
important for us to have on a
periodic basis. As you
know, UN peacekeeping op… you
know, UN operations often work
in very complex and difficult
environments, such as in
Somalia, where infrastructure
is minimal and where active
combat is taking place.
We've recognized this problem,
and we're taking steps to
improve both performance and
risk management across the
board. In 2017, our
colleagues in the Department
of Field Service began
implementing a six-year global
strategy to achieve a vision
for "maximum efficiency in the
use of natural resources and
minimum risk to people,
societies and
ecosystems". Before the
end of 2018, each peacekeeping
operation will begin to report
a "score" to Member States on
its performance in this area,
including an indication of any
risks and steps that are being
taken to address it.
Progress is being made, and
we're fully committed to
ensuring full visibility of
risk, as well as design,
procurement, installation and
managing of fully effective
systems. The mission
itself identified an
unacceptable level of risk
through the Headquarters-led
global baselining exercise on
wastewater management, and DFS
[Department of Field Support]
has been working closely with
the Somalia Office leadership
to prioritise interim risk
mitigation. In June of
last year, concurrent with the
conclusion of the OIOS [Office
of Internal Oversight
Services] report, the senior
leadership of both the Somalia
Mission and DFS jointly agreed
on a plan to mitigate risks
relating to water… wastewater
management, and key staff have
been appointed to address the
problem, and installation of
the wastewater treatment plant
in the final site is
anticipated in April 2018.
Inner City Press: Given what
happened… just… just… and
thanks for the detail, but, I
mean, given what… what
happened in Haiti and the
expression of regret by Ban
Ki-moon, were any steps taken
to… system-wide to make sure
that they didn't [inaudible]
sludge put next to a market…?
Spokesman: Well, I
think, obviously, system-wide
processes have been taking
place for quite some time to
try to ensure that the
management of wastewater is
done in the best way
possible. As we said,
they operate in very complex
environments. They… I
think a key part of management
wastewater is to ensure that
there are regular
audits. If there are
things that are point outed
out, they try to fix them."
Right. From the UN's January
26 transcript: Inner City
Press: There's some reports of
an attack on an UN compound
in… in… in Mogadishu and the
death of an international
staff member from
Uganda. Are you aware of
that? Can you confirm
it? Deputy Spokesman:
No, we don't have
confirmation. We'll try
to see whether there's
anything to those reports."
This was published by the UN
later in day, after the UN has
sent this to Inner City Press:
"In regards to your question
on an attack in Mogadishu, we
can confirm that a fatal
shooting of a UNICEF
contractor took place today in
Mogadishu, Somalia early this
afternoon. An investigation is
underway, and UNICEF staff are
safe. Our thoughts are with
the family of the man who was
killed." Yes, rest in peace.
But why isn't the UN being
louder about this attack, days
after a UN Staff Union report
about the increase of attacks
on the UN? After Somali
minister Abass Abdullahi
Sheikh Siraj was shot and
killed by the bodyguards of
the country's Auditor-General,
apparently in a case of
mistaken identity, Inner City
Press asked the spokesman for
UN Secretary General Antonio
Guterres, Stephane Dujarric,
if Guterres or the UN had any
comment. Dujarric said it
seemed to be an assassination.
On May 11, Inner City Press
asked again, from the transcript:
Inner City Press: I saw that
the Secretary-General at the
Somali conference describe the
death as Abass Siraji as
tragic and unfortunate. I
asked about it at the time,
and you said it seemed like an
assassination. Is that
no longer the view of the UN?
Spokesman: I'll… I think
whatever the Secretary-General
says overrides whatever I may
say. That's a rule.
Inner City Press: And I just
want to understand, when you
say that his speech to UNA-UK
was off the cuff, it seems
like… I mean, it was a
speech. UN News Centre
reported on it, so, like,
what's the problem with
releasing it? I don’t
understand.
Spokesman: It's not that
we're not releasing it.
It's just no transcript's been
done. We're going to
release the video, and I think
the video is as strong as the
spoken word.
From the
earlier UN's transcript: Inner
City Press: does the UN system
have a statement on the
killing of Somali Government
minister Abass Siraji, a
31-year-old Government
minister killed by the
[inaudible]?
Spokesman Dujarric: We
obviously condemn what appears
to be an assassination of this
minister and send our
condolences to his family and
to the Government of Somalia.
Inner City Press: Are
you… Because some people are
saying he was shot by mistake.
And I’m wondering, does the UN
have any role in security…?
Spokesman: I have no… a
role in providing his
security? No.
Inner
City Press:
No, no, in training, in this
case, the bodyguards of the
auditor general.
Spokesman: Not that I’m
aware of.
The UN Has
said nothing since, five hours
later. Back on January 26 when
the International Monetary
Fund's deputy spokesperson
William Murray took questions
at the IMF's biweekly media
briefing on January 26, Inner
City Press asked him about
Somalia and the UN, as well as
Mozambique and Ghana.
Inner City
Press asked: "The UN's envoy
to Somalia Michael Keating
recently said in New York that
the IMF is urging the
government in Mogadishu to
raise revenue, by means of a
tax on 'ICT' or telecom/mobile
phones. Is that accurate?
Please explain the IMF's
position."
After the
briefing, at which Inner City
Press' Mozambique question was
answered, an IMF spokesperson
provided this on Somalia:
“Somalia has one
of the lowest revenue to GDP
ratios in the world.
Increasing revenue
mobilization, from a low tax
base, is critical to Somalia’s
economic and social
development goals. To that
end, the authorities and IMF
staff reached an understanding
on the need to collect higher
nominal revenues in 2017
compared to those in
2016. The ultimate goal
is to progressively restore,
over time, revenue to GDP to a
level comparable to peer
countries.
In 2017, the authorities plan
to start implementing a more
formal tax system, which is
projected to increase tax
revenues from about 1.4
percent of GDP in 2016 to 2.0
percent of GDP in 2017. A
critical element of these
revenue measures -- based on
current law which the
authorities will start
implementing -- is revenue
from the telecom sector, about
$24.5 million in total in
2017. This is up from the
negotiated tax of $5.0 million
agreed for 2016. The
projection comprises of about
$12–14 million from taxes on
corporate profits and $10–12
million from sales taxes.
Additional revenue collection
from the telecom sector could
be achieved but will require
significant improvements in
revenue administration and tax
collection, while improving
security for telecom
operators.”
***
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