As
Questions Grow on Funding of UN's Political Affairs, Freelance Mediators
Unveiled
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS, March 5 -- "Flexibility is
the watch word," said B. Lynn Pascoe, head of the UN Department of
Political Affairs on Wednesday, introducing a team of UN mediators who
will in fact work for the Norwegian Refugee Council. Norway has committed
"most" of one year of funding, and was allowed to "pre-screen" the
applicants for the mediator posts, it was said at Wednesday's briefing.
Inner City Press asked Mr. Pascoe, in light of reports that DPA turned
down as too short-term Singapore's offer to fund a regional center for
one year, what is envisioned for this mediation unit, after Norway's
year. Pascoe said, "Our hope is it's so successful, everyone agrees it
should be extended."
But how? As part of the UN? Or parallel to it?
Bigger picture, Inner City Press
asked Pascoe to respond to criticism from the developing countries in
the Group of 77 that strengthening of DPA -- that is, increasing its
funding -- should be accompanied by increased funds for the UN's
development work. Pascoe said that both proposal are "out there," that
"maybe some want to link them, but most don't." That's not what Inner
City Press hears from the Group of 77. A simply one example, on Tuesday
a spokesperson for Ecuador told Inner City Press that the UN's
over-focus on DPA and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations is
misguided, that until development and poverty prevention is taken care
of, the UN's other efforts are doomed to fail.
Lynn Pascoe on March 5, 193rd member state not shown
Pascoe is a diplomat, so perhaps
he can schmooze the Fifth Committee (Budgetary and Administrative) of
the General Assembly. Wednesday he said he'd met with ambassadors in the
Non-Aligned Movement and the G-77 is settings large and small, and that
"many members of NAM are the strongest supporters of DPA strengthening."
We'll see.
In the midst of his briefing,
Pascoe made reference to the UN's 193 member states. This would involve
one extra member of the UN, presumably Kosovo. Called on it, Pascoe said
it was designed to keep his audience awake, that he'd heard the 193
figure recently and it had made him pay attention. After the briefing,
Inner City Press asked Mediation Support Standby Team leader Joyce Neu
about her listed work in Moldova and Georgia, and what impact she
thought Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence might have on
each. Ms. Neu downplayed her work in Moldova, and when asked how her
five expert team members would review the UN's recent handling of
Kosovo, she said quickly, that's not what our team is about. Apparently
not.
* * *
These reports are
usually also available through
Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here for a
Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army.
Click
here
for an earlier
Reuters AlertNet
piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's
$200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.
Video
Analysis here
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