By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 24 -- A
proposal to overturn
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
decision to
extend
benefits to
same-sex
partners of UN
staff was voted
down on March
24, with 43
nations in
favor, 80
against and 37
abstaining.
Before the
vote in the
UN's Fifth
(Budget)
Committee,
Saudi Arabia
said that such
relationships
are "morally
unacceptable."
This is the
same Saudi
Arabia so much
praised recently,
on the passing
of its King
and even this
week for a its
role in Yemen.
Some coverage
in the run-up
to the vote
didn't even
mention US
ally Saudi
Arabia.
There was talk
of respecting
cultural
norms, and
from US, EU
and others,
emphasis that
internal UN rules
don't impact
the domestic
legislation of
states.
The
chairman of
the committee,
before giving
the floor to
Germany,
offered
condolences
for the plane
crash earlier
in the morning
in the French
Alps. Then the
clashing
speeches
continued.
Inner City
Press covered
the issue back
in December
2014, when at
the last
minute a vote
was put off.
In
the run up to
the December
24, 2014
budget
showdown at
the UN,
diplomats
worked until
six in the
morning, on
issues ranging
from the 2016
budget to the
first
performance
report.
At 3 pm on
December 24,
however, the
outgoing head
of the Group
of 77,
Bolivia's
Sacha
Llorenti, told
G77
representatives
that the other
side said no
more talks
today. Later
in the day it
was
rolled-over to
the next week,
and now Inner
City Press is
first to
report some of
the results.
Beyond the
money (see
below), the
contentious
issue of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's same
sex marriage
benefits, on
which the
Organization
for Islamic
Cooperation
and others
were prepared
to vote no,
has been
pushed over
into the next
session. One
African
Permanent
Representative,
not in the
OIC, told
Inner City
Press Ban
should "just
withdraw" his
policy. Ban is
on annual
leave.
On Yom Kippur,
Diwali and
other
religions'
holidays
becoming
official UN
system
holidays,
sources tell
Inner City
Press that
language has
been arrived
at that allows
these holidays
to be
celebrated
without
requiring it.
The
Partnerships
facilities,
which many
delegates
linked to
former UN
official
Robert Orr,
ran into
opposition
from those who
say its
modalities and
"programmatic"
elements must
be further
negotiated.
The return of
some $150
million by the
Capital Master
Plan is still
being pushed
for; G77 says
it "held the
line on
re-costing."
In the hallway
outside
Conference
Rooms 5, 1 and
3, Inner City
Press
interviewed a
range of
diplomats and
UN Secretariat
officials
about
the
rebellion by
some member
states at
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
policy
position -- or
"executive
order," as one
delegate
called it --
on same sex
marriage.
"Between the
OIC and
African
countries,
it's going
down," one
Permanent
Representative
had told Inner
City Press.
The other side
says that Ban
has the power
to "just do
it." But, even
the person
making this
argument
conceded,
Ban is no
Obama.
And, another
asked, where
IS Ban
Ki-moon, as
his policy is
"going down"
in the Fifth
Committee? On
December 29
the answer
was: on annual
leave.
A delegate
from Uruguay
last week
urged the rest
of the Fifth
Committee of
the UN General
Assembly to do
everything
possible to
come to a
conclusion
before midday
on December
24. That
didn't happen.
Now will it be
done on
December 29?
In
this session
the Fifth
Committee is
considering,
for example,
the proposed
program budget
outline for
the biennium
2016-17. On
this, amid
threats of
cut-backs, the
Group of 77
and China put
a resolution
into an “L
document” on
December 23,
leading to
protests from
diplomats from
Italy, Japan
and the US.
Diplomats
stayed
until 6 am on
December 24,
and returned
for a G77
meeting at 11
am, moved due
to its size
from
Conference
Room 9 to CR
1. Bolivia's
Permanent
Representative
Sacha
Llorenti, soon
to turn over
the G77 gavel
to South
Africa,
reported back
to G77
Ambassador
where things
stood.
For
now, the Fifth
Committee
“plenary” is
not set until
3 pm, with the
full General
Assembly with
no time set at
all.
Other
items include
the Capital
Master Plan,
the
Extraordinary
Chambers court
in Cambodia, revised
estimates for
the Ebola
mission UNMEER
and for the Human
Rights Council
(regarding
cut-backs at
which, see
this Inner
City Press
story) and
UNHQ long term
accommodation
needs,
otherwise
known as building
on a current
New York City
playground.
Another
item
concerns the
UN's UMOJA
system, with
cost overruns
and corruption
scandals. One
former UMOJA
official, Paul
van Essche who
was caught up
in a scandal
-- "PHP
irregularities,"
Inner City
Press exclusive
coverage here
-- now
announces
he'll
resurface as
UNICEF's chief
of information
technology in
January 2015.
We'll have
more on this.
, 
