|
As
UN Talks
Toilets, What
of UN's Waste
Causing
Cholera in
Haiti?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 19 --
It's World
Toilet Day,
and at the UN
there is
a lot of
snickering
and, at 10:30
am, there was
a press
conference.
Inner City
Press asked
the four-woman
panel about
the UN
Peacekeeping
mission in
Haiti MINUSTAH
bringing
cholera by lax
sanitation
practices.
Persumably
they had
toilets - but
the waste went
into the
river and now
over 8,000
people are
dead.
The
panelist from
Pakistan,
Tanya Khan,
agreed there
is a need for
"total
sanitation"
including
where the
waste goes.
Therese
Dooley
of UNICEF
agreed, that
if one family
pays for a
toilet and the
neighbor
doesn't, both
might still
get sick.
But
still - what
is the UN
doing? They
covered up
their role in
Haiti,
still refusing
to even
apologize.
On
November 14
and again
November 18,
Inner City
Press asked if
UN
Peacekeeping,
anywhere, has
a Standing
Claims
Commission. On
November
18, Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
acting deputy
spokesperson
said
he has asked
UN
Peacekeeping,
but it is "not
a yes or no
question."
Really? UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous is
slated
to speak,
outside the
UN, to a
select(ed)
crowd.
November
18, 2013 Video
here. If
the answer's
yes, can't it
be said in
four days? And
if no - what's
the
explanation?
Or does the
UN, and DPKO
under Ladsous,
think they can
just not
answer?
November
14, 2013:
November
18, 2013:
Likewise,
on
November 14
Haq was asked
for a
comprehensive
list of UN
Under
Secretaries
Generals and
Assistant
Secretaries
General. He
said these are
announced. But
Inner City
Press asked,
what about
long-standing,
part-time
officials?
Where is the
list?
As a
follow up,
Inner City
Press asked
Haq for the UN
Secretariat's
response to
criticism of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
seeking to
move his close
associate
Robert Orr
from an ASG
position
funded by used
portions of
other empty
budget lines
to a new USG
position,
while seeking
cuts
elsewhere.
Haq
didn't provide
a defense of
this, other
than saying
that any new
position is up
to the General
Assembly and
if created
would be
recruited for
in an open and
transparent
process. An
example of why
some doubt
that is the
refusal to
answer simple
questions
like: does any
DPKO
Peacekeeping
Mission have a
Standing
Claims
Commission?
That should be
answered.
Footnotes:
after
Inner City
Press asked
about Haiti
cholera on
November 14,
including
Stephen Lewis'
statement that
the UN should
admit
responsibility
and try to
make victims
whole, Pamela
Falk the
president of
UNCA, now
known as the
UN's
Censorship
Alliance,
jumped onto
the topic in
essence to
help the UN
out.
She
said that Haq
has been open,
and raised a
reason why the
UN might still
not be
screening
peacekeepers
for cholera
before
deployment:
the World
Health
Organization.
What was the
purpose of
such a
question?
Especially
after when the
UN
mis-answered
Inner City
Press'
first question
on this,
saying that
the UN does
not screen,
then admitted
that it
doesn't
only when
Inner City
Press asked
again. Open?
Keep an eye
out for that
hard-hitting
coverage --
not.
And
on November
19, before
Inner City
Press thanked
the panelists
on behalf of
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
Falk for UNCA
asked another
softball
question,
working in Unilever
which is
trying to
cleanse its
reputation
after the racism
scandal in
Thailand.
This is one
form of
sanitation in
which the UN
is proficient.
* * *
These
reports
are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for Sept 26, 2011 New Yorker on Inner City
Press at UN
Click
for
BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN
Corruption
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-303,
UN, NY 10017 USA
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest service,
and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2013 Inner City Press,
Inc. To request reprint or other permission,
e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
|
, 
