Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

UN Slated to Re-Open Delegates' Bar on March 25, of UN Elitist Venues, Events

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 24 -- Tomorrow, after a UN day featuring the Group of Friends of the Secretary General on Myanmar meeting, the Delegates' Lounge will belatedly re-open. The longstanding "UN bar," in the two tiered Conference Building North Lounge, closed just before Christmas 2009. After months of procrastination and moralism driving delays, it will reopen in a smaller space in the UN's Temporary North Lawn Conference Building, sometimes called UN-KIA.

  While the Inner City Press review of its re-opening must wait a day or two, it's worth reflecting on why the Delegates Lounge was different, and in ways better, than the usual UN reception circuit. Just in the past week, there have been events for World Water Day, sponsored by Tajikistan, in the new Delegates Dining Room beside the staff cafeteria, and celebrations of the national days of Namibia and Pakistan.

  But these are for diplomats and gate crashers, not for UN staff. At the Tajikistan event, the stratification of UN culture was apparent. General Assembly President Ali Treki sat in the raised up space in the center, with his body guards. Then Lynn Pascoe paid homage to the Tajiks at another raised up table. It was like diplomatic theater.

  Inner City Press is informed, in another UN classic, that several Ambassadors have complained that their Delegates Dining Room lunch spot is so close to "the regular people," lowly UN staff. For now, it is divided from the cafeteria only by a curtain which, it's been snarked to Inner City Press, makes it appear like a funeral parlor. These high minded Ambassadors have asked to move their elite lunch room to the new building, "far from the maddening crowd."

Tajik prime minister on World Water Day- and not a drop to drink

Tuesday night in the old -- and better -- Delegates Dining Room, Namibia celebrated its national day. Many Permanent Representatives were there, including those of Congo, Spain, Austria, Ghana and others. A military man from Saudi Arabia was there, and diplomats from Nicaragua, one of them a Delegates Lounge activist. One gleaned that the Vatican is carbon neutral, and that India's candidate to replace Yvo de Boer won't be officially named until March 31 -- this from a diplomat very democratically offering to divide a piece of cake with the Fourth Estate. Still, it was too fancy.

Even more so later Tuesday at Pakistan's Permanent Representative's house or "residence" on the Upper East Side. The food was great, the Permanent Representative's white chemise was flowing, but few UN staff. That's what the Delegates Lounge is about, hearing what is up. Here's hoping.

Footnote: Today is the last day in the "old" Security Council, by the monthly schedule of the Gabonese presidency. Between now and April, all will move down to the basement of Conference Room 4, including the horseshoe table. Inner City Press asked if a chainsaw would do it. "Chainsaws are not used here at the UN," was the reply. Maybe they should be?

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UN Parties, From Genital Mutilation to Fergie's Army of Mothers, Still No Bar

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 5 -- The UN is full of good intentions, literally, this week. There is the Commission on the Status of Women, on the sidelines of which on Wednesday night an event was held on female genital mutilation. Amid a spread of cheese cubes and wine, a speaker from Mauritania urged the half-filled Delegates Dining Room to make the UN General Assembly "outlaw FGM."

  That the General Assembly can't outlaw anything was not mentioned. Nor was the UN's invocation of immunity to defend against sexual harassment suits, and failure to discipline its own peacekeepers even when charged with rape.

  Speakers from Uganda described President Museveni canceling a trip out of the country in order to campaign against FGM in Karamoja. But his government is accused of killing civilians in the region, bombing them from the air.

  Then incongruously at a press conference about the Chile, Sarah Ferguson showed up, promoting an idea she said she had just had, of an Army of Mothers of which she would be General. It may be a good idea, but it would be better to get it off the ground before chasing off the UN press room stage an organization like Equality Now, which was not even left enough time to answer questions, for example questions from Inner City Press about anti-women laws in the United States and Kenya. We'll have more on both press conferences.

UN's Ban and Fergie, Army of Mothers and results not shown

  Friday evening saw a film screening sponsored by the Greek Mission to the UN, set in village in post coup 1968. A group of boys raise funds to buy a television set to watch the Apollo 11 moon landing, while preparing for pre-resignation Spiro Agnew to come for a visit. The audience laughed, with nary a comment about the budget cut protests in Athens, the government's new threat to turn to the IMF.

The re-opening of the UN Delegates' Lounge, promised for the first Friday in March, did not happen. Sources blamed it on the Department for Management. "The joyless reign of Ban Ki-moon," one correspondent cursed.

But in the lobby of the General Assembly there was Latin music from a band called Coco Mama, and drinks for $5, plates of food for $10. It was to benefit Haiti. There were good intentions everywhere.