| In Corrupt UN of Guterres DG
Audrey Azoulay Hands UNESCO to France Sources
Tell Banned Inner City Press
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive, Video
UN GATE, Dec 20 –
From
the corrupt UN
of Antonio
Guterres in New
York, the
whole UN
system has
been
corrupted,
including
UNESCO.
Earlier
this month
Inner City
Press exposed
the declining
influence of
France at
UNESCO,
highlighting
that at the
General
Conference of
UNESCO in
Paris for the
first time
since the
foundation of
the
organization
in November
1945 France
ended with the
lowest number
of votes in
the elections
for a seat at
the Executive
Board of
UNESCO. Now
this:
Following
the exposure
by Inner City
Press of
several
internal
scandals, the
administration
of the French
DG Azoulay has
lost its
temper and
started a
witch-hunt but
never dropped
of sight its
narrow
French-benefiting
objectives.
Member states
still let it
go to an
unimaginable
ever before
extent,
although
several,
especially
from the north
of Europe, are
definitely not
at ease and
the disturbing
facts start to
provoke some
real
questionings.
One of
the main
concerns
raised
recently is
the
composition of
the Jury of
the UNESCO
Félix
Houphouët-Boigny
Peace
Prize.
This Prize is
intended to
honor
individuals
and public or
private
institutions
that have made
a significant
contribution
to promoting,
seeking,
safeguarding
or maintaining
peace, in
conformity
with the
Charter of the
United Nations
and the
Constitution
of UNESCO. The
Prize was
established in
1989 in order
for UNESCO “to
reaffirm its
commitment to
peace and
dialogue
between
cultures and
civilizations”.
Since its
establishment,
the
Director-General
has called on
to sit on the
Jury panel
international
public figures
who are
reputed for
their action
on behalf of
peace.
The
question
several member
states raised
during a
recent meeting
is how come
that after her
election, the
DG Azoulay
decided right
away to
appoint two
French
personalities
as members of
the
Jury.
One is Michel
Camdessus, who
was the
Director of
the Treasury
and Governor
of the Banque
de France and
the other is
Francois
Hollande, the
former French
President who
actually
approved the
candidacy of
Audrey Azoulay
for the
position of
UNESCO’s
Director
general in
2017.
Such a
conflict of
interest and
abuse of power
is appalling,
said one
diplomat based
in Paris to
Inner City
Press. The
rules of the
Prize must be
modified in
order to avoid
such blatant
influence and
interference
of internal
French
politics with
UNESCO’s noble
activities, he
added.
Then in 2019,
DG Azoulay
decided to
step-up her
involvement in
the French
political life
by giving a
clear support
to the
candidate for
the
position of
Mayor of Paris
to her good
friend Cedric
Villani, who
was appointed
by DG Azoulay
as member of
the High-Level
Reflection
Group created
by UNESCO for
advising on
its
transformation.
This is
another but
first-ever
example of the
use and misuse
of UNESCO by
the Director
general
Azoulay who is
intentionally
ignoring all
rules and
diplomatic
practices in
order to give
a helping hand
and
international
visibility to
her political
French friend
in the
elections to
be held early
next
year.
This is also
the first
juncture for
getting into
serious
trouble with
her mentor and
protector, the
current French
President
Emanuel
Macron.
As
political
observers in
France
underline,
nowadays the
Villani-Griveaux
political duel
irritates and
exasperates
Macron to the
utmost. “The
President of
the French
Republic is in
a hurry to end
the
fratricidal
confrontation
in Paris by
the two
eminent
members of his
political
movement and
he clearly did
not appreciate
to have Audrey
Azoulay taking
a side in this
unpleasant for
him rivalry”,
said one
political
expert based
in Paris to
Inner City
Press.
The
major top
question
remaining here
is, “why the
hell DG
Azoulay is
allowed to get
UNESCO
involved into
French
politics to
that extend”,
said to Inner
City Press a
member of an
EU country
here in New
York. “Those
are clearly
political
games with
huge long-term
consequences
that will
undermine
utterly the
credibility of
UNESCO as a
depoliticized
organization”.
We will have
more on that.
In the
meantime,
still no
progress on
the IOS
investigations
on the
following
major pending
cases at
UNESCO:
1) The
first-time
undercover
surveillance
operation at
UNESCO that is
coordinated by
Flavio Bonetti
from the
Cabinet of
Audrey Azoulay
and former
deputy prefect
of the
Centre-Val de
Loire region,
with the
assistance of
the Cabinet
expert in
dirty work, Mr
Sachin Bath.
Who will be
reprimanded
for helping
the
administration
massively
invading the
personal
rights and
freedoms of
staff and of
member states’
representatives?
2) The
administrative
deviation of
hierarchical
reporting
lines - the
Director of
Cabinet
Nicolas
Kassianides
unprecedented
power to
control and
supervise the
Deputy
Director
general of
UNESCO and the
Assistant
Directors
general of the
program
Sectors. This
is disrupting
the work of
the entire
Organization,
since at the
top of it
there is
evident no
respect for
regular lines
of
authority.
3) The
staff members
cases lost in
Geneva where
UNESCO got
sentenced by
the ILOAT to
pay hundreds
of thousands
of taxpayers’
money. IOS
must
investigate
the work of
the senior
staff members
in HRM dealing
with contested
cases, namely
A. Grisar and
A. Duganis. A
sanction that
would
certainly put
an end to this
persisting
detrimental
situation in
dealing with
personnel
files, is an
automatic wage
withholding of
HRM managers
so as to
reimburse the
financial loss
for the
Organization
provoked by
their
incompetence
in dealing
with contested
files.
4) Some
important
elements are
missing in the
report by IOS
after the
investigation
on the
functioning of
the
transportation
unit of
UNESCO.
The Director
of the Cabinet
Nicolas
Kassianides,
is still using
an official
car without
being entitled
to do so. Even
more
unacceptable
is the fraud
with petrol
orchestrated
by the French
driver of
Audrey
Azoulay. IOS
may complete
its report
with a note on
the use of the
gasoline paid
with public
money for the
private cars
of those close
to Kassianides
and
Azoulay
5) The
appointment of
dozens French
officials in
the Cabinet of
the DG Azoulay
in an effort
to turn UNESCO
into a branch
of Quai
d’Orsay and
the
consultancy
contracts for
the children
of several
Ambassadors to
UNESCO.
6) The
misuse of
tax-payers
money in large
proportions.
The financial
services of
Azoulay
authorized a
payment of
some 450,000
US dollars to
an unknown
financial
institution in
London. After
effecting the
payment, those
funds vanished
in someone’s
pocket. Still
no
disciplinary
measures taken
in the
corrupted
UNESCO of
Audrey
Azoulay.
7) The
special
internal
arrangement by
the Cabinet of
D-G Azoulay
granting
impunity to
those
accountable
for the
unjustifiable
and
speculative
spending of
some 2 million
dollars by
UNESCO without
compensation.
In two
separate
contracts, one
for 1.536.000
EURO, and
another one
for 180.000
EURO, UNESCO
contracted a
French company
to do the core
redesign of
the
organization’s
financial and
administrative
systems and
tools.
Subsequently,
those amounts
had been paid
to the French
enterprise
without
getting the
expected
deliverables.
Anyone will go
to jail or the
responsible
officer will
rather get
promoted?
8) The
Culture sector
was poorly
reformed by DD
Audrey Azoulay
and her
assistant
director
general for
Culture, the
Chilean
Ernesto Ottone
Ramirez.
Staff in the
Culture sector
are blaming
openly the
arrogant and
heavy-handed
management
style of
Ottone Ramirez
with even some
dark and very
UN talks of a
"baby-Pinochet."
Will IOS
evaluate the
negative
impact for
UNESCO of this
reform of the
Culture
Sector?
9)
UNESCO
launched the
“Revive the
Spirit of
Mosul”
initiative
ostensibly to
participate in
the
reconstruction
of this city,
after years of
war and
destruction.
This seemingly
noble
initiative was
in fact a
cover up
operation of
reinforcing
French
influence in
Iraq in order
to secure
markets and
work for
French
companies. The
Director of
the UNESCO
office in
Baghdad,
Louise
Haxthausen,
was removed
straight away,
since she was
considered by
Kassianides
too close to
the government
of Iraq after
her several
years of
experience in
the country,
and too
independent in
her dealing
with issues
that
progressively
became
sensitive for
French
national
interests.
Focusing on
Mosul is
having a plain
and simple
rationalization.
Most of the
millions
received by
UNESCO from
the United
Arab Emirates
are for
projects to be
implemented in
that
particular
city. Thus, in
corrupted
UNESCO, the
dirt keeps on
oozing this
time in the
context of
Iraq.
According to a
member of the
Cabinet of
Azoulay, the
transactions
of UNESCO in
Mosul are
among the most
well-kept
secrets in the
House. The
Cabinet member
even considers
that a number
of parallel
dealings are
most probably
piloted by
some
specialized
French
services.
“Kassianides
is clearly
taking
instructions
elsewhere”,
said one of
our sources in
the Cabinet.
“As a former
staff of Quai
d’Orsay, and
being fully
aware that his
days in UNESCO
are counted,
he must keep
good relations
with his
former
administration
in order to
get a good
position there
after
successfully
defending the
French
national
interest under
the cover of
multilateral
UN work”.
Would all that
be ever
investigated
in the
corrupted UN
of Guterres?
Guterres is
corrupt.
Some
member states
are
questioning
this lack of
internal
control and
disciplinary
measures.
Others, mainly
from the
European Union
support
blindly this
way of doing
business and
some of them
even appear
delighted to
have their
tax-payers
money
dilapidated by
UNESCO. This
political
stance is
actually a
green light to
DG Azoulay for
her to keep up
with those
practices and
scale them up
with extra
budgetary
money, from
which, no
doubt, a fat
percentage
will go into
the deep
pockets of the
senior UNESCO
administrators.
We will have
more on all
that. Watch
this site.
***
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