At UN,
Conflict of
Interest as
UNFPA's Obaid
Gets
Population
Award
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, June
25 -- The UN
Population Award
with comes
with a
monetary
prize is
slated to be
given on June
26 to Thoraya
Ahmed Obaid,
former
Executive
Director of
UNFPA.
To some it
seems a
conflict of
interest:
Obaid was
"chosen by the
Committee for
the United
Nations
Population
Award [which]
includes 10
United Nations
Member States,
with UNFPA,
the United
Nations
Population
Fund, serving
as its
secretariat."
In fact,
nominations
had to be sent
to Obaid's
successor,
Babatunde
Osotimehin, as
"Secretary,
Committee for
the United
Nations
Population
Award c/o
United Nations
Population
Fund."
Inner City
Press looked
into the underlying
1981 General
Assembly resolution,
which provides
that "No staff
member, organ
or
organization
of the United
Nations system
shall be
eligible for
the Award."
No staff
member - but a
former
director,
retiree, can
get it?
So the UN can
give a
monetary prize
to its own
staff or
retiree -- as
it signs up
for an "independent"
panel the
ICTR's Hassan
Jallow, subject
to OIOS jurisdiction,
to look into
OIOS. Or, as
the UN
Correspondents
Association
gives awards
to its own Executive
Committee
members. This
is today's UN.
Back
on June 1 when
South Sudan
expelled UN
aid
coordinator
Toby Lanzer on
June 1, UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon sent
out a mixed
message. He
deplored the
expulsion, or
declaration of
persona non
grata (PNG),
but said he
had already
appointed a
replacement of
Lanzer.
At least this
time he
deplored a
PNG. In Sudan,
while he spoke
about the
ouster of Ali
Za'tari, he
quietly
replaced him
later.
In
Sudan, this
followed the
ouster - or
press release
against -
UNFPA
representative
Pam Delargy a
year ago. On
June 1 Inner
City Press
asked the head
of UNFPA about
Delargy's
case, and he
said on camera
that she was
NOT PNG-ed,
that she had
been about to
leave anyway.
Inner City
Press read him
UNFPA's answer
from April
2014, that
Sudan issued a
press release
that she
should go. The
reply was that
other agency
representatives
were also
asked to
leave.
This
is today's UN,
a race to the
bottom.
UNFPA's head
attended
Buhari's
inauguration
in his native
Nigeria, it is
not clear in
what capacity
or at what
cost. Inner
City Press
asked its
questions on
behalf of the
new Free UN
Coalition for
Access. In his
response,
UNFPA's chief
thanked the
old UN
Correspondents
Association
for its “open”
- that is,
softball -
question. And
so it goes.
Back
in late 2014,
after Inner
City Press
received a
leaked copy of
Sudan UN
Development
Program
Country
Director
Yvonne Helle's
December 24
e-mail saying
she had been
ordered to
leave the
country, it reported
it and
asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
it at the UN's
noon briefing
on December
24. Story
here, video from UN noon briefing here.
On December
30, after a UN
Security
Council
consultations
from which
nothing came,
Inner City
Press on
behalf of the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
asked the UN:
"This
is a request
that Deputy
SG Eliasson
or someone
else from the
Secretariat
hold a press
availability
on Sudan's
decision to
expel Yvonne
Helle (which I
asked about at
the December
24 noon
briefing) and
Ali
Al-Za'tari...
I understood
the DSG to say
he would not
be speaking
afterward
since it was
consultations.
But a media
availability
by the
Secretariat,
ideally the
DSG but
another if
necessary,
later this
afternoon is
being
requested,
including on
behalf of the
Free UN
Coalition for
Access."
UN Deputy
Spokesman
Farhan Haq
replied in the
negative:
"Regarding
your request
for a press
availability,
yes, the
Deputy
Secretary-General
said that he
would not
speak at the
stakeout,
given that the
Security
Council had
held
consultations.
The views he
expressed were
in keeping
with what we
have been
saying on
Sudan,
including in
the 25
December SG
statement:
'The
Secretary-General
condemns the
Government of
Sudan's
decision to
expel the
United Nations
Resident
Coordinator
and
Humanitarian
Coordinator
and the
Country
Director of
the United
Nations
Development
Programme. The
sanctioning of
United Nations
personnel sent
to Sudan to
carry out
their duties
in accordance
with the
United Nations
Charter is
unacceptable.
The
Secretary-General
calls on the
Government of
Sudan to
reverse its
decision
immediately
and urges it
to cooperate
fully with all
United Nations
entities
present in
Sudan.'"
Later
on December
30, minutes
before the UN
Security
Council was to
vote on the
draft
Palestine
resolution,
the UN put
this out:
Note
to
Correspondents
– in response
to questions
on Sudan
The
Secretary-General’s
strongly
critical
position on
the expulsion
from Sudan of
the Resident
Coordinator
and
Humanitarian
Coordinator
(RC/HC) and
UNDP Country
Director is
clear.
Departure of
these key
senior United
Nations
officials
would
constitute a
serious loss
for the
humanitarian
and
development
community in
Sudan at a
time when
humanitarian
needs are
growing and
the country
faces
significant
development
challenges.
The United
Nations has
been engaging
the Government
of Sudan at
several levels
to obtain a
reversal of
its
decision.
It is
essential that
the United
Nations can
continue to
carry out its
crucial duties
in the
country. The
Government has
agreed to
extend the
deadline for
the RC/HC's
departure from
2 January
until the end
of the month.
Discussions on
this issue
continue.
The United
Nations
remains
committed to a
productive and
fruitful
working
relationship
with the
Government of
Sudan for the
benefit of its
people, on the
basis of
respect of
sovereignty.
The United
Nations counts
on the full
cooperation of
the Government
of Sudan in
enabling all
UN entities
and their
leadership to
carry out
their
important
work.
"
Inner City
Press has asked,
why was
nothing said
when Sudan
expelled the
Country
Director of
the UN
Population
Fund UNFPA in
April? When
Sudan this
Fall chased a
UN aid
official out
of Darfur?
There have
been no public
explanation,
but Inner City
Press is
compiling a
picture --
call it
"Profiles in
Cowardice" --
from multiple
sources; watch
this site.
(Inner City
Press is told
by sources
that Sudan's
Permanent
Representative
exchanged
words with a
Security
Council
members PR on
December 30,
we hope to
have more on
this.)
For now we add
this: when
UNHCR the UN's
refugee agency
held a
staff planning
mtg in
Khartoum,
Sudan's
security
agency NISS
then refused
to let the
Darfur-based
international
staff return
to their
posts.
For
months they
sat in
Khartoum
waiting,
incidentally
spending large
amounts from UNHCR's
public budget.
Ultimately
many of the
international
staff were
simply moved,
quietly, to
other
countries.
And
why didn't the
UN system, the
UN Security
Council and
its members
speak at that
time, and in
April when
UNFPA's
Country
Director was
thrown out?
In April 2014,
Inner City
Press asked
UNFPA to
"Please
confirm or
deny that in
Sudan UNFPA
Representative
Pam Delargy
was told to
leave the
country on
April 7 and,
separately,
that she did
leave. And
anything else.
Please also
provide an
update on Mr.
Siddhart
Chatterjee as
UNFPA
Representative
in Kenya: date
of
commencement,
what work has
been done."
UNFPA replied
to Inner City
Press on April
9, "The United
Nations
Resident
Coordinator in
Khartoum,
Sudan was
notified by
the Government
of Sudan that
the UNFPA
Representative
had been
requested to
leave the
country at a
short notice.
A press
release by the
Sudanese
Government has
been issued to
this effect.
We regret this
decision and
are in
communication
with the
United Nations
Country Team
in Sudan to
seek further
clarification
on this
matter. We
hope that we
would very
soon be able
to continue
and
re-establish
normal
relationships
with the
Government of
Sudan."
Inner City
Press asked
this week
about the UN
system's
silence and
UNFPA replied,
"UNFPA now has
a new
representative
in Sudan, who
has assumed
her
responsibilities
three months
ago. I will
follow up with
our Khartoum
office
regarding your
second
question."
We'll have
more on this.
, 
