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

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Series

UNITED NATIONS, March 9 -- While with Stephen O'Brien being named today to replace Valerie Amos atop OCHA the UK keeps that post for the third time in a row, at least there was some public process, which resulted in the rejection of a worse UK candidate, Andrew Lansley.

  By contrast, when France in 2011 kept UN Peacekeeping for the fourth time in row with Herve Ladsous, there was NO public process at all, no note verbale to other countries inviting nominees, and very little review of Ladsous himself, who had been rejected for the post when, for example, Jean Marie Guehenno left.

  In light for example of the exposed sale of UN posts in Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping -- and the post seller still remaining in the UN -- and the cover up of rapes in Tabit in Darfur and Minova in the DR Congo before that, it's time for at least as much public process on UN Peacekeeping as on UN OCHA.

  In this OCHA case, when Langley's name emerged and questions were raised -- as they would have been on Ladsous had his name similarly become public -- the UK was forced to put forward two more candidates, Stephen O'Brien and Caroline Spelman.

  After Inner City Press reported on UK Prime Minister David Cameron's angry or "rude" call to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and more than a month after Inner City Press exclusively reported on Cameron's second and third nominees to replace Valerie Amos, including Stephen O'Brien, Inner City Press on February 26 exclusively reported that Cameron's replacement candidate Stephen O'Brien was slated to be interviewed Tuesday, March 3, by Ban Ki-moon himself.

Now on March 9 UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric at noon announced that O'Brien will take over UNOCHA. Inner City Press immediately asked Dujarric if this means that the UK owns OCHA like France owns UN Peacekeeping (four times in a row) and the Political Affairs (twice in a row and counting).

 Dujarric said to look at the list of OCHA chiefs since 1992. But three in a row, under Ban Ki-moon, it is not a coincidence.

   Inner City Press asked Dujarric to at least describe WHO chose O'Brien, and if there was a woman on the final short list. Even this, Dujarric would not do.  Video here.

 In fairness to O'Brien, Inner City Press has been told he's done work for example on malaria; we'll see. Still, the UN is UNtransparent and dominated in these posts by the Permanent Three (or Four) members of the Security Council. We'll have more on this.

  Sources also told Inner City Press there was a "second Brit" in the final round, Caroline Spelman, the submissions of whose name was first reported by Inner City Press. But neither that, nor the UAE's female candidate, Dujarric would confirm.

  Back on February 12 Inner City Press learned more about the selection process, reported it that day and asked the UN about it on February 19.

  Beyond Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson, who as on many similar issues Ban Ki-moon has put in charge of this process, Inner City Press is informed that the interview panel consists of two senior UN officials and two outside officials, including "the Swiss chief of the International Committee of the Red Cross."
 
   That would be Peter Maurer, formerly Switzerland's Ambassador to the UN. As one source put it, this puts the UK with its "weak" candidates "even further behind the eight ball."

 On February 19 Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric:

Inner City Press: on this OCHA recruitment process, I know that earlier in the process, Farhan, I think it was, had said there's been a petition asking for outside participation in the review and he'd said, no, this is something that can be done in-house.  So I wanted to ask you not who's on the short list, but as a general matter, can you confirm that the UN has in fact accepted at least two outside people on the review panel, some of whom have been named in writing, but just the general principles…

Spokesman Dujarric:  No, I understand.  I think if you look — we can share with you — there's quite an extensive detailed report on how this recruitment process is done, which went to the General Assembly, I think, last year, and outlines the possibility for the Secretary-General to reach out to outside parties.  But I will not confirm the details of this recruitment process.  When it's over, we'll announce it.

Question:  And will you say whether you had an outside participation…

Spokesman:  When it's over, we'll announce it.

   Talk about (a lack of) transparency...

    Non-UK candidates, as Inner City Press has already first reported, include Germany's Martin Kobler, the United Arab Emirates' Lubna Khalid Al Qasimi -- for whom Ban was heavily lobbied when he was in the UAE recently -- and, Inner City Press now hears, "a South African candidate." We'll have more on this.

  Citing Inner City Press' exclusive reporting on  Caroline Spelman and Stephen O'Brien, the UK's second round of candidates after opposition to Andrew Lansley, C4's Lindsey Hilsum says Germany's candidate Martin Kobler led in a poll of 200 UN staff by Avaaz.

  Whatever the other merits, there is now another unaddressed scandal at the UN Mission in the DR Congo, MONUSCO, which Kobler is in charge of. As exclusively uncovered by Inner City Press, UN Police posts in Kobler's mission were for sale, by the Deputy Permanent Representative of Cote d'Ivoire to the UN. Click here for that.

  Inner City Press 24 hours before this report sought comment and explanation -- particularly for the UN having sat on this report since April of 2014 -- from Kobler and MONUSCO, but so far, nothing.

  Shouldn't Kobler have to answer? Watch this site.

   Back on January 14, Inner City Press was informed by sources of a minister from the United Arab Emirates, Lubna Khalid Al Qasimi, a member of the ruling family of Sharjah, put forward as a candidate by the UAE. The UAE has, it was noted,, the "Humanitarian City." And the UAE did give $1 million to OCHA's CERF last month.

  But the UAE sought, and has been unable to obtained, UN Asia Pacific Group consensus support for their candidate. This is a set-back.

The UK's second duo of candidates, after opposition to Andrew Lansley: Caroline Spelman and Stephen O'Brien. Are those who oppose and opposed Lansley being lobbied?

  Germany's candidate Martin Kobler, a close observer emphasizes to Inner City Press that Kobler was for a time the UN's first choice to be UN Special Coordinator on the Middle East, before after opposition by a Permanent Five Security Council member the position went to Robert Serry.

  Now Serry is to be replaced by Nickolay Mladenov, currently UN envoy in Iraq. The UK -- seeming to reflect a lack of confidence it will retain OCHA -- sought to name one of its national to replace Mladenov, but was shot down by Iraq. That process is now in its final stages.

  While Inner City Press exclusively published the Mladenov to Serry switch before midnight in New York on January 30, eleven hours later one of the board members of the UN Censorship Alliance put it out without any credit at all. That's UNCA - Inner City Press quit and co-founded the new Free UN Coalition for Access, after attempts at censorship and refusal of UNCA's board to issue even guidance about not stealing exclusives. Call it sleaze.

  Back on November 26, minutes after the UN announced the departure of Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs chief Baroness Valerie Amos, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq if the vacancy would be advertised for candidates from all countries, or if it is set aside for Amos' United Kingdom.

  On January 30 Inner City Press was reliable informed that UK Prime Minister David Cameron telephoned Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and said -- "rudely," according to denizens of the UN's 38th floor -- that despite the UK's submission of two additional names, below, Ban "must" pick Andrew Lansley.

  These sources say that Ban, as if to prove independence, will NOT choose Lansley but will keep the post UK, choosing on a progressive basis the female candidate, Caroline Spelman. Are those opposed to Lansley being lobbied for her?

  We'll have more on this.