First
it jests, then
it asks. But
the position
remains for
sale, with
bids
open until May
14, here.
On
the morning of
May 1, Inner
City Press
exposed a "bid
over
$20,000 for an
unpaid six
week
'internship at
the UN in New
York City
working for
the UN-NGO
Committee on
Human
Rights'...
This UN has
put
up with many
conflicts of
interest, for
example envoy
Tony Blair
being paid $11
million by
Kazakhstan. By
given the
first question
only to UN
Correspondents
Association
who pay $70
dues, the UN
has
allowed a 'pay
to question'
system. But
this?"
After
publishing
this article,
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
at the May 1
noon briefing (video
here, from
Minute 13:42)
Inner
City Press:
there is a UN
internship
that’s being
auctioned off
online. I am
not assuming
that you’d
know of this,
but I have
seen
it, I have
written an
article about
it --
Spokesperson
Nesirky
: Well, you
want it? You
want it or
something?
Inner
City Press:
No, no, not at
all, I
wanted to know
if it is legal.
They are
saying that
people should
pay $22,000 to
work in the
UN,
it’s for the
UN NGO
Committee on
Human Rights,
for six weeks.
They
are auctioning
it off openly
to benefit
something
called the RFK
Young Leaders
Foundation.
But, it seems
to smack of…
it says,
you’ll learn
how the UN
really works.
I
am wondering
if the UN is
comfortable
with positions
inside the
building being
sold for money
online.
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I’ll have to
look into
that; I am not
aware of that
particular
unusual story,
Matthew. But,
I am happy to
look into it.
Inner
City Press:
Thank you.
Throughout
the
afternoon,
Inner City
Press received
responses from
all over. But
from the UN
Spokesperson,
nothing until
after 7:30 pm:
Subject:
Re:
Your question
today
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at]
un.org
Date: Wed, May
1, 2013 at
7:53 PM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Internships
at
the United
Nations are
not for sale
and cannot be
put up for
auction. We
are trying to
find out the
details of how
this came
about
and have
contacted
'charitybuzz.com'
Well,
that's something.
But RFK's
Michael Sandel
was asked;
later, Inner
City Press
asked the RFK
Center's
Sierra Ewert:
"I
am
a journalist
who covered
the UN; this
morning I
wrote a story,
then asked the
UN a question,
about the RFK
Center's RFK
Young
Leaders role
in the
auctioning off
of a "UN
internship"
for
over $20,000
on
CharityBuzz.com.
I want to ask
you, on
deadline,
what the RFK
Center's
knowledge of,
involvement
in, and
position on
this
auctioning off
of an
internship at
the UN is.
Please respond
ASAP."
Watch
this site.
, 
