| UN PGA
Abdulla Shahid Meets Comoros But Is Not
Disclosing Funding As Press Ban Continued
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
UN GATE, Sept 20
–
After UN President of the
General Assembly John Ashe was
indicted for taking bribes
from Chinese government
businessman Ng Lap Seng, and
died before trial, the UN's
lone reform was to say that
future PGAs would disclose how
their office and travel and
staff members were
funded.
And now, even
that insufficient reform is
not being complied with. And
the Press that asks about
ongoing UN corruption is
banned.
On September 16
Inner City Press wrote to new
PGA Abdulla Shahid's
spokesperson Monica Grayley,
"state when you will put on
the PGA website the financial
and staffing information
committed to after the
indictment of then PGA John
Ashe."
It asked for
confirmation of receipt, and a
copy of the list of speakers
for the UNGA High Level Week
beginning September
21.
More than 24
hours later, neither was
provided, nor any response on
what Shahid, Maldives' foreign
minister, will do to ensure
access to "his" UNGA by the
Press which asks these
questions.
But here
from propaganda-land: "Abdulla
Shahid, met today with H.E.
Azali Assoumani, President of
the Union of
Comoros.
President Azali Assoumani
reiterated the continued
support of Comoros to the
Office of the President of the
General Assembly, including
for the specific priorities
identified by President Shahid
for the 76th session; agreed
on the importance of keeping
the United Nations
Headquarters open for
in-person diplomacy; and to
strengthen the role of the
General
Assembly.
The President underlined the
necessity of achieving vaccine
equity by the end of 2022, as
the first step to build back
better from the consequences
of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both
sides also discussed other
relevant topics, such as
climate change, financing for
development, gender equality,
youth, multilateralism and the
President’s Youth Fellowship
Programme.
The meeting took place in the
President’s office at United
Nations Headquarters in New
York."
There is a
pending application to the UN
Media Accreditation and
Liaison Unit, acknowledged
(unlike PGA Shahid's Grayley)
but not acted on.
So on September
17, with the "Team" section of
PGA Shahid's website still
empty, Inner City Press wrote
to two other staffers in the
PGA's office, Carl
Mercer Lead,
Communications, Advocacy &
Speechwriting and Ahmed Salman
Zaki, Executive Assistant to
the PGA. Watch this site.
***
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