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Corrupt UN of Guterres France Fumbling In
Azoulay Lame Duck Period at UNESCO
By Matthew
Russell Lee &
sources,
Exclusive
UN
GATE, Dec 14
– UNESCO,
like the whole
UN system
under Antonio
Guterres is
falling apart
in corruption
and fraud.
Inner
City Press has
been reporting
on serious
malfeasance by
the French
Audrey Azoulay
administration
at UNESCO in
Paris, almost
as bad as
Antonio
Guterres'
corruption in
and of the UN
in New York. A
fish rots from
the head.
On
November 24,
Inner City
reported about
the
spectacular
election of
the Executive
Board
Chairwomanship
of UNESCO (here)
Brazil
lost with only
20 votes. St
Lucia won as
the new
President of
the Board with
36 votes (2
abstentions).
Having lost
the diplomatic
battle for the
presidency of
the Board, DG
Azoulay is now
seeking to
undermine both
governing
bodies in a
desperate
attempt to
salvage the
end of her
mandate by
avoiding a
damaging
lame-duck
period of
stalemate with
serious
consequences
for her
political
career in
France, if
there is one,
after ending
her ill-fated
stint at
UNESCO in
2025.
Inner
City Press has
regularly
exposed the
fact that
since the
start of
Azoulay's
mandate,
following a
totally out of
the blue
election in
2017, the
French DG and
her team have
developed the
comfortable
habit of
treating the
UN agency as
if it were her
private
property. This
relaxed
situation,
conducive to
practices that
abuse the
rules and
processes of
governance,
was ended by
the member
states, who
voted
overwhelmingly
on November 24
against the
Brazilian
candidate,
Ambassador
Paula Alves de
Souza, for the
position of
Chair of the
Agency's
Executive
Board.
Ms.
de Souza's
personal
ambitions went
far beyond the
warnings of
her allies in
this
irrational
campaign, her
expectations
proving far
greater than
her diplomatic
abilities to
mobilize
sympathy and
political
support.
On
the positive
side, a lesson
has been
taught at
Brazil's
expense to
those member
states who
still believe
that betting
on the French
Azoulay can be
a winning
card. Clearly,
this is no
longer the
case. In one
day, Azoulay
has gone from
DG to DQ - a
Drama Queen
whining about
her fate.
What's
more, she's
now aware that
her limited
room for
manoeuvre will
create the
conditions for
further
mistakes on
her part, as
the reduction
of her ego
will be a
painful but
above all a
time-consuming
process.
Humility is
certainly not
Azoulay's
first quality,
and most
representatives
of member
states present
in Room X
noticed that,
in an
unprecedented
gesture of
defiance, DG
Azoulay did
not rise to
greet the
newly-elected
President of
the Board who
physically
moved and sat
down next to
her in the
room. Instead,
contrary to
basic courtesy
protocol, Mrs
Azoulay
remained
seated and
contented
herself with a
handshake.
This was
interpreted by
diplomats as a
clear signal
that her state
of mind is not
to accept the
political and
diplomatic
loss of the
battle she has
waged, but
rather to
enter into
overt
opposition.
Her
closest team
has already
been mobilized
in this
direction -
the Director
and members of
her Cabinet,
the Director
of Legal
Services
Santiago
Villalpando,
Sachin Bhatt
the Director
of GBS and the
Director of
IOS Bernardin
Assiene.
Strangely
enough, this
mobilization
contradicts
her position
during the
election
campaign.
According to a
member of the
French
Permanent
delegation to
UNESCO, on
several
occasions
Audrey Azoulay
openly stated
her intention
to step down
as DG if her
preferred
candidate
(first Haiti,
then
Argentina, and
finally
Brazil) lost
the elections
to Saint
Lucia. The
legitimate
question is:
does UNESCO's
DG have a word
that can be
trusted?
Saying she's
going to
resign and
then not doing
so is not
serious for a
politician of
this level.
So, will
Audrey Azoulay
resign?
Chances
are she won't.
But the
episode is
worth noting,
as it speaks
volumes about
the
personality of
the
Frenchwoman at
the head of
the
Paris-based UN
agency.
If, by chance,
she decides to
keep her word
and resign,
the President
of the General
Conference,
Romanian
Ambassador
Simona-Mirela
Miculescu,
will take
charge of
UNESCO until a
new
Director-General
is
elected.
The
other main
consequence is
that France,
as host
country, has
lost much of
its political
capital in
this electoral
battle. The
French
Ambassador to
UNESCO,
Philippe
Franc, failed
to protect the
narrow
interests of
the French DG.
Now his days
are numbered
too, as it's
clear that
Azoulay will
find it hard
to work with a
loser. The
whole affair
has given
France the
disastrous
image of a
host country
that knows no
bounds in
undermining
its political
opponents for
the sole
purpose of
satisfying
French DG
Audrey
Azoulay's
unfounded
desires and
pretentions.
So, Ambassador
Franc clearly
failed. He
also made the
mistake of
preparing and
signing his
letter of
support for
Brazil on
November 21,
when Brazil
had not even
been announced
as a
candidate.
This
proved to
everyone that
France was
behind the
manoeuvres to
oust Argentina
and replace it
with Brazil as
their
candidate. As
a direct
consequence of
this error,
Ambassador
Franc and his
Italian,
Spanish,
Djiboutian,
Japanese and
Chinese allies
failed to
mobilize more
than 20
countries in
favor of
Brazil's
election.
This is an
unprecedented
setback for
all those who
blindly
followed
instructions
from the 6th
floor of
UNESCO’s main
building,
where
Azoulay's
office is
located.
Ambassador
Franc kept
telling
everyone that
he had been
appointed "to
protect"
Audrey
Azoulay.
The
question,
which
hopefully will
soon be
clarified, is:
why does she
need such
political
protection,
and what does
he need to
protect her
from?
This is where
UNESCO stands
today, a UN
Agency
propitious to
the
flourishing of
corruption,
embezzlement,
abuse of power
and nepotism.
We will have
more on that.
Watch this
site.
***
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