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UN Performance Problems UN Management Accountability Struggles Where is the Rule of Law? Inadequate UN Oversight Recent Developments
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November - December 2006 269. "The UN-appointed … [$35 million Volcker Oil-for-Food
investigation led to no punishment or prosecution of a single UN staffer,
but] the US Attorney of the Southern District of New York … has had
somewhat different results. Today prosecutors
announced the indictment of … [Sanjaya Bahel, former UN commodity
procurement head, for swinging UN contracts] to Indian companies in
exchange for valuable New York real estate. … One of the leaders
of … [an indicted 44-member alleged international narcotics-trafficking
organization was a Somali UN employee, Osman Osman, who] 'used the UN
diplomatic pouch to smuggle khat into the United States.' … That follows the
indictment last September … of the head of the UN General Assembly budget
oversight committee ... Valdimir Kuznetsov, … [for money-laundering, and]
… the guilty plea of Alexander Yakovlev, a ... former UN procurement
official who pled guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and money
laundering. Is all this a sign
of a thorough cleanup at the UN? Or a mere sample of what lies beneath
the surface?
For the $5.3 billion or so the U.S. is now spending every year on
the UN … we deserve much clearer insights and answers than UN
'transparency' allows." Claudia Rosett, "Indicted: The byways of Turtle Bay", The Rosett Report, at claudiarosett.pajamasmedia.com, November 1, 2006. 270. "A day after a
senior U.N. official was indicted on bribery charges, the United Nations
management chief said Thursday an investigation into corruption was 'at
full throttle' and he urged anyone with relevant information to
cooperate. 'The dominoes are
beginning to fall', undersecretary-general for management Chris Burnham
told the Associated Press. 'Anyone with information about
corruption anywhere in the U.N. needs to come forward now before the
dominoes reach them,' he added. Burnham, who has
been instrumental in pressing investigations into corruption especially in
U.N. procurement activities, said the corruption probe goes beyond the
procurement department. 'This investigation
is as serious as a heart attack …,' he said." "U.N. corruption probe 'at full throttle', apnews, November 3, 2006. [Note: The enthusiastic Mr. Burnham also announced his resignation (effective mid-November 2006). Will those dominoes now all remain standing?]
271.
"If a panel of three judges agrees with [prosecutor] Luis
Moreno-Ocampo, … [Lubanga Dyilo, a Congolese citizen accused of
conscripting child soldiers] … will become the first man to face justice
in the International Criminal Court, a
dramatic experiment in global co-operation [which] … came into effect in
2002. … But as the court
inches closer to real results, it is confronting some profound
dilemmas and the non-governmental organizations that did so
much to promote the court are worried about the potential consequences.
Foremost of these
is: how to investigate and try officials from sitting governments? … It also faces the
thorny question of whether pursuing justice helps efforts to create peace,
or whether -- by scaring potential co-operators away -- it undermines the
reconciliation process. … 'The prosecutor
has to draw on the moral authority of his office to make clear his
impartiality and independence in complex, highly divisive political
situations,' [one expert observer said.] … In a report on his
first three years, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo defended the selection of Congo and
Uganda … because 'they were the gravest admissible situations' within his
jurisdiction. ... 'We are prosecutors
enforcing a law that has no consensus,' the prosecutor said." Mark Turner, Nikki Tait and Andrew England, "Vague at the Hague? Why the UN war crimes trials may be off to a timid start", The Financial Times (UK), November 7, 2006. 272. "[James
Traub's] The
best intentions, largely focused on Kofi Annan's decade-long tenure as
the U.N.'s secretary-general, is engaging, nuanced and often fascinating.
… The [key] problem …
is with the facts he presents: They simply do not seem to justify his
enthusiasm for the institution or its most recent leader. … Mr. Traub is too
intellectually honest to ignore these shortcomings. Yet he seems
to admire Mr. Annan and to believe in the institution, whatever its
failings. … Mr. Annan often
seems far from heroic. Regarding Oil for Food, Mr. Annan moans about the
Security Council's creation of 'a messy structure,' … asked about the 1995
massacre at Srebrenica … he blames unidentified 'commanders on the ground'
… questioned … about Rwanda, he says -- astonishingly -- only that 'we
should have used the media more aggressively …' The buck
never stops with Kofi Annan [nor] … anyone else at Turtle Bay. … [Mr. Traub
paraphrases deputy secretary-general Mark Malloch Brown on a UN agency
that is] … 'like so much at the U.N., noble rather than actually
effective.'
The impression lingers that Mr. Traub is himself a little too
enchanted by the U.N.'s protestations of its own nobility." Niall Stanage, "The
consequences of Kofi Annan", The Wall Street
Journal, opinionjournal.com, November 8, 2006. [Note: The book is James Traub, The best intentions: Kofi Annan and the era of
American world power, Farrar Straus Giroux, New York, 2006.] 273. "The
secretary-general asked us six months ago to co-chair a high-level panel …
[to greatly improve UN effectiveness in the fields of development,
humanitarian assistance, and the environment.] … The UN system needs to be radically overhauled … If
not, the UN will find itself increasingly
marginalized … [and] the world's poorest and most vulnerable
[will suffer most]. … The UN and its
specialized agencies have much to offer. … [But the system lacks]
institutional effectiveness, cost efficiency and focus, encouraged in many
cases by poor governance and unpredictable funding … [and] also by
internal competition for funding, mission creep and outdated practices.
… Much of this is the
result of policy incoherence, program duplication and vested interests in
the status quo.
There is no shortage of highly professional and dedicated people
within UN ranks, but many find their efforts thwarted by inappropriate
administrative procedures, mediocre management and ill-conceived
loyalties. … To reflect the 'One
UN' concept at country level we propose the establishment of a UN
Sustainable Development Board … [and] a set of more appropriate
governance, managerial and financial mechanisms … For a better UN, …
drastic reforms need to be implemented as soon as possible." Shaukat Aziz, Luisa Dias Diogo, and Jens Stoltenberg, "Unifying the UN", International Herald Tribune, November 9, 2006. [Note: The three dignitaries are the prime ministers of Pakistan, Mozambique, and Norway, respectively. For an irreverent but incisive assessment of this process as one of many such grand, and unsuccessful, reform efforts since the seminal "Capacity Study" or "Jackson report" of 1969, see "Last minute rehash of old proposals on 'system-wide coherence'" at UNforum, www.unforum.com, of 15 November 2006.]
274. "Draft
decision The Sixth Committee
[of the UN General Assembly] decides to hold a resumed session of 10
meetings in March 2007, to continue the consideration of the report of the
Redesign Panel on the United Nations system of administration of justice
(A/61/205), taking into account the comments that will be made by the
Secretary-General on the report of the Redesign Panel." "Administration of justice at the United Nations", UN document A/C.6/61/L.12 of 9 November 2006. [Note: after more than 20 years of near-universal criticism of this system, and severe new mid-2006 reports on its weak management and procedures (the Secretary-General's Panel) and basic ineffectiveness (the Staff Union's panel), the decision is: more delay, including by Mr. Annan. See the Overview quotes on these two reports at items 220 and 202 respectively. The full Redesign Panel document is available at www.un.org/documents/ by report number under "61st", and the staff's report is found under "UN War Crimes Judge …" on this homepage.]
275. "They are too
well mannered to cheer … [US mid-term election results at the UN
Secretariat] in New York. … But those who are
hoping for a new era … are -- alas -- kidding themselves. For it is not
just the Americans who are reluctant to see the UN gain too much
authority. The Russians and the Chinese … are also very wary of the more
ambitious vision for the UN developed in the Annan era … [especially] his
argument that the UN has a 'responsibility to protect' persecuted peoples,
even when that means violating national sovereignty. … It is already
over-stretched with some 80,000 UN peacekeepers … [worldwide, which makes]
it all too likely that there will be another peacekeeping fiasco … [like]
Somalia and Bosnia in the 1990s. Lebanon in particular looks
like an accident waiting to happen. … Almost everybody
now agrees that it ridiculous that the UN's power structure is frozen in
1945 [with Britain, China, France, Russia and the US with the only
vetoes.] … It is increasingly
easy for miscreant leaders around the world to argue that the Security
Council is now so unrepresentative that it deserves to be ignored." Gideon Rachman, "Change in America will not solve the United Nations' crisis", The Financial Times (UK), November 14, 2006. 276. “Ban Ki Moon
arrives … [and,] as one seasoned [UN] official put it, we are dealing with
a totally new culture here. [Ban] … knows the U.N. in his own way; but
the U.N. does not really know him. … He is free to choose his own team … except, of
course, for the understandings reached with key powers during the
campaign, … [with] Security Council non-permanent members who voted the
right way, … [and with] the Developing Countries, including the Group of
77, now over 110 … On the light side, you see a number of self-promoting opportunists … running around. Some of these pompous characters who took full advantage of Annan’s years have turned into meek souls in the hope of keeping their prize jobs. The ruthless and rude who for years hardly bothered to recognize their own staff are suddenly making nice, seeking support from their chronically wronged staff. Now you see them saying ‘hello’, waving good-bye and attending functions, hanging around just in case the call comes through. Now you see them. Next year, hopefully, you won’t.” “Reading tea leaves”, UN
Forum, available at the www.unforum.com
archives, 15 November 2006.
277. "As the United
Nations continues to battle waste, mismanagement and corruption, [outgoing
top manager Christopher Burnham] … has proposed that all high-level [UN]
staffers … should not only disclose their private financial assets but
also make them public. … He said incoming
secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon has already pledged to sign a financial
disclosure form -- and to go public with it. … [Kofi] Annan signed
his financial disclosure forms last month but they have not been made
public. … Burnham said …
dozens of governments … have made it mandatory that all civil servants
make information about their financial assets available to public
scrutiny. … 'We also have to
focus on a history of individuals who have been involved in
procurement
leaving this institution and going to work for companies in the
midst of bidding for projects they were dealing in while they were UN
procurement officers,' Burnham said. … Ethical and
accountable Annan says that a key ingredient of any successful
organization is 'an ethical and accountable culture pervading its staff,
from top to bottom.' Unfortunately, 'in recent years it has
become clear that we have too often fallen short of these high
standards.'" "Newly transparent UN enters the future", Mail and Guardian (UK), 16 November 2006.
278a. "A U.N. General Assembly committee has voted to
discourage U.N. human rights bodies from condemning any country on human
rights, despite objections to the measure from the U.S. and
many European countries. The draft
resolution -- sponsored by Belarus and Uzbekistan, both of which have been
accused of serious human rights abuses -- was approved by the assembly's
human rights committee on a 77-63 vote. It now goes to the full 192-member
General Assembly for a final vote. Its key provision
stresses the need to avoid
'country-specific resolutions on the situation of human rights and the 'exploitation of human rights for political
purposes." "U.N. panel votes on human rights measure", washingtonpost.com, November 17, 2006. 278b.
"The old unreformed UN Human Rights Commission was selective and
one-sided, but occasionally managed to do some good work. As the new [Human Rights Council] prepares
to resume deliberations … an ad hoc coalition of human rights
violators is pushing for an end to the practice of singling out individual
countries for special criticism and follow-up actions. Those critical
reports and follow-ups were the most useful thing that the unreformed
commission used to do. … Moving away from the practice altogether would be
a decided step backward. To inspire respect and support, the United Nations
must be more than a self-protective club of sovereign states. The test of
that is whether it is willing to defend the basic human standards embodied
in a succession of UN declarations and
conventions. The new Human Rights Council now seems
headed for a failing midterm grade." "A discredit to the
UN", International Herald Tribune, November 22,
2006. 278c.
"The campaign group Human Rights Watch on Monday warned that United Nations experts investigating abuse could be
muzzled after the world body's Human Rights Council voted to set up a
fresh code of conduct for their activities. 'It's very
dangerous ...' said … [an HRW representative], who added that she was
'shocked' by the Council's vote. The experts or rapporteurs on human
rights, who probe allegations of abuse in particular countries or examine
areas of concerns such as torture, are regarded as the eyes and ears of
the UN's system of human rights protection. [She] criticized the Council for
'meddling in trying to set limits on the activities of the experts.' … The resolution …
was submitted by Algeria on behalf of the African group, and supported by
China and Cuba.
It was opposed by the European Union and other Western countries."
HRW warns against muzzling of UN rights", thenews.com.pk (Pakistan), November 29, 2006.
279.
"[Shortly before his departure, UN secretary-general] … Kofi Annan
has come up with a political scorecard on the successes and failures of
the UN's much-touted development agenda. … Official
development assistance is reaching a new high … funding for HIV/AIDS
prevention is still below the targeted 20 billion dollars … global warning
is threatening the world's environmental stability … [but] there is a set
of agreed … Millennium Development Goals … supported by all major
development actors. 'So we have much to
be proud of,' Annan said. 'But we cannot for one second be
complacent.' … [A development
expert said] … 'What bothers me [about his political scorecard] … is that
it glosses over all the incoherence of the [UN] system and the scandals
and other misdeeds that had become endemic in the system under his
watch.' Talking in terms of
money and statistics does not tell the full story, she added, because
development everywhere is uneven, prosperity is inequitable and aid as
always remains unpredictable. 'Unfortunately the
vision of development as a compact that he speaks of will always be
overshadowed by the legacy of an impotent United Nations lacking in
legitimacy and credibility and mired in scandal.'" Thalif Deen, "Development: UN chief's scorecard of success and failure", Inter Press Service, November 20, 2006.
280a.
"While in Somalia, Ethiopian troops now openly patrol the roads to
Baidoa, and U.S. Special Forces are reported on the Somali border with
Kenya … [it is] reported that the U.S. State Department has commissioned a
report that warns that up to a dozen countries could be drawn into war in
Somalia, echoing the Congo. … Meanwhile, at the
UN, the Somalia Monitoring Group's four members, called experts, are
apparently in hiding. Their recently leaked report names
violators of the sanctions, and says that 720 Somalis were in South
Lebanon.
Despite the spokesman saying they would [be] briefing the press
this week, they have not been seen." Matthew Russell Lee, "At the UN … Somalia echoes Congo", Inner City Press, November 22, 2006.
280b.
"Somalia, the lawless, impoverished African country, just won't go
away. Like a bad dream,
the fear of Somalia is rooted in the … [failed] United Nations Mission of
the early 1990s … then … the guilt of abandoning Somalis to brutal
warlords who killed hundreds of thousands and turned millions into
refugees. So Somalia, perched
on the strategic Horn of Africa … keeps coming back … now, with the
victory this spring of an alliance of Islamic militias. … Somalia has become the new Afghanistan -- 'the
largest, potential safe haven for Al Qaeda in Africa,' according to the
International Crisis Group. … [Somalia's] now a
proxy war for foreign powers waging old border and religious disputes
… Iran and Syria are
accused in a new UN report of providing arms and military advisers to
Somalia in violation of a UN arms embargo. … Even peacekeepers, warns the
report, could be a 'catalyst that sparks a serious military
confrontation.' For now, there may
be little the world can do … But if dealt with clumsily, with military
force, Islamic rule in Somalia will not be the climax of terror in the
region, but just the beginning of this nightmare's third act." Stanley A. Weiss, "Somalia: Old nightmare, new danger", International Herald Tribune, November 25-26, 2006.
281.
"Recorded remittances by migrants to their home countries should
reach $268 billion this year, according to the World Bank, just over twice
as much as in 2000. Workers from developing countries
account for most of this: they are forecast to send $199 billion home in
2006, compared with $85 billion six years ago." "Migrants' remittances", The Economist, November 25th, 2006, p. 114. [Note: This very large and growing funds flow to the developing world is not widely known. The 12 largest recipient countries, by remittances as percent of GDP, are, in order: Mexico, India, China, Philippines, Lebanon, Morocco, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Russia, Poland, Brazil, and Colombia.]
282.
"Transparency International has new company in fighting corruption.
A Sudanese cellphone billionaire, Mo Ibrahim, … will give an annual [$5
million] prize … to an African head of state who was freely elected,
turned over power to a freely elected successor, and governed well while
in office." Political leaders
talk about fighting corruption because voters care about it. … But leaders have a
bad record of doing what really works: [1] open government to public
scrutiny, [2] carry out bidding for government contracts transparently on
the Internet, [3] pay government officials decently, [4] investigate
public officials who buy Mercedes, [5] cut red tape and restructure
government offices to remove opportunities for bribery. Corruption is tamed
when government agencies are set up to make corrupt behavior difficult.
… The Ibrahim prize
seeks to help change [this situation.] … Africa, like
elsewhere, needs more than an Ibrahim prize. It needs a
permanent source of political pressure from citizens and business groups
-- not just general disgust, but advocacy for special reforms. Corruption
always carries its own powerful lobby. Honest government needs one as
well." "Fighting
corruption", International Herald Tribune, November 25-26,
2006. [Note: Amazingly (or predictably?), the UN Secretariat
resoundingly fails the above corruption criteria test: [1] see items
269 and 277 above and also 263, as well as "Black Holes 3" on the IO Watch
home page, [2] see items 269 and 270 above and also 172, 177, 178, 184,
and 214, [4] type in "Kofi Annan Mercedes" on Google Search, and [5] see
"Black Holes 1" on the IO Watch home page and A real UN fraud prevention
programme. Mr. Annan, therefore, would certainly
not win this prize if eligible.] 283. "Congo is heading towards an economic
meltdown that requires the country's fragile government and
its international donor partners to take urgent measures to avert a
prolonged crisis. … According to an IMF
memo seen by the Financial Times, reckless economic mismanagement
before last month's presidential election could 'durably jeopardize'
stability in the central African country. … Congo's new
government may not be able to manage donor money because the country's
political system is on the verge of breaking point and riddled with
corruption. … International
partners have spent more than $500 million to support Congo's elections …
The United Nations has spent more than $1 billion a year to maintain its
peacekeeping mission … But [experts] … say
western institutions have not exercised enough oversight over their
lending programmes or applied enough pressure to ensure [transparent]
mining contracts. … A World Bank investigation is underway
into alleged mismanagement in bank-assisted Congolese government agencies
responsible for handling hundreds of millions of dollars of reconstruction
funds. 'The mismanagement
under the power-sharing arrangement is unacceptable but ultimately not
surprising.
Now we have no money,' … [said] a key ally of [President Joseph]
Kabila.
'Without support, any new government risks collapsing.'" Dino Mahtani, "Donor partners face dilemma as Congo heads for meltdown", The Financial Times (UK), November 27, 2006.
284. "[An
Australian] government commission investigating allegations of corruption
under the United Nations oil-for-food program for Iraq released its
long-awaited report Monday, stating that it was 'not now in doubt' that
Australia's wheat export company (AWB) paid more than $224 million in
kickbacks and bribes to Saddam Hussein's government … to ensure access to
the lucrative Iraqi market. … When the United
Nations conducted an investigation in 2005 [the Volcker inquiry], AWB
withheld thousand of pages of documents and its lawyers made false
statements, the commission found. The Australian
commission's investigation was the most thorough inquiry into corruption
in the UN program. Its report, spread over 2,065 pages …
[was
based] on testimony from more than 70 AWB and government officials during
75 days of public hearings. … [AWB] claims were
rejected almost in totality by the commission's report. … The commission
recommended that criminal prosecutions be considered against 11 AWB
officials, including a former chairman and a former general counsel." Raymond Bonner, "Exporter in Australia paid bribes to
Saddam", International Herald Tribune, November 28,
2006.
[Note: In contrast to the UN’s very passive approach to oil-for-food reform
initiatives, the Australian government is considering drastic AWB reform
because of its damaging ‘culture of corruption: see Jim Johnston,
“Australia takes step toward ending monopoly of wheat exporter”, International Herald Tribune, December 6,
2006.] 285.
"Children have been subjected to rape and prostitution by United
Nations peacekeepers in Haiti and Liberia, a BBC investigation has found.
… The assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping
operations acknowledges that sexual abuse is
widespread. … The UN is scheduled
to hold a special conference in New York on Monday 4 December, to address
the issue. … [In Liberia], the
UN responded by … appointing 500 monitors … and introducing mandatory
training …
[but] a local NGO worker said reports of sexual abuse involving
peacekeepers were 'still rampant, despite pronouncements that they have
been curbed.' Kofi Annan has
pledged a policy of 'zero tolerance,' … but Refugees International says
there remains a 'culture of silence' in some military deployments. … 'To prey on the
very populations that you are sent to protect is one of the worst forms of
violation and betrayal that there is', [its spokesperson said.] … Under UN
regulations, military personnel cannot be prosecuted in the country where
they are serving, and it is up to the courts in their home countries to
prosecute crimes committed. The UN said it had
firm knowledge of only two concrete examples of sex offenders being sent
to jail …" "UN troops face child abuse claims", BBC News, November 30, 2006.
286. “In October the
Polish government passed a law to give politicians greater power to
appoint top civil servants, and scrapped the independent civil-service
office.
… In June the Slovaks amended a law to make it easier for
politicians to control the civil service. The Czech government has repeatedly
postponed a law to regulate the appointments of civil servants. … A 2004 study … found that administrative standards in
[Eastern Europe] were not up to Western standards: patronage was a
problem, and low pay plus discretionary power increased the risk of
corruption. … The EU’s body of rules does not cover
the civil service, [so] there is no obvious remedy. European Union law may
influence … the production of jam, but it cannot enforce transparency and
probity in national administrations. … One EU official thinks … informal peer pressure
[could embarrass countries with] ‘a crony-ridden, nepotistic, badly run
public sector.’
Yet … Italy, a founding EU member, is ranked 45th in Transparency International’’s corruption
index.
It remains a poor advertisement for the EU if existing members fail
to meet the standards that are set for new ones.” “Through the looking glass”, The Economist, December 2d, 2006. [Note: What hope is there for eventual good governance and oversight at the UN if even some EU countries reject something so fundamental as an independent, merit-based, civil service?]
287a. “United Nations sources
confirm with NewsMax that retiring Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans to
‘petition’ the [UN] pension fund for the largest retirement benefit in [UN
history] … in excess of $250,000 [annually] for life and … an additional
$1 million for back payments related to earlier duties at the U.N. Annan served more than four decades as a U.N. employee … Previous secretaries-general received a lifetime annual pension of $100,000. … But the General Assembly recently and quietly passed
legislative ‘enhancing’ Annan’s retirement benefits. Some U.N.
insiders speculate that the ‘enhancement’ was a so-called ‘parting gift’
for Annan after a decade as leader. While not illegal, many U.N. staffers expressed anger
at Annan’s behind- the- scenes move to sweeten his golden parachute,
saying it smacks of ‘double dipping’ from U.N. funds.” “Kofi Annan’s retirement: Double dipping from U.N?”,
NewsMax (US), December
4, 2006.
[Note: Perhaps Mr. Annan was jumping into competition with his
Deputy Director-General, Mark Malloch Brown – see the next item.] 287b. “In a rare and unusual
arrangement personally approved by [Kofi] Annan, Mark Malloch Brown …
received a salary as the secretary-general’s … chief of staff and
executive director of the U.N. Development Program, a post in which he had
previously served. A January 2005 press statement by Annan … justified
Malloch Brown’s dual salary role, but
conveniently omitted ,.. his decision to allow Malloch Brown to draw two
salaries … Under the dual pay arrangement, Malloch Brown was
grossing more than $300,000 a year … [plus] cost of living perks [adding
perhaps] an additional $100,000 … The double salary is apparently not illegal under
U.N. rules, but has raised eyebrows within the world body because of the
agency’s continuing fiscal problems. … During a review of salaries by a General Assembly
budget committee, the so-called ‘double-dip’ was ended. … It is unclear whether he intends to return any compensation to the world body. … Last summer Malloch Brown was again on the defensive as he … ‘was renting’ a mansion owned by [George Soros for] approximately $10,000 a month … when making a chief of staff’s salary (approximately $130,000 annually) …” Stew Stogel, “U.N. official gets two salaries”, NewsMax (US), December
21, 2005. 287c. “[For years, Kofi Annan] saved considerable sums by occupying an apartment [on Roosevelt Island] meant to help financially strapped low-to-moderate income New York families. … [In 1997 when he became Secretary-General., it] … was handed over to … the family of Mr. Annan’s brother, [who is now Ghana’s ambassador to Morocco.] … [The] apartment is subject to strict eligibility
requirements, involving family size. … combined family income, and
continuous use of the apartment as a primary residence…. Nobody is saying any of the Annans have broken the
law … [But] Kofi Annan, whose [second] wife comes from one of Sweden’s
wealthier families, … [lectures Americans] on how the well-heeled have
obligations to those less fortunate. Over the [past decade … the effective New York
taxpayers’ subsidy for [the apartment] would add up to well over
$100,000.
Kofi Annan’s nephew [today seems to be chief occupant of an
apartment intended for] … a family of between 5 and 6 people. The enclave is known for its heavy concentration of
U.N. staff, many of whom receive U.N. housing allowances on top of
whatever savings they might enjoy at the expense of New York State
taxpayers.” Claudia Rosett, “Mystery surfaces over apartment of Kofi Annan”, The New York Sun, December 19, 2006.
287d. “The United Nations plans … a
$4.3 million overhaul of the four-story Sutton Place manse where Kofi
Annan has lived rent-free for a decade. … The UN General Assembly adopted the
renovation plan last week. … The plumbing is leaking, the plaster walls are
falling apart, and the electrical system keeps overloading … Annan
complained recently. The massive upgrade includes a $2.1 million heating and cooling system, $650,000 of security improvements and even $100,000 in landscaping. … The 14,000 square-foot townhouse was built for Anne Morgan, daughter of financier J.P. Morgan, in 1921. The UN got it as a gift in 1972. The repair bill comes on top of the UN’s plan to
overhaul its East Side headquarters over the next eight years at a
projected cost of $1.9 billion. … [With] 200G in the pot, you can cook a little. What kind of a kitchen does a [planned renovation for] … $200,000 buy? The best of the best – and then some. … A design firm owner suggested a $35,000 custom-made [French] stove … or a $52,000 Texas-made Traulsen refrigerator.” Paul D. Colford, “Kofi pad to get $4.3 million fixup”, The New York Daily News, December 6th, 2006. [[Note: at a time when huge chief executive financial payments and deals are increasingly criticized, these money-grabbing actions by Mr. Annan, the advocate of the poor, and including the $500,000 prize that he recently received from Dubai (see item 294b), seem shabby. But the Annans did have to “suffer” in a deteriorating 14,000 square-foot mansion for a decade (although it was free, and they were out with the Manhattan jet set most of the time anyway. – see item 114 in Overview II, “A secretary so social.”)]
288. “The
United Nations General Assembly has agreed to set up a committee to
consider the criminal accountability of UN officials and experts serving
on peacekeeping missions. … The Assembly authorized an ad hoc committee to meet
in April to examine a report from a group of experts appointed by
Secretary-General Kofi Annan on how best to ensure that UIN staff and
experts on mission are neither unjustly penalized nor effectively exempted
from the consequences of any criminal acts.” “General Assembly committee to examine criminal accountability of UN staff”, UN News Service, 5 December 2006. [Note: At long last, the UN begins to address criminal actions of its staff. Even if the General Assembly only considers peacekeepers in war zones rather than the abusive senior UN officials in New York and elsewhere, it is at least a small crack in the UN’s six-decade wall of impunity for its officials.]
289a “U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan is … again at loggerheads with the staff
union, says its vice president, Emad Hassanin. … The U.N.’s New York staff union, … with more than
7,000 staff members, wanted to be treated the same as [UN staff] in
Geneva.
Late last month, Annan bid farewell to those staffers with a formal
meeting which allowed a final ‘give and take’ [discussion] … The N.Y, staff union has had a history of
confrontations with Annan over the last several years and periodic
meetings between the two have been tense. Problems … [discussed] have ranged from
early retirements, to budget cuts, to repeated charges of sexual
harassment by senior U.N. officials coming from long-time staffers. Earlier this year, Ambassador John Bolton took an
unprecedented step and met the leadership of the staff union to discuss …
[UN reform issues.] Annan’s reaction? The U.N.’s
[human resources] department contemplated firing the U.N. staffers who met
Bolton, but later backed off the idea. … ‘He [Annan] only wanted to meet us and shake our hands in the cafeteria. … Maybe he is afraid of what will come up in an official meeting,’ said Hassanin.” Stewart Stogel, “Annan refuses final farewell to staff”, NewsMax (US), December 7, 2006. 289b. “The UN Staff Union
overwhelmingly voted no confidence in Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Thursday over his proposal to radically overhaul U.N.
operations. … The disappearance of permanent appointments and a new
policy on job mobility without job security implied a ‘fundamental attack
against the international civil service,’ it said. The
resolution said ‘in the future, all staff may be at risk’
… The staff revolt is just the latest in a series of
[Mr. Annan’s ] problems … including his management in the [Iraq
oil-for-food program scandal … sexual abuse by U.N. peacekeepers … [and]
corruption charges linked to how the U.N. awards work contracts. … The resolution was adopted at an emergency [staff
union] meeting attended by more than 500 U.N. employees. Union leaders
said … [only two people voted ‘no’ with] fewer than 10 abstentions. … Annan’s proposed shakeup would create a mobile civil
service and convert 2,500 short-term peacekeeping positions into a new
rapid reaction team [for deployment] … in urgent peacekeeping and
political missions. … The [staff] resolution also expressed dismay that ‘no one is being held accountable for the failed systems and processes indicated in [Mr. Annan’s] report, and their enormous costs for this organization.’” “UN overhaul plan leaves staff with no confidence in Annan”, CNN and AP, March 9, 2006.
290a.
“Ambitious attempts to improve the accountability of public sector
institutions [within developing countries] work only when they have strong
and broad-based domestic support, the [World Bank’s independent evaluation
group says].
Where this is absent, [their] report recommends that the bank focus
more narrowly on backing regulatory reforms that reduce the opportunity
for corruption. … More broadly, the … group found almost half of World
Bank country strategies it surveyed were ‘overly ambitious’ – either
trying to do too much or not based on political realities on the ground.
… The panel warns that the pressure to deliver results
quickly, for instance to meet the United Nations’ Millennium Development
Goals to halve poverty by 2015, ‘can divert attention from the quality of
results.’” Krishna Guha, “Bank study urges anti-corruption rethink”, The Financial Times (UK), December 8, 2006. 290b. “Every three years, [the
World Bank] goes cap in hand to rich countries and tries to replenish its
coffers.
This haggling, which starts in Paris in March, and will not end
before December 2007, is always a fraught business. … But the bank faces stiffer competition for aid
dollars than ever before. There are over 150 multilateral bodies
– from the African Development Bank to the United Nations Children’s Fund
– and a gaggle of of funds, facilities and initiatives dedicated to
specific causes …” “The World Bank: Hungry like the wolf”, The Economist, December 9th, 2006.
291. “In September
of 2001, the UN World Conference against Racism, held in Durban, South
Africa deteriorated into an anti-semitic, anti-Israel, pro-terrorism
frenzy.
On November 22, 2006 the Third Committee of the General Assembly
[voted for] the reoccurrence of the Durban nightmare in 2009, … [through a
review conference.] … The European Union … voted in favor of this
resolution … with the understanding that the 2009 conference … [would
focus on the implementation of what was decided without reopening the
‘program of action’ and without a new mechanism to prepare for the
conference – there are currently three existing ones.] … [But two resolutions adopted by the Human Rights
Council] on December 8, 2006, now bring the total number of bodies … to
five.
They are: Intergovernment Working Group … Working Group of Experts
…; Five Independent Eminent Experts …; Preparatory Committee …; and Ad Hoc
Committee … With a few exceptions, the Durban enterprise is
synonymous with racism, not its prevention. And it just got a whole lot bigger.”
Rebecca Tobin, “UN plans another Durban Racism Conference for 2009”, www.eyeontheun.com , December 8, 2006.
292. “Over
the past two years, the United Nations has published an astonishing number
of documents on how to reform itself. Its many
reports are a welcome acknowledgement of the serious flaws and problems
that plague the United Nations, and they offer many useful assessments of
its weaknesses as well as recommendations to remedy those weaknesses. Sadly, however little is being done to implement
these recommendations. The timing of the reports, coming on
the heels of the Oil for Food scandal, merely highlights the continuing
reluctance and inability of the United Nations and its member states to
confront and fix its internal problems before they erupt into even more
scandals.” Brett D. Schaefer, “Enough reports: More action needed on U.N. reform”, The Heritage Foundation, Backgrounder No. 1988, December 8, 2006. [Note: This excellent, detailed assessment can be found in full under “Research” at www.heritage.org.] 293. “From the
jungles of Congo to the plains of Sudan and the slums of Haiti, UN
peacekeeping today is larger than at any point in its history. … By next
year, the number … [of soldiers, police and civilians deployed] could
reach 140,000. In New Yor | |||
