UNITED
NATIONS,
July 15 – UN
Peacekeeping
has changed
under Herve
Ladsous;
in the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo it
now says it
will
“neutralize”
particular
groups, making
it a party to
the
conflict.
But
it still wants
to be
associated
with
humanitarian
work as
before, now in
part to
bolster its
credibility.
Last
week Médecins
Sans
Frontières
pushed back,
then the UN
tried to sweep
it under the
carpet. Where
was the UN
Office for the
Coordination
of
Humanitarian
Affairs under
Baroness
Valerie Amos?
In
the past,
defending the
independence
of aid work
was OCHA's
job. Now as
Ladsous' DPKO
undermines it,
OCHA is
nowhere to be
seen.
At
the UN in New
York on July
11 Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
about it:
Inner
City
Press: In the
DRC, Médecins
Sans
Frontières has
complained
that MONUSCO
was “imposing
armed escorts”
on
humanitarian
workers, and
they have
raised this as
a problem that
blurs the line
between
military and
humanitarian.
It seems that
the MONUSCO
spokesman has
kind of
confirmed it
and has
actually said
that
Médecins Sans
Frontières
shouldn’t
complain about
this, this is
all about
protecting
civilians.
Since it’s
kind of a big
issue,
this
independence
and
impartiality
of
humanitarian
workers, is
there,
at the
Secretariat
level, is that
the policy of
the
peacekeeping
missions: to
impose armed
guards on
humanitarians
that are not
requesting it
and don’t want
it?
Spokesperson:
I’d need to
check with my
colleagues in
the Mission
there
precisely what
the story is
before I
respond on
that, Matthew.
It
would seem
that
OCHA too
should be
asked; that's
also why Inner
City Press
requested
a response “at
the
Secretariat
level,” since
both Ladsous
and
Amos work for
Ban,
ostensibly at
the same
level.
But
the UN came
back with
obfuscation:
Subject:
Your
question on
the DRC
From: UN
Spokesperson
[at] un.org
Date:
Fri, Jul 12,
2013 at 11:14
AM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
The
United
Nations has no
say in
security
measures
employed by
NGOs. UN
humanitarian
agencies use
armed escorts
in insecure
areas in
eastern
DRC only as a
last resort.
The decision
to use escorts
in specific
areas is taken
by the UN-wide
security
management
team. The
large-scale
humanitarian
response in
eastern DRC
faces serious
challenges in
the efforts to
deliver
life-saving
assistance to
people
in need due to
lack of access
caused by the
ongoing
conflict and
poor
infrastructure.
Some 212
security
incidents
against
humanitarian
actors were
reported in
DRC in 2012,
while 181 were
registered in
2011.
That
was on
Friday; Inner
City Press
published the
response in
full and
Nesirky
read it out at
the day's noon
briefing.
Now
MSF,
unconvinced,
has fired back
here: in
French, on a
non-MSF
website,
but by its DRC
country
director
Bertrand
Perrochet:
“The United
Nations
already have
this blurring
of imposing
armed escorts
for
humanitarian
UN agencies to
go to certain
areas or
publicly
presenting
community
interest
actions by the
armed forces
as
humanitarian
actions. In
mid-July, a
new brigade of
UN
intervention
will” begin.
One
might ask:
where is
OCHA's Valerie
Amos? AWOL –
Absent Without
Leave, at
least
on this issue?
Watch this
site.
, 
