UNITED
NATIONS,
July 13 – When
the European
Union's
Kristalina
Georgieva and
the UN's
Valerie Amos
went to the
Central
African
Republic, at
issue was
whether the UN
will modify
its security
ruling which
has resulted
in no UN
international
staff outside
of the
capital,
Bangui.
Inner
City Press
asked at the
UN noon
briefing about
it, and was
told that the
UN does not
make its
security
determinations
based on what
NGOs like
Medecins Sans
Frontieres
say. (Some say
the UN lets
governments
influence and
downgrade its
security
alerts, such
as in
Algiers.)
So
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
ever
interested in
the UN's
comparative
responsiveness,
put the
question, to
UN Office for
the
Coordination
of
Humanitarian
Affairs chief
Valerie Amos
and her Geneva
based
spokesperson,
and to the
EU's
Georgieva.
Four
days ago, even
before the
trip,
Georgieva
replied that
she would have
an answer in
two days,
after the
visit. And
when she
and the UN
were queried
again by @FUNCA_Questions, it was
Georgieva who
replied.
She
told
FUNCA she was
very
“impressed by
ICRC in Kaga
Bandoro - they
stayed there
through tough
times.”
In a
second message
she said,
“some NGOs
have increased
international
presence
beyond Bangui,
the UN also
has plans to
do so.”
FUNCA_Questions thanked
her, and
her answers
were put out
on @FUNCA_info,
in
it new
briefing
stream
that requests
and receives
nothing
tangible from
the UN, unlike
its chosen
partner.
But
what ARE the
plans of the
UN? Shouldn't
the UN say?
The UN has
many Twitter
feeds, but far
too many are
one-way only.
They are
Unsocial
media.
There
is also the
question of
the blurring
of
humanitarian
and military
roles,
particularly
since Herve
Ladsous was
installed as
the fourth
Frenchman in a
row atop UN
Peacekeeping.
Recently his
MONUSCO
mission in the
Congo
criticized MSF
for raising
the issue.
But
when Inner
City Press raised
it at the noon
briefing,
expecting to
get back some
clarification
from OCHA on
this
heretofore
signature
issue, instead
this is what
came back:
something at
odds with what
Ladsous'
MONUSCO in
Kinshasa had
said:
Subject:
Your
question on
the DRC
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[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
This
leaves the
dust-up
between
Ladsous'
MONUSCO and
MSF
unilluminated,
just as the UN
has yet to
respond on its
plans in the
CAR. But we
will keep
asking. Watch
this site.
, 
