For
Guterres' UN,
Chinese
Peacekeeping,
Possible
Russian Deputy
Churkin, ICP's
Told by
Sources
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 17 --
When
new UN
Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres came
to take
questions
outside the
General
Assembly hall
on October 13,
he was first
asked about
Syria and
cited his past
as head of the
UN refugee
agency.
Inner
City Press
asked, “And
Yemeni
people?” -
referring most
recently to
the double-tap
airstrike on
the funeral in
Sana'a.
Guterres took
the question,
adding in
South Sudan as
well, and said
he will try to
be an honest
broker. That
would be a
welcome
change, and
one that we
will closely
cover as censorship
restrictions
are lifted.
Sources
tell Inner
City Press
that in the
jockeying for
position and
Departments in
the
forthcoming
administration,
it may be that
the United
States takes
not the
Department of
Management,
which it used
to hold under
Chris Burnham,
but rather the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations,
DPKO.
In this
scenario,
China would
take the
Department of
Field Support.
France, which
would rightly
be losing DPKO
after the
failures of
Herve Ladsous
in the
position,
could take the
Department of
Economic and
Social Affairs
(DESA), vacate
by China - or
jump across
First Avenue
to the UN
Development
Program, for
which it is
said to have a
“Socialist
star” ready to
replace Helen
Clark.
France
also might
take the
Department of
Public
Information,
misrun by
Spain's
Cristina
Gallach --
beyond censorship,
see Paragraphs
20(b) and
37-40 of
this OIOS Ng
Lap Seng /
John Ashe
bribery
scandal audit
-- perhaps in
the form of
Eric Falt,
currently at
UNESCO, where
Gulf money is
being thrown
around to
replace Irina
Bokova.
In top of the
ticket news,
Inner City
Press has been
informed by
multiple
sources that
not only is
Russia itself
in the running
for the Deputy
Secretary
General
position --
there is no
ban against
the Permanent
Five members
of the
Security
Council
holding the
job, as UK
Mark Malloch
Brown did --
but the name
of Russia's
long time
Permanent
Representative
Vitaly Churkin
keeps coming
up; more than
one source
also mentioned
Gennadiy
Gatilov. There
are also the
Chef de Cabinet
and Department
of Political
Affairs posts.
We aim to have
more on all
this.
On
October 14,
Guterres
announced this
transition
team:
"Following
his
appointment
yesterday by
the General
Assembly of
the United
Nations as
Secretary-General-designate,
António
Guterres
announced the
composition of
a transition
team that will
help him
prepare for
the assumption
of his duties
on 1 January
2017. Here's
some of the
absurdities
they should
fix, on Haiti
cholera
and media
restrictions.
The members of
the team are:
Transition
Team Chief:
Ms. Kyung-wha
Kang (Republic
of Korea). She
previously
served as
Deputy High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights and
Director
General of
International
Relations at
the Ministry
of Foreign
Affairs and
Trade of the
Republic of
Korea. She is
currently
Deputy
Emergency
Relief
Coordinator
and Assistant
Secretary-General
for
Humanitarian
Affairs.
Senior
Advisor/
Spokesperson:
Ms. Melissa
Fleming (USA).
She has held
leading
international
communications
positions at
the OSCE, with
a focus on
human rights,
conflict
prevention and
reconciliation
and at the
IAEA on
nuclear
non-proliferation,
safety and
security. She
is currently
Head of
Communications
and
Spokesperson
for the High
Commissioner
at UNHCR.
Senior
Adviser: Ms.
Michelle
Gyles-McDonnough
(Jamaica). She
has practiced
privately as a
lawyer, served
as advisor to
the Secretary
General of the
Organization
of American
States and has
deep
development
experience
within UNDP,
including as
UN Resident
Coordinator
for Malaysia,
Singapore and
Brunei
Darussalam.
She’s
currently
Deputy
Assistant
Administrator
and Deputy
Regional
Director
Designate for
Asia and the
Pacific.
Senior
Adviser: Mr.
João Madureira
(Portugal). He
has a
distinguished
career in his
country’s
Diplomatic
Service. He is
currently
Minister
Counsellor in
the Permanent
Mission of
Portugal to
the UN.
Senior
Adviser: Mr.
Radhouane
Nouicer
(Tunisia). He
served at
UNHCR for over
18 years in
the field and
as Director of
the Middle
East and North
Africa Bureau.
He was
Secretary of
State for
Foreign
Affairs in the
Tunisian
Transitional
Government in
2011. He is
currently
Regional
Advisor for
the Yemen
Humanitarian
Crisis.
The Transition
Team will
interact with
UN officials,
Member States
and civil
society to
ensure an
informed and
smooth
transition. "
On October 14
inside the GA
hall, speakers
included
Chile's
Ambassador
Christian
Barros and the
UK's Matthew
Rycroft, who
spoke of the
process by
which Guterres
was selected
(but not,
perhaps
understandably,
about Yemen).
US Ambassador
Samantha Power
joked that she
had set aside
time around
Christmas in
case more
straw polls
were needed.
In the days
and weeks
ahead, Inner
City Press
will be
running its
“New UN”
series, which
today covered
the Office for
the
Coordination
of
Humanitarian
Affairs. The
need for
change at UN
Peacekeeping
and the
Department of
Public
Information is
clear. But how
will the UN
become
anything near
to an honest
broker? We are
hoping for it.
Watch this
site.
, 
