From
Lebanon, Kaag
Briefs UNSC
About #YouStink,
Press Elements
Emerge
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, September
2 --
When the UN's
Special
Coordinator on
Lebanon Sigrid
Kaag emerged
on July 8 from
the UN
Security
Council, Inner
City Press
asked her if
there has been
any progress
or at least
effort on the
problem caused
by the World
Bank
classifying
Lebanon as a
middle income
country, and
about torture
in Roumieh
prison. Video
here.
Kaag could not
have known
then that the
#YouStink
protests would
grow in Lebanon
to the extent
that she returned
to brief the
Security
Council,
albeit by
video, on
September 2.
For this
briefing or
its staging,
Inner City
Press is told,
Hezbollah trashed
UN DPA chief
Jeffrey
Feltman, who
previously
covered the
region for the
US State
Department, as
still
reflected each
month in the
Hillary
Clinton email
releases, and
in McClatchy
interview.
Afterward the
Security
Council issued
these Elements
to the Press:
"The members
of the
Security
Council were
briefed today
by the UN
Special
Coordinator
for Lebanon,
Sigrid Kaag,
on the
situation of
the camp. The
members of the
Security
Council will
continue to
closely follow
and monitor
developments
in support of
the unity,
sovereignty
and stability
of Lebanon and
its people.
"The
members of the
Security
Council
expressed
their support
for the
government of
Lebanon and
Prime Minister
Salam. The
members of the
Security
Council
reiterated the
basis of the
statement by
the president
of the
Security
Council on
March 19, 2015.
"The
need for the
Parliament of
Lebanon to
meet and elect
a president as
soon as
possible, in
order to put
an end to the
constitutional
instability.
The members of
the Security
Council look
forward to the
high-level
meeting of the
international
support group
for Lebanon
that will take
place during
the upcoming
session of the
UN General
Assembly."
One wonders
what's up with
UNIFIL's garbage
--
particularly
given its
fellow UN
Peacekeeping
mission
MINUSTAH's beyond-you-stink
in Haiti, introducing
cholera. But
that's another
story.
Back on July
8, Kaag's
reply about
the World Bank
was that
things take
time, but that
she would like
to see the
issue
discusses at
the upcoming
Financing for
Development
conference in
Addis Ababa --
where as noted
by the Free UN
Coalition for
Access some
but not all of
the Zone 9
Bloggers have
just been
released --
and that it
was raised at
the World
Bank's and
IMF's most
recent
meetings.
On torture,
Kaag pointed
to her
response when
the video
emerged, and
said that a
comprehensive
response is
being pushed
for, citing
the CAT,
ombudspersons
and training.
Video
here.
Back
on March 17,
Kaag said that
the "UN
family" stands
ready to help
with Lebanon's
development.
On this
last, Kaag
said to ask
the UNIFIL
spokesperson -
done.
(On the
killing of a
Spanish UNIFIL
peacekeeper,
of which Inner
City Press
asked the
Security
Council's
president for
March,
Francois
Delattre of
France,
Delattre make
a point of
answering,
saying that
the
investigation
is ongoing but
to check that
with the UN
Spokesperson -
to be done).
Kaag said on
March 17 that
there is a
debate about
the financing
for
development
implications
of "middle
income"
status, that
Lebanon is not
the only
country facing
humanitarian
issues which
faces this
problem. The
question
remains, how
will the "UN
family"
address it?
“It is absurd
that Lebanon
has no access
to World Bank
grants because
it is
considered a
middle-income
country,” UN
High
Commissioner
for Refugees
Antonio
Guterres'
prepared
remarks to the
UN Security
Council on
Syria on
February 26
said.
When he
delivered the
remarks, he
added in
Jordan. So
Inner City
Press, when
Guterres came
to the
Security
Council
stakeout after
that meeting,
asked him
about this
addition, and
if he -- and
UN Deputy
Emergency
Relief
Coordinator
Kyung-wha Kang
beside him --
would be
pushing for a
change at the
World Bank,
which is
official a
part of the UN
“family.”
Guterres
replied that
development
assistance
should taken
into account
this new
world, where
Lebanon and
Jordan but
also Chad,
Niger and
Cameroon with
respect to
Nigeria, and
Ethiopia and
Kenya with
respect to
Somalia, are
the “first
line of
defense for
global
collective
security.” Video here.
Lebanon's
Ambassador to
the UN Nawaf
Salam told
Inner City
Press, "This
is unfortunate
indeed," here.
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