The
UN, What's It
Good For,
Syria, Mali,
Haiti &
Myanmar,
Briefing Notes
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July
11 -- What is
the purpose of
the UN's daily
noon
briefing? To
posit an
answer we'll
review that of
today, July
11.
It's
used to make
announcements
by the UN, for
example that
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and
Herve Ladsous,
the fourth
Frenchman in a
row
to head UN
Peacekeeping,
will attend
the military
parade
featuring
armies of
France's
African former
colonies in
Paris on July
14. Ban's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
made this
scheduling
announcement
at the
top of the
briefing.
It's
used for
advocacy, for
example to ask
pointedly if
Ban's chemical
weapons prober
Ake Sellstrom
will, in
Syria, insist
on unfettered
access. The
same
questioner on
July 10 tried
to get Nesirky
to say
that the same
“chain of
custody”
issues existed
as to Russia's
recent
submission as
the earlier
ones of France
and the UK.
It's like
having France
or the UK in
the briefing
room.
It's
used to
repeatedly ask
the same
question,
something
Inner City
Press
sometimes must
do after
Ladsous'
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
delays 12 days
in giving a
promised
answer but was
done by
another on
July 11, about
a letter
concerning an
independent
tribunal, by a
questioner,
the UNCA 2013
president
Pamela Falk of
CBS, who
called Martin
Nesirky
“Eduardo,”
his bearded
deputy. Video
of the July 11
briefing,
here, from
Minute 10:15.
It's
used for
humor: see
above and video
continuation,
from Minute
12:28.
It's
used to follow
up, for
example on the
statements the
day before of
the
Ambassadors of
Saudi
Arabia and
Djibouti about
Ban's and
Vijay
Nambiar's
comments that
Myanmar's
president is
not fully
informed of
the abuses
against the
Rohingya.
When Inner
City Press asked this,
Nesirky read
Ban's
statement to
the Group of
Friends on
Myanmar - a
body that
Saudi Arabia
also
criticized -
but declined
to
characterize
what was said
in the Saudi
and Djiboutian
meeting.
It's
used to ask
questions
about more
exclusive or
controlled
briefings,
for example
Ladsous'
session with a
“group of
reporters”
about
his trip to
Mali, at which
another
unnamed senior
UN official
was
quoted that
Chad is
allowed in the
Mali
peacekeeping
mission
because
it does not
have child
soldiers
there. That's
not what the
UN's
children and
armed conflict
expert Leila
Zerrougui said
the test
would be. But
will it be
clarified?
It's
used to press
for access,
such as on
July 10 about
the lack of
any
space for the
press or
public in the
new interim
General
Assembly
Hall, which
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access
raised to the
Department
of Public
Information
back on June
10.
Is it possible
that no member
of the public
can be able to
access this
September's UN
General
Debate?
It's
used for
apologies,
such as on
July 11 when
the
mis-labeling
of
India's trade
minister Anand
Sharma as his
Cabinet
colleague
Kamal
Nath by DPI
was
acknowledged.
While this
harmed
photographers
such as one
from India to
whom the UN
refuses to
grant a
so-called
White P
entrance pass,
to
some the
formality of
the apology
stood in
contrast
to the terse
dismissal of
claims the UN
introduced
cholera to
Haiti.
Will
Inner City
Press'
question about
Ladsous'
MONUSCO
mission
imposing
armed escorts
on
humanitarians
be answered?
About whether
the
Nepalese
troops said
headed for
Syria (the
Golan, it
seems) will be
tested for
cholera, after
what happened
in Haiti. The
UN has
“nothing
more to say”
about that.
But we'll keep
asking. Watch
this site.
, 
