As
Sudan
Ends Doha Talks on Darfur, UN Ignores Questions of Rape &
Referendum
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 30 -- When Omar al Bashir of Sudan threatened to
pull out of the Darfur peace talks in Doha, Inner City Press asked
the Office of the Spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of
comment. The question was ignored, then after a complaint answered
thusly: “On the Doha peace talks: We have asked for a response and
will send it when we have it.”
After
this delay,
Bashir actually pulled out of the Doha talks. Inner City Press went
to the Spokesman's Office in the basement of UN headquarters but
still received no comment. Another senior Ban Ki-moon official said
“it's up to Bassole,” the joint UN-African Union mediator. He, it
appears, has not spokesperson.
But,
days ago,
Inner City Press asked Ban's Spokesman's Office to “Confirm or deny reports
of
Sudanese government rapes near UN peacekeepers in North Darfur.
Even
in a response
after Inner City Press complained, this question was ignored. So was
this:
On
Sudan,
please confirm or deny that the Department of Political
Affairs in a recent briefing to NGOs said that
UN
projects
no consolidated results before end Jan – result likely to
be announced February 2.
Major
technical
challenges now are training staff, deploying materials, and
being ready to handle results management (this is still a serious
risk because little done to prepare for results period)
Probability
of
extension to polling remains high
In Darfur, protest, UN response to Doha end and Qs not shown
Arab
League
visit to Sudan (Qaddafi and Mubarak) - castigated Bashir,
pretty clear now that LAS will not try to spoil what is almost
international consensus on recognition - there is even talk they will
offer an independent S. Sudan membership in the LAS.
Bosnian
Presidency
likely to take cues from US and UK.
Ban's
Spokesman's
Office simply ignored this question about statements that NGOs have
to Inner City Press attributed to Ban's DPA. After an argument that
December 31 is another day to answer, the question has been
reiterated by Inner City Press. Watch this site.
* * *
In
Sudan,
Disarmament
Irregularities Freeze UN Program in Referendum Run Up
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December
29 -- Mismanagement and corruption in the UN
system, hardly rare, sometimes comes to light at a particularly bad
time. Such is the case in Sudan with irrregularity in the disarmament
programs run by the UN Development Program.
Less
than
a month
before the Southern Sudan secession referendum which many predict may
give rise to a renewed civil war, UNDP confirmed in response to questions
from Inner City Press that it has suspended seeking funding
for its disarmament programs.
This
is
the answer
provided to Inner City Press by the UN's Spokesman's Office:
From:
UN
Spokesperson
unspokesperson-donotreply [at] un.org
Subject:
Answers to your questions
To: Inner City Press
Date: Wed, Dec
29, 2010 at 7:42 PM
SUDAN
Please
provide
the UN system's response..
Our
colleagues
at
UNDP provided the following: “The UN’s DDR
programme in South Sudan is facing challenges. The UN’s team in
Sudan was concerned that the total number of former combatants, and
women associated with the armed forces, that have been reintegrated
has been low. That is why we commissioned an independent review and
why an internal audit is currently on going. UNDP management expects
that the review will enable us to improve the focus of the programme,
assess the objective conditions for its implementation and take a
critical look at the project and local capacities on the ground. It
will also help us in terms of the redesign of the programme and only
then will we seek future funding.
“We
take audits and evaluations very seriously so as to improve our
performance on the ground. The issues you highlight in your questions
are being critically examined. Once the review has been thoroughly
studied and the audit completed, it is vital that corrective measures
be taken rapidly and in consultation with all parties involved.
In Southern Sudan, registration, disarmament not shown
“The
overall political context under which this programme operates is the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). As you know, some of the
planning assumptions in the CPA have not yet materialized on the
ground, increasing the complexities and challenges of implementing
the programme.
“More
broadly, this programme is operating in a state that is recovering
from a long civil war. That has a very significant impact on the
results of reintegration --whether it is the abject poverty in many
rural areas, the lack of opportunities or the almost non-existent
infrastructure.
“That
being said we owe it to the people of South Sudan and our donors to
make this programme as successful as possible despite all of the
difficulties. We are always looking for ways to improve it and make
the intra-UN cooperation more effective.”
While
the
investigation
and suspension of requests for more funding is all to
rare in the UN system in response to unveiled irregularities, it
comes at a very bad time. Some call it inexcusable. Watch this site.
* * *
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