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At UN, BAN Not in Time 100, Georgian If-Asked and
Groundbreaking Moves to Cubicles
Byline: Matthew
Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
May
1 -- On the UN diplomatic beat, there are stories that can't be
covered. Take
for example a luncheon Thursday by the Women in Foreign Policy Group.
Reporters
complained that it was $125 to join. Inside, the Deputy
Secretary-General
spoke. But until Inner City Press asked, no copy of her remarks were
made
available. Pay-per-view? Prior to the lunch, four speakers, all
Americans, gave
addresses and took questions in the UN's basement Conference Room D.
Outgoing
head of the Department of Field Support Jane Holl Lute offered the old
saw that
"With the U.S. everything is possible, without the U.S. nothing is
possible." She disclosed, more openly than before, that her spouse is
George Bush's advisor for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She has
said that
this never raised a conflict, but others aren't so sure.
Speaking of conflict, the UN
Spokesperson's Office was ready Thursday in case a question was asked
about the
dispute
around Abkhazia, Georgia. Inner City Press,
which covers the conflict, came to know that the UN Department of
Political
Affairs had prepared a note about rising tensions. Inner City Press
asked, and
the statement
was read into the record. "Was it from DPA?" That
question was not answered.
Meanwhile, when it was announced
that Ban Ki-moon will be going to Georgia, correspondents' minds turned
to
Abkhazia. But the referenced was to Atlanta... The raising of profile
in the
"Host Country" may become a priority. The just-out Time
100 does not include BAN Ki-moon,
under any
spelling.
BAN looks down at Geneva, Georgia not shown
Further on the inside-the-UN beat,
as The Organization prepares to celebrate on May 5 the groundbreaking
for a new
temporary General Assembly building on its riverfront North Lawn, the
head of
its rebuilding effort Michael Adlerstein faced questions Wednesday from
UN
staff impacted by his plan. Some complained that the "swing space" to
which they will be moved, on 46th Street and on Madison Avenue, will
not be
secure without barriers to block car or truck bombs. Other want
cafeterias in
the swing space, for example for "typists who are paid by the word."
In the renovated headquarters, senior officials at the Director level
and up
will get private offices, while everyone else will be in cubicles in
what
Adlerstein called the "open office plan." He said all organizations
are moving in that direction. But Mayor Bloomberg, for example, claims
to be
part of the open office plan. At the UN, those on top want to keep
their
privacy and distance. But inquiring minds want to know how much the May
5
shindig will cost. Watch this site.
* * *
These reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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Other,
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in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
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2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request
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