UNITED
NATIONS, June
15 -- While
one part of
the UN,
Mogadishu-based
Nicholas Kay
as new head of
the UNSOM,
purports to be
wooing
Somaliland to
accept his
mission there,
another part
of the UN is
soliciting
bids for
"professional
security
firms" to
operate in
Hareisa and
Burao in
Somaliland.
Seeking
such
services, with
bids still
open until
June 20, is
the UN
Development
Program.
This is
the same UNDP
involved in handing
over
Somaliland's
air space to
Somalia,
leading to the
suspension of
some
UN flights
in and out of
the country,
as Inner City
Press reported.
Inner
City Press has
asked the UN
Office for the
Coordination
of
Humanitarian
Affairs and
WFP Logistics,
What's the
status of UN
flights into
Somaliland?
Now
on the "UN
Global
Marketplace"
UNDP is
inviting,
until June
20,
qualified
professional
security firms
to submit
their interest
for security
guarding
services at
the United
Nations Common
Compounds
(UNCC) in
Hargeisa and
UN Facility in
Burao." UNDP specifies:
"The
UNCC comprises
of five blocks
and open
spaces
covering a
total of
13,849 sqm and
serves as the
sub-office for
UNDP and other
UN
agencies.
There are
approximately
70 staff
members in the
compound
at any one
time. Security
is also
extended to
the nearby UN
dispensary in
Hargeisa and
the Joint UN
facility in
Burao. The
Burao
facility has 3
self-contained
rooms two
conference
rooms and is
enclosed in a
perimeter
wall.
The
proposer will
be responsible
for enforcing
UN rules and
regulations
governing the
access to UN
compounds and
facilities
under UNDPs
control. The
proposer
should have
knowledge of
safety and
security
issues
including
experiences in
operation of
fire fighting
equipment,
assessment of
potential
threats and
crime
prevention,
operating
communication
equipment,
access
control,
guarding
compounds,
patrolling,
handling
incoming
suspicious
parcels and
dealing with
crowds."
To
understand
these
seemingly
different
approaches
from two parts
of the
UN -- which
talk a lot
under
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon about
being "One UN"
-- Inner City
Press has
asked Nick Kay
himself,
through the
Digital
Diplomacy
social media
on which Kay
responds for
example to
UK-based
Somalis who
claim that
even asking
about
Somaliland
makes one a
lobbyist for
separatism.
How
much of the
UK's interest
in Somalia is
as a matter of
domestic
politics?
Inner
City Press
asked Kay, did
Somaliland's
foreign
minister tell
you
UNSOM "should
close"? What
are the next
steps? (One
might
add, how does
this impact
the
procurement
above,
including
staffing
levels?)
The
larger point
is, there are
long-standing
and legitimate
claims in
Somaliland,
but the UN or
at least parts
of it simply
ignore them.
Is
it a matter of
bureaucracy?
Of the "love
of states"? Is
it
a double
standard when
compared to
the UN's
solicitude to
other
group's
claims? These
are questions
the UN, in the
first instance
Nicholas Kay,
should answer.
Watch this
site.
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