On Climate
Refugees, No
UNDP View,
Debt in Caribbean
Not Pacific,
Layoffs
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 28 --
The UN says it
is doing its
all for Small
Island
Developing
States, that
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon will
convene a
meeting of the
UN's Chief
Executives
Board on Samoa
in early
September.
But will
climate change
refugees be on
the agenda?
Apparently
not.
On
August 28,
Inner City
Press asked
the Permanent
Representative
of Vanuatu, as
well as his
co-panelist
from the UN
Development Program,
for their
positions on
environmental
refugees.
UNDP
apparently has
no position;
Vanuatu's Odo
Tevi called it
sensitive and
said there is
no solution in
sight.
Inner City
Press is
informed the
concept is not
in the outcome
document for
the Samoa
meeting. At this
Third
International
Conference on
SIDS there,
one of the
topics is
“debt
sustainability.”
But what is
the UN system
doing about
that?
On this,
UNDP's Deputy
Director for
the Bureau for
Asia and the
Pacific,
Nicholas
Rosellini,
said debt is a
bigger problem
in the
Caribbean than
in the Pacific.
Vanuatu's Odo
Tevi said that
given "new
models" coming
up, it would
be good to be
cautious. We
don't hear
enough from
Vanuatu, so
Odo Tevi's
comments were
appreciated.
Because UNDP
has declined
to directly
answer
questions
about the
layoffs
planned under
Administrator
Helen Clark,
despite extensive
complaints
from staff
unions, to
endeavor to
understand the
specifics of
the cuts Inner
City Press
asked Rosellini
how UNDP's
research would
be impacted.
Rosellini said
UNDP has three
centers in the
Pacific, and
cited one in
Suva which
will continue
as-is. The
same was
previously
said about
UNDP's Human
Development
Report arm. So
where are the
cuts?
Recently UNDP
refused to
answer
simple Inner
City Press
questions
about
irregularities
in programs it
adminsters in
Afghanistan,
then only answered
after two
weeks,
following
Inner City
Press questions
at a half
dozen UN noon
briefings. With
this type of
stonewalling,
with no end in
sight, the
questions must
continue.
By
contrast, even
the
International
Monetary Fund
answers
questions --
for example,
Inner City
Press' question
on ebola on
August 28,
here. The
IMF is sending
Min Zhu to
Samoa: we'll
have more on
this.
On
Gaza,
Inner City
Press on July
24 asked the
International
Monetary Fund
for its
estimate of
the economic
impact of the
conflict in
both Gaza and
Israel,
including
specifically
with the FAA
and now Delta
and other
airlines'
decisions on
access to Ben
Gurion
Airport.
IMF
Deputy
Spokesperson
William Murray
read out Inner
City Press'
Gaza question
(and others
from Inner
City Press on
Ukraine and
Liberia) at
the IMF's
embargoed
briefing on
July 24. On
Gaza, the
IMF's Murray
answered Inner
City Press:
“With
the conflict
ongoing, it is
too soon to
make an
accurate
assessment of
the impact,
which will
depend on the
conflict's
duration.
Post-conflict
reconstruction
poses risk to
Palestinian
Authority
finances
absent
additional
donor
financing. The
Palestinian
Authority does
not have
fiscal room to
take on this
additional
burden.”
On Israel,
after noting
that he saw
news of
renewed access
to Ben Gurion
Airport,
Murray
answered Inner
City Press:
“As for
Israel, Israel
financial
market have
remained
stable, with
shekel
steadily
appreciating,
the Tel Aviv
100 has been
little changed
in past two
weeks. The
cost of the
conflict of
past two
weeks, point
two percent of
GDP... The
impact on
economic
activity,
tourism and
SMEs in
southern
Israel has
already been
felt. A
further
deceleration
of GDP growth
could be
likely in 3d
quarter. Once
conflict ends
we expect
growth in
Israel to
rebound
relative
quickly.”
A tale
of two
economies, you
might call it.
Watch this
site.
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