| In Corrupt UN of Guterres
UNESCO Is Dominated By France Azoulay Fuel
Corruption
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive, Video
UN GATE, Nov 25 –
From
the corrupt UN
of Antonio
Guterres in New
York, the
whole UN
system has
been
corrupted,
including
UNESCO.
This week, at
the General
Conference of
UNESCO in
Paris, for
the first time
since the
foundation of
UNESCO in
November 1945,
France ended
with the
lowest number
of votes in
the elections
for a seat at
the Executive
Board of
UNESCO. In a
situation of
no
competition,
after the
withdrawal of
the UK, the
host country
got
"humiliated
mainly because
of the policy
of new
aggressive
colonialism," as
one participant told
Inner City
Press, with
no respect for
rules,
financial
regulations
and diplomatic
practices led
for two years
now by the
French
Director
general Audrey
Azoulay.
“Nowadays
UNESCO is not
anymore about
education,
science or
culture. It is
about
advancing the
narrow
interests of
France and of
its European
Union allies
in a
detrimental to
the rest of
the world
arrogant
approach”,
said another
of the
contacts of
Inner City
Press within
the
Organization.
Since
the beginning
of her term in
office, DG
Azoulay is
showing
blatant
incompetence
in managing
UNESCO.
Instead of
motivated
leadership,
she adopted
the
low-profiled
delegation of
power
approach,
happily
abandoning her
prerogatives
to her close
entourage.
Despite the
severe
warnings
issued by the
member states
at their
governing
bodies
gatherings in
Paris during
the Executive
Board in
October and at
the General
conference
this month,
corruption is
spreading
around
unpunished.
Not only
measures have
not been taken
to fight
fraud, but
even worse,
those involved
in the
corruption
schemes are
getting
promotions and
cushy jobs.
This
is the UN of
Antonio
Guterres.
Following the
exposure by
Inner City
Press of
several
internal
scandals, the
administration
of the French
DG Azoulay has
nevertheless
initiated some
internal
investigations
but still no
sanctions
whatsoever.
Staff
associations
have voiced
their concerns
about the
alarming
practices
reemerging by
the total
absence of
respect for
rules and
regulations.
As a
consequence,
in an
unprecedented
move, member
states have
rejected last
week, during
the work of
the
administrative
commission of
the General
conference,
the entire
package of
insane changes
that the
French DG
Azoulay
intended to
impose on the
staff rules
and in the
statutes of
the Appeals
Board.
Member
states also
pushed the
stop button to
the
impractical
mobility
policy crafted
by the Cabinet
of Azoulay, much as
what happened
with mobility
at UNHQ, where
money
continues to
be wasted
under Guterres
on so-called
"hot desking"
while Guterres
flies to
Lisbon.
Still, much
more action is
required from
IOS and from
the external
auditor in
order to fix
the scandalous
situation and
the tarnished
reputation of
UNESCO.
Measures are
yet to be
taken and
sanction
imposed in the
following
major pending
cases:
1) The
first-time
undercover
surveillance
operation at
UNESCO that is
coordinated by
Flavio Bonetti
from the
Cabinet of
Audrey Azoulay
and former
deputy prefect
of the
Centre-Val de
Loire region,
with the
assistance of
the Cabinet
expert in
dirty work, Mr
Sachin Bath.
Who will be
reprimanded
for helping
the
administration
massively
invading the
personal
rights and
freedoms of
staff and of
member states’
representatives?
2) The
administrative
deviation of
hierarchical
reporting
lines - the
Director of
Cabinet
Nicolas
Kassianides
unprecedented
power to
control and
supervise the
Deputy
Director
general of
UNESCO and the
Assistant
Directors
general of the
program
Sectors. This
is disrupting
the work of
the entire
Organization,
since at the
top of it
there is
evident no
respect for
regular lines
of
authority.
3) The
staff members
cases lost in
Geneva where
UNESCO got
sentenced by
the ILOAT to
pay hundreds
of thousands
of taxpayers’
money. IOS
must
investigate
the work of
the senior
staff members
in HRM dealing
with contested
cases, namely
A. Grisar and
A. Duganis. A
sanction that
would
certainly put
an end to this
persisting
detrimental
situation in
dealing with
personnel
files, is an
automatic wage
withholding of
HRM managers
so as to
reimburse the
financial loss
for the
Organization
provoked by
their
incompetence
in dealing
with contested
files.
4) Some
important
elements are
missing in the
report by IOS
after the
investigation
on the
functioning of
the
transportation
unit of
UNESCO.
The
Director of
the Cabinet
Nicolas
Kassianides,
is still using
an official
car without
being entitled
to do so. Even
more
unacceptable
is the fraud
with petrol
orchestrated
by the French
driver of
Audrey
Azoulay.
IOS may
complete its
report with a
note on the
use of the
gasoline paid
with public
money for the
private cars
of those close
to Kassianides
and
Azoulay
5) The
appointment of
dozens French
officials in
the Cabinet of
the DG Azoulay
in an effort
to turn UNESCO
into a branch
of Quai
d’Orsay and
the
consultancy
contracts for
the children
of several
Ambassadors to
UNESCO.
6) The
misuse of
tax-payers
money in large
proportions.
The financial
services of
Azoulay
authorized a
payment of
some 450,000
US dollars to
an unknown
financial
institution in
London. After
effecting the
payment, those
funds vanished
in someone’s
pocket. Still
no
disciplinary
measures taken
in the
corrupted
UNESCO of
Audrey
Azoulay.
7) The
special
internal
arrangement by
the Cabinet of
D-G Azoulay
granting
impunity to
those
accountable
for the
unjustifiable
and
speculative
spending of
some 2 million
dollars by
UNESCO without
compensation.
In two
separate
contracts, one
for 1.536.000
EURO, and
another one
for 180.000
EURO, UNESCO
contracted a
French company
to do the core
redesign of
the
organization’s
financial and
administrative
systems and
tools.
Subsequently,
those amounts
had been paid
to the French
enterprise
without
getting the
expected
deliverables.
Anyone will go
to jail or the
responsible
officer will
rather get
promoted?
8) The
Culture sector
was poorly
reformed by DD
Audrey Azoulay
and her
assistant
director
general for
Culture, the
Chilean
Ernesto Ottone
Ramirez.
Staff in the
Culture sector
are blaming
openly the
arrogant and
heavy-handed
management
style of
Ottone Ramirez
with
even some dark
and
very UN talks
of a "baby-Pinochet."
Will IOS
evaluate the
negative
impact for
UNESCO of this
reform of the
Culture
Sector?
9)
UNESCO
launched the
“Revive the
Spirit of
Mosul”
initiative
ostensibly to
participate in
the
reconstruction
of this city,
after years of
war and
destruction.
This seemingly
noble
initiative was
in fact a
cover up
operation of
reinforcing
French
influence in
Iraq in order
to secure
markets and
work for
French
companies. The
Director of
the UNESCO
office in
Baghdad,
Louise
Haxthausen,
was removed
straight away,
since she was
considered by
Kassianides
too close to
the government
of Iraq after
her several
years of
experience in
the country,
and too
independent in
her dealing
with issues
that
progressively
became
sensitive for
French
national
interests.
Focusing on
Mosul is
having a plain
and simple
rationalization.
Most of the
millions
received by
UNESCO from
the United
Arab Emirates
are for
projects to be
implemented in
that
particular
city. Thus, in
corrupted
UNESCO, the
dirt keeps on
oozing this
time in the
context of
Iraq.
According to a
member of the
Cabinet of
Azoulay, the
transactions
of UNESCO in
Mosul are
among the most
well-kept
secrets in the
House. The
Cabinet member
even considers
that a number
of parallel
dealings are
most probably
piloted by
some
specialized
French
services.
“Kassianides
is clearly
taking
instructions
elsewhere”,
said one of our
sources in the
Cabinet. “As a
former staff
of Quai
d’Orsay, and
being fully
aware that his
days in UNESCO
are counted,
he must keep
good relations
with his
former
administration
in order to
get a good
position there
after
successfully
defending the
French
national
interest under
the cover of
multilateral
UN work”.
Would all that
be ever
investigated
in the
corrupted UN
of Guterres?
Guterres is
corrupt.
Some member
states are
questioning
this lack of
internal
control and
disciplinary
measures.
Others, mainly
from the
European Union
support
blindly this
way of doing
business and
some of them
even appear
delighted to
have their
tax-payers
money
dilapidated by
UNESCO. This
political
stance is
actually a
green light to
DG Azoulay for
her to keep up
with those
practices and
scale them up
with extra
budgetary
money, from
which, no
doubt, a fat
percentage
will go into
the deep
pockets of the
senior UNESCO
administrators.
We will have
more on all
that. Watch
this site
Following
the exposure
by banned Inner
City Press
of several of
the internal
scandals, the
administration
of the French
director
general Audrey
Azoulay has
organized a
witch-hunt as
Guterres did,
with raids
and
retaliation, in
order to try
to identify Inner
City
Press'
sources.
It is
an open secret
inside UNESCO
that the Quai
d’Orsay and
the Elysée are
ruling the
organization
in place of
the
good-looking
marionette,
says one high
official of
the agency.
However, few
people know
that earlier
this month the
Cabinet of
Audrey Azoulay
requested the
help of the
French
ministry of
Interior in
order to
launch an
undercover
surveillance
operation of
private
e-mails and
mobile phones
that would
help
identifying
the
whistleblowers
inside the house.
Following
the fiasco of
the Director
general
Azoulay during
the Executive
Board of
UNESCO, when
she couldn’t
secure enough
support from
member states
neither for
her draft
budget nor for
her reform
policies, it
was decided to
accelerate the
identification
and
surveillance
of all those
potentially
undermining
the
administration
of Audrey
Azoulay.
The
list of people
then got
extended, and
included even
the two staff
unions
presidents and
some
representatives
of permanent
delegations to
UNESCO
particularly truth-telling
against
Azoulay’s
management
style.
The
undercover
surveillance
operation is
coordinated by
Flavio Bonetti
from the
Cabinet of
Audrey Azoulay
and former
deputy prefect
of the
Centre-Val de
Loire region,
who started
his career at
the French
ministry of
Interior in
2014, before
joining UNESCO
last year as a
knowledgeable
UN staff
member.
In this
important
endeavor, Mr
Bonetti is
capably
assisted by
the other
member of the
Cabinet
usually used
for the dirty
work and
meanest tasks,
Mr Sachin
Bath. Bath,
who is at
UNESCO for
many years is
the perfect
mole for
playing both
sides and
helping
identifying
the people and
permanent
delegations
deserving to
be under
surveillance.
His next job
actually will
be to
infiltrate the
closed circle
of elected
member states
at the
governing
bodies
secretariat.
This
is where
UNESCO stands
today. We will
have more on
that.
***
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