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By Matthew Russell Lee, Video

UN GATE, April 18 – Using Coronavirus as a pretext to rule with even less oversight and accountability is a trend, from the UN Secretariat of Antonio Guterres to the UNESCO of Audrey Azoulay, to keep it closed until September, and do whatever she wants until then.

  For Guterres in New York, after he threw investigative Inner City Press out for exposing his links to convicted UN briber CEFC China Energy, for now the vacation will continue to June: "Yesterday evening the Secretary-General informed staff that the current telecommuting arrangements at United Nations Headquarters in New York will be extended through 31 May 2020. The decision was taken following consultation with senior staff and UN medical services.      In his letter the Secretary-General thanked the staff for the flexibility and resourcefulness it has demonstrated during the past five weeks of telecommuting which has allowed the organization to continue its vital work around the world.     These arrangements, as subsequent extensions may be necessary, will be constantly reviewed. In parallel, senior management is also working on measures for an eventual phased, gradual and flexible return to work in the compound whenever it is considered safe for us to do so.  Any decision will be guided by medical advice, continuous risk assessments, local conditions, including school closures, and criticality of functions for our business continuity.     Stéphane Dujarric Spokesman for the Secretary-General."

  On April 17 he refused to answer Inner City Press' questions about the UN spreading COVID-19 in South Sudan with lax social distancing practices. Video here. He is unaccountable, totally, through June. Unless he is impeached for the good of the UN.

  At UNESCO the Cabinet of Madam Azoulay convened recently an internal task force including staff from Legal Affairs department and from the Secretariat of Governing Bodies in order to outline possibilities to keep UNESCO locked down for another three to fours months in order to keep the full power self-granted to Madam Azoulay and make sure member states become irrelevant in the governance process of UNESCO. 

According to internal sources, the plan of the Cabinet of DG Azoulay is to re-open UNESCO only in September unless the exposure by Inner City Press and other media spoils those plans and drives member states to protest and pressure Madam Azoulay to stick to the lockdown strategy of the French government as she usually does and possibly reopen progressively the Agency in May. 

In hijacking UNESCO’s governance, Madam Azoulay is unreservedly supported by the French ambassador to UNESCO Veronique Roger-Lacan. The ambassador had learnt her lesson and is now docilely obeying Audrey Azoulay. Indeed, Veronique Roger-Lacan got badly scolded during the general conference of UNESCO, for letting member states approve resolutions that were “requesting the Director-general” instead of “Begging the Director general”.

In the parallel world of DG Azoulay no one is supposed to expect her to comply with requests by member states but to deal only with polite solicitudes concerning her realm. 

This is why, in order to avoid another discomfiture that could jeopardize her professional career, Ambassador Roger-Lacan is in permanent contact with the Cabinet of DG Azoulay. She is taking orders directly from the Chief of the Cabinet Nicolas Kacyandes, and executing instruction assiduously.

The email sent by her this week to states member of the executive board proves largely that point. In it, the ambassador is urging member states not to agree convening a meeting of the board using the fake argument of the confidentiality just in order to facilitate Madam Azoulay’s aspirations to rule alone the Agency for another few months.

Needless to say, her email provoked rich amount of puzzlement, smirks, snickers, and barely stifled - if not - outright giggles.  Some ambassadors even asked the rhetorical question whether this position of France and of the EU countries would be sustainable and even possible had the DG of UNESCO been from Asia, Africa or Latin America.

The negative answer is obvious and the only reason why France is pushing for such an unprecedented free hand is because Madam Azoulay is French. Period.  Thus, despite all warnings by some member states about the illegality and anti-constitutionality of the current situation, DG Azoulay together with the French, Italian, German and Spanish Delegations to UNESCO,  and with the collusion of the Chair of the Executive Board, are using the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse for justifying the immobilization of the governing body, for entombing accountability and for spreading around unpunished corruption and abuse of power.  This is UNESCO today. This is the UN of Antonio Guterres. We will have more on both. Watch this site.

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