UN's Liberia Mission Pays Eight Dollars a Day, Is Disappointed by Complaints to the Press

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, January 25 -- The UN Mission in Liberia pays workers eight dollars a day, then outsources the jobs to non-Liberian companies when faced with complaints, according to the UNMIL National Staff Association. In a letter sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on January 21, the Staff Association asks for action on what it contends is a pattern of racist hiring, corrupt outsourcing, retaliation against whistleblowers and, in their words, "neo-colonialism." In the Fall of 2007, representatives of the National Staff Association of UNMIL as well as the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) came to New York and met with officials of the UN's Department of Field Support, headed by Jane Holl Lute. In interviews at the time with Inner City Press, they described the wages as low as $8 a day, and the threat of outsourcing of their jobs if they complained. Following their meetings with DFS, they emerged with a signed document, that recited their concern that "salaries are too low" and committed UN management to address the issue. Inner City Press sought comment on, and published, a letter from UNMIL staff alleging discrimination.

            This week, Inner City Press received a copy of the January 21 follow-up letter to Ban Ki-moon, which complains that since the September meeting and seeming agreement, UNMIL "continues to hire independent contractors, and pay them less ($8/per day) in total disregard to UN decision of September 2007 that ICs be paid national staff salaries whilst performing the same job functions."

            At the January 23 noon briefing, Inner City Press asked UN spokesperson Marie Okabe for a response to the letter. Her office responded by email and by statement placed in the transcript that UNMIL's  "practices have been guided by a strict adherence to the Secretary-General's policies and the General Assembly's directive requiring, among other things, that Independent Contractors (or ICs) should only be employed for a maximum of 6 months - and in exceptional cases for a maximum of 9 months.  All ICs have willingly signed contract documents that clearly state the specific job, the specific duration and the specific pay." The statement does not deny that the pay is $8 a day.

 
New SRSG Loj arrives in Liberia on January 16, per UNMIL

            The following day, UNMIL in Liberia rushed out a press release, saying that "the Mission is deeply disappointed that just within a week of the assumption of duty by a new Special Representative of the Secretary-General and without any attempt to discuss with her any grievances NASA may have, the author(s) of this letter chose to write directly to the Secretary-General in New York and then distribute it to some section of the media."

            Since out of respect Inner City Press was continuing asking about the letter prior to reporting about it, some correspondents in New York were mystified by UNMIL's defensive press release. One asked Ms. Okabe on Friday, what were the underlying complaints? Ms. Okabe did not say. The time, it seemed clear, had arrived to make the letter public, in part to explain UNMIL's strange press release. Is it UNMIL's and DFS's position that their employees should not seek redress of grievance from the Secretary-General or from the press? Will the policies the new SRSG, Denmark's former Ambassador to the UN Ellen Margrethe Loj, be any different? Watch this site.

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These reports are 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

  Because a number of Inner City Press' UN sources go out of their way to express commitment to serving the poor, and while it should be unnecessary, Inner City Press is compelled to conclude this installment in a necessarily-ongoing series by saluting the stated goals of the UN agencies and many of their staff. Keep those cards, letters and emails coming, and phone calls too, we apologize for any phone tag, but please continue trying, and keep the information flowing.

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