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At UNOPS, Payments to Nay Htun Evade Pension Rules, Sources Say, in North Korea and Myanmar Shadows

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

UNITED NATIONS, February 11 -- The UN Office for Project Services has issued to Nay Htun of Myanmar regular payments disguised as "Daily Sustenance Allowance" although Mr. Htun lives in New York, where he is titular head of the U.S. office of the UN University for Peace, sources have told Inner City Press.

    Mr. Htun being a UN retiree drawing a pension, the volume of payment are above those permissible to continue receiving pension payments. Click here for the most recent installment in Inner City Press' UN Pension Fund series.

            Mr. Htun worked at the UN Environment Program in the wake of Maurice Strong, who after having climbed from security guard at UN Headquarters to Under Secretary General ostensibly left the UN System during the Oil for Food scandal, but was identified last month by Inner City Press as still serving on the Council of the UN's University for Peace. Mr. Htun also worked for the UN Development Program, as director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. In that capacity in 1999, in comments similar to UNDP's recent characterization of its now-controversy programs in North Korea, Nay Htun said of Myanmar, "There is no hindrance whatsoever, about where they can go, who they can meet. There is no problem [regarding access]. This has never been the case. Perhaps sometimes people are temporarily not allowed for their own safety."

            Sources tell Inner City Press that the payments to Mr. Htun from UNOPS are on behalf of the UN Development Program, and that UNDP disguises certain of its projects through UNOPS. Such obfuscation is made easier by the facts that UNOPS is significantly behind schedule in releasing its audited financial statements, and that UNOPS' web site does not even list a press contact, despite the substantial funds that flow through UNOPS (more on which we will soon be reporting).

            UNOPS has its dwindling New York headquarters in the landmark Chrysler Building on 42nd Street, the move into which, complete with lavish custom renovations, was the beginning of UNOPS' slide into financial problems and non-reporting. Further east on 42nd Street is the Crowne Plaza Hotel, where as Inner City Press reported exclusively on February 8, UNDP placed its Resident Coordinator for North Korea, Timo Pakkala. While the precise purposes of the summoning of Mr. Pakkala to New York, and who summoned him, are not yet clear, following Inner City Press' report on February 9 UNDP quickly moved Mr. Pakkala out of the Crowne Plaza and into an undisclosed location, which one wag called the safe house. We will have more on this as well. For now, here are specifics on UNOPS payments to Nay Htun:

UNOPS 00093180 DSA/1/1-28/2/6/AP/FDI 10000 Nay HTUN
UNOPS 00072732 DSA/NY/OCT-DEC 05/AP/GWI 20000 Nay HTUN
UNOPS 00047331 DSA/NY/1/7-31/8/5/AP23886 10000 Nay HTUN
UNOPS 00041263 DSA/NY/1/5-30/6/5/AP23416 10000 Nay HTUN
UNOPS 00032194 DSA/NY/1/3-30/4/5/AP22364 10000 Nay HTUN
UNOPS 00028974 AP21611/DSA/1/11-31/12/04 10000 Nay HTUN
UNOPS 00019337 JEDEC DSA SEPT/OCT. 04 10000 Nay HTUN
UNOPS 00011507 JEOCT JUL/AUG DSA 10000 Nay HTUN
UNOPS 00006990 JEPYLOG18881 DSA MAY/JUNE 04 10000 Nay HTUN
UNOPS 00004664 JEPYLOG18569 DSA MAR/APRIL 04 10000 Nay HTUN
UNOPS 00002158 JEPYLOG17920 DSA JAN/FEB 04 10000 Nay HTUN
UNOPS 00000246 JEFEB16853 DSA NOV, DEC 10000 Nay HTUN

            "DSA" is an acronym used in the UN to designate "Daily Sustenance Allowance," paid to staff in advance of a trip to cover expenses in a city in which they do not have a home. In this case, knowledgeable UN insiders to whom Inner City Press has shown the records of UNOPS payments to Nay Htun express surprise at "DSA" being paid on such a routine and round-number basis.

   One expert consulted by Inner City Press, who requested anonymity due to the UN's and especially UNOPS' propensity to try to retaliate, said that "they've paid DSA in advance and in round numbers. This looks like salary concealed as DSA, in an attempt also to get around the $22,000 cap on annual UN payments to someone receiving a UN pension. Everything over $22,000 should be subtracted from the pension." For today's installment in Inner City Press' ongoing series on irregularities in the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund, click here.

Nay Htun: from UNDP in Myanmar to UPEACE

            Two weeks ago, Inner City Press published the first story about University for Peace, and its payments for travel of 10 North Korean officials to the University of Lund in Sweden. Click here for that story, which also noted that Maurice Strong, a long-time UN official who left amid scandal and was repeated said to be out of the UN system, was still serving on the Council of the University for Peace.

   The article noted, in questions that now still remain unanswered on February 11, that Inner City Press had asked UNDP on January 24 to confirm or deny contributions to the University for Peace, whether they related to North Korea, whether they involved, among others, Nay Htun, and whether Mr. Htun lead the tour in Lund and if the funding was approved by Htun's successor at RBAP, Hafiz Pasha. While UNDP has still not directly responded to many of these questions, UNDP's David Morrison, when asked by Inner City Press on January 26 about the travel of the 10 North Korean officials, was clearly aware of, and had a UNDP-protected answer to, the question: it's the University for Peace.

            At the UN's noon briefing on January 29, Inner City Press asked several questions about UPEACE, the extent of its UN powers and affiliations, and the role of Maurice Strong. These questions were also put in writing to UPEACE. After several phone calls following up, and questions at the following day's noon briefing to the General Assembly's spokesman, the following arrived:

Subject: Message to Inner Press

From: amolina [at] upeace.org

To: Inner City Press

Sent: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 11:32 AM

Dear Mr. Lee, Please find below the information you requested.  

 At the Press Briefings of the Spokesperson of the Secretary-General and the Spokesperson of the President of the General Assembly on Monday, 29 January and Wednesday, 31 January, a number of questions were raised about the governance of the University for Peace (UPEACE) and its relationship with the United Nations, including financial oversight... UPEACE does not come under the purview or oversight of UN auditing arms like OIOS.

 The UPEACE Charter establishes in its article 7 the following: “The Secretary-General of the United Nations will be the Honorary President of the University for Peace”. The Secretary-General reports to the General Assembly on a regular basis on the progress made by the University... In reference to the use of the emblem of the United Nations as part of the University’s distinctive symbol, the use by the University of the UN emblem was authorized by the United Nations in 1983 in accordance with the terms of General Assembly Resolution 92 (1) of 7 December 1946, with conditions, including placing the letters "U.N." above the United Nations emblem and the words "OUR HOPE FOR PEACE" below the United Nations emblem, so as to emphasize that the University and the United Nations are two separate and independent legal entities...

Q: Inner City Press on Jan. 24 asked UNDP about their role in the travel in 2006 of ten North Korean officials to the University of Lund. On January 26, UNDP's director of Communications told us that the travel had been paid by the University for Peace. While surely that answer is authoritative, this is a request for confirmation of that UNDP response, and for a response to these questions: In 2004, did UNDP contribute $100,000 to the University for Peace? if so, was this project to the DPRK?

A: In 2004-2005, UNDP provided the University of Peace with USD 200,000 for the project "Energy for Rural Development," as stated in our audited financial statements (see above). The project was a component of the Regional Energy Program for Poverty Reduction of the UNDP Asia Pacific Bureau. The program was endorsed by the Governments of China, Cook Islands, Samoa, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Cambodia, Maldives and the Philippines. The Energy for Rural Development Project focused on capacity-building and training curriculum for energy supply, demand and end use planning; a report for renewable energy projects in South East Asia (potential for integrated reforestation and renewable energy); a report on the potential of biogas in North East Asia; and activities for the dissemination and sharing of outputs with a network of 30 Universities in Asia Pacific. The Energy for Rural Development Project was a research project and it was not carried out in North Korea nor did it involve any North Korean institutions or experts. Regarding the DPRK project, these activities were funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In the context of this project, UPEACE requested UNDP Pyongyong to assist in arranging the tickets for 10 North Korean participants to attend the training course held in Lund, Sweden, but the costs were covered by the DPRK project. The economy class return air tickets were by China Southern Airlines and SAS. These were purchased through the travel agent used by UNDP Beijing.

 As mentioned in a press release of Lund University, the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University (IIIEE) hosted and coordinated a training workshop on Sustainable Development and Energy: Knowledge Sharing and Training for a delegation of ten DPRK senior officials and experts. The training was organized in cooperation with UNEP Regional Office for Asia and Pacific, and with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia Pacific. The program started 21 August 2006 and was completed on 15 September 2006. The support from UNDP and UNEP was in-kind.

Q: If so, please describe the use of the funds and state if the following were involved, and how: Maurice Strong, President of the Council of the UN University for Peace)... and Nay Htun. If so, please confirm if the tour was led by Mr. Nay Htun...

A: As noted above, the UNDP contribution was not a contribution to the DPRK project.

Q: Given statements made at UN headquarters, please comment on the presence on University for Peace's Council of Maurice Strong, and Mr. Strong's role in any of the above.

A: Mr. Strong was President of the UPEACE Council until October 2006, and as President had a policy oversight function on all the activities of UPEACE.

Q: Please state how much funding University for Peace has received from UNDP in the past nine years, and the use of the funds.

A: In addition to the above-mentioned contribution of USD 200,000, UNDP provided in 2002 USD 80,000 for a regional Program to promote Peace and Security in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2006 UPEACE received USD 28,916 from UNDP for the Leadership for Local Development in Latin America Project. As mentioned above, UPEACE does not receive regular funding from the UN. Our relationship with UN agencies, as is the case with many other educational institutions and NGO’s, is based on collaborative activities to pursue similar goals.

Q: We have read that "funding of UPEACE programs comes from the support of a number of donor governments, foundations and institutions...Fundraising for an endowment fund is in progress." Please list by name the donors / funders and amounts for the past five years, including any restrictions on or targeting of the funds, and the use of the funds. Separately please list funders for the endowment fund.

A: UPEACE relies on voluntary contributions from a variety of sources, especially Governments, development aid agencies and foundations, to sustain its activities. Since 1999 and until 31 August 2006, UPEACE has been able to raise a total of USD 36 million from 42 different donors. The donations are either in the form of institutional support or project- or activity-based, including for the granting of scholarships for students at the University. There have as yet been no contributions to the Endowment Fund.

Q: Finally, for now, please describe your programs in Central Asia and Asia Pacific / Manila, and any of your other programs you'd like to describe.

A: In 2001 UPEACE launched a program focused on education for peace in Central Asia. The main aim of the UPEACE Central Asia Program is to promote stability by transferring into the region new self-sustaining capabilities for peace education, training, research and dialogue. During the past five years, this Program developed modular MA teaching and training courses tailored to Central Asian needs. These courses covered a variety of topics such as theory and analysis of conflict, mediation and peacekeeping intervention, economic development and conflict, civil society and peace-building, media and conflict.

 Preparatory work has also been undertaken since 2000 towards establishing a Regional Program for Asia and the Pacific. In the first phase, UPEACE mobilized a Network of over 40 Asia-Pacific Universities and Institutions for Conflict Prevention and Peace-building (APCP). Several training courses were co-hosted by partner universities in the region. A consultative process to identify needs, capacities and opportunities for strengthening education involved six countries in the region. It forged strong partnerships and the base has been laid for the future implementation of activities, networking and collaboration. In Sri Lanka, UPEACE is conducting a joint diploma course in "Skills Development for Conflict Resolution" with Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies.

 UPEACE will launch on 10 April 2007 a Dual Campus Program in San Jose, Costa Rica and in Manila The Philippines, in International Peace Studies for Asian students. The program is supported by The Nippon Foundation and will be implemented in collaboration with Ateneo de Manila University.

Q: How many Laissez Passer's and G-4 visas, if any, were given out for the 10 North Koreans-to-Lund project, and separately, how many have been given out in the past four years, and to whom.

A: As explained above, UPEACE is a UN-affiliated organization, but does not issue Laissez-Passer's. None of the participants received Laissez-Passer. Regarding G-4 visas, these were not required since the participants did not travel to the United States. None of the staff in the UPEACE New York Office hold G-4 visas; they hold their respective national passports and have US permanent residence status.

  Regarding UPEACE's "Asia-Pacific" program, an online Nay Htun c.v. says he is "Executive Director for Asia Pacific at the University for Peace, New York Office." Previously, when he worked directly for UNDP, it was reported that

An unusual aspect of the UNDP's work in Burma is the very close engagement of its Asia-Pacific Director Nay Htun, a Burmese national. UN rules normally bar any officials from substantive involvement in policy matters relating to their own country. UNDP describes as "coincidental" Nay Htun's latest visit to Burma in November, just after a UN reform plan was presented to the junta by UN special envoy Assistant Secretary General Alvaro de Soto... Some UNDP workers express private dismay at what they call Nay Htun's "interference," and another UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, complained, "I do not understand why he is still permitted to travel and stick his nose into Burma's political affairs, despite our repeated protests."

   On February 5, Inner City Press asked Canadian officials for an explanation of their funding of UPeace, as relates to North Korea and otherwise. On February 8, a detailed story by two accomplished investigative reporters was published, which did not mention the UN Office for Project Services but quoted a "confidential assessment of U Peace carried out in 2004 by the Canadian International Development Agency, which bankrolled what U Peace calls the 'DPRK Trust Fund,' noted that 'an evaluation would normally benefit from periodic monitoring and evaluation reports produced by the institution itself or by external observers. Such reports do not exist.'" [The report also noted that UNDP is used for its ability to facilitate the mobility of not only money but people. The same is true of UNOPS, with even less scrutiny, a topic on which we have had much more to say.]

            Nay Htun did not respond by deadline from his UNOPS email address. UNOPS director Jan Mattsson, who declined to answer Inner City Press' question following the recent Executive Board meeting at which UNOPS failure to file audited financial statements was discussed, is currently on annual leave, Inner City Press is now informed, after awaiting his response. UNOPS still lists no media contact on its web site. UNDP has stated, in response to questions that touch on North Korea as this one does, that "until the audit is completed, it would not be appropriate to comment on our work there."

            On February 9, Canadian officials requested more time to reply:

Subject: Your Question Regarding Canada's Assistance to DPRK

From: acdi-cida.gc.ca

To: Inner City Press

Sent: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 12:08 PM

Hello, 

 I just wanted to let you know that we have received your questions related to Canada's Assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the University of Peace and a training program entitled "Sustainable Development and Energy: Knowledge Sharing and Training --- A Program for DPRK Senior Officials and Experts." I understand you have spoken with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on this subject. We are working on the request and I expect to be able to get back to you with some information shortly.

            Watch this site.

    Because a number of Inner City Press' UNOPS 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 UNOPS and many of its 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.

Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com

UN Office: S-453A, UN, NY 10017 USA Tel: 212-963-1439

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At UNOPS, Side Deals for Danish Relocation, Mattsson and Dalberg and the DSA Farming of Vitaly Vashelboim

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

UNITED NATIONS, January 23 -- The UN Office of Project Services is two years late in certifying its financial statements. As new UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calls for an "urgent, system wide and external inquiry into all activities done around the globe by the UN funds and programs," UNOPS stands out for not even having a certified audit in place.

            An investigation of UNOPS by Inner City Press has found a hotbed of favoritism, of supervisors distracting line employees from their logistical tasks in support of such efforts as mine removal, and of financial mismanagement hidden from the Executive Board.

            Last January, the Board was told that UNOPS wanted to move its "headquarters functions" from New York to Copenhagen. Bids had been selected, not only by Denmark, but also France, Germany, Italy and Spain. (Dubai later joined the bidding.) Denmark was selected, sources say, due to the inclusion in its package of a "transition fund," which UNOPS insiders call no more than a slush fund for management. The quid pro quo was a requirement that 120 jobs be moved to Copenhagen, a condition not disclosure to the Board one year ago, and resulting in disruption of such functions as mine removal now.

            Current UNOPS head Jan Mattsson previously served as the head of the UN Development Program's Bureau of Management, where as Inner City Press has reported, he handed out controversial contracts to Dalberg Global Development Advisors, whose founder Henrik Skovby worked for UNDP "both at their headquarters and in the field," and is still listed as a UNDP employee. (The lead person on Dalberg's advisory board, Sam Nyambi, lists his experience as having supervised 110 staff at UNDP and served as UNDP Resident Representative in Ethiopia.)

            Now it emerges that once Mattsson took over at UNOPS, he has also handed this agency's money to Dalberg. In an August 16, 2006 email to all UNOPS staff, Mattsson announced that Dalberg would be paid to "help us build a better UNOPS."

What could this Guatemalan kids do with Vitaly V.'s Daily Sustenance Allowance? See below.

            By most accounts, and as reflected by its inability to file certified financial statements, UNOPS has been in decline for years. It began as a unit of UNDP then spun off as independent, and proudly self-supporting. Then-chief Reinhart Helmke hung a banner at a staff retreat, "UNOPS, the One Billion Dollar Agency."

            Moving from the Daily News building to the Chrysler Building, money was overspent. Soon UNOPS was paying, it claimed, $20,000 per year for each computer terminal used, not including salary or benefits. An idea arose to relocate jobs out of New York. Proposals arrived from France and Germany, Italy and Denmark, talk of the Swiss and of Dubai. One year ago, the Board was informed that "headquarters functions" would be relocated, under a business case of cost-savings.

            Behind the scenes, interim Executive Director Gilberto Flores, who preceded Jan Mattsson, had cut a deal with Denmark: 120 jobs as a quid pro quo for, among other things, a transition fund with very few restrictions.  There was only one problem: the "headquarters function" remaining in New York did not add up to 120 jobs. And so a decision was made to relocate operating units as well, including those which service mine removers in the field.

            This being the UN, a veneer of participation was demanded. While behind closed doors Gilberto Flores declared he would never break his job commitment to the Danes, Ms. Roswitha Newels, who had made the misleading presentation to the Board, emerged to dialogue with staff. Facilitators arrived, ostensibly from UNDP's Management Change Team, run by one Tina Friis-Hansen. The facilitators' names were Georges Von Montfort and Lisa Rienarz.  (As it turns out, they are employees of Mattsson's favorite consultant Dalberg, and not UNDP staffers at all.) These facilitators nodded at angry staff talked, then mis-summarized the complaints to now-director Mattsson.  A proposal emerged to relocate personnel not only to Denmark but also Nairobi.

            With the staff more and more restive, Ms. Newels decided to commission a study to resolve the matter. Such studies require at least the veneer of objectivity. But Ms. Newels issued a sweetheart contract, which she only later entered in the system, to a close friend of hers, Ivo Pokorny.  For $700 a day, Mr. Pokorny produced a barely two and a half page memo, followed by a one page, hand-drawn chart. Requests to see Pokorny's final product have been rebuffed, as have question of when UNOPS will come clean to the Board, as well as file financial statements.

            UNOPS does appear, however, in the public audits of other UN agencies. The most recent public audit of UNICEF, for example, states that

"UNICEF is supporting construction projects for schools, health centers, and water and sanitation networks in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives that represent an aggregate budget of $152.1 million. The three country offices have little experience, if any, overseeing major construction works. They entered into contracts with UNOPS (for permanent structures) and with IOM (for temporary schools in Indonesia) without clearing their clauses with the UNICEF senior advisor (Legal) resulting in the interesting of UNICEF not adequately safeguarded. For instance, the Indonesian school construction contract with UNOPS ($90 million) committed UNICEF to a set unit cost per building, over a three-year period, with no clause covering a rise in prices.... UNICEF failed to set up a consistent mechanism to follow up the implementation of the projects, monitor the work of the contractors and management the relationship with UNOPS." A/61/5/Add.2, page 42-43.

            As this interim profile of UNOPS should make clear, issues to be inquired into in the wake of the UNDP scandals should not be limited just to North Korea, or to hard currency, secondment and auditors' access. The problems at UNOPS are systematic and require full public review and disclosure, and then substantive action. This is what Ban Ki-moon called for on January 19, then appeared to turn away from on Jan. 22. With the poor and needy be served by reform and accountability of these agencies in charge of money to serve them? We'll see.

            Other UNOPS issues involve Daily Sustenance Allowance abuse and overpaying of Mattsson's deputy Vitaly Vanshelboim. Mattsson brought Vashelboim to New York, and has now sent him back to Copenhagen (where Mattsson's yet to move).  The totals paid to Mr. Vanshelboim for multiple relocations, travel and Daily Sustenance Allowance are the subject of outrage even within UNOPS staff, who says that the Board of Auditors inquiry recently announced by Ban Ki-moon should act on them.  And what does Dalberg do for Mattsson? Inquiring minds want to know. But UNOPS.org does not list any media contact, and UNDP has still not responded to Inner City Press' January 16 questions about Dalberg and related policy issues.

            Documents, however, require no comment to report. Inner City Press has obtained a copy of a January 15, 2007 email from UNDP's Arne Christensen bragging that "UNDP / IAPSO has recently placed an order for several units of thermo vision equipment installed in mini-busses (surveillance equipment) for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine... UNDP / IAPSO would be pleased to offer our expertise in procurement of material and equipment for border enhancement to other CO offices, as well as other UN offices involved in similar programs."

            Beyond the question, "what is UNDP doing buying surveillance equipment for Ukraine," we note that UNOPS in its search for survival is lobbying behind the scenes to acquire the "P" (procurement") from UNDP's IAPSO. But why would the UN system allow an agency which is so far delayed in filing its certified financials to acquire anything, or to continue to mislead its Board about a deeply flawed proposed move of core operating functions like mine removal to Denmark because of a secret slush fund deal? Developing.

Other Inner City Press reports are available in the ProQuest service and some are archived on www.InnerCityPress.com --

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In WFP Race, Josette Sheeran Shiner Praises Mega Corporations from Cornfield While State Spins

At the UN, Housing Subsidy Spin, Puntland Mysteries of UNDP and the Panama Solution

In Campaign to Head UN WFP, A Race to Precedents' Depths, A Murky Lame Duck Appointment

At the UN, Gbagbo and his Gbaggage, Toxic Waste and Congolese Sanctions

WFP Brochure-Gate? John Bolton Has Not Seen Brochure of "Official" U.S. Candidate to Head World Food Program

Ivory Coast Stand-Off Shows Security Council Fault Lines: News Analysis

At the UN, It's Groundhog's Day on Western Sahara, Despite Fishing Deals and Flaunting of the Law

"Official" U.S. Candidate to Head WFP Circulates Brochure With Pulitzer Claim, UN Staff Rules Ignored

Senegal's President Claims Peace in Casamance and Habre Trial to Come, A Tale of Two Lamines

A Tale of Two Americans Vying to Head the World Food Program, Banbury and Sheeran Shiner

At the UN, the Unrepentant Blogger Pronk, a Wink on 14 North Korean Days and Silence on Somalia

At the UN, Literacy Losses in Chad, Blogless Pronk and Toothless Iran Resolution, How Our World Turns

Sudan Pans Pronk While Praising Natsios, UN Silent on Haiti and WFP, Ivorian Fingers Crossed

UN Shy on North Korea, Effusive on Bird Flu and Torture, UNDP Cyprus Runaround, Pronk is Summoned Home

At the UN, Silence from UNDP on Cyprus, from France on the Chad-Bomb, Jan Pronk's Sudan Blog

Russia's Vostok Battalion in Lebanon Despite Resolution 1701, Assembly Stays Deadlocked and UNDP Stays Missing

As Turkmenistan Cracks Down on Journalists, Hospitals and Romance, UNDP Works With the Niyazov Regime

At the UN, Darfur Discussed, Annan Eulogized and Oil For Food Confined to a Documentary Footnote

With All Eyes on Council Seat, UN is Distracted from Myanmar Absolution and Congo Conflagration

As Venezuela and Guatemala Square Off, Dominicans In Default and F.C. Barcelona De-Listed

At the UN, North Korea Sanctions Agreed On, Naval Searches and Murky Weapons Sales

At the UN, Georgia Speaks of Ethnic Cleansing While Russia Complains of Visas Denied by the U.S.

At the UN, Deference to the Congo's Kabila and Tank-Sales to North Korea, of Slippery Eels and Sun Microsystems

At the UN, Annan's Africa Advisor Welcome Chinese Investment, Dodges Zimbabwe, Nods to Darfur

At the UN, Richard Goldstone Presses Enforcement on Joseph Kony, Reflecting Back on Karadzic

UN Defers on Anti-Terror Safeguards to Member States, Even in Pakistan and Somalia

Afghanistan as Black Hole for Info and Torture Tales, Photos and Talk Mogadishu, the UN Afterhours

Amid UN's Korean Uproar, Russia Silent on Murder of Anna Politkovskaya, Chechnya Exposer

UN Envoy Makes Excuses for Gambian Strongman, Whitewashing Fraud- and Threat-Filled Election

Sudan's UN Envoy Admits Right to Intervene in Rwanda, UNICEF Response on Terrorist Groups in Pakistan

At the UN, As Next S-G is Chosen, Annan Claims Power to Make 5-Year Appointments, Quiet Filing and Ivory Coast Concessions

Chaos in UN's Somalia Policy, Working With Islamists Under Sanctions While Meeting with Private Military Contractors

U.S. Candidate for UN's World Food Program May Get Lame Duck Appointment, Despite Korean Issues

At the UN, U.S. Versus Axis of Airport, While Serge Brammertz Measures Non-Lebanese Teeth

Exclusion from Water Is Called Progress, of Straw Polls and WFP Succession

William Swing Sings Songs of Congo's Crisis, No Safeguards on Coltan Says Chairman of Intel

Warlord in the Waldorf and Other Congo Questions Dodged by the UN in the Time Between Elections

In Some New Orleans, Questions Echo from the South Bronx and South Lebanon

In New Orleans, While Bone Is Thrown in Superdome, Parishes Still In Distress

At the UN, Tales of Media Muzzled in Yemen, Penned in at the Waldorf on Darfur, While Copters Grounded

US's Frazer Accuses Al-Bashir of Sabotage, Arab League of Stinginess, Chavez of Buying Leaders - Click here for video file by Inner City Press.

Third Day of UN General Debate Gets Surreal, Canapes and Killings, Questions on Iran and Montenegro and Still Somalia

On Darfur, Hugo Chavez Asks for More Time to Study, While Planning West Africa Oil Refinery

At the UN, Ivory Coast Discussed Without Decision on Toxic Politics, the Silence of Somalia

Evo Morales Blames Strike on Mobbed-Up Parasites, Sings Praise of Coca Leaf and Jabs at Coca-Cola

Musharraf Says Unrest in Baluchistan Is Waning, While Dodging Question on Restoring Civilian Rule

At the UN, Cyprus Confirms 'Paramilitary' Investigation, Denies Connection to Def Min Resignation, CBTB Update

A Tale of Three Leaders, Liberia Comes to Praise and Iran and Sudan to Bury the UN

UN Round-up: Poland's President Says Iraq Is Ever-More Tense While Amb. Bolton Talks Burmese Drugs, Spin on Ivory Coast

As UN's Annan Now Says He Will Disclose, When and Whether It Will Be to the Public and Why It Took So Long Go Unasked

At the UN, Stonewalling Continues on Financial Disclosure and Letter(s) U.S. Mission Has, While Zimbabwe Goes Ignored

At the UN, Financial Disclosure Are Withheld While Freedom of Information Is Promised, Of Hollywood and Dictators' Gift Shops

UN's Annan Says Dig Into Toxic Dumping, While Declining to Discuss Financial Disclosure

A Still-Unnamed Senior UN Official in NY Takes Free Housing from His Government, Contrary to UN Staff Regulations

UN Admits To Errors in its Report on Destruction of Congolese Village of Kazana, Safeguards Not In Place

As UN Checks Toxins in Abidjan, the Dumper Trafigura Figured in Oil for Food Scandal, Funded by RBS and BNP Paribas

Targeting of African Americans For High Cost Mortgages Grew Worse in 2005, While Fed Downplays Its Own Findings

The UN and Nagorno-Karabakh: Flurries of Activity Leave Frozen Conflicts Unchanged; Updates on Gaza, Gavels and Gbagbo

The UN Cries Poor on Lawless Somalia, While Its Ex-Security Chief Does Business Through Ruleless Revolving Door

At the UN, Micro-States Simmer Under the Assembly's Surface, While Incoming Council President Dodges Most Questions

"Horror Struck" is How UN Officials Getting Free Housing from Governments Would Leave U.S., Referral on Burma But Not Uzbekistan

Security Council President Condemns UN Officials Getting Free Housing from Governments, While UK "Doesn't Do It Any More"

At the UN, Incomplete Reforms Allow for Gifts of Free Housing to UN Officials by Member States

Rare UN Sunshine From If Not In Chad While Blind on Somalia and Zimbabwe, UNDP With Shell in its Ear on Nigeria

Annan Family Ties With Purchaser from Compass, Embroiled in UN Scandal, Raise Unanswered Ethical Questions

At the UN, from Casamance to Transdniestria, Kosovars to Lezgines, Micro-States as Powerful's Playthings

Inquiry Into Housing Subsidies Contrary to UN Charter Goes Ignored for 8 Weeks, As Head UN Peacekeeper Does Not Respond

On the UN - Corporate Beat, Dow Chemical Luncheon Chickens Come Home to Roost

Stop Bank Branch Closings and Monopolies in the Katrina Zone, Group Says, Challenging Regions- AmSouth Merger

Ship-Breakers Missed by UN's Budget for Travel and Consultants in Bangladesh, Largest UNIFIL Troop Donor

With Somalia on the Brink of Horn-Wide War, UN Avoids Question of Ethiopian Invasion

In UN's Lebanon Frenzy, Darfur Is Ignored As Are the Disabled, "If You Crave UNIFIL, Can't You Make Do With MONUC?"

UN Decries Uzbekistan's Use of Torture, While Helping It To Tax and Rule; Updates on UNIFIL and UNMIS Off-Message

On Lebanon, Russian Gambit Focuses Franco-American Minds, Short Term Resolution Goes Blue Amid Flashes of Lightening

Africa Can Solve Its Own Problems, Ghanaian Minister Tells Inner City Press, On LRA Peace Talks and Kofi Annan's Views

At the UN, Jay-Z Floats Past Questions on Water Privatization and Sweatshops, Q'Orianka Kilcher in the Basement

In the UN Security Council, Speeches and Stasis as Haiti is Forgotten, for a Shebaa Farms Solution?

UN Knew of Child Soldier Use by Two Warlords Whose Entry into Congo Army the UN Facilitated

Impunity's in the Air, at the UN in Kinshasa and NY, for Kony and Karim and MONUC for Kazana

UN Still Silent on Somalia, Despite Reported Invasion, In Lead-Up to More Congo Spin

UN's Guehenno Says Congo Warlord Just Needs Training, and Kazana Probe Continues

With Congo Elections Approaching, UN Issues Hasty Self-Exoneration as Annan Is Distracted

In DR Congo, UN Applauds Entry into Army of Child-Soldier Commander Along with Kidnapper

Spinning the Congo, UN Admits Hostage Deal with Warlord That Put Him in Congolese Army

At the UN, Dow Chemical's Invited In, While Teaming Up With Microsoft is Defended

Kofi Annan Questioned about Congolese Colonel Who Kidnapped Seven UN Soldiers

UN Silent As Congolese Kidnapper of UN Peacekeepers Is Made An Army Colonel: News Analysis

UN's Guehenno Speaks of "Political Overstretch" Undermining Peacekeeping in Lower Profile Zones

In Gaza Power Station, the Role of Enron and the U.S. Government's OPIC Revealed by UN Sources

UN's Corporate Partnerships Will Be Reviewed, While New Teaming Up with Microsoft, and UNDP Continues

BTC Briefing, Like Pipeline, Skirts Troublespots, Azeri Revelations

Conflicts of Interest in UNHCR Program with SocGen and Pictet Reveal Reform Rifts

UN Grapples with Somalia, While UNDP Funds Mugabe's Human Rights Unit, Without Explanation

UN Gives Mugabe Time with His Friendly Mediator, Refugees Abandoned

At the UN, Friday Night's Alright for Fighting; Annan Meets Mugabe

UN Acknowledges Abuse in Uganda, But What Did Donors Know and When? Kazakh Questions

In Uganda, UNDP to Make Belated Announcement of Program Halt, But Questions Remain (and see The New Vision, offsite).

Disarmament Abuse in Uganda Leads UN Agency to Suspend Its Work and Spending

Disarmament Abuse in Uganda Blamed on UNDP, Still Silent on Finance

Alleged Abuse in Disarmament in Uganda Known by UNDP, But Dollar Figures Still Not Given: What Did UN Know and When?

Strong Arm on Small Arms: Rift Within UN About Uganda's Involuntary Disarmament of Karamojong Villages

UN's Selective Vision on Somalia and Wishful Thinking on Uighurs

UN Habitat Predicts The World Is a Ghetto, But Will Finance Be Addressed at Vancouver World Urban Forum?

UN's Annan Concerned About Use of Terror's T-Word to Repress, Wants Freedom of Information

UN  Waffles on Human Rights in Central Asia and China; ICC on Kony and a Hero from Algiers

UN & US, Transparency for Finance But Not Foreign Affairs: Somalia, Sovereignty and Senator Tom Coburn

Human Rights Forgotten in UN's War of Words, Bolton versus Mark Malloch Brown: News Analysis

In Praise of Migration, UN Misses the Net and Bangalore While Going Soft on Financial Exclusion

UN Sees Somalia Through a Glass, Darkly, While Chomsky Speaks on Corporations and Everything But Congo

Corporate Spin on AIDS, Holbrooke's Kudos to Montenegro and its Independence

The Silence of the Congo and Naomi Watts; Between Bolivia and the World Bank

Human Rights Council Has Its Own Hanging Chads; Cocky U.S. State Department Spins from SUVs

Child Labor and Cargill and Nestle; Iran, Darfur and WHO's on First with Bird Flu

Press Freedom? Editor Arrested by Congo-Brazzaville, As It Presides Over Security Council

The Place of the Cost-Cut UN in Europe's Torn-Up Heart;
Deafness to Consumers, Even by the Greens

Background Checks at the UN, But Not the Global Compact; Teaching Statistics from Turkmenbashi's Single Book

Ripped Off Worse in the Big Apple, by Citigroup and Chase: High Cost Mortgages Spread in Outer Boroughs in 2005, Study Finds

Burundi: Chaos at Camp for Congolese Refugees, Silence from UNHCR, While Reform's Debated by Forty Until 4 AM

The Chadian Mirage: Beyond French Bombs, Is Exxon In the Cast? Asylum and the Uzbeks, Shadows of Stories to Come

Through the UN's One-Way Mirror, Sustainable Development To Be Discussed by Corporations, Even Nuclear Areva

Racial Disparities Grew Worse in 2005 at Citigroup, HSBC and Other Large Banks

Mine Your Own Business: Explosive Remnants of War and the Great Powers, Amid the Paparazzi

Human Rights Are Lost in the Mail: DR Congo Got the Letter, But the Process is Still Murky

Iraq's Oil to be Metered by Shell, While Basrah Project Remains Less than Clear

Kofi, Kony, Kagame and Coltan: This Moment in the Congo and Kampala

As Operation Swarmer Begins, UN's Qazi Denies It's Civil War and Has No Answers if Iraq's Oil is Being Metered

Cash Crop: In Nepal, Bhutanese Refugees Prohibited from Income Generation Even in their Camps

The Shorted and Shorting in Humanitarian Aid: From Davos to Darfur, the Numbers Don't Add Up

UN Reform: Transparency Later, Not Now -- At Least Not for AXA - WFP Insurance Contract

In the Sudanese Crisis, Oil Revenue Goes Missing, UN Says

Empty Words on Money Laundering and Narcotics, from the UN and Georgia

What is the Sound of Eleven Uzbeks Disappearing? A Lack of Seats in Tashkent, a Turf War at UN

Kosovo: Of Collective Punishment and Electricity; Lights Out on Privatization of Ferronikeli Mines

Abkhazia: Cleansing and (Money) Laundering, Says Georgia

Post-Tsunami Human Rights Abuses, including by UNDP in the Maldives

Citigroup Dissembles at United Nations Environmental Conference

Other Inner City Press reports are available in the ProQuest service and some are archived on www.InnerCityPress.com --

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