UNITED
NATIONS, May 2
-- How hard
can it be for
the UN to look
into the
online sale of
an "internship
at the UN"?
Inner City
Press
wrote
about just
this on the
morning of May
1 and
asked about it
at
that day's
noon briefing.
Since
then Inner
City Press
has reported
that a bidder
named "Aygul"
is for now
ahead, bidding
$22,000.
The RFK
Center, for
which the
auction is
being
conducted, has
not responded
with any
explanation.
And
even 24 hours
later, the UN
purported it
could not find
out the
details, then
pushed back
when Inner
City Press
said how they
could
easily do
this. (TNRS
coverage).
From the UN's
May 2
transcript:
UN
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: I
think you had
another
question,
Matthew? And
then we’ll
wrap up.
Inner
City Press:
yesterday I
had asked you
about this
internship at
the UN
and I
appreciate the
answer that
the UN is
checking with
Charity Buzz
and that you
don’t think
that it is a
UN internship.
I was looking
at the way it
was advertised
and, one, it
is advertised
as something
that will
teach you how
the UN really
works and get
your foot in
the
door, and it’s
not clear if
that means
with the RFK
Center or the
UN. But more
than --
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well…
Inner
City Press:
can I just
finish the
question?
Spokesperson:
Please do,
please do.
Inner
City Press:
even if it’s a
non-UN
internship, if
an NGO
accredited
here is part
of an
advertising
scheme or, you
know, set-up
in which
people are
bidding
$22,000 and it
is being
offered as
sort of a way
to get into
the UN, is
this a problem
from either
OLA’s [Office
for
Legal Affairs]
point of view
or the
Secretary-General’s
point of
view that
access seems
to be being
sold?
Spokesperson:
We have said
very clearly
that no UN
internships
can be sold.
That’s not how
we operate. We
also said very
clearly to you
and to
others who
have asked
that we are in
touch with
this website
to try
to understand
what is going
on exactly,
because we do
not know. We
are trying to
find out. So,
we can’t
really comment
further until
we know the
background on
this. But, I
think it is
clear, we said
very clearly,
that UN
internships
are not for
sale. Simple;
end of
story.
Inner
City Press: I
appreciate
that. It seems
like the
internship is
being
offered with
an NGO that’s
accredited
here, so there
seems like
another way to
probably find
this out --
Spokesperson:
Well, as I
say, Matthew,
thank you for
telling the
Legal Affairs
Office how to
do their job.
I can assure
you they are
looking into
it. All right.
Thanks very
much. Have a
good
afternoon.
Thank
you.
This
is the same UN
Office of
Legal Affairs
which after 15
months of
delay
tersely ruled
that all
claims about
the UN
bringing
cholera to
Haiti
were "not
receivable."
So, no, we do
not have
confidence in
them cleaning
this up. Watch
this site.
, 
