After
Hurrican, UNSC
Moves Out of
Chamber for
Somalia Vote,
Public So
Press
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 31 --
Among the
collateral
damage, or
effects, when
Hurricane
Sandy hit
New York
was the closure
of the UN
and its
Security
Council.
But with the
legal mandate
of its Somalia
mission
expiring at
the end of the
month, the
Council had to
meet in
person,
even to adopt
a seven-day
rollover of
the mission.
With
the basement
Chamber the
Council has
been using
waterlogged,
the
meeting was
moved to the
UN's Temporary
North Lawn
Building.
Outside
on 47th Street
there were
downed trees.
Inside, two
guards tried
to
block Inner
City Press
from covering
the meeting.
Some had even
reported that
it could not
be covered.
But since
votes must
happen in
meeting that
are not only
in-person but
also public,
reason won
out.
From
the back row
of Conference
Room 4, where
only last week
Israel and
Syria traded
insults, the
room was
barely one
quarter full.
Along
with
delegations
from the
Security
Council's 15
members,
diplomats
from incoming
Council
members Rwanda
and South
Korea were
present.
They attend as
a form of
training until
they fully
join in
January.
October's
Council
president Gert
Rosenthal
began with
words for the
City of New
York, then
regretting
that the
October 29
debate on
Women, Peace
and
Security had
to be
canceled.
France had
promoted the
arrival of its
minister, but
for what?
Rosenthal
said
that a short
text to
roll-over the
Somalia
mandate was
ready,
but that
France had
asked for time
to check and
read -- or
translate?
-- it, "to see
if they can
accompany us."
No one Council
member seemed
to have such
language
concerns.
The
director of UN
Women, Under
Secretary
General
Bachelet,
moved up to
the podium for
the read-out
of the
Presidential
Statement on
Women,
Peace and
Security,
S/PRST/2012/23.
But she did
not give a
speech.
Finally
the
seven day
Somalia
extension was
voted on,
15-0. The
building
would fall
silent again.
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
Again, a
supposed
improvement to
UN Television
webcast has
made it so it
is not
viewable, at
least on
Android phones
(unlike, for
example, the UK
House of
Commons).
And this
freeze-out was
before Sandy.
Will it be
fixed?
Update:
while the UN
has sent to
email the
plans out,
there will be
meetings at
the UN on
Thursday.
There are,
Inner City
Press is told
by multiple
sources,
"problems"
with the UN
Library
building where
the press
corps has
their cubicles
and, where
applicable,
studios. But
access must be
pushed for:
it's
ostensibly a
public
institution,
and these are
public
meetings.
Watch this
site.
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