Comments on: From Tanzania to Turtle Bay – What’s Going On?

By: Merkur

Merkur — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 07:54:35 +0000

Mark Leon Goldberg: It’s true that inviting Tanzania to the no.2 spot is also a political choice designed to win friends in the G77. However you have to admit that the selection process is entirely opaque, which leaves the UN open to all sorts of speculation about motives and means.

JP: She was Foreign Minister of Tanzania, before that Minister for Community Affairs; and a senior lecturer in law at the University of Dar-es-Salaam. Plus she’s a female candidate from a developing country, both of which are political bonuses. However the question of management qualifications for this type of organisation is valid…

By: JP

JP — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 06:05:36 +0000

Mark Leon Goldberg’s critique of Claudia Rosett fails to address Ms. Rosett’s concern over Ms. Migiro’s lack of experience for this very important appointment.

By: YankeeHobbit

YankeeHobbit — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 05:31:02 +0000

Mark:
Of course you disagree – thats what the UN Foundation pays you to do. I find it sadly in keeping that your organisation disparages Ms Rosett so often. All her reporting has been fact based and has done more to help than harm the UN – unless you support corruption and cronyism? Pity it takes non-UN personnel to uncover these things, rather than internal investigation.
You would do more to support the UN if you spent your time using your inside track to help uncover the abuses of power and exposing those activities which go against the UN Charter rather than attacking anyone who dares to expose wrong-doing in high places, particularly in the Secretariat. It is not the Utopian dream you want, so try helping to improve it instead of attacking those who expose its weaknesses, before it rots beyond recovery (if its not too late already).

By: joan

joan — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 05:17:14 +0000

Mark

I have worked for the UN on several occaisions (next job coming uop soon with them) and I think overall its a great institution.

BUT, the latest appointments by Ban Ki Moon do not inspire confidence in me or my colleagues i know wokring in the UN around the world i.e.

The new British head of OCHA who has ZERO humanitarian experience?
He wouldnt qualify or get a P5 /D1 level job in OCHA; but yet he is allowed to be the head?

And a new Mexican ‘environmentalist’ as head of Dept Mgt and Admin?!

Its a really bad start for Ban Ki Moon and i am speaking as someone who is a strong supporter of the UN.

By: Mark Leon Goldberg

Mark Leon Goldberg — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 22:34:03 +0000

I respectfully disagree with Ms. Rosett's take on Ms. Migiro's appointment. You can read my response to Ms. Rosett on UN Dispatch. In short, the qui-pro-quo Rosett alleges simply does not exist. Further, Migiro's appointment can be considered a boon to the prospect of UN reform.

By: Merkur

Merkur — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 13:45:31 +0000

It certainly looks like yet another senior UN position purchase, don’t it? The lack of transparency is killing the organisation. Even admitting that the whole thing is based on a barter system would be better than this.

The “Iranian connection” is a red herring, though – the only statement attributed to Migiro is for everybody to uphold the NPT – very warm and fuzzy. It’s hardly a big deal if Iranian spin doctors add an ridiculously misleading tagline to an obscure press release.

Amusingly, “Construction Jihad” seems to get used a lot in Iran to describe everything from building huts to biological weapon research. This seems to be talking about the agricultural development agreement they’ve had since the 1990s. Construction Jihad got merged with MinAg to form the new “Ministry of Agricultural Jihad” (http://www.maj.ir/English/Main/Default.asp).

Snappy title for a bunch of agricultural extension workers…

By: curmudgeon

curmudgeon — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 00:41:28 +0000

You gotta give that org credit for consistency.