Friday 10 July 2009

Catherine Peluso fails to perform (as usual) - let's down Sha Zukang


the once General Service Staff G3, who was hanging out with big boys 25 years ago, the likes of Kofi Annan, Iqbal Riza and Patrizio Civili, and who jumped to D2 - Executive Officer of DESA in an impressive career (no one knows her educational credentials) has FAILED in her job.

Well many will say - this is not new.

Last year our communist leader Sha Zukang said this during the Town Hall Meeting in July 2008:

I need your inputs to develop guidelines on the composition of interview panels for filing vacancies. Catherine Peluso, please follow up on this matter.

CURRENT STATUS: FAILED

Currently, flexible work arrangements, use of overtime, and compensatory time-off are not consistently applied throughout the Department. As discussed at the Town-hall, we need to develop and establish a policy on flexible work arrangements for DESA. I request Carolyn Hannan to work with Catherine Peluso to develop this policy.

CURRENT STATUS: FAILED

Catherine Peluso failed on her job, not because she couldn't do it, or mobilize resources to do it. But because she was extremely busy in derailing ongoing investigations from OIOS and OHRM into her office wrong doings as well as covering up on the dirty tracks left behind from Patrizio Civili, Guido Bertucci and company.

Thursday 9 July 2009

Did Hania Zlotnik let down Sha Zukang ?


In our last Town Hall (July 2008) Sha Zukang said :

With regard to engaging the services of temporary staff, Directors should make every effort not to resort to external expertise when such capacity is available in the Department. I request you to consider this before engaging temporary staff. We need to develop departmental guidelines in this regard. I should like to ask Hania Zlotnik to lead us on developing such guidelines. I invite all Directors to provide inputs in this regard

CURRENT STATUS: FAILED

CURRENT NR# OF TEMPS (2009): 1813

LAST YEAR NR# OF TEMPS (2008): 1607


13% INCREASE


LIES LIES LIES LIES


Tuesday 7 July 2009

UN-DESA's GAID Board includes a UN/World Bank blacklisted member

Sarbuland Khan the Head of GAID - Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development, have selected and nominated in the Strategic Council of GAID one of the United nations Blacklisted Vendors - SIEMENS.

Siemens AG, the German engineer that's emerging from a global bribery scandal, will be shut our from World Bank financed projects for two years and the company agreed to pay $100 million to support anti-corruption work.

But it seems that Mr. Sarbuland Khan did not bother by the last four year OIOS/WB investigation and suspension from UN's Procurement Department of Siemens.

His support and nomination for Siemens to end in the GAID Strategic Board, seems to lead to Angela Kane's (USG-of Management) connection to Siemens. In order to protect his own extension of contract beyond retirement age, Mr. Sarbuland Khan has agreed and put into the World's Highest Advisory Group on Technology a company which was and still is barred from doing business with the UN.

Maybe DESA claim to be out of the United Nations Secretariat jurisdiction and does not recognize UNPD's (Procurement Department) decisions.

But the question is who controls who in ESA ? Who supervises Sarbuland Khan ? Who signed off in Siemens ending up in DESA's highest Strategic Council ? And WHY ? For what price ?

Will be following this story !!




Siemens Shut Out From World Bank Projects After Bribery Scandal

Bloomberg





By Richard Weiss

July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Siemens AG, the German engineer that’s emerging from a global bribery scandal, will be shut out from World Bank financed projects for two years and the company agreed to pay $100 million to support anti-corruption work.

Siemens also agreed to refrain from entering World Bank tenders in Russia for a period of four years, the Washington- based global lender said in a statement today. Siemens had previously flagged a World Bank ban of one to eight years.

The agreement is a “clear reminder” of past failures, Siemens lawyer Peter Solmssen said in a separate statement. The maker of power turbines, scanners, and trains faces a minimum six-month vendor ban from the United Nations in the wake of the scandal that led to fines in Germany and the U.S. totaling $1.6 billion. World Bank contracts generated about $140 million in revenue a year on average, the German company said.

“Many observers did not really have this issue on the radar screen,” said Theo Kitz, an analyst at Merck Finck. “I hope this is the last negative pieces of news we will get regarding this corruption scandal.”

Siemens shares fell as much as 5 percent, or 2.5 euros, to 47.68 euros in Frankfurt trading, valuing the Munich-based company at 43.8 billion euros ($61 billion).

To contact the reporters on this story: Richard Weiss in Frankfurt atrweiss5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 2, 2009 10:52 EDT

Monday 6 July 2009

While world leaders condemn Iranian Elections - Ban Ki Moon call Ahmedinejad legitimate and looks forward to meet him at GA in Sept. 09

In an interview with Los Angeles Times, Ban Ki-moon continued with his gaffes. Responding to a question of LAT, he said:

LAT: If President Ahmadinejad comes to the U.N. General Assembly in September as the elected president of Iran, will you acknowledge his election as legitimate?

BKM: It's up to the member states who should represent their country. If he comes as president of Iran, I'm ready to meet with him again and discuss all matters.


WHAT A MORON

Head UN Darfur Peacekeeper Asked to Resign

by Tom McGregor Sat, Jul 4, 2009, 12:35 PM

Agwai Resignation.jpgIn a stunning development, Martin Luther Agwai, a UNAMID force commander based in Darfur, Sudan, was asked to step down from his prestigious position at the United Nations, two days after the Texas Republic News posted a story about his wife, Ruth Agwai, on June 15, 2009, according to sources knowledgeable on behind-the-scenes activities of the UN. His wife works as an unlicensed nurse for Medical Services at an occupational health clinic inside the UN headquarters building in New York City.

The Texas Republic News revealed that Mrs. Agwai lived in a multi-million dollar town home in Manhattan, "never legally obtained a registered nursing license in her country of origen," received financial payments from ECOSOC, an agency which distributes financial and material aid to Third World nations, and billed an excessive expense account to the UN to pay for first class travel accomodations when she attended a 'World's AIDS Day' conference in Lagos, Nigeria on November 27, 2007.

Recently, the Dallas Blog posted an article, which links Ruth Agwai to Planned Parenthood in Nigeria as revealed by internal UN documents. Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria partly funded a summit that she attended in Nigeria.

The Inner City Press posted an article on June 19, 2009, stating: "the departure of Martin Luther Agwai as UNAMID force commander in Darfur would take place as questions have been raised about the UN's employment of his wife Ruth Agwai in the UN Medical Service, and her moonlighting for an NGO for the wives of Nigerian generals."

Fox News frequently cites Inner City Press articles when posting UN stories

Nevertheless, the director of UN Medical Service, Brian Davey, an unlicensed doctor, never imposed any sanctions against Ruth Agwai upon hearing the news that she was exposed in a Texas Republic News article. Ironically, it may have been her husband who suffered the consequences over her alleged misdeeds. Some employees at the UN are raising concerns that Mr. Davey had been too soft on Ruth Agwai, but too tough on other staff members who are unfriendly to Mrs. Agwai.

The Dallas Blog has obtained more damaging UN internal documents which reveal negative information about Ruth Agwai as well as many other staff members at UN Medical Service, which will later be exposed in more follow-up stories.

To read the entire article from the Inner City Press, link here: To read a French article about Martin Luther Agwai's resignation, link here: To read the Texas Republic News article, link here:

tmcgregordallas@yahoo.com

Doctors Distributing Controlled Substances in New York Despite Being Unlicensed

Fox News reported on April 29, 2009 a story about the United Nations, which claims that “a group of largely unlicensed doctors and nurses at the United Nations (Medical Services) are distributing controlled narcotics…and in some cases they are self-medicating themselves.” Additionally, Dr. Serguei Oleinikov of the U.N. Department of Medical Services signed-off on dozens of the missing narcotics. This is prohibited by the Controlled -Substances Act which emphasizes that doctors must hold a valid U.S. license to write a U.S. prescription for drugs purchased in the United States.

In response, the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Management, Angela Kane, answered questions about the scandal at a press briefing on May 21, 2009 in an attempt to discredit Fox News. She claimed that the UN conducted an internal investigation on Medical Services and cleared everybody of wrongdoing with the exception of a so-called whistle-blower, whom she intended to “sanction.” It was later revealed that no official internal investigation ever occurred; hence the staff at Medical Services has not been formally cleared.

After Fox News broke the story on Medical Services, the Texas Republic News followed up with its own investigative reports. The TRN revealed even more startling information about the U.N. Medical Services through online research.

Research revealed that Neomy Mantin, the head nurse working inside the New York City UN headquarters building, had been accused of physically assaulting a nurse and making terroristic threats against other subordinates. The New York City Police Department has a criminal report on file. In her position, Ms. Mantin has a responsibility to hire licensed medical professionals, however, quite a few nurses are currently working in Medical Service without meeting the requirements as a fully-licensed registered nurse.

Doctors Practicing Without a License

The TRN report also showed verifiable proof that only one out of nine doctors employed at Medical Services, currently has a valid license to practice medicine in New York State. In order to find the evidence, one must only log on to the “Office of Professions New York” website to verify if the UN doctors are legally licensed to work in their fields.

Even Brian Davey, the director of Medical Services, is not certified to work as a licensed physician in New York and he has the responsibility of supervising the staff when they are distributing controlled-substances and self-medicating.

UN Employee Dies of Stroke

After TRN posted these stories, confidential sources knowledgeable on the inner workings of the U.N. came forward to reveal more shocking details about the U.N. and their attempts to cover-up the narcotics scheme to avoid criminal prosecution. Apparently, a few months ago, a UN employee died of a stroke allegedly due to negligent medical care. Managers of Medical Services were not properly trained in medical management and could not handle nor give advice in an emergency situation. Afterwards, the staff was trained to simply dial “911” in case of a medical emergency.

It was the widow of the dead man who uncovered the negligence of the Medical Services when she conducted background checks on the doctors and nurses and realized that many of these medical professionals lacked proper credentials to perform their duties.

TRN has obtained verifiable internal documents from the U.N., which exposes significant details about questionable activities in Medical Services and what sources say is a massive cover-up plan. Some UN sources have also contacted TRN to verbally explain how they assert the U.N. intends to hide and tamper evidence to protect the wrongdoers and blame the innocent.

UN Statements on Licensing Contradictory

In the editor’s note of the Fox article, the UN is quoted as saying, “a requirement for recruitment of doctors and nurses employed by the United Nations is that they are registered to practice in their country of origin. A limited quantity of medications is maintained on sight; the stock is rigorously performed, and is verifiable according to standard pharmaceutical control norms.”

Yet documented evidence obtained by the TRN reveals that this statement contradicts itself. The so-called “standard pharmaceutical control norms” would imply that the UN obeys the Controlled-Substance Act enforced by the D.E.A (Drug Enforcement Agency), which directly reports to the INCB (International Narcotics Control Board) in Vienna, Austria. Yet, the U.N. just happens to be the governing body of the INCB. The Tulane Law Review posted an article dated March, 1946 entitled, “The Physicians and Federal Narcotics Law” written by the then-United States Commissioner of Narcotics H.J. Anslinger.

Sections of the law reads as follows: “’A Qualification Prerequisite’ 4(a) a physician who intends to practice medicine and to administer or dispense narcotic drugs in the course of such practice must apply for registration under the Harrison Law…Before being entitled to such registration, however, he must be lawfully entitled under the laws of State or district wherein he intends to practice, distribute, dispense, give away or administer narcotic drugs to patients…this requirement usually means that the applicant is a physician who holds an unrevoked and unrestricted license to practice medicine in the particular State, Territory or district … 6(b) a physician must not use his prescription form to obtain narcotics drugs for general office practice.”

The UN Medical Services merely functions as occupational health clinic for patients. The clinic does not act as a primary care, provider, which means they are not permitted to distribute highly-addictive controlled-substances in this type of medical setting.

Also in the statement quoted by Fox, the UN claims that “a requirement for recruitment all doctors and nurses employed by the United Nations is that they are registered to practice their profession in their country of origin.”

Nurse With a Multi-Million Dollar Town Home

Yet, an unlicensed Medical Services registered nurse working inside the UN headquarters building in New York City, Ruth Agwai, had never legally obtained a registered nursing license in her country of origin, Nigeria, according to confidential sources, knowledgeable on the inner-sanctum of the U.N. Actually, other nurses do not have proper documentation to work as licensed registered nurse in New York State. Fox News previously reported that Ms. Agwai exploited her diplomatic privileges granted by the Nigerian Mission to take medical supplies oversees. Sources have confirmed to the TRN that Fox News correctly reported on this matter.

Ironically, public records reveal that Ms. Agwai lives in a multi-million dollar town home in Manhattan (E. 34th St. New York, N.Y.) and she frequently touts her diplomatic credentials among her rich and powerful friends. Her passport clearly identifies her status as a diplomat. UN Documents reveal that she receives funding from an NGO called ECOSOC, which is an agency with an intended purpose of sending financial and material aid to impoverished nations.

She also travels around the world taking advantage of first-class accommodations paid for by the U.N. According to a U.N. budgetary fact sheet, Mrs. Agwai traveled with 12 delegates to Lagos, Nigeria on November 27, 2007. She attended an event to “commemorate the World AIDS Day celebrated yearly.” Documents show what appears to be an inordinately excessive cost for hotel stays billed to the UN. Mrs. Agwai’s expenses came while she was working in an agency charged with helping poor people in Third World African countries.

Furthermore, U.N. paperwork discloses that ECOSOC money is being diverted to NAOWA (Nigerian Army Officers Wives’ Association) under the apparent pretext that the association – of which Agawi serves as the National President – is assisting in work training of Nigerian women.

To read the entire Fox News, article, link here: To verify licenses of UN doctors and nurses, link here: and to read about how Medical Services funds AIDS prevention measures, link here: To read the ECOSOC website, link here:

A la Une - Le général Agwai poursuit sa visite auprès des troupes stationnées au Darfour

Publié le : 01-07-2009

Info Collectif VAN - www.collectifvan.org - Le Collectif VAN vous invite à lire le Point de presse quotidien du bureau de la porte-parole du secrétaire général de l’ONU (Organisation des Nations unies) publié le 29 juin 2009.

L’Opération hybride Union africaine-Nations Unies au Darfour (MINUAD) indique que le commandant de sa force, le général Martin Luther Agwai, poursuit, ce week-end, sa visite auprès des troupes stationnées au Darfour. Il a rencontré des Casques bleus sous son commandement à leurs bases de Graida et Marla, au sud du Darfour. Il a discuté avec eux de questions opérationnelles et entendu leurs préoccupations.

Pendant ce temps, d’autres responsables de la Mission étaient à Kutum dans le nord du Darfour, afin de vérifier les informations concernant des retours spontanés de réfugiés et de personnes déplacées vers leur village d’origine, mais également pour évaluer leurs conditions de vie. Des villageois ont indiqué à la Mission qu’environ 2 300 familles étaient effectivement retournées dans la zone.

Légende photo: Le général Martin Luther Agwai

UN's Ban Ki-moon under fire for praising Burma leaders

guardian.co.uk home

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, faced a barrage of criticism tonight for apparently praising the Burmese junta without winning any concessions over human rights or a move towards democracy.

Ban was under pressure to produce concrete results from his two-day mission to Burma, which was criticized as providing an endorsement to the Burmese leadership just as it is staging a trial of the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The high-stakes visit to Burma comes at a critical time for Ban, whose low-key approach to his job has been criticised as ineffectual. He came under further fire on arrival in Naypyidaw, the regime's headquarters, when he told the head of the junta, General Than Shwe: "I appreciate your commitment to moving your country forward."

"That is absolute nonsense," said Brad Adams, a Burma specialist at Human Rights Watch. "It's just what we implored him not to say, to make these diplomatic gaffes. Than Shwe has steadily moved his country backwards."

British officials were also furious at the remarks. They had urged Ban not to visit Burma, and risk handing the junta a propaganda prize with his visit, without first ensuring he would gain concessions in the form of the release of political prisoners and steps towards genuine democracy.

"Only agreement to release all political prisoners [and] start a genuine dialogue with the opposition and ethnic groups will give any credibility to the elections in 2010," Gordon Brown said in an article in the US online magazine The Huffington Post. According to No 10, Brown calls Ban at least twice a week to discuss Burma.

"I hope that Ban Ki-moon can convince the generals to take the first steps," Brown said. "A serious offer is on the table: the international community will work with Burma if the generals are prepared to embark on a genuine transition to democracy. But if the Burmese regime refuses to engage, the international community must be prepared to respond robustly."

However, Than Shwe said little at his meeting with Ban, and did not grant the secretary general's request to meet Suu Kyi in prison. Ban expressed hope that a meeting could still be permitted.

"I am leaving tomorrow, so logically speaking I am waiting for a reply before my departure," he said. The secretary general added that he had called for the release of all political prisoners before the elections, but got no response. He said Than Shwe had assured him, however, that the vote had been "fair, free and transparent".

However, Adams said: "The benchmark for success can't be what it was in the past. A meeting with Than Shwe is not a success. Even a meeting with Suu Kyi shouldn't be counted as a success, if all it means is she goes from being in jail back to being under house arrest.

"We have cautioned against this trip because it seems to be a trip for its own sake without any prospect of success."

Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, is on trial because an American supporter entered her compound, breaking the terms of her house arrest. Suu Kyi's lawyers said the man swam to the compound without her permission and had been urged to leave. The trial was adjourned yesterday until 10 July.

Thursday 2 July 2009

Did Rob Vos let down Sha Zukang ? Or the dutchman is incapable to deliver?

A year ago in the town meeting Sha Zukang said:

It was agreed that there is a need for improving leadership skills and management training. I invite you to provide concrete elements to be included in a Department-wide training strategy. Rob Vos, please help me on this matter.

12 months have since passed and the dutchman has done nothing to "help" Sha Zukang to achieve his promises.

Knowing Rob Vos and his "capacities to deliver" we question ourselves if he simply:
  • is incapable to deliver the tasks bestowed upon him;
  • or not willing to assist an Asian USG and wanting Sha Zukang to fail in his job;

Knowing that Jomo is on it's way out (soon) and that Stelzer is poorly performing, maybe letting down the office of USG in achieving results could be a strategy of Rob Vos to achieve greatness and reach the ASG level this fall. Let's see....