The environment in the news wednesday, 15 August 2007 unep and the Executive Director in the News
Download 361.33 Kb.
|
| Spokesperson: Yes.
Question: You’re agreeing [inaudible]? Spokesperson: I’m not saying I’m agreeing, I can simply confirm that was what happened. Yes Jonathan? Question: The other question? Correspondent: [talkover] …cyber issues, cyber analogies… Spokesperson: I think the cyber is probably quite a… Correspondent: A little cyber rattle. [Laughter] Spokesperson: Yes, a little cyber rattle. Question: Can you give us an update of where things are… OIOS has been investigating the financial unit of UNDP. This has been going on for some time now. Do we have any update on where that is? Apparently, there’s been a dispute over jurisdiction. Can you tell us if that’s settled, or if it’s not settled? And where does the Secretary-General stand in terms of that investigation and looking into financial issues of that unit? Spokesperson: OK. I’ll look into that for you. I don’t have that information at this point. [The Spokesperson later said informed the correspondent that the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) does not have a specific mandate to investigate the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), but it has the ability, under a memorandum of agreement with UNDP, to undertake services for UNDP at its request. In this particular case, OIOS is trying to obtain information from a complainant to see whether the complainant's reasons for not reporting information to UNDP are justified. Until OIOS receives that information and can determine whether the complainant's reasons are valid, it is not proceeding to deal with the particulars of the case.] Question: OK. In terms of the jurisdiction of the newly appointed… is he called the “Ethics Commissioner”? Is that what the post is called? Spokesperson: Yes. Question: How does that person step into various issues of investigations? How much access does he have to ongoing investigations? Can, he for instance, step into the middle of the OIOS investigations into the UN’s financial unit and have a say in that, or is that something out of his jurisdiction? How does the Secretary-General foresee his role? Spokesperson: I’ll try to find out also for you how he intervenes and when he can intervene. I know that the OIOS process is a process that… he could intervene probably at the early stage and at a later stage, but I don’t think he can interfere during the actual investigation. But I can find out for you what his exact role is and when he can intervene. Question: One follow-up on that. There’s supposed to be a 45-day time period for him to rule on the UNDP whistle blower’s complaint that he’d been retaliated against. That’s now long past. It’s been what, 70-75 days? Can you find out from him when he is going to rule on it, and what the hold up has been? Spokesperson: Sure. I’ll find out for you. [The Spokesperson later reminded the correspondent that there had been an announcement that the Ethics Office had asked for more time and had informed the complainant accordingly.] Question: And a follow-up on the follow-up. Can you find out the jurisdiction on that as well? Spokesperson: Yes, that’s what Jonathan asked… Question: No. But UNDP, because it is independently financed, has in the past complained -- at least in one case -- that the Ethic’s Commissioner doesn’t have jurisdiction over UNDP. Spokesperson: Sure. Sure. I’ll ask that. Question: Have you received any response from Holland about the Special Tribunal on Former Minister Hariri? Spokesperson: No, we don’t have any response yet. Question: Why the delay, do you think? Spokesperson: I don’t know. I don’t know. Question: I’m confused about this hacker. How sure are you that he is a Turk? Spokesperson: Well, we are not sure that he’s a Turk. Question: You said he was Turkish. Spokesperson: No. I didn’t say that. I said that he claimed to be. Question: What is the essence of that claim? If he hacked the United Nations… Spokesperson: Well, he is on the site claiming to be. We don’t know. I said earlier… Question: Let me finish please. If he is claiming that, it would be so stupid, giving his name and identity, because hacking is a very important… criminal act. A very serious act… (talkover) Spokesperson: We are not releasing any names… Question: So it could be Japanese or Mexican or something? Spokesperson: Yes, of course, of course. And the only thing we have in terms of identification is pseudonyms. I mentioned that earlier. We don’t have names. Question: You don’t need to name him as a Turk. Spokesperson: I didn’t name him as a Turk. I answered a question saying that one of them claimed to be. Question: Can I get back to the Capital Master Plan? Aren’t they delayed? Weren’t they supposed to start building in June or July? I mean, basically, nothing has happened… Spokesperson: No it was not June or July… Question: I thought there was some action to begin in June or July? Spokesperson: Well, they selected a construction manager. That you already have, okay. They are starting to work on the actual implementation. It initially was supposed to be December, but it has been postponed and we are trying to find out exactly when they are to be starting. Question: The Under-Secretary-General for Management last year said that, in October, you were supposed to have a ground-breaking ceremony and that never happened. And then it kept on being postponed. Spokesperson: OK, well, we’ll have an update on both the Capital Master Plan and an update on the building safety codes at the same time. Question: But, meanwhile, while we wait for the Capital Master Plan to begin -- which you say it hasn’t begun -- we have all kinds of construction on the building that the Capital Master Plan will make sort of moot. First of all, they’re putting a whole new garden out in front, and I don’t know how that’s going to be affected by a whole lot of construction. Secondly, they just put on our floor a beautiful wonderful new TV that displays only old still pictures [laughter]. That’s very expensive. They had to make a big hole in the wall there. I assume that that will be made moot by the Capital Master Plan… Spokesperson: Sure it will be moot, but… Question: So why are we putting all this money into things that are going to be mitigated by the Capital Master Plan? Spokesperson: Now, I’m going to ask you to be logical. You said earlier, “why can’t they build all those things they are being asked to build or install” and, at the same time, you’re asking why are they putting all those things up… Question: I object to that. Please. There’s a difference between… until this thing happened… there’s a difference between putting some sprinklers on the wall to make sure that if there’s a fire we’re not burned until the UN starts the Capital Master Plan, which, even by the most optimistic estimates, is going to last at least a decade. There’s a difference between that and putting up a TV that just displays stills and does nothing for nobody and costs a lot of money. Spokesperson: Well, that money was used so you could be better informed of all the… because those are not old pictures. Some of them are archive pictures, but most of them are recent pictures, so you can have them faster. If you have an objection to this, Benny… then you have access to information… because that was supposed to be the essential idea behind that. [The Spokesperson later informed the correspondent that the Department of Public Information received a donation of three monitors from Samsung, including the one being referring to. The other two are next to the staff cafeteria and in the public lobby. The monitor on the third floor will replace the photo boards, incurring manpower savings, since they will now be programmed automatically and we will not have to have someone print, caption and manually post each picture that appears. The monitor will not just be used for "old" pictures. It will show daily news photos taken at the Secretariat, as well as some photos from our historical collection and some videos, as well. Samsung also contributed the cost of installation and it should be noted that, under the present plan, the third floor will not be renovated until the last phase of the Capital Master Plan -- possibly in 2012-2013 -- so the investment is well worth it.] Question: I just want to second what my colleague from Al-Jazeera said about Western Sahara. If there’s any briefing, we’d really appreciate it. According to the propaganda, the propaganda so far, the talks look like they’ve been a total failure, and we really have to be convinced that they’re not. The fact that they’re talking, just like Kosovo, does not mean there’s a solution. Spokesperson: I’m not saying there is a solution. Correspondent: I’m just saying that, so far, they look like a total failure… Spokesperson: I did tell you that there will not be a briefing to the Security Council as far as I know. [talkover] There will be no public briefing either. Question: On that question -- Western Sahara -- there are indications that the next round of negotiations will be in Europe and will take place between October and November. Are these UN suggestions, or is it the parties that opted for those? Spokesperson: I don’t know whose suggestions they were, but there is no agreement yet on the date or the place. I do know that the dates you are talking about were discussed -- October-November. Question: Europe was also discussed? Spokesperson: Pardon me? Question: Europe was also discussed? Spokesperson: I don’t know about that. I do know about the fact that they discussed a possible meeting in about two months. Correspondent: The Polisario people told us that they want Europe. They basically told us when we were standing outside that “we want the next meeting to be held in Europe”, so it must have been discussed one way or the other. Spokesperson: OK. You have inside details. Question: You’re telling us that Europe has not been discussed at all, and they are telling us that they did discuss it and they requested officially for the next meeting to be held in Europe because… you know… for whatever their reasons are. Spokesperson: Well, if they told you, it’s because it was discussed. Question: Well, can we find out where in Europe? [Laughs] Spokesperson: It hasn’t been agreed upon yet. How can you find out if it hasn’t been agreed upon yet by the parties? Question: Are you sure? Spokesperson: Yes, I’m sure that they have not agreed on a place yet. Whether it is in general in Europe? Yes, of course. But a specific place, a specific date? No. There has been no such decision taken. Question: Is the Secretary-General concerned about the prolonged situation regarding Western Sahara? There seems to be no solution on the horizon. Is he concerned about possible tension and violence in the area if a solution is not found? Spokesperson: Well, of course, this had been a constant part of the equation, that there could be violence. But this situation has at least arrived at a point where at least the parties are talking. It might not seem like much, but it is a step. Question: Another thing. Some time ago, UN cartographers finished their exercise on delineating Shebaa Farms, as far as I understand. What’s happened to that? Spokesperson: Well, did you have an update on Shebaa Farms recently? Question: Well, where are we now? The UN still hasn’t released its results, so… Spokesperson: I’ll find out for you where we are with the Shebaa Farms. Thank you very much. C  ommunications and Public Information, P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (254-2) 623292/93, Fax: [254-2] 62 3927/623692, Email:unepmedia@unep.org, http://www.unep.org Directory: cpi -> briefs briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news Download 361.33 Kb. Share with your friends:
|