At UN As Ashe Hands Over to Kutesa, Steel Drums As Tables Are Turned By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, September 15 -- At the UN when President of the General Assembly John Ashe held his last press conference, GA session and farewell reception complete with steel drums on September 15, Inner City Press began by asking him about transparency and about Security Council reform. On the latter he recited the work done during his year, but opined we are not any closer to reform than we were before. Inner City Press then went to watch his concluding GA session, in the renovated General Assembly Hall, from a photographers' booth smelling of fresh paint but without any chairs or translation of speeches. Amid the bureaucratic ritual of deferring items to the next session, over which Sam Kutesa of Uganda will preside, the United States and then European Union objected to Item 64 being deferred, report of the UN Human Rights Council. A source in the PGA's office told Inner City Press that “the letter was received late and if it hadn't been deferred, others would have been angry.” Perhaps we'll hear more from the US or EU on this. At 7:30 pm on September 15, there was a farewell reception for Ashe in the UN Delegates Dining Room. For the second time in the day, Ban Ki-moon congratulated Ashe for his timeliness. A steel drum band played Bob Marley, and dozens of Permanent Representatives enjoy their last day as top dog for a while. Heads of state or at least foreign ministers are coming to town. The master becomes the servant, at least for a few days as one of them put it. At the end of the GA proceeding, Ashe invited his successor Sam Kutesa up to take the gavel. Inner City Press -- and the Free UN Coalition for Access -- have been communicating about this coming era with Jean Victor Nkolo, who was also spokesman for the president of the Sixty-Fifth session of the GA, Joseph Deiss. With him, there were questions of who was funding what -- all the more reason for a Freedom of Information Act for the UN, as FUNCA is pressing for. Watch this site.
* * * These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis. Click here for Sept 26, 2011 New Yorker on Inner City Press at UN
Click for BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN Corruption
Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com UN Office: S-303, UN, NY 10017 USA
Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis. Copyright 2006-2014 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com |