The Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Farhan Haq, sits behind the oversized wooden lectern in the briefing room at the United Nations headquarters.
He lays down a voluminous green binder containing the problems of the planet, then lists the subjects of concern discussed during the day: tensions in Jerusalem, deadly attacks against the Central African armed forces in Nzacko, distribution of humanitarian aid in the north of Ethiopia, alarming warming of glacier-capped mountains in South Asia…
The High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, took advantage of the presentation of the 102and monthly report of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Friday to report to the Security Council that it had not received the information it had requested from the Syrian government about “nerve agents produced or used for military purposes in a former chemical weapons production facility”.
Every day, UN officials travel to the Organization’s headquarters in New York to report to the Security Council. The shoes of some of them bear the mark of the hostile terrain in which they are dispatched – like those of the special envoy of the secretary general for the African Great Lakes region, Huang Xia. The “discreet, but committed” man said he was worried on Wednesday about the amplification of the security and humanitarian crisis in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the “resurgence of the armed group M23” and “atrocities against civilians” committed by armed groups, including the Allied Democratic Forces.
The meetings of the genre are linked.
“International cooperation is organized within the United Nations in all areas of human activity”, emphasizes the former Deputy Secretary General of the UN (1998-2006) Louise Fréchette. The United Nations first draws its strength from the 193 States, whose flags are hoisted in front of the New York complex, which are members. “There are plenty of problems that we cannot manage without very, very [large]. So, we can have a “democracy club”, to advance a lot of our objectives, but to manage, for example, climate change or pandemics or drug trafficking, if you are just between democracies, your impact will be limited”, she underlines.
Farhan Haq reported this week that 94 member states have paid their full UN dues so far. On Wednesday, he announced a “bumper harvest” of checks from “friends [de l’ONU] Gaborone, Kingston and Tashkent”. “Any ideas on which countries go with these capitals? he asked, getting whispers in response.
This report was financed thanks to the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund.The duty.