Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene November 2018 Vol.13 No.5 | 页面 24

People
UN environment chief resigns after frequent flying
revelations
The audit found Erik
Solheim spent almost
$500,000 on air travel and
hotels in just 22 months.
Photograph: Natalia
Mroz/Unep
The UN’s environment
chief, Erik Solheim, has resigned following severe criticism
of his global travels and internal rule-breaking which led
some nations to withhold their funding.
The Guardian understands Solheim was asked to resign
by the UN secretary general, António Guterres. Sources
at the UN Environment Programme (Unep) said that
countries unhappy with Solheim’s conduct were holding
back tens of millions of dollars, threatening a financial
crisis at the body.
began her role today as
Regional Director of UNDP’s
Regional Bureau for Europe
and the Commonwealth of
Independent States.
In this role she will lead
UNDP’s work supporting 17
countries and one territory
to achieve Agenda 2030 and
the Sustainable Development
Ms. Mirjana Spoljaric Egger
Goals. This area spans Central
Asia, the Western CIS and
South Caucasus, and Western Balkans.
Ms. Spoljaric Egger’s new role will be at the Assistant
Secretary-General level.
Ms. Spoljaric Egger’s succeeds Cihan Sultanoglu who is
now the UN Representative to the Geneva International
Discussions.
A draft internal UN audit leaked to the Guardian in
September found Solheim had spent almost $500,000
(£390,000) on air travel and hotels in just 22 months,
and was away 80% of the time. The audit said this was a
“reputation risk” for an organisation dedicated to fighting
climate change. Ms Spoljaric Egger previously served as the Head of
United Nations and International Organisations Division
of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs,
where she was been instrumental in shaping Swiss UN
policies and priorities in support the achievement of the
2030 Agenda.
A UN staff union leader called some of the revelations
“mind-blowing” and a prominent climate scientist accused
Solheim of “obscene CO2 hypocrisy”. Ms. Spoljaric Egger combines a strong policy background
with field experience and has had several assignments
in the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs,
in New York, Cairo, and with the Office of UNRWA
Commissioner-General.
The audit said Solheim had “no regard for abiding by
the set regulations and rules” and had failed to account
properly for some of his travel. He also unofficially
allowed chosen staff to work from Europe rather than at
Unep headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Solheim told the
Guardian he had already paid back money for instances of
oversight and made changes where other rules had been
broken.
On Tuesday the Nov. 20,
the UN secretary general’s
official spokesman said
Guterres had accepted
Solheim’s resignation.
Unep’s deputy executive
director, Joyce Msuya, has
been appointed acting
head while a replacement is
sought.
Joyce Msuya
New York – Ms. Mirjana Spoljaric Egger officially
Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • November 2018
AHH Pope Francis and WHO Director-General:
Health is a right and not a privilege
The Director-General of WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus, has met with His Holiness Pope Francis
to discuss ways to ensure that all people can obtain the
healthcare they need, whoever they are, wherever they live.
Mirjana Spoljaric Egger begins new role leading
UNDP’s work in Europe and the CIS
24
Ms Spoljaric Egger holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophy,
Economics and International Law from the University of
Basel and the University of Geneva. She is married and
has two children.
His Holiness Pope Francis and Dr Tedros have both
reiterated that health is a right, and should not be a
privilege, and share a commitment to improving the health
and wellbeing of the most vulnerable and marginalized –
in both rich and poor countries.
“I am honoured and humbled to have met His Holiness
Pope Francis and to discover that we share so many of the
same concerns,” said Dr Tedros.