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TWN Info Service
on WTO and Trade Issues (Nov22/10) Geneva, 16 Nov (D. Ravi Kanth) — For the first time in the history of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization, a Senegalese communications expert, Mr Ismila Dieng, will be the new public face of the 164-member trade body, as its spokesperson, a post that was hitherto held by Anglo-American persons, said people familiar with the development. “It is a very significant development,” said a veteran journalist of the Financial Times, suggesting that the post was only held by persons from Anglo-American countries until now. Mr Dieng, apparently a friend of the WTO Director-General Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been selected as the head of the Information and External Relations Division to replace the former spokesperson, Mr Keith Rockwell, an American national, who held the post for more than two decades. Prior to Mr Rockwell, a British national, Mr David Woods, was the spokesperson for the GATT/WTO until 1995. In the face of stiff competition for the post, including two internal candidates, the DG apparently chose Mr Dieng, who appears to have considerable experience in working for various international bodies. The two internal candidates who vied for the post were Mr Bernard Kuiten, who is currently the acting head of the Information and External Relations Division, and Mr Daniel Pruzin, who is the acting spokesperson. Mr Dieng of Senegal, the new Director-select of the Information and External Relations Division, is “a communications expert with over 20 years of experience designing and executing strategic communications campaigns and building support among stakeholders, providing advice to senior leaders, and managing people, projects and budgets,” according to an email sent by the DG to the staff. At present, Mr Dieng is the Global Chief of Communications at UN Women in New York, where he is leading the operations of the communications team. Before working for UN Women, Mr Dieng served as deputy chief of media relations at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC, where he worked for 10 years, including as media strategist for the Managing Director. HUMAN RESOURCES The DG has also appointed Ms. Alison Holmes as the new Director of the Human Resources Division. Ms Holmes, who seems to have dual citizenship of Britain and Australia, is “an experienced HR [human resources] manager, who has built an extensive international career in HR and corporate leadership.” At present, Ms Holmes is Director of Human Resources Management at UNAIDS and is responsible for managing human resource activities and initiatives in 60 offices worldwide, including at headquarters. CHARGING FOR WTO SERVICES Meanwhile, in a separate development, Ms Okonjo-Iweala seems to be exploring the possibility of charging for some of the services provided by the WTO Secretariat, in the face of continued opposition from members to her budget proposal seeking an increase in the WTO budget of 7.7 percent, from CHF 197.2 million to CHF 212.45 million in 2023, SUNS was told. At an informal meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration (CBFA) last Tuesday, the DG’s budget-hike proposal met once again with a rather “frosty” response from industrialized countries as well as developing countries on grounds that it is unjustified and ill-timed at this juncture when countries are mired in poly-crises, said several members, who asked not to be quoted. At the meeting, the Secretariat also suggested a minor hike in the budget to cope with inflationary pressure on the WTO’s overall services. However, there was a cold response to the minor budget hike. “My delegation remains flexible to consider the minor budget hike but only after clarifications are provided to some of the issues we have raised,” said one trade envoy on a background basis. The DG was not present at the informal CBFA meeting at the WTO last Tuesday due to her prior engagements in the ongoing COP 27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. Although there is no official proposal based on the DG’s ideas, the DG apparently explored the idea of charging for the WTO’s services at a high-level of the Secretariat, said people, preferring not to be quoted. The news from the CBFA meeting may not be encouraging for the DG, at a time when she is allegedly determined to pursue her rather costly plans, including the transformation of the Secretariat and creation of new units such as a “possible Planning & Strategy Unit or a possible Regional & Country Support Unit based in the Secretariat in Geneva,” said people who preferred not to be identified. It is against this backdrop that ideas involving charging for some of the services rendered by the Secretariat may not gain currency, especially in a rules-based, member-driven organization, said people, who preferred not to be quoted. From members’ questions at the informal CBFA meeting, it appears that the budget crisis may have arisen due to what one trade envoy called “reckless projects costing the organization several millions of dollars.” Members seem somewhat intrigued by the DG’s engagement of McKinsey & Company’s private management consultancy services, and the recruitment of head-hunters and other consultancies for the WTO Secretariat’s transformation, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Contrary to the claims made in her budget proposal, the Director-General’s Office, with most of the staff brought from outside, is apparently one of the biggest cabinets in the whole history of the GATT/WTO. While previous Director-Generals made extensive use of regular WTO members, Ms Okonjo-Iweala allegedly brought in almost everyone from outside, costing the WTO much more money during these difficult times, said people, who asked not to be identified. Also, it is important that at the time of the existential climate change crisis, attempts need to be made to reduce the carbon footprint by reducing travel, said one member, who asked not to be quoted. But the DG’s constant travels to countries across continents from Korea and Japan to proposed trips to Bali, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands like Fiji, after the COP 27 meeting in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, may not only be costly due to the increased costs of air travel but could also result in a substantial carbon footprint, the member said. +
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