As WFP's Sheeran Claws for Reappointment, of Staff Anger, Famine and Astroturf

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 14 -- Alongside Italy's political chaos, the Rome-based UN World Food Program is seeing its own fight to retain power, by Executive Director Josette Sheeran whose term is expiring.

Sources tell Inner City Press that Sheeran is having senior staff lobby Member States to make statements supporting her at the just-opening WFP Executive Board. Members of Sheeran's inner circle are pushing for an Astroturf -- fake grassroots -- staff petition to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to reappoint her.

This comes on top of Sheeran appointing as WFP chief of operations with security responsibilities Ramiro Lopes da Silva, of whom after his role in the Canal Hotel bombing in Iraq Kofi Annan said could never again have security responsibilities in the UN system. Inner City Press has directly asked Sheeran (and Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson) about this, without substantive answer.

Now more WFP money is being wasted, for Sheeran's attempted re-appointment. Sheeran planned a big 50th anniversary celebration for WFP at this Executive Board meeting.

It is not really the 50th anniversary of the agency, as WFP did not start operations until 1963, but it is the anniversary of the signing of the agreement. Anyway, several officials have declined to come, or canceled -- some, sources say, not wanting to be part of Sheeran's re-election campaign.

(c) UN Photo
Sheeran gets picture from Ban, Astroturf not shown

Ban has written to Executive Board members asking for nominations for the Executive Director, though he has not excluded reappointing Sheeran in the letter. The US has already made a submission -- with, multiple sources say, more than one name.

As one Inner City Press source puts it, "the whole thing is turning into an embarrassing circus and Sheeran neglects the Horn of Africa and other crises like WFP's troubled budget to spend all her time campaigning." And so it goes in this UN.

Ban Ki-moon thinks - Obama is a first term President - he is being advised to hire Dan Glickman as replacement to Josette Sheeran

"UN's problems with money doesn't come from Obama but rather US Congress - we need a leader at WFP who would be able to persuade and work with US Congress in order to preserve the current level of funding thru out these austerity times"...a close Ban Ki-moon political advisor said.

That's why Ban Ki-moon is keeping in his desk a CV of Dan Glickman, he was:

Before his appointment as Secretary of Agriculture, Glickman served for 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 4th Congressional District of Kansas. During that time, he was a member of the House Agriculture Committee, including six years as chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal farm policy issues. (Bipartisan Policy Center)

This move is also seen as a slap in the face to Obama Administration who is pressing Ban Ki-moon for months to appoint at the helm of WFP Ertharin Cousin (current US Ambassador to UN Agencies in Rome). Will he choose Obama's candidate or rather chose someone who would be able to work with US Congress - we will have to watch.

This is the CV of Dan Glickman as per Bipartisan Policy Center

Dan Glickman is currently a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) in Washington, D.C.

Glickman served as Chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) from 2004 until 2010. The MPAA serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries.

Prior to joining the MPAA, Glickman was the Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government from 2002-2004. Glickman also served as a Partner and Senior Advisor to the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, DC.

Glickman served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from March 1995 until January 2001. Under his leadership, the Department administered farm and conservation programs; modernized food safety regulations; forged international trade agreements to expand U.S. markets; and improved its commitment to fairness and equality in civil rights.

Before his appointment as Secretary of Agriculture, Glickman served for 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 4th Congressional District of Kansas. During that time, he was a member of the House Agriculture Committee, including six years as chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal farm policy issues. Moreover, he was an active member of the House Judiciary Committee; chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; and was a leading congressional expert on general aviation policy.

Before his election to Congress in 1976, Glickman served as president of the Wichita School Board; was a partner in the law firm of Sargent, Klenda and Glickman; and worked as a trial attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He received his Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from The George Washington University. He is a member of the Kansas and District of Columbia Bars.

Glickman currently serves as the Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Congressional Program; on the board of directors of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; Communities in Schools; Food Research and Action Center, a domestic anti-hunger organization; National 4-H Council; William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan; and the Center for U.S. Global Engagement, where he is Chair of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. He co-chairs an initiative of eight Foundations, administered by the Meridian Institute, to look at long term implications of food and agricultural policy. He also chairs an initiative at the Institute of Medicine on “accelerating progress on childhood obesity.”

He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a senior fellow of the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the Council on American Politics at The Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University, and is Vice-Chair of the World Food Program-USA. He also serves as a member of the External Advisory Board to CIA Director Leon Panetta. He is the co-chair of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' global agricultural development initiative. He is the author of “Farm Futures,” in Foreign Affairs (May/June 2009).