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External sources (not reviewed)

Either of those options would create problems in the management of the project, but the assistant director of Coteba acknowledged that, given the closeness of the architectural and engineering team to the companies working on the site, it would be more complicated for UNESCO to terminate the team’s contract, rather than that of the Assistant to the Contracting Authority.

The Headquarters Division notes that the lack of independence between the ACA and the architectural and engineering team which would result from the choice of IDEAM as the ACA, “is impossible as one of the tasks of the project manager [i.e. the ACA] is the independent supervision of the work of the architectural and engineering team”.

In addition, the Steering Committee for the Renovation Plan, established by the Director-General to act as “contracting authority” (see para. 29) should have been consulted before the memorandum was signed (it should however be noted that in June and July 2007 the Director of the Headquarters Division had suggested to the Assistant Director-General for Administration that a meeting of the Steering Committee should be convened to raise the matter of Coteba,14 but the Assistant Director-General did not agree pending further information, in particular the internal audit, that could provide the basis for a decision on relations with the ACA).

This was the company’s assistant director, who referred more, for his part, to the specific nature of the relations established over the years between Mr Velter and those working on the site, the subsequent difficulties for the new team appointed by Coteba in working in particular with the architectural and engineering team, and the lack of traceability of decisions regarding contract performance, which after a few months placed UNESCO before the following choice: terminating the contract of either the architectural and engineering team or the Assistant to the Contracting Authority.

[...] [...] choice of the agents for the operations.

However, as the Director of the Headquarters Division remarked when it was a matter of disqualifying IDEAM, it is not a good idea for the ACA and the architectural and engineering team to be connected in this way.

The difficulties encountered by the new ACA, which were at the root of the costly delays in the conduct of the project, are the result of a lack of rigour in the operations conducted, under the supervision of UNESCO, by the previous ACA and by the architectural and engineering team.

It may be further noted that the company MB & Co, which took over the function of ACA from Coteba (see para. 52 and following), experienced the same problems with the architectural and engineering team.

In fact, what was involved was assistance to the Contracting Authority which had been assigned to the architectural and engineering team during the lengthy recruitment process for the replacement of Coteba.

Aside from the legal risks it poses, the contradiction between the constituent parts of the main contract is illustrative of a failing on the part of the architectural and engineering team and the Contracting Authority at the time the main contract was awarded, since both of them were supposed to have read the constituent documents of the main contract before issuing the invitation to tender.

4.3 Construction units of the residential buildings (areas) must carry out the quality and environmental management systems and comply with relevant national or local laws, regulations, and standards in the construction activities.

This caution may be explained by the fact that disputes are frequent in the construction industry and companies are therefore prepared for them, whereas UNESCO is an occasional contracting authority and has less experience of this kind of conflict.

This conflict stems from the change in the ACA’s working methods: while relations between Mr Velter and the architectural and engineering team were based on a minimum of written documents, his replacement on the other hand asked the architectural and engineering team for detailed supporting documentation that it was unable to provide.

For example, the records of the Steering Committee meeting held on 10 February 2004 state, with regard to the selection of the architectural and engineering team for the construction of temporary offices: “the Dürr firm is not unknown, since it has already worked on the Fontenoy site.

It is probable that, through pragmatism, the Director of the Headquarters Division tried to seek a rapid conclusion to the problems linked to the deterioration in relations between the ACA and the architectural and engineering team.16 This decision was not without merit, but it should have been approved clearly by the Director’s supervisors (Assistant Director-General, Office of the Director-General), which was not the case.

In fact, the delays are, in our opinion, connected to the inability of your architectural and engineering team to provide in due time the analyses of the estimates produced by the companies, and the overall vision of the amount of the additional work.

For example, the remuneration of the architectural and engineering team for the temporary buildings was calculated, in the contract concluded in March 2004, by applying a rate of 7% not to the €4.686 million evaluated in the design brief for that operation, nor to the €6.045 million to which that sum recosted by 29% would have corresponded, but to the €6.285 million previously estimated by the Belmont Report for the same operation.

Instead of a proper detailed programme, weekly meetings were held between the Contracting Authority, the Assistant to the Contracting Authority and the architectural and engineering team to decide, stage by stage, on the progress of the works. This procedure admittedly introduces a degree of flexibility into the conduct of operations but it makes it harder to keep within budget allocations, particularly when the question of costs is practically never brought up in the course of the project (as in the present case, judging at least by the minutes of the programming meetings).

Even so, when the memorandum of understanding was being negotiated, if the Contracting Authority had had more authority over the ACA, the advances already paid would have been treated as advances and not, as was the case, as partial final payments.

Having noted the deterioration in the situation between the architectural and engineering team and the new ACA, and therefore attributing it to the poor performance of the ACA,13 UNESCO decided to terminate the latter’s contract.

When we hold seminars for installers, consultants and contractors we do not push our own products, we communicate hydronic knowledge purely for its value to the attendees.

The concrete measures recommended by the Working Group include the adoption of specific legislation on non-discrimination; the development of a national campaign to promote multiculturalism and respect for the dignity of the Afro-Ecuadorian people; the adoption of measures to reduce the educational gap that exists between Afro-Ecuadorians and the wider population; the introduction of ethno-education for people of African descent; the strengthening of Afro-Ecuadorian civil society; measures to eliminate racism and discrimination in the media; further efforts to encourage participation of persons of African descent in public administration; the establishment of a centre for Afro-Ecuadorian studies; the further development of free legal aid services; the creation within the office of the Ombudsman of a sub-unit dedicated to [...] [...]

[...] [...] replacement wire phase position), terminal tower and across the tower, the structural features of the tower are space truss structure, the rod is composed mainly by single equilateral angle or combination of angle iron, material generally used Q235 (A3Fboth) and Q345 (16Mn), the connection between the rod crude bolt by bolt shear connection, the whole tower angles, connecting steel plates and bolts, the individual components, such as tower leg by a few pieces of steel plate welded into a combinationparts, hot dip galvanized anti-corrosion, transportation, and construction is extremely convenient.

[...] [...] of systematized employees working in regional units established in their respective territory in which languages of one or more national minorities are in use pursuant to decisions of competent bodies of local government units, shall undertake measures to envisage a specific number of working positions [...] [...]

[...] also briefed on a number of key developments relevant to the work of human rights components of peace missions, including the first policy directive, led jointly by OHCHR, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs, on public reporting by human rights components of United Nations peace operations, and the increased issuing of public reports, an institutionalized focal point for human rights in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support, the imminent commencement of a joint review of Department of Political Affairs special political missions, and progress towards full implementation of the human rights [...]