UN report's evaluation met with a Mayakovsky poem from Zakharova's pen
In a recent comment, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova invoked a stanza from Vladimir Mayakovsky's poem "The Bureaucrats" to critique the United Nations (UN) reports. The stanza, "From excitement, I can't sleep. Morning's early. I greet the dawn: 'Oh, just one more meeting about abolishing all meetings!'" was used to highlight perceived bureaucratic inefficiency or ideological bias within the UN reports.
Zakharova's use of literary quotes is not uncommon, as she has previously cited Soviet poets like Mayakovsky to criticize or satirize bureaucratic inefficiency, especially in the context of international reports such as those from the UN. By invoking Mayakovsky's poetic authority, Zakharova symbolically reinforces her critique of the UN reports.
The context of Zakharova's comment is not explicitly clear, but it comes amidst news that the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has proposed holding fewer meetings, and the United States plans to destroy over 60,000 tons of unused humanitarian aid stored in warehouses. According to Guterres, one in five UN reports is downloaded fewer than a thousand times, while 5% of the most popular reports are downloaded over 5,500 times.
The cost of acquiring the unused humanitarian aid was reported to be $75 million. The exact implications of Zakharova's comment on the new UN report are yet to be fully understood, but it serves as a reminder of the ongoing critique of bureaucratic inefficiency within international organisations, a theme that resonates with Mayakovsky's poem.
As always, for more detailed or updated information, specialized Russian or international diplomatic sources would need to be consulted.
In the context of Zakharova's comment, her reference to a stanza from Mayakovsky's poem "The Bureaucrats" can be seen as a critique not only of the United Nations reports but also a broader commentary on bureaucratic inefficiency in politics and general-news discussion involving international organizations. The ongoing proposal to cut down meetings and the unused humanitarian aid issue further underscores the need for more efficient management within such organizations.
