Not planning campus in Assam, clarifies UN University

GUWAHATI: The Tokyo-based United Nations University authorities have asked an Indian organization to cease and desist from its campaign claiming that the world’s third UN University will be set up in Assam.
The Indian Federation of United Nations Associations (IFUNA), a non-profit organization that organizes programmes and activities on the “vital concerns of the UN”, had in 2016 said that the university would come up in Assam and even asked the state government to allot land.

Aswini Sarma, executive director of the UN Resource Centre (northeastern region) — which organizes its activities around the UN, had led the campaign then and said that the administrative set-up of the university could be in place by September 2017. On Friday, however, he told TOI, “Nothing has progressed in this regard till date though the IFUNA took the initiative.”

Behind this noticeable shift in stance is a letter from the UN University Council. “Let me clarify that the UNU Council did not approve the establishment of a ‘UN University’ in Assam, nor did the UNU designate Institute of UN Studies as a UNU associated institution,” wrote David Passarelli, executive officer of the office of the rector at UN University headquarters, to IFUNA secretary general Suresh Srivastava.

Passarelli added that “there are no cooperative activities going on between the IFUNA, World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA), IUNS and the UN University of late”.

Although, the IFUNA might have given a proposal for establishing the varsity in Assam, the same was not approved by the UNU authority, the letter from David Passarelli clarified.