At UNDP, Evaluation Means Paid Praise While Transparency is Ignored and Information Withheld

Byline; Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN

UNITED NATIONS, January 5 -- The UN Development Program is, on paper, overseen by and accountable to an Executive Board made up of 36 member states. But a meeting of this Board on January 4, entitled "Evaluation of UNDP Assistance to Conflict-affected Countries," was run more like a UNDP propaganda session. The meeting, scheduled for two hours, started fifteen minutes late. Then, using Power-Point™ slides as a crutch, UNDP's evaluator launched into a lengthy presentation consisting of praise of UNDP, and suggestions to give UNDP more powers.  For example it was proposed that "UNDP should be involved in the negotiation of peace agreements." UNDP's Management response, provided as a hand-out, is not surprisingly that "UNDP supports the recommendation."

            Hearkening to the powers UNDP enjoys, to avoid taxes and other "red tape" in countries like Russia (click here for a story of UNDP's use of such powers), the evaluation brags that "One of UNDP's perceived strengths is that some of its procedures are currently more flexible than those of other actors in the UN system." This is followed by a critique that the facts and this series bear out, that there is "difficulty in obtaining information about what UNDP does" and that UNDP should provide more "on projects, budgets, procurement and recruitment." Evaluation at 1, 6, Recommendation 4. To this list, "audits" should be added. While UNDP's response purports to agree with this recommendation, none of the listed "management actions" addresses transparency or information in any way.  Rather, there's a proposal to "establish sub-offices in conflict-affected area... In principle management agrees that UNDP need to expand its presence outside of the capitals in conflict-affected countries and has already undertaken this policy in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Nepal."

            UNDP's extra-capital operations in Uganda involved funding in Karamoja related to the disarmament programs that have resulted in the deaths of civilians. In Nepal, UNDP has most recently been suspending program, click here for more, reporting that "with the withdrawal of UNDP funding, nine staffers including an officer has lost their jobs while the on-going development activities are likely to remain incomplete." Wouldn't be the first time...

            Speaking of incomplete, on UNDP's website the most recent evaluations run through March 2005 -- that is, nearly two years out of date. Click here for UNDP's Evaluation page.

            Kemal Dervis and Jeffrey Sachs both appeared on the schedule of new Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday. Inner City Press asked the Spokesperson's Office for a readout on the Dervis meeting and was told that "During the meeting, Mr. Dervis discussed with the Secretary-General a number of important matters, particularly the upcoming UNDP Executive Board session which will take place on 19-26 January." If the UNDP Executive Board's January 4 meeting on "evaluating" UNDP is any guide, it is hard to categorize such meetings as "important matters." Faux oversight seems a more appropriate characterization. Inner City Press has also been told that this was the third Dervis / Ban Ki-moon meeting. Why then did Dervis twice mis-spell Ban Ki-moon's name in the holiday message he sent all UNDP employees? Click here for that story, and for the UNDP holiday message.

UNDP's Melkert, arms crossed, Byzantine

            On Friday Ban Ki-moon asked 58 senior officials in the U.N. system to submit their resignations, including UNDP's Number Two, Ad Melkert. The less visible and less active Number One, Kemal Dervis, escapes the request because his position involves "other inter-governmental bodies." The UN Spokesperson's Office has declined to release the list of the individuals receiving the requests to submit resignations, but estimates that some six to eight are at UNDP, those with the rank of Assistant Secretary General or Under Secretary General. Does this include head of the Poverty Group, Nora Lustig? It would appear to include UNDP's heads of regions. A Google Image search for the terms UNDP and "Assistant Secretary General" finds 20 photos, fully six of them Kalman Mizsei. Europe and CIS region head Kalman Mizsei used to loudly call himself an Under Secretary General, which wasn't true - but he was an ASG. So presumably is his soon to be (or not) successor Kori Udovicki. UNDP told Inner City Press she cannot answer questions until she "begins" in February. But she was seen in UNDP's DC-1 building back in December. We'll have more on all this.

  Again, because a number of Inner City Press' UNDP sources go out of their way to express commitment to serving the poor, and while it should be unnecessary, Inner City Press is compelled to conclude this installment in a necessarily-ongoing series by saluting the stated goals of UNDP and many of its staff. As they used to say on TV game shows, keep those cards, letters and emails coming, and phone calls too, we apologize for any phone tag, but please continue trying, and keep the information flowing.

Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com

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UNDP's Dervis Tells Employees to Accept Orders and Not Blow Any Whistles, While Misspelling Ban Ki-Moon's Name

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN

UNITED NATIONS, December 28 -- Kemal Dervis, the Administrator of the UN Development Program, struck a defensive tone and, some within UNDP say, encouraged cover-ups, in this December 27 holiday message to all staff.

   After a month in which he declined to answer questions as other agency heads do, outside the General Assembly chamber, and in which under his direction audits were withheld and a press release issued against the media organization which has been requesting information, Dervis sent a message encouraging employees to now come to him with their complaints.

  Under the heading "Some Thoughts on How We Should All Work Together," Dervis on the afternoon of Dec. 27 wrote that

" if you think the emperor is wearing no clothes, you really have an obligation to let me know. I'll welcome the criticism as long as it is intended to be constructive. At the same time, we do need to make decisions and, once those decisions are made, even when they're controversial, I'm counting on you to support them."

   UNDP staffers who provided copies of Dervis' greeting to Inner City Press opine that the reference to "you really have an obligation to let me know" refers specifically to those UNDP sources who have identified to Inner City Press projects that are abuses of UNDP's mandate (for example, only in Russia and only from this week, the water purification / tax avoidance scheme in our article of Dec. 26 as well as the rehabilitation of the Moscow planetarium), waste (see our Dec. 27 story on UNDP's Global Environmental Facilities' junket to Goa), and outright fraud (which UNDP admits took place in the Russia office, while refusing to release the follow-up audit of the office which has been requested throughout this so-far month-long series).

  These staffers further note that the phrase "we do need to make decisions and, once those decisions are made, even when they're controversial, I'm counting on you to support them" is precisely what the actual head of UNDP more told staffers in the Poverty Group unit, after Inner City Press has been informed of UNDP's "executive decision" to bend and break recruitment and hiring rules in bringing in Jeffrey Sachs' team, including Guido Schmidt-Traub, under Nora Lustig.

            Ms. Lustig, who Brian Gleeson was reportedly investigating before Dervis abruptly "re-assigned" him on November 29,  is clearly referred to in a holiday letter sent to Dervis by UNDP's own Staff Council: "Pre-selected staff are already confirmed in a position that they have not yet been interviewed for." The Staff Council chairman's letter, after a strangely saccharine beginning, also states that "one year has passed and the recommendations of the Ombudsperson have not yet been implemented... you are aware of the abuse of power symptoms and harassment cases... we need to change, we need to reform ourselves. Evaluation mechanisms should be established for transparency and accountability at all levels.

    Dervis' holiday message, however, promises more of the same: excuses and cover-up of the abuses of supervisors, right up to the top. Dervis' message continues that "constructive criticism is essential because we're all human, which means we all make mistakes and we all have weaknesses. We therefore all have to help each other when somebody has made a mistake. When somebody has a weakness, help that person overcome the weakness or manage it."

    But, the UNDP sources ask, what did "managing" the weaknesses of the Malloch Brown-selected, Soros-citing Kalman Mizsei come to mean? (See Inner City Press' Dec. 26 and Nov. 30 stories. Using UNDP money to pay for his vices? Allowing him to hire and fire scapegoats through Europe and the CIS, allowing him to use power for sex, and then allowing him to leave with no reprimand, with a statement that his service had been "distinguished"? It is nice, these sources and the major religions say, to forgive people's weaknesses. But when the abuser is a supervisor, and the organization, particularly a public institution like UNDP, refuses to do anything, the regular staffers suffer, and are no longer bound by Dervis late-announced compact to cover-up within UNDP.

Dervis: no clothes on UNDP's emperor?

  Dervis' holiday message, presumably poured over by Communications staffers, misspells the new Secretary General's name both times it is used. Dervis states that "Ban-ki Moon, in his initial acceptance speech, spoke of the UN as the 'central place'" and again that "Ban-ki Moon, in his first press conference as Secretary-General Designate, said" -- if he didn't say it, he thought it went without saying: my name is spelled "Ban Ki-moon," not "Ban-ki Moon." And although you may not have known it under Kofi hands-off Annan, the head of UNDP is not, in fact, unaccountable to anyone. There are questions to be answered, and not only "in-house" as Dervis now proposes. Happy holidays, and here's to 2007, in which, we hope, transparency and accountability finally come to UNDP, for the benefit of the poor, in whose name the money is given. Here's to the many staffers of UNDP who are committed to the cause of the poor, and have seen that helping UNDP cover-up its problems has not benefited the poor. We can be gentle, we assure you. It will be shown in 2007.

Waste at UNDP Includes Environmental Unit's Junket of 145 Staffers to Goa, Hometown of Unit's Director

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN

UNITED NATIONS, December 27 --  The UN Development Program flew 145 staffers, at agency expense, to the Indian resort of Goa, for a length "retreat" of a unit whose director is a native of Goa. The UNDP's Global Environmental Facility, run by Frank Pinto, spent money meant for the poor in what UNDP staffers characterize as a junket. Of the UNDP-determined $300 of Daily Sustenance Allowance (DSA), each attendee directly received only $20 in cash. The rest went straight to contractors, it is reported, chosen by hometown guy Frank Pinto. After the conference was finally over, Frank Pinto stayed some extra days to see his mother.

            After stonewalling for twelve days, UNDP's Communications Office confirmed the Goa location, the DSA arrangement and that Mr. Pinto stayed behind, while intially avoiding the asked questions about how much it cost, and, while claiming Goa was the cheapest of five locations they considered, declining to name the other location nor how they, or the venues in Goa, were selected. Even in response to Inner City Press' follow-up questions, UNDP declined to provide the simple information: how much did it cost?

  Beyond the waste of money and the lack of transparency, virtually nothing was decided on at the retreat, attendees say. It was not even restful, according to more than one participant. Arriving on time required missing a first weekend at home, where many had children to attended to. Attending the full retreat required three weekends away from home. After thirty hours of flying, jet lag made concentration more than a little difficult. By the time jet lag wore off, some had already left. But the money kept being spent. What's the accounting to donor countries, or to the poor for whom these wasted funds were meant?

A group shot of UNDP's Global Environmental Facility

            Twelve days ago, Inner City Press asked UNDP in writing for information about the Goa retreat, including the DSA arrangements.  No information, not even a confirmation of receipt of the questions, was received until, on December 26, Inner City Press sent Mr. Pinto, his deputy Yannick Glemarec and his planning associate Veronique George the following factual questions about the retreat:

"what was discussed, how many staff (and which) attended, for how long, how much it cost, and all Daily Sustenance Allowance arrangements. Please provide an itinerary, including costs and expenses at each. Please confirm or deny that you stayed afterwards, with relatives. How were the venues, including restaurants, chosen? And anything else you wish to say, again, as quickly as possible and on deadline. We requested information on Goa retreat ten days ago, but have received none, have interviewed sources and prepared article."

            Twenty-four hours after this inquiry, Mr. Pinto responded by, instead of providing any information or defense, referring Inner City Press back to the UNDP Communications Office which had refused to provided information or responses for the past twelve days --

In a message dated 12/27/2006 2:50:24 PM Eastern Standard Time, frank.pinto [at] undp.org writes:

Dear Mr. Lee, Please be advised that your email of 26th Dec below will be answered by Cassandra Waldon of UNDP's Office of Communications.

          This is the Office to which Inner City Press directed written questions, including about Goa and DSA, twelve days ago. But perhaps it took Mr. Pinto's entreaty to begin to get some answers.

            The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) was founded in 1991, with the involvement of since-disgraced official Maurice Strong, driven out of the UN system for nepotism and corruption. According to the in-house history for which UNDP paid over $500,000, "UNDP: A Better Way?", the GEF made "the range of environment funds.... available for UNDP's use... three times the core funding of the autonomous programs then embedded within UNDP."

  A sample project, earlier this month, involved UNDP-housed GEF funding "a night of food and fashion" in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, click here for more.

            The GEF is co-run by UNDP and by the World Bank. Twelve days ago, Inner City Press asked UNDP for details on this Goa retreat; no information has been provided. This article thus runs, and inquiries will begin with the World Bank in Washington.

            In fairness, speaking for UNDP since it refuses to speak for itself, there are other Inner City Press sources who argue that GEF is by far from the most wasteful UNDP unit, and who specifically praise Mr. Frank Pinto. That is why, despite UNDP's Communications Office stonewalling, Mr. Pinto was provided with his own opportunity to substantively comment on the Goa trip. It is unfortunate, we think, that he did not. Rather, after twelve days of silence (and delaying the story for more than a week), UNDP's Communications Office on Wednesday afternoon sent the following partial response:

From: cassandra.waldon [at] undp.org

To: Inner City Press

Cc: veronique.george [at] undp.org; yannick.glemarec[at] undp.org; frank.pinto [at] undp.org

Sent: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 3:42 PM

Subject: RE: Questions re UNDP-GEF, Goa retreat- on deadline

   Dear Matthew, I am writing in response to your query received by UNDP's Communications Office and our Energy and Environment Group (EEG) regarding that Group’s strategic planning workshop, which took place in Goa, India in June 2006. We have looked into this matter and are convinced that all aspects of this meeting – from selection of the venue to travel itineraries and daily subsistence arrangements for participating staff – followed UNDP procurement rules and travel procedures. On the two specific points you raised:

  a) The GEF strategic planning workshop was part of the larger EEG strategic planning workshop which brought together UNDP energy and environment staff from across the globe. Initially, five possible locations for the workshop were explored, and Goa was approved as the least expensive option, as per UNDP procurement rules. The contract with the hotel in Goa included full room, board and transport to and from the airport. Hence, $20/day was provided to participating staff for incidental expenses.

  b) The cheapest air ticket routing for the workshop for staff traveling from New York was NY-Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai-Goa-NY. Mr. Pinto received approval to remain in Mumbai on the return trip for annual leave and did not receive DSA or other allowances during this period. This fully complies with all UNDP travel procedures.

            This does not provide an itinerary, or, most striking, explain which the other four "possible locations" were, and how Goa could be the cheapest. UNDP has now been asked, in writing:

How many staff attended? did any non-staff attended - in which case, who?

How much did it cost?

How were venues selected?

Please provide an itinerary, including costs and expenses at each.

And, questions obviously raised by your message --

What were the other four "possible locations"?

How were they selected?

How much more would each have cost?

  Beyond the other pending questions, Inner City Press asked re-asked about Somalia, and about specific projects at UNDP-Russia "in light of the fraud finding in the most recent public audit, and refusal to provide the 'report... released'" mentioned in the public audit but apparently "released" only to UNDP itself, and not even to the member states on UNDP's Executive Board.

   At or past deadline, UNDP answered some of the above, while glaringly still refusing to say how much the Goa junket cost. The number of participants, however, was 145:

From: cassandra.waldon [at] undp.org

To: Inner City Press

Sent: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 6:10 PM

Subject: RE: Goa- 4 other options and costs, also Somalia, Russia

   Matthew, On participants: 145 UNDP-EEG staff attended the Goa workshop along with a handful of long-term UNDP environment consultants essential to EEG strategic planning purposes.

 On other locations considered: Bangkok was 14% more expensive, Nairobi was 28% more expensive, Marrakech was 33% more expensive, and New York was 68% more expensive. Prospective conference venues had to have facilities available to accommodate the group in one room for plenary session plus sufficient breakout rooms and hotel rooms for participants. Proximity to UNDP field environment projects for site visits was also considered an advantage.

            The simple question, how much was spent, has still not been answered, nor has any itinerary, including the referenced site visits to UNDP field environment projects. As to the "short list" of five sites, and the estimated costs, we'll have more - including any response we receive from Mr. Pinto or his associates.  Already we can report that some staffers had promoted a location that never made the short-list: Cape Town, South Africa. These staffers, in fairness, complained that the Goa location had only five restaurants nearby. In this narrative, the choice of Goa grew, in fact, from solidarity with the developing world. We'll have more on this soon, we hope. But as to UNDP's Communications Office and transparency, should it be this difficult -- 12 days of silence, then two rounds of follow-up and reiterated questions -- to get confirmation of a retreat, and now still without the price tag?

Other Inner City Press reports are available in the ProQuest service and some are archived on www.InnerCityPress.com --

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At the UN, Micro-States Simmer Under the Assembly's Surface, While Incoming Council President Dodges Most Questions

"Horror Struck" is How UN Officials Getting Free Housing from Governments Would Leave U.S., Referral on Burma But Not Uzbekistan

Security Council President Condemns UN Officials Getting Free Housing from Governments, While UK "Doesn't Do It Any More"

At the UN, Incomplete Reforms Allow for Gifts of Free Housing to UN Officials by Member States

Rare UN Sunshine From If Not In Chad While Blind on Somalia and Zimbabwe, UNDP With Shell in its Ear on Nigeria

Annan Family Ties With Purchaser from Compass, Embroiled in UN Scandal, Raise Unanswered Ethical Questions

At the UN, from Casamance to Transdniestria, Kosovars to Lezgines, Micro-States as Powerful's Playthings

Inquiry Into Housing Subsidies Contrary to UN Charter Goes Ignored for 8 Weeks, As Head UN Peacekeeper Does Not Respond

On the UN - Corporate Beat, Dow Chemical Luncheon Chickens Come Home to Roost

Stop Bank Branch Closings and Monopolies in the Katrina Zone, Group Says, Challenging Regions- AmSouth Merger

Ship-Breakers Missed by UN's Budget for Travel and Consultants in Bangladesh, Largest UNIFIL Troop Donor

With Somalia on the Brink of Horn-Wide War, UN Avoids Question of Ethiopian Invasion

In UN's Lebanon Frenzy, Darfur Is Ignored As Are the Disabled, "If You Crave UNIFIL, Can't You Make Do With MONUC?"

UN Decries Uzbekistan's Use of Torture, While Helping It To Tax and Rule; Updates on UNIFIL and UNMIS Off-Message

On Lebanon, Russian Gambit Focuses Franco-American Minds, Short Term Resolution Goes Blue Amid Flashes of Lightening

Africa Can Solve Its Own Problems, Ghanaian Minister Tells Inner City Press, On LRA Peace Talks and Kofi Annan's Views

At the UN, Jay-Z Floats Past Questions on Water Privatization and Sweatshops, Q'Orianka Kilcher in the Basement

In the UN Security Council, Speeches and Stasis as Haiti is Forgotten, for a Shebaa Farms Solution?

UN Knew of Child Soldier Use by Two Warlords Whose Entry into Congo Army the UN Facilitated

Impunity's in the Air, at the UN in Kinshasa and NY, for Kony and Karim and MONUC for Kazana

UN Still Silent on Somalia, Despite Reported Invasion, In Lead-Up to More Congo Spin

UN's Guehenno Says Congo Warlord Just Needs Training, and Kazana Probe Continues

With Congo Elections Approaching, UN Issues Hasty Self-Exoneration as Annan Is Distracted

In DR Congo, UN Applauds Entry into Army of Child-Soldier Commander Along with Kidnapper

Spinning the Congo, UN Admits Hostage Deal with Warlord That Put Him in Congolese Army

At the UN, Dow Chemical's Invited In, While Teaming Up With Microsoft is Defended

Kofi Annan Questioned about Congolese Colonel Who Kidnapped Seven UN Soldiers

UN Silent As Congolese Kidnapper of UN Peacekeepers Is Made An Army Colonel: News Analysis

UN's Guehenno Speaks of "Political Overstretch" Undermining Peacekeeping in Lower Profile Zones

In Gaza Power Station, the Role of Enron and the U.S. Government's OPIC Revealed by UN Sources

UN's Corporate Partnerships Will Be Reviewed, While New Teaming Up with Microsoft, and UNDP Continues

BTC Briefing, Like Pipeline, Skirts Troublespots, Azeri Revelations

Conflicts of Interest in UNHCR Program with SocGen and Pictet Reveal Reform Rifts

UN Grapples with Somalia, While UNDP Funds Mugabe's Human Rights Unit, Without Explanation

UN Gives Mugabe Time with His Friendly Mediator, Refugees Abandoned

At the UN, Friday Night's Alright for Fighting; Annan Meets Mugabe

UN Acknowledges Abuse in Uganda, But What Did Donors Know and When? Kazakh Questions

In Uganda, UNDP to Make Belated Announcement of Program Halt, But Questions Remain (and see The New Vision, offsite).

Disarmament Abuse in Uganda Leads UN Agency to Suspend Its Work and Spending

Disarmament Abuse in Uganda Blamed on UNDP, Still Silent on Finance

Alleged Abuse in Disarmament in Uganda Known by UNDP, But Dollar Figures Still Not Given: What Did UN Know and When?

Strong Arm on Small Arms: Rift Within UN About Uganda's Involuntary Disarmament of Karamojong Villages

UN's Selective Vision on Somalia and Wishful Thinking on Uighurs

UN Habitat Predicts The World Is a Ghetto, But Will Finance Be Addressed at Vancouver World Urban Forum?

UN's Annan Concerned About Use of Terror's T-Word to Repress, Wants Freedom of Information

UN  Waffles on Human Rights in Central Asia and China; ICC on Kony and a Hero from Algiers

UN & US, Transparency for Finance But Not Foreign Affairs: Somalia, Sovereignty and Senator Tom Coburn

Human Rights Forgotten in UN's War of Words, Bolton versus Mark Malloch Brown: News Analysis

In Praise of Migration, UN Misses the Net and Bangalore While Going Soft on Financial Exclusion

UN Sees Somalia Through a Glass, Darkly, While Chomsky Speaks on Corporations and Everything But Congo

Corporate Spin on AIDS, Holbrooke's Kudos to Montenegro and its Independence

The Silence of the Congo and Naomi Watts; Between Bolivia and the World Bank

Human Rights Council Has Its Own Hanging Chads; Cocky U.S. State Department Spins from SUVs

Child Labor and Cargill and Nestle; Iran, Darfur and WHO's on First with Bird Flu

Press Freedom? Editor Arrested by Congo-Brazzaville, As It Presides Over Security Council

The Place of the Cost-Cut UN in Europe's Torn-Up Heart;
Deafness to Consumers, Even by the Greens

Background Checks at the UN, But Not the Global Compact; Teaching Statistics from Turkmenbashi's Single Book

Ripped Off Worse in the Big Apple, by Citigroup and Chase: High Cost Mortgages Spread in Outer Boroughs in 2005, Study Finds

Burundi: Chaos at Camp for Congolese Refugees, Silence from UNHCR, While Reform's Debated by Forty Until 4 AM

The Chadian Mirage: Beyond French Bombs, Is Exxon In the Cast? Asylum and the Uzbeks, Shadows of Stories to Come

Through the UN's One-Way Mirror, Sustainable Development To Be Discussed by Corporations, Even Nuclear Areva

Racial Disparities Grew Worse in 2005 at Citigroup, HSBC and Other Large Banks

Mine Your Own Business: Explosive Remnants of War and the Great Powers, Amid the Paparazzi

Human Rights Are Lost in the Mail: DR Congo Got the Letter, But the Process is Still Murky

Iraq's Oil to be Metered by Shell, While Basrah Project Remains Less than Clear

Kofi, Kony, Kagame and Coltan: This Moment in the Congo and Kampala

As Operation Swarmer Begins, UN's Qazi Denies It's Civil War and Has No Answers if Iraq's Oil is Being Metered

Cash Crop: In Nepal, Bhutanese Refugees Prohibited from Income Generation Even in their Camps

The Shorted and Shorting in Humanitarian Aid: From Davos to Darfur, the Numbers Don't Add Up

UN Reform: Transparency Later, Not Now -- At Least Not for AXA - WFP Insurance Contract

In the Sudanese Crisis, Oil Revenue Goes Missing, UN Says

Empty Words on Money Laundering and Narcotics, from the UN and Georgia

What is the Sound of Eleven Uzbeks Disappearing? A Lack of Seats in Tashkent, a Turf War at UN

Kosovo: Of Collective Punishment and Electricity; Lights Out on Privatization of Ferronikeli Mines

Abkhazia: Cleansing and (Money) Laundering, Says Georgia

Post-Tsunami Human Rights Abuses, including by UNDP in the Maldives

Citigroup Dissembles at United Nations Environmental Conference

Other Inner City Press reports are available in the ProQuest service and some are archived on www.InnerCityPress.com --

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