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As Myanmar Defends N. Korea, UNDP Covers Up For-Ex Losses, Mute on Revolving Door

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

UNITED NATIONS, September 9 -- Myanmar came to the defense of North Korea at the Tuesday Executive Board meeting of the UN Development Program.  Urging resumed funding by UNDP to the Kim Jong Il government, despite financial and accounting irregularities found even by the reviewers chosen by UNDP, Myanmar decried "political motives" and called for "national ownership" of UNDP programs. 

   Notably, the Than Shwe government of Myanmar has shown itself adept at owning UNDP's programs and the funds of the wider UN system, requiring currency conversation into Foreign Exchange Certificates leading to losses of 20% of aid money. Just last week, UNDP Associate Administrator Ad Melkert answered Inner City Press' questions about currency exchange losses by saying that this had been a problem in North Korea, and would have to be resolved with the government there before any UNDP program could resume. But at Tuesday's session, before any other member had spoken the Executive Board president said that "the absence of UNDP from Pyonyang can only be temporary." Even if Kim Jong Il insists on choosen UNDP's staff, and taking their paychecks? 

   The North Korean representative, emboldened, called for a resumption of UNDP programs and offices "as early as possible." Iran spoke of the need to "redress damages" to North Korea, and said that UNDP has over-reacted to the charges of a whistleblower.

   Throughout this saga, in reviewing speeches by member states on UNDP's Executive Board, it has become clear than many languages either do not have a word for whistleblower, or only have words with negative connotations like "rat" or "spy."

Ingrid Betancourt, on Aung San Soo Kyi and N. Korea, UNDP Fox-Ex losses not shown

  Apparently, the word "revolving door" does not translate either, at least not in UNDP world. Over the weekend it was announced that UNDP official Gilbert Houngbo was named prime minister of Togo. Inner City Press immediately formally asked UNDP's spokesman

"Regarding Mr. Houngbo, please disclose as soon as possible any and all involvement he has had in UNDP's programs regarding Togo and, separately,  please describe any safeguards UNDP has in place to prevent conflicts of interest or 'revolving door' issues when its officials go directly to work for a government with which UNDP has economic relations."

  In the two full business days since, no such safeguards have been described. Nor have questions, much longer standing, about currency exchange losses been answered. UNDP management hides behind the somewhat understandable closing of ranks by developing countries. But it is UNDP management which is responsible for not allowing, rather than covering up, losses of 20%, or even 5%, to government-required currency exchange and other chicanery.

  Like any demagogue, it is not difficult to whip up supportive speeches. But this approach has led UNDP from one scandal to the next, each one averted only by self-selected investigators and rebuffing outside review such as by the UN Ethics Office. Ultimately the cause of development and poverty reduction is ill-served by this. But one wouldn't have known it on at Tuesday's meeting of UNDP's Executive Board.

Footnotes: while UNDP's Executive Board meeting proceeded in the basement virtually ignored by the rest of the UN press corps, there were cameras and microphones up on the second floor, where the star of the UN's symposium on supporting the victims of terrorism, Ingrid Betancourt, took questions on both Myanmar and North Korea. Inner City Press asked about her statement about Aung San Soo Kyi: is she a victim of state terrorism, and is Ban Ki-moon and the UN doing enough for her? "None of us are doing enough," Ms. Betancourt said, adding that her definition of terrorism includes any arbitrary detention "without reason" such as Aung San Soo Kyi's. Video here.

  Asked about North Korea's abductions, including of  more than a dozen Japanese citizens, Ms. Betancourt recounted the kidnapping of a school girl, whose name she said she didn't remember. To Inner City Press, it appeared to be the case of Megumi Yokota. Betancourt said "she should be in the Press every day." Oh that it were so.

Watch this site, and this (UN) debate.

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These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

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