generalspeaking

UN Efficiency, Reliability Pragmatism

United Nations Peacekeeping forces were eventually brought into Sudan to help quell the violence perpetrated against Darfurians, taking over from the inadequately-trained and -armed African Union forces dispatched for that purpose, and proved, unfortunately, to be as pathetically useless in halting the killing and the rapes as were their predecessors. And that theatre of inhumanity continues. Of course, before that dreadful scenario there was Rwanda, and that unmitigated success for the UN Assistance Mission in that country.

But this is the United Nations World Food Program, an essential, purposeful mission to provide food aid in parts of the world where populations are desperately in need of food, countries like North Korea where a tin-pot despot rules who uses scarce national treasury for rocketry and nuclear development rather than feed its hungry people, and Robert Mugabe's self-ruined Zimbabwe, and destabilized Republic of Congo.

And of course, ill-governed countries like Somalia, where Islamist insurgents run half the country.

But the United Nations prides itself on its sterling ability to provide food aid where it is needed, employing local staff to assist in its life-saving missions. The world body with its great expertise knows how it must pursue its agenda, and keeps the developed world abreast with its purpose to feed the starving, by informing them on a regular basis of the need to devote greater resources to this singular humanitarian cause.

Now, Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon must divert his attention from warning wealthy countries that they're not pledging sufficient amounts of treasury to enable him to deliver sufficient food to the starving of the world. Now, he has been tasked with the need to launch an independent investigation into the World Food Program delivery of humanitarian food aid within Somalia. An independent audit, because when the UN first investigated the situation it found nothing amiss.

Unfortunately, events recently unveiled have proven otherwise. It has been revealed that a network of corrupt contractors, radical Islamist terrorists and locally-engaged United Nations staff have been sturdily involved in siphoning off huge amounts of aid meant to rescue millions of Somalians from certain starvation. Aid valued at $485-million has been side-tracked to enrich a web of Somali entrepreneurs.

"Some humanitarian resources, notably food aid, have been diverted to military uses", warns a report issued by the Security Council. "A handful of Somali contractors for aid agencies have formed a cartel and become important power brokers - some of whom channel their profits - or the aid itself - directly to armed opposition groups." The World Food Program trustingly selected three Somali 'businessmen' to handle 80% of its transportation contracts.

Oops, the businessmen were connected to Islamist insurgents. "For more than 12 years, delivery of WFP food aid has been dominated by three individuals and their family members or close associates. These three men have become some of the wealthiest and most influential individuals in Somalia", according to the report, which pointed out that the fraud is so pervasive that 50% of the food aid never reaches those for whom it is meant.

All the while the WFP consistently denied malfeasance, for its internal audits discovered no widespread abuse. A statement issued by a WFP official in Kenya claimed, "The general allegation in the UN Somalia Monitoring Group report that half of WFP food assistance is diverted is unsubstantiated." And, added the WFP deputy executive director, "Despite dangerous operating conditions, WFP has sought to follow all rules and regulations surrounding our operations."

Case closed. And there are other, rather alarming tidbits of information being cleared for public view; that Somali officials sell diplomatic visas for up to $15,000 so that people who present as being with official government groups abroad who are in fact terrorists are enabled to go abroad and infiltrate into Europe and elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, a Somali diplomat in Kenya denies any such thing.

Nor will Somali authorities have any truck with those who accuse them of collaborating with pirates troubling world shipping by highjacking ships along Somalia's long coastline. All fall under the category of deniability, of unsubstantiated allegations, of utter lies launched by malevolent forces seeking to blacken the good name of Somalia, its governmental officials and its entrepreneurial class.

Labels: Adventure, Africa, Societal Failures, United Nations

posted by Pieface @ Thursday, March 11, 2010