Oh. The UN You Say?
"[The United Nations Development Program] takes all cases of financial mismanagement and other irregularities extremely seriously. [Global Environment Facility projects represent the organization's] most closely monitored.""The portfolio, the majority of which is implemented by national and international institutions, civil society organizations as well as other UN organizations, is subject to an intricate system of regular reviews, independent assessments and audits."United Nations Development Program"[Financial information provided by the United Nations Development Program is not reliable and] must be questioned.""As a further result, this [midterm review] is required, by UNDP guidelines, to refer this project for a fraud investigation."Independent Review"The words 'climate' and 'corruption', people see these as two different words, but there is a lot of overlap.""When it comes to climate, we need to have much higher standards. If it is a project that is supposed to help an affected population adapt, then this is like penalizing them twice."Brice Bohmer, head, climate governance integrity, Transparency International"[There is a history of UNDP internal reviews avoiding] naming names.""No one is accountable, no one is responsible. The UNDP lets itself off the hook.""These funds are intended for the poorest of the poor ... at what point will donors [to the GEF] decide to suspend funding?"UNDP insider
| A copy of a draft report by UNDP’s office of audit and investigations described ‘financial misstatements’ worth millions of dollars at projects funded by the Global Environment Facility © Sergeyacros/Dreamstime |
A November 2020 draft report by the United Nations Development Program's office of audit and investigations describes in part "financial mis-statements" to the value of millions of dollars across its portfolio of Global Environment Facility-funded projects throughout the globe. Problems highlighted include signs of "fraudulent activities" at offices in two countries along with "suspicions of collusion among the various project managers" at another country's project office, while leaving the names of the countries involved blank.
"Issues identified by the audit could seriously compromise the achievement of the objectives of the audited entity" the report concluded. Set up in 1991 as part of the World Bank to assist in the fight against challenges to the environment like deforestation species conservation and pollution, the Global Environment Facility had a vital task to look to. Since that initial period the GEF split off, becoming an independent organization which has disbursed over $21 billion to 170 countries inclusive of $7 billion of UNDP projects.
The period between 2018 and 2019, the first review of its type since 2013 the audit of the UNDP's GEF-funded projects arrives against an aura of rising concern expressed from some donor countries relating to management and oversight issues at the UNDP. A 2019 Foreign Policy investigation published whistleblower accounts alleging misappropriation of millions of dollars at a UNDP-operated GEF project in Russia. The U.S., France, Australia and Japan among twelve donor countries have looked for an independent review of the project's UNDP handling.
"Matters of misconduct and misappropriation of funds continue to obstruct sustainable development across the world", the letter dispatched by the donors stated, to Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator. Who responded that while "allegations of misuse of funds" have surfaced at certain projects, complaints such as these represent "a tiny fraction -- 1.4 percent" of the UNDP's GEF-funded portfolio. No response was received by the GEF to the allegations.
Independent consultants produced other project audits, along with written complaints from current and former UNDP staff, suggesting concerns over financial misconduct and poor UNDP oversight may be institutionalized. "What happened in Russia is a Russian problem. But things going wrong are very common", Frank Klinckenberg, a European environmental expert suggested from his experience reviewing GEF programs globally over the last decade.
Yet another independent review of a GEF-funded UNDP project in Uzbekistan gave warning that financial information UNDF provided was unreliable and should be questioned. "I don't understand some of the management responses that have been made. We have an urgent climate crisis", stated an independent external consultant to the UNDP of problems raised in project reviews that appeared to frequently be simply ignored by senior staff.
The world's largest climate finance institution, the UN-backed South Korea-based Green Climate Fund has been the subject of internal misconduct complaints, including allegations of sexism and harassment in the workplace. According to Brice Bohmer, from his perspective with a global anticorruption group, governance at the GEF had improved in recent years, and the GEF had limited authority over UNDP projects, implemented according to UNDP standards.
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| AP Photo/Jason DeCrow United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the Climate Summit in the UN General Assembly at the organization's headquarters in New York, New York on September 23, 2019. |
Labels: Corruption, Global Environment Facility, UN Development Program, United Nations Agency
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, December 02, 2020
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