How UNDP Comes Clean

September 27, 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Original Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119084266693440434.html?apl=y&r=390645
If the United Nations Development Program in Cambodia wants to clear its name, it sure has a funny way of showing it. On the day this page detailed allegations of widespread hiring malpractice and kickbacks in UNDP-supervised programs and called for the publication of the findings of an audit, the agency released -- wait for it -- a one-page press release.
For those just joining the tale, a quick review: An audit commissioned by UNDP earlier this year found a range of irregularities in the Cambodian side of the Khmer Rouge tribunal. The main findings included inflated salaries and unjustified additional staff positions to the tune of $357,000. The auditors also alleged a serious conflict of interest in the board overseeing the operations, which is responsible for administering more than $6 million of donor-nation funds. We've seen a copy of the auditors' draft report. The UNDP has not made it or the final report public nor has it shown it to the oversight board.
Tuesday's joint statement, issued by UNDP and other overseers, assures the public that the board has reviewed steps taken to improve the implementation of recruitment procedures of national staff to ensure greater transparency and effectiveness. Nowhere does it note that the board has not seen the audit, nor does it discuss conflicts of interest. And nowhere does it pledge to reveal the audit to the public, which is footing the bill.
Instead, the board welcomed the adoption of a personnel manual and promises that all employees will sign and follow a code of conduct. This document prohibits staff from receiving or soliciting payments other than salaries for the performance of official duties. Could this be a tacit admission of kickback problems?
Cambodia isn't an easy place to operate and its legal system is notoriously corrupt. On Monday, the New York-based Open Society Justice Initiative -- whose allegations last year sparked the UNDP audit -- issued a report raising concerns about the Cambodian government's influence over the Khmer Rouge tribunal. The same day, another part of the U.N. -- the U.N. Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials -- issued a list of work to be done before the courts can function properly.
The Khmer Rouge tribunal took a decade to organize and represents the only hope for justice for more than a million slaughtered Cambodians. Next month, the U.N. is planning to launch a fund-raising drive in New York to raise tens of millions of dollars to support the court's activities. Before writing a check, potential donors have a responsibility to their funders to know what is really going on.