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As UN Admits 25% Loss in Myanmar, Demand for Return
of Cash Grows, No UNDP Answers
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
FEC/Burma Shave
series - 1st
(June 26), 2nd, 3rd, 4th, last
UNITED NATIONS,
July 25 -- As news
of the currency
exchange losses the UN accepted in Myanmar belatedly spreads,
legislators in many donor countries which
responded to the UN's appeals for Cyclone Nargis humanitarian
assistance are
preparing a demand that the "stolen" aid money be returned by the
Than Shwe government. Meanwhile, the UN cannot or will not provide
basic
information about how much of the donated money it exchanged into
devalued
Foreign Exchange Certificates. Two weeks ago, Inner City Press
requested this
figure from the UN Development Program, which handles UN system
finances, but
beyond an admission that UNDP buys FECs through the Myanmar Foreign
Trade Bank,
no dollar figure has provided.
Nor
has the UN Office for the Coordination for
Humanitarian Assistance provided any figures. Rather, OCHA's acting
spokesperson called Inner City Press to insist that OCHA's John Holmes
admitted
a loss, but not an "extraordinary" loss, as DPA reported in a story
noting Inner City Press' work for the last month on the issue. Inner
City Press at OCHA's request dropped "extraordinary" from the quote,
despite not receiving any proof. The UN's
Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar Dan Baker, who previously on camera
told
Inner City Press that there are few to no losses, now admits there are
some --
but claims that some unquantified percentage of material is bought
outside of
Myanmar. Where are the numbers?
UNDP's Kemal Dervis, at left, with WFP Sheeran Shiner, lost money not
shown
At Friday's
noon briefing at the UN in New York, Inner City Press asked Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson Michele Montas for the second straight day for numbers of
how much
the UN converted into FECs, and how much was lost. Video here. Ms.
Montas again
deferred until a July 28 appearance by OCHA's John Holmes. Since OCHA
asked for
$200 million and then $300 million for Myanmar, and has been asked
about this
issue by Inner City Press for more than two weeks, not having basic
numbers now
is inexplicable. Expect this, too, to be raised by legislators from
donor and
neighboring countries.
Even
before
Cyclone Nargis, much of the UN system in Myanmar was accepting a 15%
loss in
converting dollars to FECs. But word has reached Inner City Press, and
UNDP has
as noted refused to respond, that UNDP in its so-called micro-finance
program
accepted an even worse exchange rate. Back on June
26, Inner City Press reported that the UN through UNDP "paid
dollars to Myanmar's government, and got local currency back at an
artificially
low official exchange rate." UNDP has still not provide information
about
how much money it converted through FECs, and at what rate. On July 25,
Inner
City Press put the question directly to UNDP Administrator Kemal
Dervis, who
responded that "I don't answer questions in the hallway" and that he
might hold a press conference at the end of summer. Far too late, most
would
think. Watch this site. And
this --
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