After
Giving
Prize to
Tobacco Firm,
UNDP's Clark
Admits Error
Unlike in
Kabul
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 17 --
While the UN
Development
Program has
been slow,
to say the
least, to
provide
comment to the
Press about
the series of
internal
Afghanistan
audits it has
been
exclusively
publishing, on
Tuesday UNDP
responded
quickly to a
question about
Administrator
Helen Clark.
Inner
City
Press on
Tuesday
morning asked
UNDP
spokespeople
two questions,
including,
"What is Helen
Clark's
response to
the outcry
over
the award she
gave to the
largest
tobacco firm
in India?" The
reference, and
prize, was to
India's
largest
cigarette
maker, ITC,
formerly
Indian Tobacco
Company.
A
few hours
later UNDP
replied to
Inner City
Press that
while it is
still "working
on your
Afghanistan
request, but
in the
meantime
please find
enclosed a
statement from
Ms. Clark on
your question
below:
July
17,
2012
Statement
from
UNDP
Administrator
Helen Clark
I
have worked
tirelessly
throughout my
career to
achieve a
smoke free
society in New
Zealand, and
was, thus,
shocked to
learn that a
World
Business
Development
Award,
supported by
UNDP, was
given to a
company
which derives
a substantial
proportion of
its profits
from tobacco.
Unfortunately
the
criteria for
the World
Business
Development
Awards did not
exclude
projects
implemented by
companies from
certain
sectors like
tobacco. This
has clearly
been a serious
oversight.
UNDP is
reviewing its
rules and
regulations to
ensure that an
incident like
this never
happens again.
UNDP will not
participate in
these awards
in the future
unless
companies like
this are
excluded.
I
retain my
strong
commitment to
anti-tobacco
policies and
will
continue to
fight for the
health and
well-being of
citizens in
New
Zealand and
around the
world.
While
noting
that the World
Business
Council for
Sustainable
Development
also has
companies like
Dow Chemicals
as members,
why can't this
approach be
adopted toward
the expanding
UNDP scandal
in
Afghanistan?
Watch this
site.
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