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UN Performance Problems UN Management Accountability Struggles Where is the Rule of Law? Inadequate UN Oversight Recent Developments
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UN
coordination of tsunami aid?, II Preparing to shift the
tsunami aid programme into longer-term rehabilitation efforts in early
2005 was an even more daunting and complex task for UN coordination than
the initial relief activities, as indicated by the following
quotes.
"As the homeless of Aceh wondered about
permanent shelter again, an Indonesian official declared that the
government planned to rebuild the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, in the
style of one of the most ostentatious cities in Asia.
According to rough estimates, Indonesia has
received pledges of $4 billion in foreign assistance for Aceh
[not
including private and corporate donations].
'The Indonesians could rebuild Aceh twice over
with the money they are receiving', said a Western diplomat
With so much rolling in
the questions are
beginning. How will the money
be spent? Who will oversee the spending? Western governments have
circulated a
document [to Indonesian officials on]
lessons learned
[from past,
similar massive aid situations.]
One of the suggestions
[is to follow]
Afghanistan, where the government set up a multidonor trust fund
with
[projects prepared]
in keeping with international standards for
procurement and financial management.
[Indonesian NGO watchdog units] are understaffed and lack serious clout.
[One has, however, established] that the government's estimate of 400,000
people living in makeshift camps is inflated
[and is] probably less than
half that.
[UNHCR agrees
with that assessment.]" Jane Perlez, "As Aceh aid pours in, how will it be spent?", International Herald Tribune, January 27, 2005.] "These days there is much talk about corruption
in Asia.
With all the money and aid pouring into the
region after the Dec. 26 tsunami, there
are widespread fears that much
of this
more than $7 billion in public and private pledges, will find
its way into the pockets of unscrupulous people. Many are wondering if the
political resolve to fight corruption is real or merely rhetorical.
But how easily can the Gordian knot of
corruption be cut? A more
realistic approach might be to talk about managing corruption rather than
eradicating it entirely.
That would surely sound pretty worrying to the
donors that have just pledged billions of dollars in aid
to this region,
where corruption of this kind is so ingrained that it is more natural than
paying taxes. How much money are Western governments willing to see lost
in the process of greasing palms and making up for inadequate wages in
order to help the tsunami victims?
But it might not be too much to ask the
regions' politicians to put their money where their mouths are and start
thinking about realistic ways to manage the
problem." Michael Vatikiotis, "Greasing palms in Asia", International Herald Tribune, January 27, 2005.] [Note: The author is the former editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review.]
"
[It is estimated that only]
2 per cent of
the $4-5 [billion] spent on disasters by the UN and international
charities goes on prevention.
[An International Strategy for Disaster Reduction secretariat at
the UN] is just four years old, [and] has no permanent budget and a tiny
staff of 14
Jan Egeland [the head of OCHA], says studies
show that for every $1 spent on disaster reduction about $10 is saved by
limiting the need for subsequent disaster relief.
[Yet Michael] Oxley of Tear-fund, a
UK-based charity,
accuses UN agencies of spending too much time
scrapping for budgets and too little time co-ordinating their activities.
Optimists see signs in recent days that donor
nations have put aside their suspicions of UN bureaucracy in the interests
of getting an Indian Ocean [early warning] system up and running. The UN considers
the process as
a template for how international co-operation could be organized across
the whole area of disaster prevention. Yet when the next natural disaster strikes it
is far from certain that the world will be any more prepared than the
millions of Asians who thought tsunamis had little relevance to
them." David Pilling, "Prevention is better than a cure but the world is still unprepared for disaster", Financial Times (UK), January 28, 2005. [Note: IO Watch believes that this lengthy article is a particularly excellent analysis of the core issues and complications involved in natural disaster aid reform.] "While early-warning systems and international
coordination are essential to limiting the impact of future disasters like
the recent South Asian tsunami, they will count for little if vulnerable
communities do not develop a culture of preparedness and risk reduction.
Beyond the grassroots level, national legal
frameworks that can facilitate international assistance in cases of
natural disaster need to be improved. All too often, needed disaster response is
delayed, or even obstructed, by national regulatory systems
[including]
difficulties for aid workers, problems getting relief goods through
customs or permission to use telecommunications
equipment. Many governments need to be reminded of the
commitments they had at the International Conference of the Red Cross and
Red Crescent in December 2003 to review existing disaster management
legislation and to improve its compatibility with international law and
principles. They should not
wait until the next earthquake or tsunami hits." Markku Niskala, Secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, "The next disaster", a letter in the International Herald Tribune, January 29-30, 2005. "Experts realize that saving lives trumps all
other concerns in an emergency.
That's why normal purchasing practices, bidding rules and oversight
are set aside in the hours and days after a crisis such as the [South
Asian] tsunami. '[But when do
you switch] from the emergency phase?', [says an expert]
' There are those who
want the situation to stay as blurred as possible. You end up with a very
nontransparent way of doing business.' Jakarta has awarded emergency no-bid contracts
to six state-owned construction companies -- some tainted by mismanagement
and corruption -- and [other]
well-connected Aceh contractors [to build]
resettlement camps for up to 100,000 refugees in 24 locations
costing
up to
$30 million -- most of it paid by foreign donors and none of it
subject to international transparency norms. International donors know they may have to get a lot more involved ... to make sure their aid is spent wisely and transparently. Aceh's acting governor, Azwar Abubakar, says he does not want to comment on rumors of corruption. 'I don't want a little money to destroy the world's empathy for us,' he says. In Aceh, however, that's an all-too-present danger." George Wehrfritz and Joe Cochrane, "Money Pit: Reconstruction contracts in Aceh are ripe for corruption", Newsweek International, January 31, 2005. "[Five weeks after the December tsunami,]
the
global outpouring of money and sympathy is only just beginning to ebb ...
[But there are]
pitfalls ahead. The basic needs of the vast majority
are
already catered for.
But a [WHO mission in Aceh]
found a glut of
pain-killers and antibiotics and a shortage of soap and bandages.
Little
effort has been made to funnel aid to the most vulnerable -- orphans,
widows, the elderly.
Meanwhile,
the number of people unable to
feed themselves continues to rise, as food stocks and savings run out and
[they]
are engulfed by the economic turmoil that has followed. Furthermore, aid agencies seem torn between the
fear that the world will soon forget about the catastrophe and the concern
that the tsunami is eclipsing other equally worthy causes. This week Kofi Annan
appointed
Bill Clinton as his special representative on the relief effort, with a
brief to help sustain international interest. Only a few days earlier, [the head of UNICEF]
had called
an end to fresh fund-raising for tsunami victims, while encouraging
donations for children in need in 33 other countries
instead." "The rebuilding starts: Assistance has been generous: it has not always been well-spent", The Economist, February 5th, 2005. "The overwhelming success of the tsunami
disaster relief effort has exposed weaknesses in dealing with humanitarian
crises elsewhere and reinforced calls for an improved system to deal with
them. EQUITY: 'A human life has the same value everywhere'
[but the tsunami generosity undermines relief for millions of]
victims
of disaster and conflict elsewhere
DONORS:
Most disaster-stricken nations rely on the
same 10 donor nations as 20 years ago, despite spreading world prosperity
'We need more donors'
CASH
IN HAND: Only $360 [million]
of the $1 [billion] pledged for the UN's tsunami appeal has come in so far
TRANSPORT: One of the main bottlenecks in helping
victims
proved to be lack of ready transport to deliver aid.
Permanent
rapid response teams
[are needed.] COORDINATION: The UN is is generally seen as doing a good
job in co-ordinating tsunami relief
But inter-agency rivalry and
disorganization have marred [its] work elsewhere
including Darfur
[TRANSPARENCY: ACCOUNTABILITY TO
VICTIMS, see next quote.]" Frances Williams, "Tsunami relief success spurs calls for change", Financial Times (UK), February 15, 2005. "TRANSPARENCY: "The UN has
instituted new financial tracking procedures to increase transparency of
its tsunami operations and accountability to donors, the public as well as
governments. Once
operational, it expects these procedures to apply to all the UN's
humanitarian assistance activities. ACCOUNTABILITY TO VICTIMS: Like all big aid operations, tsunami relief
has suffered from
"the anarchy of altruism'. Unwanted goods and volunteers pour
into disaster-struck communities, hampering aid efforts and often
trampling over cultural and religious sensitivities. Stopping this is difficult. But most donor governments and the
UN now try to work through agencies that have signed an international code
of conduct on aid." Frances Williams, "Tsunami relief success spurs
calls for change", Financial Times (UK), February 15, 2005. "
Across Thailand's tsunami-battered yet
still stunning Andaman coast,
battles are taking shape between
villagers, who lost homes and loved ones and wealthy, well-connected land
developers who see this as the ideal moment to assert control over
gorgeous beaches that could lure millions of
tourists. 'This is a booming area with sky-rocketing
prices -- the new frontier of boutique resorts' [says a visiting Thai
senator.] 'Those who want to
make a windfall profit see the opportunity to get rid of local
communities.' Thailand's complicated land law seems made to
fuel disputes. The law
recognizes various degrees of property rights
Even villagers with strong legal claims may be
unaware of or unable to assert their rights, legal experts
say. 'The mentality of the civil servants is that,
to attract tourists, we have to chase local people away' says [another
senator]. 'They think that
people want sand, sea and sun but no small huts and no small
boats.' 'We asked the officials: Where can we go, this
is our place' [a fisherman said.
An official] replied 'I have no idea.'" Amy Kazmin with Panwadee Uraisin, "After tsunamis come speculators with eyes on Thai coastal land", Financial Times (UK), February 19-20, 2005. "Much has been done to improve accountability
[for humanitarian disaster aid] in the last several years by relief groups
and large organizations like the World Bank. Now the United Nations -- itself
under pressure in the oil-for-food scandal -- is setting the pace for
innovative changes to combat fraud
The UN
has brought in the accounting firm
PricewaterhouseCoopers to upgrade its online system to track donations and
monitor for fraud.
[Among recent donor changes,] most aid no
longer goes directly to governments, in part because it
[often] ended up
in Swiss bank accounts controlled by dictators. Now donors funnel their aid through UN agencies
and nonprofit groups, or put it in trust funds administered by the World
Bank and [UNDP]
Large-scale disaster programs
[often involve
confusion, over-extended aid workers and many corruption opportunities.]
The accounting firm of Ernst & Ernst is
advising the Indonesian government, which ranked as the fifth most corrupt
in the world, according to Transparency International
[whose spokesman
said] "I think it is very helpful that all of these groups have been
willingly to publicly state the risk of corruption, but there are still
real challenges out there
" Elizabeth Becker and Stephanie Strom, "Aid groups pledge close watch on tsunami funds", International Herald Tribune, February 26-27, 2005.
"More than two months after the deadly tsunami
that hit the coasts of South and Southeast Asia, much of the region has
moved on, and it is left to former American presidents and Hollywood stars
to remind us that charity is still needed to address the lingering
suffering and displacement of the survivors.
The tsunami surely teaches us that
a warning
system is needed to alert the millions of people who live along the
region's coastlines.
Thailand's proposal for a regional tsunami
warning center was shot down in flames by some of Thailand's neighbors who
had axes to grind with Bangkok in other areas. Researchers say that only a
few minutes' warning could have saved thousands of lives, and it isn't
clear that the compromise of a series of connected regional warning
centers will do the trick. After the 1997 financial crisis
[policy
makers thought] long and hard about ways to prevent another one -- and
actually implement policies to that effect. Sadly, it is probably too much to
expect most governments to think as hard about the safety and welfare of
their people as they do about the security of their bank
deposits." Michael Vatikiotis, ""A swift recovery obscures the
tsunami's lessons", International Herald Tribune, March 1, 2005. "Indonesia is considering asking the UNHCR to
leave Aceh by the end of this month, saying the United Nations refugee
agency may have outlived its usefulness and may be straying outside its
mandate in the tsunami-stricken province. Indonesia has long restricted access by
foreigners to Aceh, the site of a decades-old separatist conflict that has
generated allegations of human rights abuses by both security forces and
rebels.
The UNHCR's response in Aceh had been unusual
[said spokesman Robert Ashe,]
because it involved a natural disaster
zone, something the body was usually not involved in. But the agency had been planning to stay until
at least the end of the year to help reconstruction efforts, having raised
almost $60 [million] from donor countries to fund the rebuilding of
communities. Mr. Ashe said all of that was now on hold. 'Clearly we have to clarify what
the future of our operation is in Aceh', he said." Shawn Donnan, "Jakarta threat to UN agency's role
in Aceh", Financial Times (UK), March 6, 2005. "
[In] a stampede
as chaotic as it is
unprecedented
[and] fueled by more than $6.3 [billion] in global
donations for tsunami relief, more than 250 local and international aid
groups have set up shop in Aceh, many of them groups born out of the
disaster itself.
Aid workers say the influx has complicated the
delivery of help. But they
also worry it has made it easy for Indonesia to start expelling groups it
does not like from Aceh, which was closed to foreigners before the
disaster because of a long-running separatist conflict.
The process has already led to threats that
[UNHCR], which has planned reconstruction projects, may be asked to leave
Aceh in large part. Aid workers say this is because of a fraught
history between Jakarta and the UN refugee agency that dates to 1999 and a
UN-organized referendum that led to East Timor's independence.
The rush into Aceh has yielded peculiar scenes
in the conservative Muslim province, with Scientologists, evangelical
Christian groups and yoga sects in some cases competing indirectly to help
tsunami victims. But it has
also contributed to aid groups sometimes working at cross-purposes."
Shawn Donnan, "Stampede of aid to Aceh leaves confusion on the ground", Financial Times (UK), March 15, 2005.
"The international response to the Indian Ocean
tsunami has been prompt and generous
but in general Asian countries have
a long way to go in becoming significant providers of humanitarian
assistance in the region, not to mention in the international community at
large.
Until now, Asia has resisted the concept of
humanitarian intervention, which has been adopted by Western and African
regional groupings. Yet humanitarian assistance and cooperative action in
coping with complex emergencies can serve as a new rallying point for
Asian regional groups. The tsunami clearly underscores the need for
more focused mechanisms to deal with humanitarian emergencies in the
region. The regional tsunami
warning system is one such initiative. But regional organizations, in
cooperation with international agencies, should also acquire expertise in
disaster prevention and management. There is an urgent need for a regional
coordination center for humanitarian aid. .. Asian states could undertake
training toward greater coordination of relief efforts, including
earmarking necessary resources and joint training of civilians and
military forces before disaster strikes. A regional disaster management fund could also
be explored. And civil
society in Asia should develop mechanisms and institutions for
transnational humanitarian assistance.
" Amitav Acharya, "Asia needs better ways to protect its people", International Herald Tribune, March 16, 2005. In addition to these
evolving developments, however, articles in April and June 2005 provided a
very disturbing picture of a stalled programme in Aceh, Indonesia, months
after the tsunami occurred.
Though thousands of corpses have been cleared away, and looters
have cleaned out the ruins, there is little sign of repairs and of the
billions of dollars of assistance donated from around the world.
"'The only thing we've gotten is small packets
of food and supplies', says a shopkeeper. 'Where the money is, we don't
know. It's just meetings,
meetings, meetings.'
Last week, Indonesia's state auditing agency
said it was having difficulty accounting for portions of more than $4
billion it has received so far
As the months have passed, government action
has been delayed. [A
draft plan]
is a daunting thing; it comes in twelve volumes.
The government faces a huge and complex
task. It .. must rebuild
entire economic and social environments. But none of this seems to explain the silence
of the barren city landscape
[and] many fishing villages have simply
disappeared.
As recovery inches forward
it will encounter
conflicts over inheritance and land ownership, bureaucratic inefficiency,
competition among aid groups and among government departments and, with so
much money flooding in, the possibility of corruption on a gigantic scale.
Torn by unending war and political repression,
battered by a natural disaster that may strike again, paralyzed by a
reconstruction effort that just cannot seem to get started, Aceh today is
not a place of hope." Seth Mydans, "Months after disaster, smashed Indonesian city is still a ghost town: Paralyzed by a reconstruction effort that has yet to get off the ground", International Herald Tribune, April 6, 2005. "When the people [in Aceh, Indonesia] rebuild
homes on their old foundations, they will live among a checker-board of
empty lots left behind by those who died in the tsunami six months ago
By the latest count, at least 127,000 people
are dead, 30,066 are missing, and half a million have been displaced
It is difficult to build a new life when homes
and public services have not begun to be put in place.
[An Indonesian official] was shocked at what he
found here.
[He said] 'When it comes to reconstruction -- zero.'
The billions of dollars of aid funds
[received are caught in a budget process and won't be available] until at
least September.
[A UN official] said that all the elements of
reconstruction have been put in place.
But for the people who live here, it can be
hard to understand
[Azwar Hasan, head of a local group helping
displaced people, said]
'I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, people are coming
here for needs assessments again and again
They are getting lost in
their blueprint. Everyone is
talking about tomorrow. When
are they going to do something?'" Seth Mydans, "In Aceh, empty spaces won't be filled soon: 6 months after tsunami, little progress", International Herald Tribune, June 25-26, 2005.
Even the awesome and
tragic Indian Ocean tsunami disaster will soon slip almost entirely out of
the bright spotlight of the international media. But the multi-billion
dollar relief and reconstruction programmes must go on, and the UN
certainly has its co-ordination work, and management accountability tasks,
cut out for it, as the recent quotes above demonstrate. As in other major
areas of UN operations, IO Watch will continue to follow this evolving
story.
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