Pakistan One Fund: almost hundred millions to coordinate the UN work (waste of resources!!)

Click here to view this @: http://mptf.undp.org/factsheet/fund/PK100

Funds with Administrative Agent

 

Deposits	77,983,944
Interest and Investment Income (from Fund)	+ 297,266
Interest (from Participating Organizations)	+ 166,671
Total source of funds			78,447,881
Transferred to Participating Organizations	75,766,205
Refunds from Participating Organizations	- 0
Administrative Agent Fee	+ 779,839
Direct Cost	+ 0
Bank Charges	+ 814
Total use of funds			- 76,546,858
Balance with Administrative Agent			1,901,023
As a percentage of deposits			2.4%

 

Funds with Participating Organizations

 

Transferred to Participating Organizations	75,766,205
Total resources			75,766,205
Participating Organizations' Expenditure	41,032,016
Refunds from Participating Organizations	+ 0
Total expenses			- 41,032,016
Balance with Participating Organizations			34,734,188
As a percentage of transfers			45.8%

Total Balance of Funds			36,635,211
As a percentage of deposits			47.0%

SCANDAL: In Pakistan United Nations charge 75% for every $$Dollar that supposedly goes to procure Polio Vaccines

THE BARE TRUTH 

Where is ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT BANK $LOAN$ for POLIO eradication goes in Pakistan ?

Click here to read this in full @ International Herald Tribune: http://tribune.com.pk/story/472026/operational-costs-weigh-heavily-on-anti-polio-push/

Operational costs weigh heavily on anti-polio push

By Shahbaz Rana

Published: November 28, 2012

Official documents show that more than 50% of the total programme cost will go to two foreign organisations – WHO and Unicef. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: 
Running a polio eradication initiative is no mean feat. Within its massive head, only about one-third goes into the actual procurement of vaccines.

That’s the easy part.
The rest is be provided to two United Nations agencies and a govt body as ‘operational costs’ – ie, the cost of surveying the areas and millions of households to be targeted across Pakistan and then actually delivering the medicines to the millions of households over a span of three years.
In Pakistan, two international agencies will be paid the largest chunk to undertake this process.
The polio vaccine procurement cost of the three-year Emergency Plan for Polio Eradication stands at $106.6 million, or Rs9.7 billion – 35% of the total Rs27.5 billion earmarked for the recently cleared three-year campaign programme – which seeks to eliminate polio by 2015.
Official documents show that more than 50% of the total programme cost will go to two foreign organisations – the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is responsible for operations and surveillance, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), responsible for vaccine procurement and communication.

WHO will have the larger share of the pie, charging a total of $86.5 million or Rs7.9 billion –28.9% of the total programme cost. Similarly, the Unicef is charging $67.3 million or Rs6.2 billion – 22.3 % of the total cost.

To finance the project, the federal government has almost finalised a loan agreement with the Islamic Development Bank for the provision of $227.2 million or Rs20.7 billion. The IDB will charge a 5.1% markup. The World Bank will also provide a loan of $24 million for the programme.

Despite the huge allocation for the emergency programme, experts say its success hinges on the success of ongoing polio campaigns. They are of the opinion that unless routine coverage increases to 90% from the existing below 45%, the emergency programme will not succeed.


The programme was recently cleared by at meeting of the Central Development Working Party, headed by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr Nadeemul Haque. It will become operational from January next year.
The stated objective of the emergency programme is to stop wild poliovirus transmission throughout the country.
As many as 33.4 million children under the age of five are targeted under this programme.

UNCIEF

Unicef will charge $21.1 million, or roughly Rs2 billion, as social mobilisation cost and another $36.2 million, or Rs3.3 billion, as “ongoing social mobilisation” cost. Furthermore, it will charge “7% for programme support cost” ($4.9 million) and another “9% for programme support cost” ($5.2 million).

An official working closely on the programme said that the 9% additional cost was unfair and needed to be settled. The agency is also charging 4.5% as procurement services charges.

World Health Organisation

WHO is charging roughly $73 million, or Rs6.6 billion, as operational cost and $8.8 million as surveillance cost. It is also charging $4.9 million or 7% of the total amount as programme support cost.

Officials added that, since 1994, WHO has established its surveillance networks at district levels, which the government has decided to use. However, despite years of surveillance, polio coverage remains behind the targets, highlighting issues in monitoring.

In addition to the international agencies’ charges, the government has also earmarked $36.1 million, or Rs3.2 billion for its own operational cost.

PM’s Polio Monitoring Cell 

The PM’s Polio Cell is allocated $1.1 million, or Rs98.7 million, as operational cost. An amount of Rs38.9 million is allocated for holding meetings and conferences, while telephone bills for three years have been estimated at Rs2 million. An amount of Rs400,000 has been fixed for gifts, while Rs10.3 million has been allocated to the PM’s Cell for running vehicles.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2012.

If you are in United States and affected by Sandy Storm - chances are you wont qualify for insurance coverage from flooding ! - You wish you were in Pakistan - where UNDP/SMEDA gives checks $$$ for flood victims !

Click here for this in full @ Pakistan Observer: http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=182012

UNDP/SMEDA distributes cheques among flood affectees

Timergara—The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) on Sunday distributed cheques worth of Rs 1.5 million among the short listed candidates hailing from the Timergara Union council who were affected by flash floods in 2010. A function in this regard was held here at a local hotel. District Coordinator of the SMEDA’s Early Recovery Project (ERP) Ms Noor Zeba distributed cheques among 93 ladies and 25 male residents whose businesses had suffered due to floods.

Briefing local journalists ERP coordinator for Dir Lower Adnan Afridi said that SMEDA had launched its early recovery project in the area with the financial support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since September 2011 in order to reinvigorate and stimulate the flood affected businesses and livelihood activities. He said the authority had been engaged in the area since then during which multiple activities had been completed.

He said that Rs 1.5 million were distributed among the flood affected people of Timergara on Sunday during a ceremony which was attended by notables of the area and community members.

Click here for this in full @ Pakistan Observer: http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=182012

Timo Pakkala has failed to deliver for UNDP in Pakistan. Or is he intentionally slowing development aid to Pakistan ?

Only 4% of UNDP's allocated programme, 

delivered for 2012

Click here to read this in full @ brecorder.com: http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/108-pakistan-top-news/87036-undp-released-only-208mn-last-year-.html

UNDP released only $20.8mn last year

Saturday, 20 October 2012 15:27

Posted by Imaduddin

ASMA RAZAQ
ISLAMABAD: United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has so far released $3.91 million (4 percent) to Pakistan out of a total allocation of $89 million for calendar year 2012. It is currently working on 23 projects worth $430.9 million.

Documents obtained by this correspondent showed that UNDP’s total disbursement to Pakistan during 2011 was $20.8 million...

Click here to read this in full @ brecorder.com: http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/108-pakistan-top-news/87036-undp-released-only-208mn-last-year-.html

At UN Election, Some Vote AU Only in 1st Round, Ban Greets Swedes

By Matthew Russell Lee @InnercityPress.Com

UNITED NATIONS, October 21 -- As Ambassadors poured into the General Assembly to vote on five Security Council seats for the next two years, the Morocco versus Mauritania race continued to get more heated.

A well placed Permanent Representative of an African Union country told Inner City Press his instructions were to "vote with the AU in the first round" -- that is, Mauritania and Togo -- but after that to go with the "better placed" between Morocco and Mauritania.

Another major AU member said it would vote the AU duo in every round. But some say they hope either Mauritania or Morocco will drop out, to make sure that sub Saharan Africa is represented, "if only by Togo" as one Ambassador put it.

Covering this race, as well as the three way fight among Slovenia, Hungary and Azerbaijan and the contest between Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan was made more difficult by the simultaneous scheduling of a photo op of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Swedish royal couple.

The Press was told it would have to leave the stakeout area in front of the General Assembly so that the 10:15 photo op could take place. After some push back, the area for photographers was enlarged. But still due to the mis-scheduling, fewer questions to Ambassadors than usual were possible.

GA entry, guards for Swedes, AU not shown, (c) MRLee

Of the Security Council's Permanent Five members, the UK's Mark Lyall Grant and China Li Baodong walked amiably in. The US was represented by its Deputy Permanent Representative Rosemary DiCarlo.

Sudan's Permanent Representative went in wearing flowing robes -- national dress, they call it at the UN -- while all members of Pakistan's delegation wore green badges with, in big letters, "PAKISTAN." Colombia's Nestor Osorio stopped and to his credit did an on camera interview, as it's said he did the day previously about the death of Gaddafi.

Libya was represented by Shalgam, who after being Gaddafi's foreign minister defected and represents the Transitional National Council.

As Ban waited at the top of the escalator for the Swedish royals, he greeted some diplomats, shaking hands with Sri Lanka's Palitha Kohona accompanied by Deputy Permanent Representative Shavendra Silva. When another Deputy asked, what's the ocassion, Ban quipped, "Waiting for you, of course." If unscripted, impressive. But everything is relative.

There will be further rounds of voting. Watch this site.

In Pakistan UNDP is lacking leadership - the organization has become irrelevant to assist in relief while focusing needed funds in assessment reports

Dispute over UN role in relief work

KARACHI Although the federal government has formally invited the United Nations to help with the relief of flood survivors, there seems to be a difference of opinion between the Sindh provincial government and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) about the actual operations. A UN official privy to the matter revealed that the NDMA does not want the UN to focus on immediate relief, but to help with the latter phase of early recovery. This leaves the organisation with nothing to do in the meantime but gather data for assessment. According to him, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah asked the UN to begin relief work in the province within 24 hours on Saturday. “But, afterwards the chairman of the NDMA stopped us and asked us to focus on the assessment of the loss of property, crops and other things for the recovery phase,” he added. This has created considerable confusion over whose orders need to be followed. There are questions as to why the UN is being stopped from providing aid. Although the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has set up a base camp in Badin, it will only conduct needs for the recovery phase, and not provide relief, said the UN official. Many administrations of the calamity-hit districts have requested the provincial and federal governments to take control of the relief work as they lack the resources. Badin district government had written a letter to the provincial government on the instructions of National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza for the instant release of Rs5 million ($57,471) out of the $229,885 that was pledged. On Saturday, Chief Minister Shah met UN delegation and stressed that they needed complete support. The UN Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) held a meeting with the representatives of up to 200 non-governmental organisations on Saturday. The UN agencies will work in partnership with the local NGOs. Unicef will look after water and sanitation, the World Health Organisation will deal with health, the International Organisation for Migration will look after shelter for the displaced people, and the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation will work on food security.

Immunity for British IMF chief over 'wife assault'

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS STORY ON THE TELEGRAPH

The British head of the International Monetary Fund in Islamabad has been accused of assaulting his wife by having her removed from the family home but he cannot be charged due to his “diplomatic immunity” status.

By Rob Crilly in Islamabad 10:30PM BST 02 Jun 2010

Deena Shehata, 28, claims she was “manhandled” and forced from her home by her husband Paul Ross, but police were unable to do anything because of her husband’s job status.

The couple married in July 2007 and moved to Pakistan a year later when Mr Ross, 51, from Wembley, was appointed the IMF’s Resident Representative in Pakistan, in charge of an $11 billion (£7.5 billion) economic stabilisation programme.

Holders of such posts usually carry a United Nations diplomatic passport.

The couple’s marriage allegedly broke down and Miss Shehata said she returned to their home — a smart two-storey villa, protected by guards and barbed wire, in an area of the city popular with wealthy expats — on Friday to collect some of her belongings. She alleges that her husband grew impatient before forcing her out of the house.

“I was humiliated as my husband asked our guards to remove me from my own home,” she wrote in a statement for police.

A doctor’s report detailed bruises, cuts and grazes and concluded she was “mentally depressed over [the] trauma, she is feeling helplessness and is scared.”

Miss Shehata, a British-born academic, said she was desperate to leave Pakistan as soon as possible.

She said she was disappointed at the way police handled the case, and that appeals for help to the IMF had not helped her find justice.

“The best solution they have is to get me out of here quickly and safely,” she said, adding that the system seemed to want her removed from the scene like a “broken toy” rather than questioning her husband.

Sub Inspector Abbas, the police officer dealing with the case said that as soon as they found out that Mr Ross had diplomatic status they abandoned the case. He said they took a statement from Miss Shehata and did not investigate any further.

Miss Shehata’s supporters said yesterday that they would take the case to Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs.

Asma Jahangir, a human rights lawyer, said: “This is an issue where there must not and should not be immunity for diplomats or any man.”

Paul Ross said: "I am saddened by the allegations made by my wife, which are untrue, and I look forward to an independent investigation that will establish the true facts."

"UN/UNDP in Pakistan a real disaster" says a British Parliamentary Investigation

Britain criticises UN Pakistan flood response

CLICK HERE FOR STORY

A British parliamentary committee has criticised the UN for poor leadership during last year's floods in Pakistan, which it said left millions in need of assistance.

The International Development Committee said the UN used only two thirds of more than $1bn it raised for relief.

Confusion and organisational constraints were cited as the reasons.

The flooding affected nearly 20 million people and led to the largest appeal for money ever launched by the UN.

The International Development Committee said too many agencies and charities had been brought in, with some meetings attended by as many as 600 groups.

It also warned that climate change and population growth would mean increased need for disaster relief in the future.

About 1,750 people died in last year's floods in Pakistan, and up to 20 million people were affected.

They started in the mountainous north and surged south, destroying 1.2m homes and damaging about 14% of Pakistan's land under cultivation.

Ban Ki Moon promotes Timo Pakkala as UN's Special Representative in Pakistan

The man who aided North Korea to :

- hide $$US Counterfeit currency;

- abuse UN Bank Accounts system to launder money for North Korean regime and purchase real estate in western and eastern europe for Kim Jong Il;

- deal with terrorist and arm dealers corporations who were registered as UN vendors during the time Pakkala was RC/RR in DPR Korea;

But also known as the man who denied to appear to Southern District Attorney's Office of New York during the investigation into $$$US Counterfeit Currency by North Korea (March-May 2007).

NOW BAN KI MOON IS REWARDING TIMO PAKKALA,

"FOR HIS STAND AGAINST U.S. AUTHORITIES"

AS HIS STRONG MAN IN THE MOST IMPORTANT COUNTRY IN THE WORLD WITH AN IMPACT TO NATIONAL SECURITY OF U.S.A.

PAKISTAN

Timo Pakkala is UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Pakistan Mr. Timo Pakkala has been UN Resident Coordinator (RC) and UNDP Resident Representative (RR) in Pakistan since October 2010. He joined the Finnish Diplomatic service in 1988. He served as Attaché and Second Secretary in Helsinki, Madrid and Tehran. Mr. Pakkala joined the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in 1990 as Programme Officer in Maseru, Lesotho. He subsequently served as Programme Officer WFP, in Addis Ababa, Regional Adviser in Kampala, Programme Coordinator for Eastern Africa at WFP Headquarters in Rome and Deputy Country Director in Nairobi. In 2005 he was appointed UN RC and UNDP RR in Pyongyang, DPRK, North Korea where he served until 2008. Mr. Pakkala’s most recent assignment was with WFP as Deputy Regional Director for Southern, Eastern and Central Africa, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

UNDP in corruption charges in Pakistan: - appointed a political party bureaucrat on a lucrative contract

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has appointed a political bureaucrat of District Management Group (DMG) on a lucrative contract at the Planning Commission’s Centre for Poverty Reduction and Social Policy Development (CPRSPD) with a mandate to give poverty assessment and track down progress on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) every year, despite his total lack of capacity, knowledge or credentials on the matter.

The CPRSPD, a joint venture of the Planning Commission and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is responsible to conduct detailed poverty analysis based on latest data, tracking down progress on MDGs by launching report every year and other crucial reports assigned by the government.

“The government and UNDP appointed a DMG officer Nadeem Mehboob, as National Project Manager (NPM) of the CPRSPD. He had nothing to do with poverty analysis in his whole carrier but now he has been assigned the task to conduct research on prevalence of poverty in Pakistan. He will draw a handsome salary hovering around Rs200,000 per month,” sources told The News here on Friday.

When the newly appointed NPM of the CPRSPD was contacted for seeking his comments, he said that he applied for the post after witnessing an advertisement on the website of the UNDP and got the slot after passing all relevant competitive tests and interviews. He said he got a degree in Development Management from the UK and also worked with PRSP Secretariat in the Ministry of Finance. He said he also wrote one chapter for Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) a few years back and before leaving the project, he has also written for the PRSP-II.

Answering a query that how the CPRSPD would conduct research on poverty, he said the Centre would hire specialists/researchers on poverty, income distribution and labour in the days to come for conducting in-depth analysis.

He also said that he is not head of the CPRSPD. The structure of the poverty centre has changed in the second phase of the project. Nadeem said he has been given the slot of National Project Manager and not Project Director of the CPRSPD. Nadeem Mehboob again called this correspondent for explaining that he had not replaced the former head of the CPRSPD, Dr Sajjad Akhtar.

However, the sources said Pakistan along with other 152 nations had made commitments in 2001 under aegis of UNO to launch annual report on MDGs by tracking down progress of all required indicators till 2015 in order to give a clear picture to the policy-makers for making interventions where required. The Planning Commission was assigned to launch this annual report but last year the CPRSPD has done nothing to come up with a comprehensive report owing to internal politics and many other relevant issues.

The former head of the CPRSPD, Dr Sajjad Akhtar was shown the door by the Planning Commission’s authorities when he opted to write a chapter on poverty for the Economic Survey 2007-08 without obtaining prior permission from the competent authority.

“One can possess divergent views with the former head of the CPRSPD, Dr Sajjad Akhtar for not opposing the line drawn by the previous rulers under Shaukat Aziz regime but he is thoroughly a professional man, having adequate skills for conducting poverty analysis because of solid background on the subject,” said the sources and added that the new appointment of DMG officer as NPM of the CPRSPD showed that the government in nexus with the UNDP is completely ignoring the merit required for accomplishing this assigned task.

Earlier, Nadeem Mehboob, DMG officer was working with Finance Ministry’s Gender Responsive Budgetary Initiative (GRBI) project as programme officer. “The CPRSPD may have to hire consultants for conducting poverty analysis and tracking down MDGs progress as many professionals have already left the Poverty Centre during the last financial year owing to insecure financing arrangements,” said the sources.

Citing examples, the sources said that poverty analyst Iftikhar Cheema, senior economist/analyst Dr Talat Anwar and many other professionals such as Nousheen, Maqsood Sadiq, Dr Sajjad Akhtar, former head of CPRSPD and Nisar senior monitoring specialist have already left the Poverty Centre.

PAKISTAN SCANDAL: UNDP involved in channeling CASH to military and para-military groups in fake "reconstruction payments"

By Muhammad Bilal

ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday informed the National Assembly that the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) hired 54 consultants including retired military personnel during the last five years, and they were paid Rs 99.615 million.

Law Minister Farooq Naik told the House that 54 consultants and associate consultants were hired from July 2003 to June 2008 by the NRB and were paid by the government and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Brig (r) Muhammad Saleem, the focal adviser on the local government system, was the highest beneficiary receiving emoluments worth Rs 10.941 million from the UNDP.

Raja Asad of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz called the NRB a white elephant and demanded the government hold the consultants accountable.

Speaker Fehmida Mirza disputed the figures provided by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat regarding the disbursement of Rs 14 billion meant for the rehabilitation of the flood affectees of Sindh and Balochistan.

Mirza said the flood-affected people of Sindh, especially those in her constituency, were still awaiting the government’s help. She referred the issue to the standing committee.

Finance Minister Naveed Qamar informed the NA that the government could not increase the subsidy on electricity. He said the NEPRA had recommended a 63 percent increase in electricity tariff but the government would not raise the tariff by that much. However, he said the increase in tariff was imminent.

Qamar said the government would provide relief to consumers once petroleum prices in the international market came down further.

Parliamentary Secretary on Interior Mujtaba Ahmed Kharal told the House that no proposal was under consideration to withdraw the Rangers deployed in Karachi.

He said 1,573 Rangers were deployed in Karachi, adding that an amount of Rs 9,232,511 was being paid to the troops per month as part of the internal security duty allowance besides usual pay and allowances.

APP-Pakistan: Senators demand audit of UNDP accounts

ISLAMABAD, May 14 (APP): Senators on Wednesday have demanded an audit of the expenditures of Rs 5 billion funds provided to the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) by the government, which was not allowed by concerned authorities.

Responding to a point of order in the Upper House of the Parliament, Leader of the House, Mian Raza Rabbani said the government is holding back a tranche of Rs 874 million of the Commission after its chief declined to hold audit of the Commission’s accounts.

He said Commission had not allowed the audit of the expenditures of Rs 5 billion fund provided by the government besides an amount of US$ 27.8 million raised by NCHD from international donors including the UNDP, World Bank and USAID.

The Leader of the House in Senate said as per the demand of the senators from both sides, the matter should have been brought to the notice of the prime minister so that he might order a detailed audit into the accounts of the Commission which was established for the welfare of the common man.

He added that the Commission should give detailed presentation to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani regarding its expenditures and projects.

Responding to another point of order, Raza Rabbani said Pakistan Air Force has acquired 60,000 acres of land in Lasbella to be used for firing range.

He quoted the Secretary Defense saying that the title of land would not be transferred and it would be used for the testing of aircraft being manufactured in Kamrah with the cooperation of China.

However, he said the compensation being provided to the land owners falling in the premises of firing range is yet unknown to him, adding that he would inform the House later.

Later, after the consensus from both sides, the Chairman Senate moved the matter to the Senate Standing Committee on Defense to resolve the compensation issue of the land owners and ensure the proper usage of land.

It is worth mentioning that the Senators on Tuesday had expressed fears that the land would be misused. Some of them went on to say that it might be used for developing housing societies instead of firing range.

Regarding tribal feuds in Sindh province, he said the Inspector General has given a detailed briefing to the concerned chief minister who would appoint an advisor to dedicate his services for the very cause.

To another point of order, the Leader of the House said the government would not take any decision about the allotment of land to UAE-based firm for Mirani Dam against prescribed rules.

He said the firm has signed a 20-year lease agreement with local farmers against Rs6, 500 per acre annual.

He told the House that matter would further be discussed in a meeting with the chief minister of Balochistan as was desired by the firm.

‘UNDP, IUCN have failed to protect environment in Pakistan’

Pakistan is first country in world allowing housing schemes in areas reserved for forests

Anwer Abbas

ISLAMABAD: Very few people in Pakistan are aware of 'environmental justice' which is not an ignorable issue in the global environmental scenario. It is functional in the European Union, Scandinavian countries and the rest of the West.

It is very unfortunate that Pakistan does not enjoy the concept of environmental justice and it is unfamiliar here. "The need of the hour is to introduce the said concept in the country which might contribute a lot to maintaining the ecological balance and curbing the anti-environment issues," said Munir Ahmed, a renowned environmentalist and senior communication expert, EU Visibility Study and Communication Strategy, in an exclusive interview with The Post.

His achievements include an advocacy campaign on Nullah Leh, anti-tree cutting campaign, and several stakeholders' roundtables on environmental and development issues in Islamabad. Munir said, "Under this concept one should pay as per one's consummations and pay all taxis and fines. It would help prevent a waste of natural resources." Criticising the national and foreign environmental organisations, Munir said all the investments being made by UNDP, IUCN and other international organisations and donors were being wasted and the goals and targets remained unachieved.

Citing the Shell Foundation project, the environmentalist said that the foundation launched a mega project in the area of Gulliyaat for forest conservation, installation of bio-gas plants and energy conservation in collaboration with UNDP. The project was closed after some time because the NGO failed to deliver, he maintained. "These kinds of projects waste precious money and time," Munir added.

Munir said the projects launched by UNDP had failed to yield fruitful results, adding such internationally reputed organisations were focusing on clerical jobs instead of practically implementing their projects.

Likewise, another project was introduced in Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir, for the construction of an international hotel that made the densely forested area deserted by cutting the forests.

Munir Ahmed lamented international institutions were wasting the money of taxpayers of the European Union and the United States. People and their respective governments should ask them why their money is being wasted, he said.

Severely criticising the government and the Ministry of Environment officials, the senior communication expert said retired and incompetent government officials who were unable to perform their duties any more and unaware of the environmental issues had been engaged for the environmental protection efforts in Pakistan.

Munir claimed the government and the Ministry of Environment were non-serious in protecting the environment, adding Pakistan was the first country across the globe where the government had allowed housing schemes in the areas reserved for forests. He added the government had introduced housing schemes in Loe Bhair, New Murree and Patriata. He said in the Balochistan province, the wealthiest province on account of its natural resources, coal, oil, Sui-gas and other fuel reserves, the people were being compelled to use the costly sandal wood as a fuel because the government hadn't provided them with the basic necessities such as electricity and gas. "Unfortunately, decades-old densely forested sandal forests had shrunk due to their improper utilisation, which speaks volumes for the government and the Ministry of Environment's failure to protecting the environment," he added.

Munir Ahmed, a postgraduate in Mass Communication, is a fellow of LEAD-Pakistan, an environmental organisation. He is also the founding chairman of DEVCOM-Pakistan (Development Communications Network). He has written extensively on environment and development for mainstream publications.

Keeping them accountable: In Pakistan, UNDP Awards No-Bid Contract For Disputed Election

The Pakistan election has been all over media lately. All of us have seen the unconstitutional way Musharraf used and managed to stay on as President. The rampant corruption in the current government has led to a major - throughout the country unrest - requesting Musharraf and his fellow governors to step down.

In all this mess - UNDP wouldn't stay away. How could UNDP ? We are there to "support our client" as Kemal Dervis always say.

Therefore now we will be looking at a fantastic way to dispose money to friends in a messy situation.

Today's Submission is : ACP-RBAP/07/0004
Total Amount: $ 915,636.00
Status: Approved from Akiko Yuge

(FROM INNERCITY PRESS) Even in Pakistan, a country beset by electoral disputes as well as terrorism, the UN Development Program bends its own rules, on issues as important as the provision of technical assistance to elections, as shown by an internal waiver of competition memo obtained by Inner City Press and placed online here.

Earlier this year, after General Pervez Musharraf announced elections, UNDP according to the memo decided it would "engage a recuritment [sic] agency to undertake hiring and provision of training coordinators for organizing training of polling officials workshops under Support to National Election Project (SNEP)." One part of the amorphous mandate claimed by UNDP is to preach transparency including in procurement: the solicitation and weighing of competitive bids before funds are spent. But in this case, on a project involving national elections, UNDP decided internally to waive its procurement rules, and award the $916,000 contract directly to Anjum Asim Shahid Associates (AASA). The scope of the contract, set forth in the memo, filled with typographical errors, includes

- Development of Recruitment [sic] plan and identification of coordinators [sic] through placing advertisement in the newspapers;

• - Short listing of candidates and development of selection cirteria [sic]
• - Conducting interviws [sic] in the field at major towns;
• - Final selection and contract signing (between the firm and the sucessful [sic] candidates).

(Above from Innercity Press)

But why this ? Why spend all this money to train - those who have already broken the rule and unconstitutionally have changed the laws and protected an unconstitutional President ?

Well we think this award has nothing to do with Pakistan. This is a one time payment from UNDP to the Regime of Musharraf to accept back the outgoing Hafiz Pasha. UNDP can no longer continue to keep him around, specially with the latest failures on North Korea, Burma, Indonesia and Nepal.

But in a move that is typical only on hostile take-overs in private sector, the High Priests at UNDP have decided that Pasha should go, and at whatever price. Therefore let's give this money to whomever the Pakistani Government want to. Let the Pakistani's come out with the scheme, and UNDP would disburse on-time so Pasha's departure is secure.

Well yest again the Highest priests have forgotten that the UNDP's money is not their money. Is our money - is public tax-payers money. They have no right to dispose what millions of tax-payers have bestowed on us to invest on the poor - not in dictators.

UNDP money is not a slash fund where the High Priests put their hands whenever they need.

Kemal Dervis your leadership is destroying what is left to UNDP. Your decisions and those who surround you, are destroying our credibility in the world.

Stop it now !!!

p.s.: we would like to thank Innercity Press for their investigatory work on the above. We used portion of thier work. To read more on InnercityPress - please go at (http://innercitypress.com/)