UNDP Archives - UN Watch

How UNDP panders to Hamas regime

unwatch — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 15:24:26 +0000

Masked Palestinian youths pose in front of the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) offices in Gaza City.

The indictment today of a UNDP official in Gaza for aiding Hamas terrorist activities may not have been known by senior management, however the organization’s culture of pandering to the Hamas regime likely enabled the criminal diversion of humanitarian resources.
For example, during the Gaza war of 2014, despite UNDP’s duties of neutrality and impartiality, the organization noticeably sided with Hamas against Israel, whitewashing the systematic subversion by Hamas of homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals, to hide weapons, install rocket launchers, and cover up entrances to terror tunnels as well as terrorist command and control centers.
UNDP Report on Gaza War Completely Omits the Word “Hamas”
In August 2014, UNDP published a Preliminary Assessment, prepared by the Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem, a Palestinian NGO that promotes demonizing rhetoric against Israel and advances the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanction) agenda. The publication reveals marked bias and politicization. A few of many examples:

The publication fails to mention Hamas warfare once—the word Hamas simply does not appear in the 30-page document.
Discussion of damage to Gaza buildings omits to say that Hamas used civilian infrastructure for rocket launching onto Israeli civilian population centers, deliberately jeopardizing Palestinian civilians.
Reference to damage to educational infrastructure likewise omits Hamas use of schools for military purposes and the famous case of Hamas rockets in UNRWA schools.
Emotional language is used only against Israel. The word “shocking” refers only to Palestinian damage, never to the thousands of missiles fired at Israel by Hamas, nor Hamas use of civilians as human shields.

UNDP Rep Tweeted Against Israel Only, Never Hamas
Frode Mauring, then the UNDP Special Representative on Palestine, tweeted vehemently against Israel, systematically posting articles hostile to Israel’s position. He expressed sympathies for Gaza’s population, but not for millions of Israelis forced into bomb shelters to escape thousands of Hamas rocket barrages.
Here’s Mauring insisting that UNDP would never misuse aid:

#UN's John #Ging says all #cement brought to #Gaza by @UN is accounted for, and none was used for #Hamas tunnels. Absolutely correct!

— Frode Mauring (@Frode_Mauring) July 30, 2014

Pulling out 4-year-old article by radical anti-Israel writer:

4y old article in @Independent still relevant: Is Gideon #Levy the most hated man in #Israel or just the most heroic? http://t.co/I4v30i2Djv

— Frode Mauring (@Frode_Mauring) July 7, 2014

Israel’s attempt to stop rocket launches against its citizens is “retaliation”:

#OperationProtectiveEdge: #Israel bombs #Gaza in retaliation for rockets http://t.co/jLQWNvdkEK via @guardian

— Frode Mauring (@Frode_Mauring) July 8, 2014

Mocking Israeli restraint:

Israeli @Haaretzcom: #Israel showed #restraint in #Gaza before attacking? You must be kidding http://t.co/YYQqvcQuRY #AmiraHaas

— Frode Mauring (@Frode_Mauring) July 14, 2014

Emotive language omitting any mention of Hamas attacks and its breaking of ceasefire that precipitated the battle:

“@Omar_Gaza: A little view of the MASSIVE destruction that #Shujaiya witnessed! Heartbreaking. pics dont lie! #Gaza pic.twitter.com/5rm0Fg349Q”

— Frode Mauring (@Frode_Mauring) July 26, 2014

Routinely posted articles sharply critical of Israel, but almost never any articles sharply critical of Hamas terrorism or its radical Islamist ideology:

“@NYTimesCohen: #Israel's war with #Hamas in #Gaza. What it provokes in me. #Zionism and Its #Discontents. http://t.co/CqVwZrmRuu”

— Frode Mauring (@Frode_Mauring) July 29, 2014

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UN aid worker indicted for aiding Hamas; UNDP chief Helen Clark must "draw conclusions"

unwatch — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 11:22:25 +0000

Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and candidate for the job of UN Secretary General 2016. (Photo by Luiz Rampelotto/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

GENEVA, August 9, 2016 – Following today’s indictment of a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) aid worker in Gaza for supporting Hamas terrorist activities (see press release below), UN Watch is calling on UNDP chief Helen Clark, a candidate to be the next UN Secretary-General, to draw conclusions, and for Ban Ki-moon to urgently establish an independent, international commission of inquiry to investigate the apparently pervasive subversion in Gaza of UN and other international humanitarian aid funds by Hamas.
“When a vital UN aid agency is involved in hiding weapons for a terrorist organization and building its military infrastructure, there must be accountability, and it must come from the top,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “Helen Clark must take responsibility.”
“No one is accusing UNDP senior management in New York of knowingly aiding Hamas activities, but when they fail to implement minimum controls in a place ruled by a murderous regime—as documented with OCHA in Syria—that could amount to extremely reckless conduct,” said Neuer.
“Sadly, UNDP has a history of pandering to the Hamas regime in Gaza, including in numerous public statements which have whitewashed Hamas’ weaponization of homes, schools, and hospitals.”
“While UNDP and its partner UNRWA insist that they act solely in response to humanitarian need, with impartiality and neutrality, and that their goal is to improve the economic and social conditions of the Palestinian people, the disparity with their compliant approach to Hamas appears to be influenced by their fear of being expelled from Gaza, or of other more severe consequences, requiring that they stay in the good graces of the Hamas regime,” said Neuer.

________

Government of Israel Press Release, 9 August 2016

UNDP Engineer Indicted for Assisting Hamas Terrorist Organization

(Communicated by the Israel Security Agency)
A humanitarian aid worker in the Gaza Strip has been arrested and charged with using his position to provide material assistance to Hamas’ terrorist/military efforts. This is the second such indictment of a Palestinian aid worker in Gaza in less than a week.
Waheed Borsh was arrested on 16 July by the Israel Police and Israel Security Agency (ISA) and indicted in a civilian court in southern Israel today (Tuesday, 9 August 2016). He was charged with assisting Hamas, an internationally-recognized Islamist terrorist organization.
Borsh, from Jabaliya in the Gaza Strip, has worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Gaza as an engineer since 2003. His areas of responsibility include demolishing houses damaged during armed conflicts and clearing the rubbish from sites after demolition.
The UNDP, an agency of the UN, is one of the world’s largest multilateral development agencies. It conducts development and rehabilitation projects for the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip, which include assisting in the rehabilitation of housing damaged during armed conflicts.
During the Waheed Borsh investigation, it was discovered that he had been instructed by a senior member of the Hamas terrorist organization to redirect his work for UNDP to serve Hamas’ military interests.
Borsh confessed that he did indeed carry out activities that aided Hamas. For example, last year he helped build a military jetty in the northern Gaza Strip – utilizing UNDP resources – to be used by Hamas’ naval forces.
Also in 2015, he acted to persuade UNDP managers to prioritize the rehabilitation of housing in areas populated by Hamas members. Borsh was acting in response to a request by Hamas.
Additionally, Borsh disclosed information regarding cases in which Hamas would blatantly and aggressively exploit UNDP humanitarian activities for its own purposes. For example, when weapons or terrorist tunnel openings were discovered in houses being handled by the UNDP, Hamas would take control of the site and confiscate the arms and other materials. This violates clear UN procedures according to which UNMAS is supposed to be immediately notified as the United Nations Mine Action Service is the UN body in charge of dealing, inter alia, with explosive remnants of war. Borsh also disclosed information on Hamas tunnels and military bases which he had been exposed to during his work in Gaza.
Notably, according to Borsh, other Palestinians who work for aid organizations are also working for Hamas.
This case – along with last week’s case in which Hamas operative Mohammed El-Halabi infiltrated the World Vision humanitarian aid NGO in order to divert funds and other resources for use in Hamas’ military/terrorist efforts – demonstrates how Hamas exploits the resources of international aid organizations at the expense of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

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Issue 154: Cash for Kim: UN Scandal in North Korea

unwatch — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 08:15:36 +0000

The starving, torture, and forced labor of North Koreans by the tyrannical Kim Jong Il may have been indirectly aided by UN funds.

In the latest financial and mismanagement scandal to hit the world body, the Wall Street Journal reported that the UN Development Program has long been paying hard currency directly to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il’s government, contrary to UN rules and with lax or no monitoring of how the money is used. UNDP management seems to have known about these problems from internal audits dating back as far as 1999, but they allegedly did little or nothing to change things and kept the audit information from their member state donors and executive board.

Last week’s revelations came as a result of the U.S.’s insistence, over UNDP objections, to examine the internal audit reports. What has that examination shown? According to U.S. Ambassador Mark Wallace, at least since 1998, the UNDP program for North Korea has been “systematically perverted for the benefit of the Kim Il Jong regime”—rather than for the people of North Korea. For years the program has been operated “in blatant violation of UN rules,” and served as a “steady and large source of hard currency and other resources” for the North Korean regime. There was “minimal or no assurance” that UNDP funds and resources are utilized for legitimate development activities. The widespread violation of UNDP rules was apparently never brought to the attention of its Executive Board.

Much of this would have occurred on the watch of Mark Malloch Brown, UNDP Administrator from 1999 to 2005. From 2005 until the end of 2006, Malloch Brown was Deputy Secretary-General to former Secretary-General Kofi Annan—a position he was given when Annan’s administration was reeling from the Oil-for-Food scandal, based on his supposedly excellent management of UNDP.

But the problem is bigger than just UNDP. As investigative journalist Claudia Rosett notes, the UNDP, while serving as coordinator of U.N. programs in Pyongyang, is “just one of about a half dozen U.N. agencies that have been operating in North Korea, including UNICEF, the UN Population Fund and the World Food Program.” Combined, these agencies have poured “close to $2 billion worth of resources into North Korea over the past decade or so, according to U.N. records.” All of them appear to conduct their work in North Korea in much the same way as UNDP. (Indeed, Associate UNDP Administrator Ad Melkert, responding to last week’s allegations, tried to justify UNDP’s actions on the ground that other UN agencies operate similarly in North Korea.)

To his credit, new Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon responded quickly, ordering an “urgent, system-wide” external investigation of all UN field programs, beginning with those in North Korea. UNDP has said that it will stop paying in hard currency in North Korea and that it welcomes the investigation, which is expected to take at least three months.

Ban came into office promising many changes. We join Ms. Rosett in hoping that his investigation “marks the start of a real clean-up, both within the UNDP, and well beyond.”

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Issue 112: The 2nd Annual Arab Human Development Report

unwatch — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 09:15:06 +0000

Following last year’s watershed publication, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) released its second annual Arab Human Development Report. Written “by Arabs for Arabs,” the report takes a critical look at the cardinal obstacles to human development in the Arab world. While no less scrupulous than its predecessor, this year’s report suffers in places from the very sort of scapegoating it claims to criticize.

Analysis: The theme of responsibility underlies the entire report: Arab leaders should be responsible to their citizens, and citizens to themselves and one another. As in last year’s report, the authors call for immediate, universal and active responsibility to close the gaps in personal freedom, women’s rights and proliferation of knowledge that retard growth in the region.

The report laments that Arab countries comprise the least free region in the world, according to Freedom House rankings. Among the bottom ten states in the world, half are Arab. On women’s empowerment, progress has been made in several states, though it “still has a long way to go.” But, the bulk of the report focuses on “the knowledge gap.”

Progress toward a knowledge society is hindered by poor education, authoritarianism, censorship and the lowest rates of Internet access in the world. Scientific research is growing at a much slower rate than in South Korea or China. Arab scholarship in the humanities is insular. The authors conclude that “[k]nowledge in Arab countries today appears to be on the retreat.”

The otherwise exacting 176-page analysis is marred by an introduction that blames Israel for exacerbating these long-standing ills, running counter to the spirit and letter of the rest of the text. While calling for “rigorous self-criticism,” the treatment of Israel allows for a favorite impediment to reform: deflection.

On the lack of Arab political and economic reform, the report states: “The threat of Israeli domination…creates a pretext for deferring political and economic reforms in Arab countries in the name of national solidarity against a formidably armed external aggressor.” Similarly, Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories “distorts policy priorities, retards human development and freezes opportunity for growth, prosperity and freedom across the region, and not in the [Palestinian territories] alone. The harsh indignities arising from occupation extend to all the Arab people…”

To suggest that Israel stands in the way of reform and development in the Arab world is to mute the call to individual and collective responsibility. Still, on balance, the report continues the positive and pioneering project “by Arabs, for Arabs.”

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Issue 84: The Arab Human Development Report 2002

unwatch — Wed, 10 Jul 2002 12:45:18 +0000

On 2 July, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) released the Arab Human Development Report 2002. Written “by Arabs, for Arabs,” the report has received significant attention in the Western and Arab media. According to the Jeddah-based Arab News, “The report makes very sobering reading … [and] should be distributed to all Arabs.” A New York Times editorial describes the report as “surprisingly frank and clear-minded.” Similar commentaries appeared in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Newsweek and The Independent.

Following are some of the major conclusions of the authors in their own words.

On the Lack of Freedom:

“Political participation in Arab countries remains weak, as manifested in the lack of genuine representative democracy and restrictions on liberties.”

“This freedom deficit undermines human development and is one of the most painful manifestations of lagging political development.”

On the Status of Women:

“Sadly, the Arab world is largely depriving itself of the creativity and productivity of half its citizens.”

“Women remain severely marginalized in Arab political systems and broadly discriminated against in both law and custom. Women need to be politically empowered by far greater participation.”

On the Digital Divide:

“The Arab region has the lowest level of access to ICT [information and communication technology] of all regions in the world, even lower than sub-Saharan Africa.”

“Only 0.6 percent of the population uses the Internet and the personal computer penetration is only 1.2 per cent.”

The report concludes: “The dignity and the freedom of the Arab people demand that countries join together to provide human services: health, education and training, particularly for girls and women and people living in rural areas, along with strong efforts to abolish illiteracy … such initiatives are at the heart of human development – and human development is at the heart of securing a freer, more secure and more fulfilled future for every citizen of all the Arab States.”

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Issue 83: Conditioning the Peace Process on PA Reform

unwatch — Wed, 26 Jun 2002 12:39:29 +0000

Following President Bush’s Middle East policy speech, Secretary-General Kofi Annan commented: “[W]e had hoped that the reforms would not be a condition of the peace-process and moving forward.” But, does this statement reflect the previous position of the United Nations?

Analysis: “Without an efficient and transparent Palestinian public administration, there will be no foundation for peace in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

President Bush? No. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Timothy Rothermel, Special Representative of the UNDP’s “Program for Assistance to the Palestinian People,” made that statement on May 7.

Speaking to the Security Council on June 20, Kofi Annan specified the need to end Palestinian terror and to reform Palestinian political institutions as necessary for progress toward Palestinian statehood:

“[T]here will be no political settlement in the absence of real security guarantees for Israel. The Palestinian Authority has failed to live up to its security obligations freely entered in the Oslo agreements… The commencement of a reform process within the Palestinian Authority is an important step towards the establishment of effective, democratic national institutions.”

In May 1999, the Office of the Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories (UNSCO) released the report, “Rule of Law Development in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,” which stated:

“A government based on rule of law also demands the establishment and maintenance of a strong and fair electoral system, and the creation of a broad framework of laws and policies which protect human rights, fundamental freedoms and democracy… The Palestinian Authority has firmly committed itself through peace agreements and public statements, to building a society based on the rule of law.”

The report notes that as of February 28, 1999, the UN had committed over $100 million to “rule of law” projects in the Palestinian territories.

The results, though, were not encouraging. Using an economics metaphor in a diplomatic fashion, UNSCO concluded that “the demand and needs in the rule of law domain still far outweigh the supply.”

And when the demand for good governance outstrips the supply of reform, the political price inevitably rises.

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