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Japan Warns U.N. of Funding Cut
If widespread fraud and waste at the United Nations is not stopped, Japan says it may cut its funding for the scandal-ridden international organization. Responding to a U.N. official’s argument that his organization’s peacekeeping operations need more money to avoid future lapses, Japanese U.N. mbassador, Kenzo Oshima, said his government, which kicks in 20 percent of the peacekeeping budget, will "find it very difficult" to keep underwriting such operations unless corruption, waste and sexual abuse by troops are halted, the Los Angeles Times reported. The threat arose during a special Security Council session called to discuss an internal investigation that unearthed the fact that nearly $300 million was lost in waste and fraud in peacekeeping procurement. According to the Times, the session was held as part of a U.S.-led effort to spur reform of U.N. management after another investigation revealed that a lack of oversight and rules had allowed corruption and subversion of the U.N.’s $64 billion oil-for-food program for Iraq. The internal investigation report says the procurement department had a grievous lack of internal controls, and that rules were often flouted from 2000 to 2004. The report noted that it costs about $5 billion to support the U.N.'s 18 peacekeeping missions around the world. It said the scale, diversity and immediacy of needs allows opportunity for waste, fraud and corruption.
Story Continues Below The Times reported that eight U.N. staffers have been placed on paid leave while the investigation continues, and that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is questioning others. The U.S. investigation of the U.N. procurement system has already led to a guilty plea from one U.N. employee, Alexander Yakovlev, who admitted committing wire fraud and money laundering. U.S. Ambassador John R. Bolton, the current president of the Security Council, convened the session commenting that the $300 million figure was higher than the total U.S. contribution to the annual peacekeeping budget. "It is in fact time for a wholesale change in the culture of how many agencies and entities within the U.N. system operate. Whether it is a culture of inaction or a culture of impunity, we must see changes," he told the session. "The problem of procurement fraud, waste and abuse is one that directly affects our tax dollars as the largest contributor to the U.N." While saying that he would not recommend any cuts in funds, he warned that Congress, which decides U.N. appropriations, might have other ideas about continued funding. The Times added that Bolton agreed that U.N. peacekeepers are needed –- a contention bolstered by the General Accounting Office, which recently concluded that the U.S. would have spent twice as much in Haiti if it had fielded troops by itself. "I think there is very strong support for the concept of peacekeeping both by the administration and in Congress," Bolton said. "But we should be entitled to have effective peacekeeping without waste."
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