Corruption files in the United Nations Reconstruction Program for Iraq: bribes in exchange for winni

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[size=52]Corruption files in the United Nations Reconstruction Program for Iraq: bribes in exchange for winning contracts![/size]

[size=45]Translated by: Hamed Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]The British newspaper The Guardian revealed allegations that huge sums of money allocated by donor countries to the program for the reconstruction of liberated cities, amounting to $1.5 billion, were lost as a result of corrupt practices at the hands of individuals affiliated with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) by demanding bribes from contractors to win reconstruction contracts in The country.[/size]
[size=45]The alleged bribes are one of the allegations of corruption and mismanagement revealed by The Guardian newspaper in the file of the Fund to Support Stabilization in Iraq within the United Nations Development Programme, which was launched in 2015 and was supported by an amount of 1 billion and 500 million dollars from 30 donor countries. Since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the international community has pumped billions of dollars in aid into the country. Twenty years after that time, Iraq still suffers from weak services and infrastructure, despite being the fourth largest oil producer in the world, achieving record revenues from oil sales last year amounting to approximately $115 billion.[/size]
[size=45]The newspaper points out that corruption and bribery constitute the lifeblood of politics in the country, and that is why the United Nations is implementing its projects directly in the hope of achieving more transparency than exists in local institutions.[/size]
[size=45]The Guardian quoted the United Nations Development Program as having “an internal mechanism that prevents and detects corruption and mismanagement, supported by strict accountability procedures and internal restrictions.”[/size]
[size=45]However, interviews conducted with more than twenty current and former members of the United Nations and with Iraqi and Western contractors and officials indicated that a United Nations agency in Iraq is feeding the culture of bribery that has penetrated Iraqi society since the overthrow of the previous regime in 2003.[/size]
[size=45]According to three associates and four contractors, The Guardian newspaper revealed that bribes amounting to 15% of the contract value had been demanded by staff at the United Nations. In return, the associate helps the contractor enter the complex UN program tender system to ensure it passes the audit process.[/size]
[size=45]According to one of the contractors who spoke to the Guardian, they were approached by a staff affiliated with the United Nations program demanding a bribe, adding: “No one gets a contract without paying. There is nothing in this country that you get without paying a bribe, neither from the government nor from the government.” United Nations programme.”[/size]
[size=45]A member of the United Nations program said that deals are made in person rather than through papers to avoid verification, with influential Iraqis sometimes playing the role of guarantor.[/size]
[size=45]He explained, “The third party also takes a share of the bribe amount, and contractors seek the help of people with connections and authority.”[/size]
[size=45]The newspaper notes that there are allegations that government officials entrusted to the United Nations Development Program office who supervise construction projects take a share of the bribe.[/size]
[size=45]Contractors and members of the United Nations staff who supervised projects say that officials exploit that authority to “extort” bribes from companies in exchange for signing off on completed projects. Two contractors told the Guardian that they were forced to pay sums of these bribes.[/size]
[size=45]In a statement to the United Nations Development Programme, it said that it received these allegations very seriously and that it would never tolerate any case of fraud, corruption or fraud.[/size]
[size=45]The United Nations Development Program Agency stated, “This policy applies equally to members of the United Nations staff as well as other vendors, implementing partners, and responsible parties involved with the United Nations.” Every allegation of bribery, corruption or fraud is fully scrutinized and investigated by an independent investigation and disclosure office affiliated with the United Nations programme.”[/size]
[size=45]In addition to cases of corruption, the amounts spent on recurring projects and other additional expenses raise more questions about what actually reached this huge budget for the people of the destroyed cities.[/size]
[size=45]The people the newspaper interviewed, many of whom preferred to remain anonymous, stated that the United Nations program had undergone unjustified expansion and expansion in projects that were intended to maintain the continuity of this program and keep the members receiving salaries and benefits in collusion with government officials who benefit financially from determining New projects are being delayed to justify withdrawing additional funding.[/size]
[size=45]The United Nations Development Program claims to have improved the living standards of 8.9 million Iraqis, which is equivalent to a fifth of Iraq's souls. However, a visit conducted by the Guardian to the project sites shows that some of these numbers were exaggerated.[/size]
[size=45]In a village in northern Iraq, there is a United Nations program sign outside a local health center that says it has been rebuilt with a grant. But the facility, which was only slightly damaged during the battles that expelled ISIS from the country in 2017, was also restored by two other organizations, with complaints from local residents that for two years the United Nations had failed to fulfill its promises to prepare equipment in a building attached to this center. Healthy.[/size]
[size=45]Donors agreed to extend the program for another two years and wanted to use some of the remaining funds for social and institutional development programs. But those who spoke to the newspaper described the training courses and workshops run by the United Nations program under the slogan of initiatives as “trivial” and lacking any strategic content.[/size]
[size=45]A former affiliate described the United Nations Development Program initiative to improve the standard of living by training displaced women in sewing as unrealistic and useless because Iraqis are accustomed to buying cheap imported clothes (in bales) from local markets, stressing by saying, “They are trying through this initiative to create a benefit.” Economic is non-existent. “As if they want to take us back to the Middle Ages.”[/size]
[size=45]For its part, the United Nations Development Program says that initiatives such as skills training are organized based on the needs of community members and in full consultation with local authorities or community notables.[/size]
[size=45]Donors are trying hard to track down the methods of disbursing the amounts they have donated, relying on the United Nations Development Program Agency to monitor and evaluate this matter through a local unit that the agency described as completely independent, following up on this issue and submitting reports to the administrative body. While five of those familiar with this issue said that there is nothing that reflects the reality of the matter on the ground.[/size]
[size=45]In response to the Guardian’s request for comment, Farhad Alaeddin, advisor to the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, said that if the allegations of corruption in the United Nations Development Program and the involvement of government departments in them are true, then legal action will be taken in this regard.[/size]
[size=45]Counselor Alaeddin added: “We will communicate with the highest authorities in the United Nations to discuss and verify the details of these allegations and refer those involved in corruption to the relevant authorities, and we will also review all programs to find the truth.”[/size]
[size=45]From: The Guardian[/size]
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