digitalzygot
Senator (1k+ posts)
By Bradley S. Klapper
As Washington demands more transparency from Pakistan on how it's spending its flood aid money, a UN agency has launched an unusual appeal for relief funds to be sent directly to a Pakistani or Swiss bank account - with none of the usual monitoring safeguards.
It's a sharp departure from UN protocol that has raised concerns in the international aid community as questions mount over rampant corruption in Pakistan, and whether it may be preventing the money from going where it's needed most.
The press release by the UN's obscure International Telecommunication Union asks donors to wire money to the National Bank of Pakistan or Switzerland's UBS AG to "assist the flood-affected victims" and rebuild telephone networks - but offers no specifics on concrete projects.
But some analysts expressed grave reservations. "It's like the Nigerian or Ivory Coast messages asking for help, when they give you the bank account," said Riccardo Bocco, a professor at Geneva's Graduate Institute. "It looks quite funny. I don't know if it's a new practice in the UN world, but I doubt it."
As Washington demands more transparency from Pakistan on how it's spending its flood aid money, a UN agency has launched an unusual appeal for relief funds to be sent directly to a Pakistani or Swiss bank account - with none of the usual monitoring safeguards.
It's a sharp departure from UN protocol that has raised concerns in the international aid community as questions mount over rampant corruption in Pakistan, and whether it may be preventing the money from going where it's needed most.
The press release by the UN's obscure International Telecommunication Union asks donors to wire money to the National Bank of Pakistan or Switzerland's UBS AG to "assist the flood-affected victims" and rebuild telephone networks - but offers no specifics on concrete projects.
But some analysts expressed grave reservations. "It's like the Nigerian or Ivory Coast messages asking for help, when they give you the bank account," said Riccardo Bocco, a professor at Geneva's Graduate Institute. "It looks quite funny. I don't know if it's a new practice in the UN world, but I doubt it."
