By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- The US, specifically its Agency for International Development, has defended its role in developing a faux / parallel "Cuban Twitter," exposed by the AP.
But USAID spokesperson Matt Herrick's statement does not address the United Nations link, on which UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq declined to comment on April 3.
James Eberhard worked on and with the US strategy since at least July 2010. But he is also described as "James Eberhard, CEO and founder of GeoPoll... GeoPoll was recently used by the United Nations to complete its MY World global survey, bringing in 13 percent of total responses in weeks. It is also being used by the World Food Programme on an ongoing basis to assess nutrition access in specific regions within the Democratic Republic of the Congo."
Of this last, the UN itself said:
"In Democratic Republic of the Congo, a partnership with GeoPoll is helping us to conduct the poll via mobile surveys, so we will be able to gather data from large numbers of respondents who are otherwise unreachable in a country with limited internet connectivity.We expect to reach approximately 15,000-18,000 people in the DRC in the coming weeks."
Eberhard has spoken at the UN:
Forty-Ninth Session of the Commission for Social Development, 9 to 18 February 2011
Tuesday 8 February 2. Conference Room: D, NLB
Organizers: Division for Social Policy and Development, co-sponsored with Search for Common Ground
Theme: Youth-led Social Development and Young Philanthropy
Speakers: Mr. Ryan Allis, co-founded “iContact”; Mr. James Eberhard, Founder and Chairman, Mobile Accord.
So the UN and its WFP use Eberhard, who collabores with the US on a "Cuban Twitter." Shouldn't the UN answer this? Watch this site.
