UNDP Admits Improper Housing Subsidy of Eveline Herfkens, Contracting with Corimec, Vendor Barred for Bribery

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un18dervis011608.html

UNITED NATIONS, January 16 -- The poverty czar of the UN Development Program, Eveline Herfkens, never sought or received permission to take $7000 a month in rent from the Dutch government, UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis admitted on Wednesday. Inner City Press asked what Dervis plans to do about the $280,000 Ms. Herfkens improperly accepted. Dervis did not spell out any action, saying that Ms. Herfkens "is now in Maryland," and while wanting to continue working on the Millennium Development Goals, is not interested in a salary. For the record, she was getting paid $225,000 a year to work, part-time, from her new home in Maryland. The housing subsidy was "definitely against the rules," he said, adding that others, too, have attempted to take housing subsidies from governments, both in the UN Secretariat and at Dervis' former employer, the World Bank. As to the UN, he said that "exceptions, actually quite a few" had been made, and are now being reviewed by the UN's Department of Management. Video here, from Minute 22:27. Inner City Press previously covered the Department of Management's answers on this issue, and will now revive that inquiry.

Dervis left until the end of his press conference any comment on the documentary proof that UNDP continued issuing contracts to a vendor, Corimec, which was barred from business with the UN Secretariat due to bribery. This had the effect of precluding any follow-up to what Dervis said on the topic. "It was a judgment call," Dervis said. "My judgment call would probably have been different," he said, adding that he could see both side. Apparently the pro-bribery side is that Corimec had already sold UNDP one batch of tents, and that second batch could, if one squinted enough, be viewed as all part of one project, hence one procurement, pre-dating Corimec being barred from business due to bribery. This is an argument that violators of sanctions regimes all around the world may want to adopt, now that UNDP's Dervis has.

Dervis had much to say attempting to deflect blame about the Algiers bombing on December 11, saying that Algeria was asked to help block off the street but did not respond, and that it was the Department of Safety and Security which is responsible for raising the threat levels in the field. In fact, UNDP's Marc de Bernis had the authority to raise the level from one to at least three, and did not, despite requests. Dervis also mentioned, but did not provide the names of, six countries in which UN employees are told to work for home. Apparently the U.S., or at least the state of Maryland, is one -- just ask Eveline Herfkens. She's been working from home for two years, only she's been getting paid $225,000 a year. We'll have more on these stories. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un18dervis011608.html

UNDP Notes but Ignores UN's Barring of Contractors for Bribery, Says Was Misquoted by World Bank in Kenya, High-Rent Poverty Czar Update

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/corimecundp011408.html

UNITED NATIONS, January 14 -- At the UN, what does it mean to take note of corruption? Back on March 16, 2007 a UN contractor named Corimec was suspended for having bribed Procurement Services official Alexander Yakovlev. On that day, UN spokesperson Michele Montas said "the UN has decided to suspend the register vendors Corimec Italia SPA, Volga-Dnepr Airlines and its subsidiary Volga-Dnepr ( Ireland) Ltd. in the vendor database in light of alleged inappropriate relationships between the above-mentioned companies and a former United Nations official. We have asked the Chief of Procurement to be here in the room today. He is right here. And Mr. Paul Buades will answer your questions more specifically on this."

Notice of disbarment was e-mailed out to all UN agencies, funds and programs. But the following month, the UN Development Program chose to ignore the bribery and suspension, and awarded Corimec an additional $2 million contract. Monday at the UN, Inner City Press asked the spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "whether the Secretariat expects, once they've e-mailed out the name of a banned company, funds and programs obey and take note of it and not do business with it." The spokesperson answered that "the Secretary-General does expect the rest of the system to take note of it, yes." So what does it mean to take note?

Monday afternoon, Inner City Press asked UNDP's Office of Communication if there are other contractors, barred by the Secretariat, still doing business with UNDP. No answer was received by press time. Nor was there any response on these issues on UNDP's new "for the record" webpage, where UNDP has fought back against, most recently, reports about UNDP briefing the World Bank in Kenya about the recent election, on which UNDP consulted and after which some 700 people have died in violence, and about Millennium Campaign czar Eveline Herfkens and her $7,000 housing subsidy from the Dutch government. On the latter, UNDP first put up a statement that "UNDP deeply appreciates the leadership and performance of Eveline Herfkens as the Executive Co-coordinator of the United Nations Millennium Campaign...UNDP is not aware of ANY rules Ms. Herfkens has knowingly broken to further her own interests."

This was followed by an addition some days later, "Subsequent to issuing this statement, the UNDP Spokesperson became aware of the details of the housing subsidy received by Ms. Herfkens. UNDP is looking into this issue, including whether receipt of the subsidy violated the applicable UNDP staff rules, and whether Ms. Herfkens was aware of the rules. UNDP is also looking into Ms. Herfkens's U.S. green card application, the applicable rules, and whether she was aware of them."

This last implies that it makes a difference if Ms. Herfkens claims she was not aware of the rules. In fact, she has since been quoted that she was "too busy;" meanwhile, there is a call growing in Holland that she return all $280,000 in rent subsidy received. On Kenya, UNDP is apparently claiming it was misquoted by the World Bank. And on the Algiers bombing, no response has been received from UNDP to a January 8 request for UNDP's Office of Communications to "describe the role in security in Algeria of UNDP's Marc de Stanne de Bernis, including confirming or denying that he ever received requests to raise the threat level, or phase, in Algeria." The request was reiterated to UNDP on Monday, but still without response. One day, perhaps, UNDP will respond "for the record." Watch that site, and this one.

Footnote: Regarding Alexander Yakovlev, a persistent UN correspondent continues to insist that Yakovlev was seen in UN Headquarters last month, with an ground pass from a mission (and not the one you'd think). The correspondent, however, says that official sources have uniformily denied that Yakovlev was given a pass, and the mission at issues says they know nothing about it. Mysteries, mysteries...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/corimecundp011408.html