TONY BLAIR ‘USED CHILDREN’S CASH TO SET UP OFFICE’

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TONY Blair received £400,000 from a fund for disadvantaged children to set up an office in a five-star hotel.

Prime Minister David Cameron revealed the money came from the Department for International Development (DfID) and is meant to fund humanitarian work in developing countries.

But it was spent on rooms at the exclusive American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, where Mr Blair spends one week a month in his role as peace envoy to the Middle East. The 19th century hotel near the old city of Jerusalem is one of the most exclusive in Israel. A suite costs £550 a night.

The cash was paid in 2007 as Britain’s contribution to Mr Blair’s work representing the EU, America, Russia and the United Nations.

David Amess, Tory MP for Southend West, said: “The DfID should not be giving him money. It should be spent on the world’s poor.”

Mr Blair’s office was unavailable for comment.

The DfID should not be giving him money

David Amess

In Haiti for UN, Mystery of Bolduc's Quitting, Love Boat Stonewall

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 10 -- In promoting its work in Haiti, the UN veers from loud bragging to quiet resignations. This last appears to be the case of Kim Bolduc.

She had been in Haiti for less than two months when the UN thrust her forward as its public face after the earthquake. Senior UN officials heaped praise on her, she appeared by video hook up to reporters at UN headquarters in New York, and was quoted gushing about how much she loved working in Haiti for the UN. Then, very quickly thereafter, she quit.

Inner City Press was told this by sources, and asked. Earlier this month, the UN terse confirmed that Ms. Bolduc's assignment was over. On April 8 and 9, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's associate spokesman Farhan Haq to explain her resignation and where she had gone next.

"Ask UNDP," Haq said. But since the most senior UN officials in New York had praised Bolduc, Inner City Press asked again. Video here. Again, the buck was passed to UNDP, which in substance answered that Ms. Bolduc

"now feels that the time had come for new colleagues to come in to carry forward the efforts underway to help rebuild Haiti. Interim arrangements are in place while a permanent replacement is found for the Secretary-General to name a new Deputy Special Representative."

The "interim arrangements" were not specified. The other DSRSG, Tony Banbury, was seen by Inner City Press on April 8 speaking at length on the corner of 45th Street and Second Avenue with the chief of UN Peacekeeping Alain Leroy, just before he went on ten days of leave. (While Haq refused to answer who would be in charge during Leroy's absence, Inner City Press later informally learned: Dmitry Titov, now Mister Rule of Law.)

Back in October 2009, ICP exclusively reported that UN's (now-destroyed) Headquarters in Haiti was leased on the basis of a noncompetitive procurement in a contract which cost$94,000 per month.

While that figure seemed a bit extravagant, it has since been exposed that the UN is now paying $112,500 per day for two cruise ships to accommodate UN staff.

Cabin on Sea Voyager, rented by UN for its (international) Haiti staff

WFP originally put out a press release describing these accommodations. But in a mysterious way repeated frequently by the UN agencies when it realizes the potential liability of its announcements, that story was disappeared; removed from the internet. WFP spun: "Photos, text and video material are regularly being added and removed from WFP's Web site as stories are refreshed, restructured and replaced." Thankfully, the original story was saved; we are linking here.

On April 8, ICP asked UN spokesman Farhan Haq about the Love Boat story, specifically about how the procurement was done. Haq refused to answer any questions about the Love Boat contract, and passed the ball over to UNDP, despite WFP's lead role.

Here is what UNDP's spokesman had to say -- he asked that it be published in full:

As you can imagine, working conditions in Haiti are not easy. As result of the earthquake, the main UN building was flattened, killing more than 100 of our colleagues, and the UNDP building, while still standing, is deemed unsafe. Our staff has been working out of the logistics base near the airport. Some of our staff permanently assigned to Haiti can not return to their homes because they have been damaged or destroyed and there is also a lack of available housing for new arrivals. Therefore, some UNDP staff is staying tents at a UN camp, some are sleeping in their offices at the logistics base and others are sleeping in cabins on the ships, often two to a room. It should be noted that the ship has basic amenities but is by no means a "cruise ship". It is intended simply to house staff safely so they can perform their duties. About 12 people with UNDP contracts in Haiti, out of a total of approximately 200, are using the maritime accommodations at any one time.

In the immediate aftermath of the quake, the UN needed to find quickly accommodations to handle the surge of UN personnel coming in to the country in a way that obviously did not tax an already strained housing sector. The accommodations were procured by WFP for the benefit of the UN system. The cost recovery from WFP is being calculated.

While it is unlikely that there will actually be any "cost recovery" in the meaningful sense of the phrase, we will continue to monitor how and why the UN got into this arrangement, and more broadly how it it is putting donor funds to use in Haiti. Watch this site.

WFP overpaid for leasing Ola Esmeralda

Josette Sheeran of WFP has cleared the waver of Bid for the Lease of "Ola Esmeralda". WFP is now paying $72,000 U.S. per day for retaining "Ola Esmeralda" in Port-au-Prince, $23,000 U.S. more of what would cost to Lease this boat in Venezuela ($ 49,000).

$ 23,000 U.S.

x

30 days

x

6 months

=

$ 4,140,000 U.S.

The United Nations Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) as well as the US Mission to the United Nations (USUN) and the United States Congress should investigate this latest WFP/UNDP/MINUSTAH affair and go to the bottom of this deal and who is profiting from all this excess of money destined to Haiti's poor.

In Somalia, UN Denies Mercenary Use, Admits Areas Unserved, WFP and USAID Cancel Q&A

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 23 -- In the wake in Somalia of the UN World Food Program's self-investigation of the relation of its aid distribution system and the Al Shabaab rebels, Inner City Press on September 23 asked the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Somalia Mark Bowden if, as Somali sources say, WFP has hired military contractors, with USAID money. Video here, from Minute 10:28.

These are allegations by Somali sources which Inner City Press sought to ask the most senior officials of USAID and WFP about at what was advertised as a press availability on September 22, in the Millennium Hotel across from the UN. When Inner City Press arrives, early, for the Q&A session, WFP executive director Josette Sheeran was visible in a meeting with USAID signs on the wall.

After a staff member confirmed it was Inner City Press which came to ask questions, the Q&A session was canceled, as was a second USAID session set for September 24. So the question was asked of Bowden as UN humanitarian coordinator.

Bowden replied as to WFP, "I'm sure they haven't employed military contracts." He said that he is the UN system's Department of Safety & Security (DSS) designated security officer for the country. He then acknowledged that there are parts of Somalia where DSS cannot operate, where the UN relies on the security of "the agencies concerned" -- that is, WFP. Video here, from Minute 15:50

There is a serious drought in Somalia, and Inner City Press asked Bowden to confirm that there are areas where the UN has no humanitarian access. Bowden replied that yes there are, for example in Johar, where UNICEF vaccines were looted. He said that usually the "local community" makes good or provides assurances, but that hasn't happened in Johar.

Inner City Press asked about the Shabaab's statements against DSS, the UN Development Program and Ould Abdullah's UNPOS, but not against WFP and UNICEF. Bowden called these statements "propagandist in nature" since, he said, UNPOS and UNDP weren't then working in the areas Shabaab referred to. He called it unfortunate, as it appears to have sidelined DSS. Could this explain Somali's increasing allegation that the UN is using military contractors?

UN's Mark Bowden, no service in Johar, mercenaries and promised FSMAU report not shown

While Bowden scoffed that it would be nearly impossible for the UN to use military contractors, Inner City Press when it inquired into the UN's operations in Basra in Iraq was told:

Subj: your question on security in Basra
From: unspokesperson-donotreply [at] un.org
To: matthew.lee [at] innercitypress.com
Sent: 9/2/2009 4:27:08 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time

In Basra, where the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq has a small presence, UNAMI has occasionally used in the past private security guards (who were also providing security to the UK diplomats) to escort UN staff to meetings with the local Iraqi officials at the civilian side of the airport. That was paid through a support agreement with the UK, which was responsible for security in Basra at the time.

So, contrary to what Mr. Bowden said, it is not so difficult for the UN to use / benefit from military contractors. But who might be performing this role in Somalia?

Footnote: While USAID canceled both of its press availabilities, and WFP canceled on September 22, it is hoped that further information can be obtained outside of New York on September 25, and beyond. Regarding USAID there are other questions regarding, for example, Afghanistan and Bolivia. Watch this site.

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