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.

Venezuela Bolivar Near 5-Month Low Vs Dollar In Black Market

CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuela's bolivar dropped toward its lowest level against the dollar in five months in unregulated trading Monday as traders said local companies began losing hope of getting the greenbacks they need at the cheaper, official rate.

A dollar was fetching about 6.45 bolivars in Venezuela's black, or so-called parallel market Monday, traders said, adding that the rate was very close to levels unseen since August. Some Web sites that track the unregulated market were quoting a rate of VEF6.52 per dollar Monday afternoon, which would be the bolivar's weakest level since Aug. 21, when it was at VEF6.54 for $1.

The government of President Hugo Chavez devalued the currency's official, pegged rate by half in early January, to VEF4.3 per dollar from VEF2.15 per dollar.

In doing so, the government indicated this would give it the ability to provide more local firms with the dollars they need at the official rate, and thus would reduce the need for black market trading.

"For the past month, there's been a wait-and-see attitude on the part of companies," said Russ Dallen, a trader at Caracas-based BBO Financial Services.

But, Dallen said local firms, many of which need hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time to pay for everything from auto parts to tires to foods that aren't made or processed in Venezuela, are having little luck meeting all those dollar needs through official channels.

As a result, they are once again being led back to the parallel market, which is driving up dollar demand and pushing down the value of the bolivar.

-By Dan Molinski, Dow Jones Newswires; 58-414-120-5738; dan.molinski@dowjones.com
-------

CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuela's bolivar dropped toward its lowest level against the dollar in five months in unregulated trading Monday as traders said local companies began losing hope of getting the greenbacks they need at the cheaper official rate.

A dollar was fetching about 6.45 bolivars in Venezuela's black, or so-called parallel, market Monday, traders said, adding that the rate was very close to levels unseen since August. On Friday, the bolivar was at about VEF6.3 per dollar.

Some Web sites that track the unregulated market were quoting a rate of VEF6.52 per dollar Monday afternoon, which would be the bolivar's weakest level since Aug. 21, when it was at VEF6.54 for $1.

The government of President Hugo Chavez devalued the currency's official pegged rate by half in early January, to VEF4.3 per dollar from VEF2.15 per dollar.

In doing so, the government indicated this would give it the ability to provide more dollars at the official rate to importers and other firms, which would help convince those companies to stop going to the black market for their foreign-currency needs.

"For the past month, there's been a wait-and-see attitude on the part of companies," said Russ Dallen, a trader at Caracas-based BBO Financial Services.

But Dallen said importers, many of which need hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time to pay for everything from auto parts to tires to foods that aren't made or processed in Venezuela, are having little luck meeting all those dollar needs through official channels.

As a result, they are once again being forced back to the parallel market, which is driving up dollar demand and pushing down the value of the bolivar.

Analysts also say the bolivar's weakness is a simple result of the devaluation itself, which has caused many ordinary Venezuelans to lose confidence in their currency and seek out greenbacks in exchange.

The higher demand for dollars comes despite another $40 million bond auction Monday by Venezuela's central bank, the sixth such auction this year. The sales have been aimed specifically at driving down dollar demand in the parallel market and providing strength to the bolivar.

The 90-day, zero coupon bonds were priced at 112%, meaning that local investors that purchase them would buy dollars at a rate of 4.8 bolivars, according to estimates from Caracas-based research firm Ecoanalitica.

That rate is higher than the official VEF4.3 rate but well below the current price for dollars in the so-called black market.

Given that the dollar continues to strengthen despite those bond sales, which will be paid for from the country's foreign reserves, some analysts say the bolivar's weakness could accelerate if the government decides to halt the auctions.

The bolivar certainly has room to weaken more, as its weakest level last year came in April, when a dollar was fetching as much as 7.10 bolivars for $1 in the black market.

While the main official rate was devalued to VEF4.3 per dollar last month, the government also set up a second official rate of VEF2.6 per dollar for "essential items" such as medicine.

Spanish firm Telefonica SA (TEF) indicated last week that it had received approval to get the more advantageous VEF2.6-per-dollar rate for profits it hasn't repatriated yet.

-By Dan Molinski, Dow Jones Newswires; 58-414-120-5738; dan.molinski@dowjones.com

Signed Aguilera Chrysler At Auction For Haiti

Stars For A Cause, with the Chrysler Group, is to auction off a car autographed and personalized by recording artist and film star Christina Aguilera to benefit theUnited Nations World Food Programme.

This 2010 Chrysler 300 eco style Edition car will be auctioned during the second annual Dan Kruse-Leake Collector Car Auction at the Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio on April 10 at 2pm.

Christina Aguilera was selected to personalize this one-of-a-kind, vanilla exterior and cactus interior luxury car. The eco style edition uses recycled materials, such as recycled rubber for the floor mats, bamboo wood interior, 100% recycled metals, and includes a fuel efficiency system that reduces the 8 cylinder engine to 4 cylinders when necessary.

“We were delighted when Christina Aguilera agreed to autograph and personalize the 2010 300 eco style Edition car that was generously contributed by the Chrysler brand,” said George Braunstein, co-founder of Stars For A Cause, a 501©(3) not for profit organization. “We have chosen Leake Auction Company for their experience in charity auctions, their honorable reputation, and their location in the heart of America as a symbolic gesture.”

“We have established a wonderful relationship with Stars For A Cause to auction several celebrity cars in 2010,” stated Richard Sevenoaks, president of Leake Auction Company. “When each celebrity car is auctioned, the proceeds benefit a charity of the celebrity’s choice. The charities desperately need additional funds right now, and we are honored to help through this auction, as well as our other auctions this year.”

Stars For A Cause will auction the car with 100% of the proceeds generated going to the United Nations World Food Programme, with relief going towards Haiti.

Stars For A Cause is a unique charity fundraiser. Launched in 2006, Stars For A Cause has helped raise money for various charities through the help of celebrities and the Hollywood community. Most recently, Stars For A Cause, in collaboration with the Chrysler Group, was proud to auction off a Chrysler 300 “Haiti” edition signed by hundreds of celebrities at the 2010 Golden Globes red carpet to benefit the American Red Cross Haitian Relief Fund on Saturday, February 20. This one-of-a-kind vehicle auction generated $112,400 ($100,000 from bidders, $10,000 from Leake, $2,400 from attendees) at the Leake Auction Company’s annual collector car auction in Oklahoma City.

For information on bidding on Christina Aguilera’s customized and autographed Chrysler 300 eco style, visit www.leakecar.com.

In Brief: Comparing aid efficiency

http://world-countries.net/archives/22026

Photo: Wikimedia
Multilateral banks have higher overheads than bilateral (country) donors, says study

DAKAR, 8 April 2010 (IRIN) – Multilateral donors like the World Bank and the European Commission spend far more than individual country donors on overheads, according to research by New York University.

Multilateral donors spent a third of their aid on overhead costs and one fifth on salaries in 2008, which was respectively three and five times more than bilateral donors, the research indicated.

While the average donor spends 17 percent on overhead costs, Belgium manages to spend only 0.24 percent on overheads.

Italy, Japan, USA and the Netherlands spend less than 1 percent of their overall budgets on salaries and benefits, according to the research, which was conducted by New York University Department of Economics researcher Claudia Williamson.

Williamson studied aid figures reported by donors to calculate the ratio of administrative costs to official development assistance (ODA, official support given by governments to developing countries) and official development financing (ODF, including grants and loans from multilateral banks); the ratio of salaries and benefits to ODA or ODF; and the total ODA or ODF disbursements per employee.

Donors spent an average of US$6 million on aid per employee (bilaterals $8.5 million and multilaterals $2.4 million).

When salary and overhead cost rankings were combined, Norway, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Australia came in the top five, and UN agencies WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the Global Environment Fund (GEF) come last out of 42 donors studied. However, UN agencies are practitioners, not just donors, and thus such like-for-like comparisons do not really work, an aid analyst at a recent aid transparency conference told IRIN.

Numbers do not tell the full story, added aid analyst Karin Christiansen, head of the NGO Publish What You Fund. Overhead costs, for instance, are necessarily higher when channelling aid to fragile states versus those with strong administrations, she told IRIN.

The study is part of a series looking at aid effectiveness, according to Williamson. “We were not surprised by the findings,” Williamson told IRIN. “They followed up on previous research Easterly [Economics Professor William Easterly] has already done.”

Edmond Mulet says: UN should take care of its personnel before caring of Haitians

"These two boats ("Ola Esmeralda and "Sea Voyager") are for the United Nations in Haiti like Oxygen masks come down in a falling plane. The first thing you do is put them on yourself"

"You have to be in good shape in order to help the Haitians"

"Haitian civilians .....understand"

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.

The U.N. is spending over $10 million to house some of its Haiti relief workers on a pair of chartered cruise ships

Welcome to the "Love Boat," a lavish chartered cruise ship where many U.N. relief workers are living while they stay in Haiti's ruined capital of Port au Prince, where most residents are homeless. The U.N. is paying over $10 million to rent a pair of ships, because "you have to be in good shape in order to help the Haitians," a senior U.N. official told Fox News.