Anon is only posting the 1st page, 9 pages total, linking the PDFForeign Policy

Greed and Graft at U.N. Climate ProgramAugust 14, 2019

Whistleblowers and experts allege corruption at a United Nations Development Program project for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Russia, according to a Foreign Policy investigation.

On Dec. 16, 2018, Dmitry Ershov, a Russian national who once managed a multimillion-dollar environmental project for the United Nations Development Program in Russia, sat down in his Moscow study and recorded a sobering videotaped message to the project’s key international funders: The United Nations is ripping you off.

“Donors, please do not let the UNDP get away with stealing your money and covering it up for years and years,” said Ershov, sitting stiffly at a desk, addressing his camera in heavily accented English.

Ershov is one of nearly a dozen former U.N. employees, auditors, and consultants who have been flagging concerns for nearly a decade about mismanagement and alleged misappropriation of millions of dollars in international funds from the Global Environment Facility, or GEF, which are intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Russia. But their concerns about irregularities in the program—which were first reported internally back in 2011—were largely dismissed or ignored for several years by their superiors in Istanbul, New York, and Washington, as well as by donor governments, including the United States.

A Foreign Policy investigation into the case—based on an extensive trove of internal U.N. documents and interviews with key players—provides further evidence to support Ershov’s claims and sheds an unflattering light on the failings of the U.N., the GEF, and the donor governments themselves to provide reliable oversight of well-meaning programs to combat environmental scourges, including the depletion of the ozone layer and global warming.A 2017 confidential audit appendix—which was shared with UNDP officials in New York and Istanbul but has never previously been made public—found “strong indicators of deliberate misappropriation” of millions of dollars in funds from the project between 2010 and 2014.

A 2017 confidential audit appendix found “strong indicators of deliberate misappropriation” of millions of dollars in funds from the project between 2010 and 2014. But UNDP challenged that characterization. A subsequent investigation by UNDP’s Office of Audit and Investigations “did not find evidence of misappropriation of funds, but separately after review did conclude that project management had not met expected standards,”.

The UNDP investigation offers a snapshot into a sprawling and growing international bureaucracy aimed at grappling with one of the world’s greatest challenges. It also shows how reluctant international institutions like the U.N., as well as the governments that fund them, are to investigate potential corruption under their watch and to act on the claims of whistleblowers who draw it to their attention. The U.N. has long faced criticism that it has done too little to support and protect whistleblowers. In the Russia program, UNDP investigators cleared officials accused of wrongdoing on the grounds that they did not fully understand they were violating U.N. rules designed to prevent abuse….

Ershov says he was pushed out of his U.N. job in October 2014 for raising concerns about conflicts of interest in the GEF program. He has spent the last four and a half years prodding the UNDP, the GEF, and donors to investigate his claims that U.N. and Russian officials had awarded lucrative contracts to friends and family for a program that produced few environmental achievements.

Last month, Ershov presented representatives of the 32-member GEF Council with a copy of his videoand a statement urging them to open an independent investigation into his allegations.

But Ershov’s appeals have repeatedly been brushed aside, and he has been dismissed by senior UNDP officials as a disgruntled former contract employee who is seeking revenge against his boss for having refused to renew his contract. John O’Brien, UNDP’s, O’Brien conceded that there were “very serious issues” with the program, noting that three independent consultants had flagged concerns about how funds were spent. “I have some concerns about where this might lead for UNDP,” he wrote.Three years earlier, O’Brien wrote an internal memo saying the program had little to show for the $1.4 million it spent in its first year, and he proposed flagging it as a “problem project.” But he was overruled.…

https://www.ft.com/content/054a529c-e793-489b-8986-b65d01672766

2006 USAID REPORT ON UKRAINE CORRUPTIONPDF ATTACHED== KEK, the most corrupt US Agency writing a report on Ukraine Corruption.

Ukraine’s Corruption Syndrome

A country’s political-economic dynamics strongly influence the degree and nature of corruption in that country. The way corruption manifests itself differs from country to country depending upon the ways that people seek and use wealth and power, the strengths or weaknesses of the state, and political and social institutions that sustain and restrain these processes. Differences in these factors give rise to several major syndromes of corruption.4

On the basis of Ukrainian expert evaluations that were supported by interviews with additional specialists in Ukraine, our analysis characterizes corruption in Ukraine as fitting into the Elite Cartels syndrome (described in the text box below). The implications of being in this syndrome play out later in this report in terms of the kinds of programmatic options likely to be effective in reducing corruption in Ukraine.

In Elite Cartel countries such as Ukraine, top political and business figures collude behind a façade of political competition and colonize both the state apparatus and sections of the economy. From the early 1990s, powerful officials in government and politics acquired and privatized key economic resources of the state. As well, shadowy businesses, allegedly close to organized crime, became powerful economic forces in several regions of the country.5

Over the course of the past decade, these business groupings – or clans – as they became called, grew into major financial-industrial structures that used their very close links with and influence over government, political parties, the mass media and the state bureaucracy to enlarge and fortify their control over the economy and sources of wealth. They used ownership ties, special privileges, relations with government and direct influence over the courts and law enforcement and regulatory organizations to circumvent weaknesses in governmental institutions. Their tactics and their results can be viewed as a clear exercise of state and regulatory capture.

A recent report by the World Bank6 refers to this clan-based Elite Cartel syndrome in Ukraine as a “closed insider economy” that can be an obstacle to future sustainable economic growth and integration into the EU and world economy. It hinders fair competition, encourages under-the-table deals and collusion between state officials and business, promotes rent-seeking behaviors, discourages foreign investment, and decreases adaptability over time.

Elite Cartels Corruption Syndrome Defined

Elite Cartels are extended networks linking diverse elites who share a strong stake in the status quo and in resisting political and economic competitors. Such competition, in most cases, is intensifying at least gradually. Elites in the cartel may include politicians, party leaders, bureaucrats, media owners, military officers and business people—in both private and, often, parastatal sectors—in various combinations. Corruption will be moderate to extensive, but tightly controlled from above, with the spoils shared among (and binding together) members of the elite network. Leaders of nominally competing political parties may share corrupt benefits and power among themselves, again as a way of minimizing competition. Elite cartel systems are often marked by ineffective legislatures, extensive state power in the economy, politicization of development policy and banking, and a process of mutual “colonization” among business, political parties, and the bureaucracy.

Elite cartel corruption underwrites a kind of de facto political stability and policy predictability, partially compensating for moderately weak official institutions; as a result, international investors may find the situation tolerable or even attractive. Elite Cartels may be an attractive alternative to more disruptive kinds of corruption in the short to middle term, but it delays democratization and/or the growth of genuine political competition, while the shared interests of interlinked elites may make for inflexible policy and reduced adaptation over the longer term. Elite cartel corruption often features large and complex corrupt deals, frequently marked more by collusion than outright theft or violence, orchestrated from above, and closed to outsider elites.

– Michael Johnston, Syndromes of Corruption: Wealth, Power, and Democracy (New York:

Cambridge University Press, 2005

Https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnadk247.pdf

>>19513389

OECD.ORG Corruption tracking and reports going back to 2003.It's quite weird that the EU and the West is considering this country for the EU and NATO when they seem never to make progress on Anti-corruption.

Ukraine - Anti-corruption reforms

Ukraine is one of the countries participating in the OECD Anti-corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (OECD/ACN). Established in 1998, the OECD/ACN provides a regional forum for the promotion of anti-corruption activities, exchange of information, elaboration of best practices and donor coordination.

Monitoring and progress reports for Ukraine

The Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan is a sub-regional peer-review programme launched in 2003 under the aegis of the OECD/ACN to support anti-corruption reforms through country reviews and continuous monitoring of participating countries’ implementation of recommendations to assist in the implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and other international standards and best practice.

Download monitoring and progress reports published for Ukraine to date:

Pilot 5th round monitoring report, 2022 English

4th round monitoring report, 2018. Chapter: Prevention and Prosecution of Corruption in State-Owned Enterprises English

4th round monitoring report, 2017 English

3rd round monitoring report, 2015 English | Russian

2nd round monitoring report, 2010 English | Russian

1st round monitoring report, 2006 English | Russian

Recommendations, 2004 English | Russian | Ukrainian

Progress updates

- March 2019 English

- July 2018 English

- NGO update September 2016 Russian

- September 2016 English

- October 2015 English

- October 2014 English

- April 2014 English

- September 2013 Russian

- February 2012 English | Russian

- September 2011 Russian

- March 2010 English | Russian

- September 2007 English | Russian

- June 2006 English | Russian

- October 2005 English | Russian

- December 2004 English | Russian

Ukraine Anti-corruption Projects

In November 2014 in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the OECD and Ukraine, the OECD launched a country-specific project to support Ukraine in its anti-corruption agenda. The project aims to strengthen legal and institutional capacity to effectively detect, investigate and prosecute high-profile and complex corruption in Ukraine.

Read more

https://www.oecd.org/corruption/anti-corruption-reforms-in-ukraine.htm

>>19513410

I know, it's the proverbial Fox guarding the hen house that none of the orgs, agencies etc are interested in eliminating corruption for good. They usually target the countries that oppose US and EU domination really.

8 Sep, 2023 13:49

Irish PM says island on path to reunification

Leo Varadkar said the success of a reunited Ireland would be judged by how it treats minorities, such as those who identify as British

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has claimed that the Republic of Ireland could be reunited with Northern Ireland within his lifetime and further suggested addressing cultural issues that could arise from such a reunification. The island was partitioned in 1921.

Speaking to state broadcaster RTE on Thursday, Varadkar stated that if the island were to reunite, there would emerge a minority group of roughly one million people who identify as British. The island is currently split between the independent Republic of Ireland and the UK’s partial province of Northern Ireland.

The Irish leader noted that the ultimate success of the country would depend on how it treats its minorities and that the island’s government would have to consider this issue in the future.

Varadkar has noted that if the island were to reunite, some aspects of Irish culture should be addressed to make British minorities feel more welcome. Specifically, he noted the issue of republican ballads that make reference to the infamous Irish Republican Army (IRA) – a paramilitary organization that used controversial means, including terrorism, to fight for the liberation of the island from British rule.

“What is a republican ballad, a nice song to sing, easy words to learn for some people can be deeply offensive to other people,” Varadkar said, referring to a recent performance at a major music festival by a group called The Wolfe Tones that caused outrage as it included the audience response “Ooh, Aah, Up the Ra,” lyrics that are widely associated with the IRA.

Varadkar suggested that a reunified Ireland may have to heed the words of Northern Ireland comedian Patrick Kielty, whose father was murdered during the Troubles – the ethno-nationalist conflict that took place between unionists and Irish nationalists in the second half of the 20th century.

“You can’t physically unite the island and have nearly a million unionists up the road joining this countrywithout changing some furniture to make those people feel welcome,” said Kielty during a recent show. “I think you could probably start with not singing, ‘Ooh, aah, up the ‘RA’ in the changing rooms maybe,” he suggested.

Meanwhile, a British government spokesperson has told the BBC that there is currently no basis for a united Ireland, noting that Northern Ireland will remain part of the UK “for as long as its people wish for it to be.”

“We are absolutely clear that there is no basis to suggest that a majority of people in Northern Ireland wish to separate from the United Kingdom,” he said, adding that “Northern Ireland, its people, and future generations have a bright and prosperous future within the UK.”

https://www.rt.com/news/582586-ireland-pm-island-unification/

(So old Leo is part of the NWO and homogenize the people of Ireland. To make immigrants and minority members of the UK comfortable they will have to stop singing Irish ballads and Ireland will not leave the EU. Globalist all the way. Wait if all those foreigners come will they stop singing their country ballads, and stop public prayer call from Muslim countries? What's fair is fair!)

(Anons I found this article on the Kyiv Post from 2017 Nina Jankowicz wrote it, does anyone want to help investigate the spies and propaganda experts that work with her, list at the bottom)

43 Fulbrighters to Trump: Don’t lift sanctions on Russia

By Nina JankowiczPublished Jan. 28, 2017. Updated Jan. 29

Dear President Trump:

We, the undersigned American Fulbright students, scholars and alumni who have served as cultural ambassadors to Ukraine are writing to urge you not to sign an executive order that would lift sanctions on Russia for its aggressive, illegal actions in this country.

The purpose of the Fulbright program is to promote mutual understanding between the United States and countries all over the world. We came to Ukraine as teachers, researchers, and experts, but will leave having learned as much as, if not more than we taught.

Sanctions work

Checking Russian aggression in Ukraine with financial penalties has stopped the Kremlin from advancing its hybrid forces in the east, and has given Russia a clear signal that there are consequences to breaking the rules of the international order. We write this letter from Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, which has not heard the explosions and gunfire so common in the east. Indeed, since the Revolution of Dignity three years ago, a time when Ukrainians died in fiery street battles in defense of a future in which they could be free of the corrupting forces of a government that gave in to authoritarian Russia, the city has witnessed a rise in entrepreneurial activity and the growth of civil society. All over the country, from our posts, we see that most of Ukraine is peaceful and stable. Without sanctions, this might not be the case.

Ukraine has made progress

Despite fighting a war that has cost precious monetary resources and over 10,000 military and civilian lives, Ukraine has managed to stabilize its economy; the World Bank projects 2% GDP growth in the coming year. Thanks in large part to the support and engagement of the United States and other Western allies, it is making slow but steady progress in the fight against corruption. In some parts of the country, the government created a new police force to replace an institution that would regularly extract bribes from Ukraine’s poorest citizens. And this fall, in an unprecedented regulation that western governments including our own could learn from, over 100,000 high-level Ukrainian public servants including the President and Prime Minister publicly disclosed their assets, the first step among many to stamp out corruption in the government itself.

Ukrainian people have spirit

Our students, coworkers, and newfound friends are all highly educated, motivated people who embrace values true to the American ethos: the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Many of them have dedicated themselves to public service because they believe in Ukraine’s future. They want to be a part of the reforms that carry Ukraine to European integration and forge a life of stability and security for their children and grandchildren. In addition to being a retaliatory measure, sanctions are in place to support these shared ideals, and to support the development of Ukraine into a fully free state that is ruled by law rather than a corrupt, Russian-backed oligarchy.

Many of us have also worked and studied in Russia and harbor a deep love and respect for the country, its people, and its culture. We would like nothing more than to see our country have a productive relationship with Moscow. But this must not be done at the expense of the 10,000 Ukrainian citizens who lost their lives in a war that Russia perpetrated, at the expense of the nearly 2 million residents of the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula who lack basic services and suffer regular human rights abuses at the hands of the Kremlin, or at the expense of over 45 million Ukrainians who have the right to determine their own alliances.

Lifting Russian sanctions is not in US interests

It would signal to Russia that, at its own expense, the United States is willing to make space for Moscow at the head of the diplomatic table. It would run explicitly against the American ideals of freedom, equality, and democracy that we as Fulbrighters came to Ukraine to represent and promote. They are values for which Americans and Ukrainians alike have lost their lives and which the __

Kremlin flagrantly disregards

If cooperation with Russia is to be pursued, we implore that it not be at the expense of Ukraine. Sanctions on Russia must be maintained until it meets the terms of the Minsk Agreement and returns Crimea to Ukraine.

Signed,__43 Fulbrighters to Trump:

I have to post the names on another post see the clip board image

https://archive.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/letters/fulbrighters-trump-dont-drop-sanctions-russia.html