Claudia Rosett, who did the heaviest of the heavy lifting exposing the billion dollar Oil-for-Food scandal in the United Nations, says it's probably a coincidence....but I doubt it.
Just days after I queried the U.S. Mission to the UN about its commitment to UN transparency (Paging Ambassador Susan Rice), the Mission finally posted on its web site more than 130 previously secret UN internal audit reports. The UN, for all its endless promises about transparency and its ample enjoyment of other people’s money, does not release these reports to the public. It is only thanks to the U.S. that they are now seeing daylight at all — though it takes some trolling through the Mission’s web site to find them.For anyone who cares about even minimal integrity in UN management and handling of taxpayer money, there’s a trove of bombshell material here. Together, the reports total hundreds of pages, but the typical report runs about 10-20 pages. They date from October, 2008 through August, 2009.
Again, Rosett is doing the legwork so we don't have to, though she encourages readers to browse the records for themselves. Based on her early assessment, it's hard to be encouraged that the relentless corruption at the U.N. will slow anytime soon. As Rosett says, audits are one thing, and action to bring about reform is something else again...and there is little appetite for the latter. The Obama people do deserve credit for this small step. Go for links and details.