The U.N. Development Program acknowledged Tuesday that contractor abuses occurred during its oversight of $25.6 million in American-funded rebuilding projects in Afghanistan, as charged in a U.S. government report.
The criticism by the U.S. Agency for International Development came last June but wasn”t disclosed publicly until USA Today reported on it Tuesday.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UNDP, the United Nations” main anti-poverty program, said the agency expected to repay no more than $1.5 million provided by USAID for rebuilding Afghan infrastructure.
All of the U.S.-funded “Quick Impact Projects” taken on by UNDP were subcontracted to the scandal-plagued U.N. Office for Project Services. The office, known as UNOPS, in turn hired local contractors to do the work in Afghanistan after the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban.
Dujarric said the idea was to urgently repair roads, bridges, wells and clinics while creating jobs for Afghans in remote and often “insecure” areas.
“The vast majority of these projects were completed successfully,” he said. “UNDP is as angry as anyone about the reported misbehavior of UNOPS or any other U.N. employee in Afghanistan, during the period 2003 to 2006, and we fully support U.N. action against any individuals involved.”
He said USAID and the State Department provided UNDP with nearly $336 million over the past seven years with “no major disputes or difficulties.”
