Friday, January 05, 2007

U.N. envoy says officials working to deter and uncover tsunami aid corruption - Americas - International Herald Tribune

U.N. envoy says officials working to deter and uncover tsunami aid corruption - Americas - International Herald Tribune: "U.N. envoy says officials working to deter and uncover tsunami aid corruption
The Associated Press
Published: January 4, 2007

WASHINGTON: The United Nations deputy envoy for Asian tsunami rebuilding efforts said Thursday that officials are working to deter and uncover corruption associated with the billions of dollars (euros) international donors have pledged to people hurt by the 2004 disaster.

Eric Schwartz, deputy to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the top U.N. envoy for tsunami recovery, said anti-corruption measures include databases designed to track financial contributions and to make that information available on the Internet.

Cooperation with some countries has been very good, while in other nations it has been 'much more slow going because of the complexities. But, nonetheless, serious effort has been made,' Schwartz told reporters at the National Press Club."