Ongoing Efforts to Improve Financial Tracking and Accountability in Tsunami Recovery

Strategic Insights -

The articles "Little clarity on how aid gets spent" and "Costs eat into funds raised through disaster appeal" (December 23) in the Financial Times (FT) criticized the lack of transparency in tsunami recovery efforts, but missed a bigger story about ongoing and significant efforts to improve financial tracking and accountability. United Nations agencies, including the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, and the UN Deputy Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, Eric Schwartz, have been working to improve quick access to information, establish online financial tracking databases, and conduct comprehensive evaluations of tsunami-related assistance programs.

Key Takeaways:

  • The UN has established online financial tracking databases in most of the severely impacted countries to improve transparency and accountability.
  • A comprehensive evaluation of tsunami-related assistance programs, initiated by the UN, will include external auditors and be made public.
  • Regular public reporting by all UN agencies, often after outside audits of programs, is underway.
  • The UN is committed to sustaining its partnership with governments in promoting a brighter future for the millions affected by the tsunami.
  • The FT's discussion of "overhead" costs in recovery operations was misleading, as Unicef, for example, spent only 5.97% on staff and administrative costs.

Statistics:

  • 5.97%: The percentage of Unicef's budget spent on staff and administrative costs, reported in the FT.
  • Thousands: The number of children whose lives have been saved by vaccination programs administered by UN field doctors.
  • Millions: The number of people affected by the tsunami.
  • Weeks: The timeframe in which UN agencies spent pulling together details requested by the FT.

Sources:

  • Egeland, J., & Schwartz, E. (n.d.). Letter to the Editor. The Financial Times. (Original article date: December 23)