UNDP.DO supports Multi-stakeholder Partner Cheap

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To: "paula saddler" <[email protected]>
From: Daniel Pimienta <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: COMPLAINT AGAINST UNDP DOM REP
Cc: "'Guillermo Munoz'" <[email protected]>, "'luis socorro'" <[email protected]>, "'Rohan Schaap'" <[email protected]>

Dear Paula and colleagues,

I sincerely appreciate the UNDP Office of Audit review showing interest in this case.

All possible information concerning the case has been exposed in http://funredes.org/undp.do.

Yet this is a quite complex case and I understand the analyze is not easy as well as the processing of this amount of information could be cumbersome.

It is a typical case of triangle funding where the contract was agreed (by email) between INDOTEL (a government office) and FUNREDES with the transparent agreement that UNDP.DO will cover the expense.

Indeed UNDP.DO did budgetized this project; see "UNDP-Indotel framework document (budget in V) (Jan. 28 2004)" at http://funredes.org/undp.do/docs/Dominican_ICTD_PRODOC.doc for the following terms of reference: http://funredes.org/undp.do/index.php/fun_con.

Additionnaly to being the financing warrant of the contract, UNDP.DO actively participated to what was a very official "multi-stakeholder partnership" for public policy involving formally UNDP, INDOTEL and FUNREDES (see "Identidad Coordinadoras" in official web site http://www.edominicana.gov.do/fase.htm). The contract process was also transparent to UNDP officers in other countries who had witnessed the quality and commitment of FUNREDES in this contract (which apparently nobody denies anyway).

The change of government provoked a situation where the new authorities of Indotel did not recognize the contract and all attempts to open a dialog between the three involved parties failed, principally because of the denial of UNDP.DO to accept the dialog.

We were told during many months by the UNDP.DO staff not to worry, that the payment will be made; but eventually the Head of UNDP.DO took apparently a different position without exposing his motive.

We have non official and off the record information that Indotel would have received the corresponding payment from UNDP for our NGO; however, we do not have any way to confirm this and never had confirmation from UNDP.DO that was the case, since UNDP.DO simply never answer our communications nor our many invitations to organize a meeting.

Our statement is that:
Even if this off the record information were the truth, this would not free UNDP.DO of:

1) Its obligation to maintain an open dialog with a civil society organization.

2) Its duty to work towards the strengthening of the level of institutionalization of a partnerhip between Government and Civil Society, where it is formally involved.

3) Its responsibility of warrant of a multistakeholder partnership between civil society and government, especially in a pilot experiment at national and international level.

The complexity of the case goes evidently much further the non payment of an amount of 8675.00 US$ which is, in one side, extremely low compare to the budgets managed by UNDP.DO or INDOTEL and, in the other side, critically high for FUNREDES. It seems to be linked to the genuine intention of the UNDP.DO about this project (E.Dominicana: National Strategy for Information Society) and its very role in the process of the first stage of E.Dominicana.

I thank you for the time you are investing to understand this situation and sincerely hope you could reach a fair conclusion in a reasonnable time since this situation has caused the closure of our local activities in the Dominican Republic, with the obvious consequences in terms of unemployment for some people and the painful consequences in terms of the image of multistakeholder partnership before the World Summit of Information Society, a UN Summit where FUNREDES has gained a sound recognition and credibility (see http://wsis.funredes.org).

Best regards,
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Daniel Pimienta Tel.: +1 809 686 2804
Presidente de FUNREDES Fax: +1 809 689 3388
Fundaci�n Redes y Desarrollo [email protected]
PO BOX 2972 http://funredes.org
Santo Domingo (Republica Dominicana)
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Since the early 90's FUNREDES' position is that "Internet for Development" is NOT about plugging and playing, chatting ans surfing, getting information abroad, converging to one language, one culture and one market.

It's about empowering persons and communities, collaborating and social networking, producing local content, facilitating diversity of languages, cultures and opinions.

Communication above technology...
Enabling participative democracy.
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Chronology

Funredes' contract (10/2003)

Letter where Funredes concludes the contract (29/2/2004)

First claim letter to Indotel (10/2004)

Formal answer from Indotel (12/2004)

Informal answer from Indotel (10/2004)

Second claim letter to UNDP and Indotel (5/2005)

Formal second answer from Indotel (6/2005)



Relevant links and documents