Conference back40::soapbox

369.0. "UNICEF, where does the money go?" by SUBPAC::SADIN (One if by LAN, two if by C) Thu Mar 30 1995 11:54

* The New American * April 3, 1995 *


                        UNICEF: BEHIND THE MASK
                        +++++++++++++++++++++++
                           By William P. Hoar

Halloween trick or treating and greeting cards are what most Americans
think about when they hear the name UNICEF.  The greeting card operation
alone, according to a recent Yearbook of the United Nations, brings in
an annual take of $76.6 million.  But behind the marketing facade that
supposedly raises funds for international child welfare programs is an
agenda to augment the power and influence of global government.

UNICEF specifically supports, as noted in its State of the World's Child-
ren, 1994, "sustainable development following the guidelines of Agenda 21,
the blueprint for the world's environment agreed to at the 'Earth Summit'
in Rio de Janeiro in 1992."  An Agenda 21 document acknowledges that it
"proposes an array of actions which are intended to be implemented by
every person on earth...."

One outgrowth of UNICEF's 1990 World Summit for children was the Convention
on the Rights of the Child.  It was pushed through in 1990, has 176 signa-
tories, but has yet to be ratified by the United States.  Hillary Clinton
announced at a memorial service for James Grant, the late head of UNICEF, 
that the U.S. would, in his honor, sign the world pact and send it to the
Senate for ratification.

Proponents argue that the plight of children is so ghastly as to require 
that there be an immediate world "right" to protect them; but they also 
insist that the resultant "protections" (at least in the U.S.) would be so
meaningless that no one should worry about any changes that might occur.
Are we to believe that global power grabbers would spend so much effort on 
empty symbolism?

Former UN consultant Graham Hancock points out in his book, The Lords of
Poverty: The Power, Prestige and Corruption of the International Aid 
Business, that "personnel and associated costs" absorb some "80 percent of 
all UN expenditures," with UNICEF and other "humanitarian" agencies spending
an inordinate amount on self-promotion.

But in view of some of the "beneficiaries" of UNICEF aid, the inordinate 
administration cost is not necessarily bad news.  Consider the help given
the communists in Vietnam (or substitute other dictatorships for similar
results).  As Robert Heinl of the Detroit News commented in a May 1975
column called "UNICEF Aided Vietnam Fall":

        Last fall when you gave the kids trick-or-treat money for 
        UNICEF Christams cards, did it occur that you, and behind
        you, the U.S. Government, were bankrolling the Communist 
        takeover of South Vietnam"

        Well, you were....

        UNICEF collected and disbursed a total of $13,649,433 for 
        its Indochina children's programs....Of this eight-figure
        sum, $8,976,587 went to Communist recipients: $6,313,130
        diectly to Hanoi and $1,975,567 more - via Haiphong and
        Hanoi, of course - to the Viet Cong....

Here's more recent notoriety: Auditors for UNICEF itself have found it
necessary to criticize the agency's propensity for bribery payments -
sometimes euphemistically called "salary supplements" or "commissions."
According to a UN audit conducted for the auditors general of Britain,
Ghana, and India, "the practice appears to be widespread among United
Nations organizations, multilateral and bilateral organizations and non-
governmental organizations."

The problems of bribery, reported the New York Times for December 25, 1994,
are "particularly pervasive" in Africa.  However, the most bothersome thing
seems not to be the amount of bribery, nor the principle.  Such payments,
commented the Times, "divert money from development efforts and pose the 
risk of steadily increasing.  Indeed, the auditors did not stress the amount
involved but rather the potential threat to programs."

In other words, if the complicity with bribery and graft becomes known, the 
scam might suffer and globalizing efforts be set back.  The plight of
children remains part of the shell game.

[end]

     ===================================================================
        The above text comes from The BIRCH BARK BBS / 414-242-5070
     (long distance callers require manual upgrade, usually within hours)
     ===================================================================

      Well, I read this and thanks for posting.
    
      I believe there is a new world order conspiracy!!
    
      						Tony

    Is this the official WGAS note?  

Brian,
   WTFC?

"Birch Bark BBS"?

As in John Birch Society?

Ho ho!

/john

    
    
    I'm not sure if it's the John Birch Society.....I just get their
    mailings on occasion. I'll have to log in and check it out....
    
    
    jim

    re: Note 369.4 by COVERT::COVERT
    
    Ya.  Specifically, tell me why that's so funny.  Don't just say
    "Because they're a bunch of douche bags... The Globe & Commie
    Chump said so".
    
    Why is the JBS out to lunch IYO?  Hmmm?

    FWIW (no relation to their postings), "The New American" likes
    to print stuff that can be cross checked and verified.  Maybe they
    read things a little to cynical but these days I don't think so.
    Oh ya, and the photos really clinch it.  Explain those away
    (to a skeptic).

    I thought so. 

    Up the R.T.A.upty.