Udenrigsministeriet

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rigsrevisionen Udenrigsministeriet
Landgreven 4 Asiatisk Plads 2
DK-1448 København K
1301 København K
  Telefon: +45 33 92 00 00
E-mail: um@um.dk

       
Bilag Journalnummer Kontor  
  2015 – 16908 KFU 2018-11-27
2016-31678
Jobid: 1000100
 
 
 
C 1597
 
 

Suspicion of misuse of donor funds in ICTSD,Geneva,

Switzerland

Denmark has supported International Centre for Trade and

Sustainable Development (ICTSD) for many years as part of
its program to support multilateral aid for trade activities in
Geneva. ICTSD facilitates policy dialogue and develops policy
proposals on trade policy and sustainable development.
Denmark provided DKK 5 million to ICTSD in 2017 and
DKK 5.5 million in 2018. Contributions to ICTSD are mainly
given as core funding.

A number of irregularities in ITCSD's management have been

documented in an analysis conducted by DFID. DFID shared
the report with the three other core donors to ICTSD:
Denmark, The Netherlands and Sweden. Besides failing
governance mechanisms, poor financial management and
insufficient value for money laid out in the DFID report, it
also points to irregularities, which could constitute corruption
in the form of nepotism, embezzlement, and corruption in the
execution of contracts. Furthermore, there are several
examples of breach of internal policies, e.g. travel policies and
procurement of contracts.

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 The Danish share of the amount under suspicion is DKK
184,000.

Because of its financial mismanagement and inadequate

budgeting, ICSTD is expected to go into insolvency. It also
has a tax debt to the Swiss authorities in the form of
outstanding social security payments. The four core donors
are currently discussing steps to take, e.g. possible legal steps.

A follow-up report will be forwarded when there are new

development in the case.

Yours sincerely,

Asger Graae

Senior Consultant

Technical Quality Support

 
 

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