Several aid organizations together have to pay back roughly 2.1 million to the state after the Central Control has revealed financial irregularities.
Among them is Save the Children, who have had to repay in excess of 200,000 kroner and Norwegian People’s Aid must return 365.000 million Kroner after the investigation of a local partner in Zimbabwe revealed undocumented payments on a large scale.
It showed the latest report from the Central Control Unit, writes the journal Bistandsaktuelt.
The unit, located under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs receives nearly 100 alerts a month of possible irregularities in aid.
At the end of September this year, the department had received 877 such notifications. 155 cases are still being processed, while 10 of the cases have proven to have some base for taking action.
The most serious case is about the American organization Search for Common Ground, who have had to repay over 1 million because “funds were used in violation of the agreement, including the use of funding for operating expenses and debt payments,” according to the Foreign Ministry’s report.
The organization, that aims to end violent conflicts, has agreements with UD in over 8 million kroner for conflict mediation in Africa and to protect holy sites in Northern Nigeria and Indonesia.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
