UNDP concern at ongoing controversy

THE UNITED Nations Development Programme yesterday announced its concern over the “continuing public controversy” surrounding the activities carried out under the Cyprus Bi-communal Development Programme (BDP) between 1998 and 2004, especially during the Annan Plan period in 2004.

“In particular, UNDP wishes to address the misconception, as reported in the media, that it has restricted access to public information regarding the projects funded by the BDP,” read the announcement. “This is incorrect. Detailed information has been made available to the public on a UNDP website for the past two years [at http://mirror.undp.org/cyprus/projects/search.asp].”

UNDP said it had “sought transparency and openness about all its grants made to organisations during this period and has provided extensive information, including financial accounts for each and every project that was funded, to the government of the Republic of Cyprus”.

UNDP said that any questions that have been raised in the past few weeks over the funding can be answered on the website.

“The objective of the BDP was to promote and fund projects and initiatives that aimed to build trust and strengthen co-operation between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,” UNDP explained, adding that this was achieved by supporting organisations seeking to increase bonds of understanding and friendship between the island’s communities, “and through this to promote peace”.

It concluded: “In response to specific and erroneous allegation, widely reported in the media, that there was an attempt to influence the referendum on the Annan plan, it should be understood that the BDP’s only involvement was to help disseminate impartial and unbiased information about the plan, in order to help Cypriots make an informed decision about one of the most significant milestones in the island’s history.”

The House Institutions Committee will continue discussions on the matter today.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.