“Mr. Griffiths aims to support ongoing efforts to address humanitarian and social needs and strengthen the provision of basic services,” OCHA said in a brief statement.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced the 48-hour visit to Venezuela by the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, between July 31 and August 2, 2022.
Information published on the website OCHA’s statement is very terse, mentioning only that “Mr. Griffiths will meet with government officials and other key stakeholders, including humanitarian partners”.
“Mr. Griffiths aims to support ongoing efforts to address humanitarian and social needs and strengthen basic service delivery. He will visit a health project and discuss ways to mobilize additional resources to scale up the response », he concludes.
Martin Griffiths is a UK native and was appointed to the role in May 2021 by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
He is recognized for “high-level experience in international conflict resolution, negotiation and mediation. He has served as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen since 2018 (…) His professional experience ranges from resource mobilization and donor relations to managing responses to natural disasters, international advocacy and diplomacy, ”indicates his professional profile.
In the recent conflict over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Griffiths has had a role in negotiating truces for the displacement of civilians.
Regarding the management of the enormous resources that the different UN agencies have given to Venezuela in cooperation, a group of eight experts published a letter, addressed to the current president of the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), Sergio Díaz- Granados, and the UN resident coordinator in Venezuela Gianluca Rampolla, to urge them to correct flaws in the management of these resources.
The letter responds to a recent signed agreement between CAF and the UN to help the government of Nicolás Maduro to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
In the letter they urge multilateral organizations to “adopt the best administrative practices recognized worldwide and thus be effective and efficient in managing the enormous public resources that they will have to administer.” It is signed by José María de Viana, German Uzcátegui Briceño, César Aguirre Urbaneja, Manuel Guevara Baro, María Elena Corrales, Elena Vega Ribas, Norberto Bausson García and Miguel Nucete Hubner.
In the specific case of the resources of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the experts insist in the letter that “bad practices” have been deprived in their management, which has produced “disappointing results” in the use of humanitarian aid. In addition to the fact that “they do not allow citizen control” of these donations, “their contracts are as secret as the large projects mentioned above.”
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