5 - Mountain Agenda sidelined as the conflict of political and personal interests at ICIMOD outbalances everything else (ii)

Coming soon. Come back later...

3 - ICIMOD milestones - ICIMOD may never see again such beautiful works

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) used to be seen as major hope for advocacy of Mountain Agenda and scientific developments in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region and globally when noted experts below offered leadership to some of the most recognized works of ICIMOD. Please find below a tentative timeline (in chronological order):

Dhital, M. R.; Deoja, B.; Thapa, B.; Wagner, A. and number of other experts pioneered work on Mountain Risk Engineering (MRE) in the early 1990s, whose handbook provided ready references of number of major construction works in Himalayas throughout 1990s and 2000s.

Prof Jayanta Bandyopadhyay, an Indian National working at ICIMOD was leading drafting of Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 (output document of the UN Conference on Environment and Development-UNCED, aka Rio Conference or Earth Summit) during early 1990s.

Prof. Narpat Singh Jodha, an Indian National working at ICIMOD defined mountains in terms of Mountain Specificities during late 1980s/early 1990s, which is still seen as the most widely accepted way of defining mountains and analyzing mountain issues and several positive and negative attributes.

Dr. Mahesh Baskota, a Nepalese National and former Deputy Director General of ICIMOD pioneered Mountain Agenda Advocacy in the entire Asia Pacific region by leading organization of the Sustainable Development of Mountain Areas of Asia (SUDEMAA) Conference in 1994, that institutionalised global Mountain Forum in Asia Pacific region through establishment of the Asia Pacific Mountain Network at ICIMOD with more than half dozen sub-nodes across the region. This pioneer work formally linked ICIMOD with rest of the world for Mountain Agenda advocacy.

Mr. Surendra Shrestha, Mr. Basanta Shrestha, Nepalese Nationals working at ICIMOD and others founded MENRIS division in early 1990s, which pioneered GIS and Remote Sensing work in the entire HKH region and trained thousands of experts in all ICIMOD countries.

Mr. Pradeep Mool, Mr. Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya, Mr. Basanta Shrestha, Mr Sharad Joshi (Nepalese nationals) and Mr. Deoraj Gurung (Bhutanese national) working at ICIMOD, among others, broke the silence about scientific understanding of Ice and Glaciers related researches in the region by developing baseline data in early 2000s and periodically updating them until recently.

Dr. Madhav Karki, Dr. Kamal Baskota and Dr Bhaskar Singh Karky, Nepalese nationals, among others penetrated climate change discussions at ICIMOD and took ICIMOD to global stage to advocate Mountain Agenda within climate change discussions from 2004-2012. These experts conceptualized and established provision of organizing dedicated Mountain Day as part of the UNFCCC meetings, helped prepared Government of Nepal to establish the Mountain Initiative (aka Mountain Alliance Initiative), helped Government of Bhutan for successful Living Himalayas Climate Summit and helped Indian mountain stakeholders replicate and learn from Mountain Initiative of Nepal.

Mr. Tek Jung Mahat and Mr. Daan Boom, Nepalese and Dutch Nationals working at ICIMOD gave a new height to the Asia Pacific Mountain Network (APMN) from 2007-2013, making it the most active virtual network of mountain stakeholders globally, conceptualizing and establishing first and largest platforms to capacitate and engage Media and Youth in Mountain Agenda Advocacy. During this period APMN trained over 570 youth from 20 Asia Pacific countries and over 75 media persons from all HKH and South Asian countries to research, understand, take action and report as well as advocate mountain issues, and developed a virtual network of over 6,000 stakeholders. This partnership also gave new directions to Knowledge Management approach at ICIMOD with development and introduction of a large set of KM tools, such as preparations of thematic digests, back to office reports, e-conference, e-surveys, e-election, digital photo contests, knowledge forums and brown bag seminars, write-shops etc.

Dr. Madhav Karki, Dr. Golam Rasul and Mr. Tek Jung Mahat, Nepalese and Bangaladeshi nationals together with global mountain stakeholders such as Mountain Partnership, Mountain Forum, CONDESAN, BIND, NTFP-EP, Indian Mountain Initiative and Governments of Nepal, Peru, Switzerland and Austria, and HE Gyan Acharya, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations as well as Chair of the Global Coordination Bureau of the Group of Least Developed Countries organized massive preparations to find better place for Mountains in the Rio+20 processes in 2011/12. Supported with more than 30 major events and number of background studies, success of this work is seen in the form of Rio+20 Outcome Document, in which three paragraphs are dedicated to mountains. This is the most important achievement so for the mountain stakeholders worldwide.

Sadly with the ongoing politics at ICIMOD, most of these contributors are maintaining a distance with ICIMOD and we fear ICIMOD may never see again such beautiful works if the present mismanagement at the Centre is not corrected.

2 - ICIMOD compromises its name and fame promoting Skoda Cars

There are some suspicions emerging over a partnership agreement made by Kathmandu based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) with MAW Nepal - Official Agent of the Czech car-maker Skoda early this year. According to the partnership ICIMOD receives USD 15,000 equivalent (fifteen thousands dollars) from the automobile company to complement its ongoing research. But other side of the coin looks even more interesting:

• ICIMOD is one of most resourceful environmental organization in the Himalayan region with annual budget of approximately USD 20,000,000 (twenty millions dollars) for the year 2013. So, why ICIMOD needed a tiny USD 15,000 contribution from an automobile company to complement its ongoing research? This amount would hardly be equivalent to salary of the project coordinator for 3 months.ICIMOD already has profound financial resource received from donor and member countries, including Nepal and many bilateral or multilateral initiatives. So why it compromises its ethics for tiny USD 15,000?
• What qualifies a polluting automobile company to become first corporate partner of ICIMOD as Public Private Partnership initiative? There could be many other alternatives for good start with better impression, such as banks, and larger companies producing environmental goods and services or trekking companies and rural financing institutions to list a few. In the worst case ICIMOD cold have tried working with companies like REVA who produce electric cars. Most importantly, ICIMOD being a mountain institution it should have picked some mountain development relevant corporate houses for this pilot.
• Can it only be coincidence that out of over 200 staffs at ICIMOD, only two have Skoda Cars and those two are leading this partnership –Coordinator of the Atmosphere Initiative and PPP Officer at ICIMOD. Doesn’t it look fishy?
• All these suspicion looks real or very close to real seeing the promotion below in which ICIMOD is seen endorsing the polluting Skoda cars as environment friendly mobility option and cars are highlighted in the backdrop, which clearly shows Skoda’s sole intention is to market its Cars and ICIMOD is misused for this purpose. Sadly only ICIMOD logo is readable not the texts associated with it.

We leave it up to the readers to make conclusion. Are these kinds of partnerships going to help mountain people in the Himalayas? Or the corporatization of reputed environment organization will further jeopardize environmental issues in the region? Was it needed and wise for ICIMOD to partner with Skoda from any angle? What do you find more in this partnership – CSR or misuse of environmental organization’s name and reputation for exclusive benefit of a polluting automobile company?

1 - Unlawful recruitment of inappropriate staffs at ICIMOD (Part 1)

Kathmandu based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has become new hub of illegal employment of foreigners who are on short visit to Nepal without work permit or proper visa to work in Nepal. Sources claim there are more than a dozen such cases, who are employed illegally and following to staff pressures, their visas are converted at the later stage. But questions here are – How can one time criminal be excused for breaking law of Nepal and given the privilege and immunities of a diplomat as a staff of ICIMOD? How can ICIMOD continue such malpractice violating Nepalese law and breaking all norms and values of a diplomatic mission? If this is happening and Government of Nepal is aware of it, why ICIMOD is not trashed from Diplomatic Mission? And if ICIMOD wants to function as neutral Diplomatic Mission in town, why it doesn’t fire such inappropriately recruited staffs and publicly apologize with the Government of Nepal?

Interestingly the list of inappropriately recruited staffs includes several key positions that are expected to keep institutions clean, transparent and healthy. However when they are recruited illegally and inappropriately, wouldn’t it be a foolish thought to believe ICIMOD operates fairly anymore? Few examples of such recruitment:

1.      Miriam Lindwer, Senior Officer, Human Resources / Organizational Development, Unit Head HR/OD: Former low profile worker at a Hotel in Kathmandu, Ms. Lindwer was recruited by ICIMOD to help with its human resources management and capacity building activities. Partial funding for her recruitment was offered to ICIMOD by Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM) run by German Development Mission Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Upon knowing that Ms. Lindwer do not meet minimum requirements to work in Nepal, CIM requested ICIMOD to go for other candidate as CIM didn’t want to rule against Nepalese law and the recruitment was delayed by few days. However, then ICIMOD Director General Andreas Schild recruited her anyway without any correction which is against the Human Resources Policy of ICIMOD and existing law of Government of Nepal. With changing time, Ms. Lindwer now heads Human Resources  Unit of ICIMOD since 2011 trashing away decades old experiences staffs. As a result, ICIMOD HR system is now badly spoiled  and we will be presenting many such cases in days to come. Here what else one can expect from ICIMOD head and inappropriately recruited HR Unit head?

2.      Amy Elizabeth Sellmyer, Publication and Editing Officer: ICIMOD recruited Ms.  Sellmyer, an American as head of the Publications and Editing unit without any formal recruitment process or announcements. Prior to that she was associated with ICIMOD as a proofreader. This comes as a big surprise to many people who know ICIMOD for long time as the post of coordinating editor is highly valued and critical for ICIMOD’s work and it was previously occupied by some well known editors such as Dr. A Beatrice Murray, Ms. Greta Rana among others. Since ICIMOD follows British English it is unnatural to have an American Editor at ICIMOD. When approached no one at the Centre had answer to the question - what made a low profile proofreader Publication and Editing Officer overnight and how ICIMOD will maintain quality of its publications in coming days that are already noticed downgraded. However this recruitment was not free from opposition. When opposed, sources claim it was Ms. Anja Møller Rasmussen, Senior Manager, Knowledge Management and Communication at ICIMOD, who interfered in this matter and instructed to recruit Ms. Sellmyer without any delay avoiding all other formalities and her proposal was supported by Senior Management Committee (SMC) at ICIMOD. Like Ms. Lindwer, Ms. Sellmyer was also employed inappropriately when she neither had work permit nor valid visas. She was first recruited in 2012 (without work permit or valid visas) by another American Ms. Andrea Perlis, who was heading publications unit at ICIMOD in 2012.

These are only representative examples. We will soon disclose many other cases that exist at ICIMOD. With this information, we request the concerned authorities to do investigation about staffs recruitment and management issues at ICIMOD, stop all unlawful practices, and immediately remove from the post inappropriately recruited staffs and deport them as per the existing law of Nepal.

ICIMOD - 'for' or 'against' Himalayan people?

What do you expect from a regional intergovernmental organization like the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) who is tasked to work for better livelihood of mountain people and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region by promoting regional cooperation among the countries in the region (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan) and developing partnership with other mountainous countries across all continents for  global benefit. Headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal, ICIMOD presents itself as a learning centre promoting knowledge, policy formulation and actions through organized research, better governance and equitable benefit sharing approaches.

However, sources reveal, in contrary to the mandated approach and expectations from it, the centre is involved in several other activities that overrule the law of the Government of Nepal (host country), promote position, gender and color based discrimination,  manipulate institutional realities, advance suspicious activities in selected member countries, and partner with corporate houses that are found environment unfriendly and suspected for their involvement in trade of plant and animal products violating provisions associated with indigenous knowledge and Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Sources add, the governance at the centre itself is questionable as many staffs are recruited without meeting minimum criteria and fully ignoring, avoiding and overruling the Centre’s agreement with the Government of Nepal and Board of Directors approved institutional documents that should guide activities at the centre. Furthermore, several staffs at the Centre are questioned for violating and abusing diplomatic immunities and privileges offered thus affecting the economy of the host country and creating unnecessary divides between national and foreign staffs working at the centre. The Centre’s approach to work with media is also questioned as some sources close to centre find them fishy. Sources claim most of these activities are taking place with direct protection and instructions from Centre’s  Directors themselves, which is a serious threat to Centre’s progress as a well disciplined entity. Contacted ICIMOD staff and well-wishers revealed whoever questions on these malpractices, they get removed from the Centre without any logic. They referred some organised conspiracy against honest staffs who raised these issues and requested to keep their name private.

Urging to expose these bitter realities we have received 33 compelling real stories from concerned people, that we will be relieving one after other, with the aim of informing respective governments, donors, media and civil society and create pressure so ICIMOD management takes necessary actions to correct the mistakes as soon as possible so it can flourish as a clean and healthy regional institution in the years to come.

Invitation to Join: Himalayan Voice – A Voice that cannot go unheard

Dear Change-makers, Dear Lovers of the Himalayas,

We are happy to share that the team of the Climate Himalaya Initiative, the Environment Professionals’ Group and the Asia Pacific Youth Task Force on Rio+20 (APYTF), together with media, youth and civil society groups from South Asia and China, is now starting a citizen journalism campaign - Himalayan Voice: Battle against institutional corruption in the Himalayas. To be formally launched in November 2013, the campaign is expected provoke discussion on transparency, human rights, indigenous rights and right to information in the sustainable mountain development sector, eventually promoting social auditing of government and other public institutions and form advocacy group in desired communities to ensure such bodies are economically efficient, environmentally responsible and socially accountable to the people. The campaign will have strong virtual presence along with some satellite networks at country level, largely led by young sustainability forerunners and backed by media professionals writing on sustainability and governance issues.

During the pre-planning study it is realized that every year billions of dollars is spent in Himalayan countries – Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan, without any concrete outputs. A large chunk of resources is utilized by multilateral organizations by themselves or through other intermediary international and national organizations, whose actual benefits never go to the local communities. Interestingly, many of such initiatives are neither registered with the governments nor properly followed-up by the donors. In our estimate about 80-90% of such resources are spent in staff salary, travel and administration of international agencies and big national NGOs and rest less than 10% is channeled further for the real work. Another layer of partners (national NGOs) further take big chunk of money away leaving less than 5% of the resource for the real work. Sadly, thus left 5% also dries away without any use due to poor governance system in the local communities and district level administrative units. Until a clear mechanism is developed to track all sustainability funds and spent through well institutionalized integrated sector driven and community led initiatives, sustainable development will never be achieved in the Himalayas. Himalayan Voice will attempt to voice these issues among donors, policy makers, and in the development communities in these countries.

To start with this, we are currently looking for list of journalists and advocacy groups who work against environmental corruption and environmental governance with footprint in ‘South Asia + China’ with global influence. If you know any of them, we appreciate your support in linking them with us or providing lists of relevant contacts or referring to the websites where anti-corruption contents can be populated without much editing. We will be covering sustainable development sector with a major focus on climate change and associated institutional mechanisms, governance and corruption. We aim to make aware the governments, civil society in the region as well their donors from the west about the nature and level of corruption, abuse of power and how that is triggering jeopardizing environmental issues in the Himalayan countries. 

For more information and to share relevant updates you can bring on board, out virtual platforms are:

Discussion Forum: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/environment-professionals

Exclusive ClimateDebates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CHIClimateDebates/

Network beyond Boundaries on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/171967553141/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/guardhimalayas

Get periodically Updated on our Blog: http://transforminghimalayas.blogspot.com/

Report your issue in public on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/againstclimatecorruption/

Report your issues privately at climatehimalaya@gmail.com and/or transforminghimalayas@gmail.com. We ensure highest level of seclusion for the privately reported issues. Such stories will be published on our blog and disseminated to our audiences globally.

After combining all the platforms above, currently we are connected to around 10,000 stakeholders. Help us grow more, grow fast!!!

Sincerely,

Team Himalayan Voice

"A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead