Syria's official news agency (SANA) claims the United Nations Development Programme for Syria (UNDP Syria) will rehabilitate the public yeast factory in Homs at a cost of $1 million USD!

Why?! Why not support the private sector instead of al-Assad's institutions?

Syria is perceived to be the third-most corrupt country in the world.

UNDP Syria has just responded with this press release. Two issues with it:

a) SANA talks about luxury spending (a marble façade with a total area of 1000 square meters, etc.) while the UNDP says expenses will cover only technical rehabilitation, safety, and hygiene. Who do we believe?

More importantly, however:

b) Why are we hearing this from SANA instead of the UNDP about the project? Why isn't there any online data on this spending?

Source

Funding state institutions and the lack of transparency in UN operations are issues that donor governments should take seriously.