Harper's Magazine
By Ken Silverstein

In the face of intense pressure from human rights and advocacy groups and a barrage of bad publicity, the lunkheads who run UNESCO are apparently reconsidering their decision to allow a corrupt dictator to endow a prize in his own name. The story involves Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled oil-rich Equatorial Guinea since 1979 and who has stolen just about every penny in the national treasury since then. He wants to give UNESCO $3 million to create the “Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences.”

Outside of UNESCO, the prize is a joke. In a May 20 letter to Irina Bokova, UNESCO’s director general, Senator Patrick Leahy wrote: “I am concerned that by sponsoring this prize, UNESCO is associating itself with a dictator who has spent thirty years doing little more than consolidating his power and enriching himself and his family. It seems highly likely that the $3 million donated to UNESCO by President Obiang for the Obiang International Prize came from corruption, kickbacks or other theft from the public treasury.”

The Economist suggested that other international agencies follow suit, proposing the creation of the World Food Program “Robert Mugabe award for agricultural productivity,” the World Health Organization “Silvio Berlusconi medal in sex education,” and the International Atomic Energy Agency “Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prize for the peaceful sponsorship of nuclear power.”

A group of scientists, public health organizations, and professionals called on UNESCO to abolish the prize, saying, “We believe the most perfunctory examination of President Obiang’s record on human rights and meeting the needs of the people makes it clear that he is cynically attempting to use UNESCO to legitimize his abusive regime.” A coalition whose members range from Human Rights Watch to EG Justice suggested that “the $3 million that UNESCO has accepted from President Obiang to be applied to the education and welfare of Equatoguineans, rather than the glorification of their president. We respectfully propose that these funds be used to provide rudimentary educational supplies for primary schools and to address other long neglected needs in Equatorial Guinea.”

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Panel Discussion Lunch
Friday May 21, 2010
12:30-2:00pm


School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

Johns Hopkins University
Rome Building Auditorium

1619 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C.

Metro: Farragut North or Dupont Circle

Space is limited, please RSVP here by Wednesday May 19.

The panel discussion will highlight gaps in existing oil sector transparency efforts, and explore why U.S. government action, and in particular, transparency legislation introduced in the Senate (the Energy Security Through Transparency Act – S.1700) is a critical contribution to addressing corruption and improving the lives of the citizens of Equatorial Guinea.
The African nation of Equatorial Guinea is of critical strategic importance to the United States. Nestled in the Gulf of Guinea, the majority of its oil production comes to the U.S., and it is the third largest oil supplier to the U.S. from Africa, after Nigeria and Angola. U.S. companies dominate production there, and as a result, it is currently the fourth largest destination for overall US investment in sub-Saharan Africa. The recent oil boom has led to massive windfalls for the country, with government oil revenues going from $190 million in 1993 to $4.8 billion in 2007.

Panelists:

Alfredo Okenve Ndo, Co-Founder and Secretary-General of the Centro de Estudios e Iniciativas para el Desarrollo; Representative on the National Commission Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Simon Taylor, Founding Director, Global Witness – International NGO co-nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for work on conflict diamonds, founding member of Publish What You Pay coalition and EITI

Bennett Freeman, Senior Vice President, Sustainability Research and Policy, Calvert Asset Management

Moderator – Isabel Munilla, Director, Publish What You Pay United States