Strings should be attached to Pacific Islands aid

National Party Foreign Affairs spokesman Wayne Mapp says the UN is being extremely naïve with its dismissal of a demand for accountability from Pacific Islands Governments in return for aid funding.

"When money from the New Zealand taxpayer is being poured into aid in the Pacific, there should be accountability and we should get a return on our investment."

Dr Mapp is commenting after an Australian suggestion at the Pacific Islands Leaders' Forum in Auckland, which called for aid funding to be tied to good Government.

That's since been dismissed by a UN representative at the forum.

"That rejection reflects the naivety of the UN which has failed to stop the deterioration of standards in many Pacific Island countries over the past 20 years," Dr Mapp says.

"If New Zealand taxpayer dollars are going into the Pacific there should be some level of accountability.

"We should not be allowing aid money to prop up Governments that fail to do anything to address lawlessness and corruption," says Dr Mapp.

"The out of hand rejection of a patently logical idea only serves to illustrate the danger that the UN now faces.

"Unless the UN starts tackling some of these tricky issues, the claim that it's becoming increasingly irrelevant will gather more momentum," says Dr Mapp.

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