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CORRUPTION: U.N. Failing to Practise 'Good Governance'
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 9, 2004 (IPS) - The United Nations, which extols the virtues
of ''good governance,'' is not practising what it preaches, say U.N.
diplomats, long-time observers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The complaints against the world body come amidst several recent scandals,
including accusations of bribery, nepotism, sexual harassment, and
mismanagement of peacekeeping operations overseas.
''The underlying core problem is a lack of transparency and
accountability,'' says Hillel Neuer, executive director of UNWatch, a
Geneva-based NGO that closely monitors the world body and its far-flung
development agencies.
The lack of transparency, he points out, is due primarily to the ''gross
politicisation'' of the United Nations, including the Secretariat, which
includes a 4,000-person bureaucracy.
''All bureaucracies face that challenge. The United Nations, which is the
mother of all bureaucracies, is no exception,'' Neuer told IPS.
In November, the U.N. Staff Union complained about the lack of transparency
in an internal investigation of charges of sexual harassment against
Under-Secretary-General Ruud Lubbers, the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees, based in Geneva.
After an inquiry by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS),
Secretary-General Kofi Annan decided - ''within the discretionary
authority afforded to him'' - the allegations could not be sustained.
A second under-secretary-general, based in New York, OIOS chief Dileep
Nair, was also exonerated, this time on charges of improper appointments.
The staff union is seeking to re-open that probe.
IPS sought an interview with Nair for this article but did not get a response.
In 2003 the OIOS cleared the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna of
charges of corruption and mismanagement.
And an OIOS report released last month catalogued a long list of corrupt
practices in peacekeeping missions, mostly in Kosovo, Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC), Sierra Leone and Ethiopia-Eritrea.
These cases include: abuse of authority by a senior manager; misconduct by
a senior manager in creating and working for an NGO while being a staff
member; unauthorised acceptance of donor contributions; and unauthorised
opening of bank accounts.
Additionally, the report recounted cases of fraudulent overcharging by a
vendor for shipments of personal effects and violations of rules and
regulations by a staff member who embezzled 4.3 million dollars.
A senior staff member in Kosovo, a former African ambassador once based in
Germany, is accused of receiving a gift of a Mercedes Benz car for
favouring a particular vendor on a procurement contract. The car has been
stashed away in neighbouring Macedonia, away from the prying eyes of U.N.
investigators.
The OIOS has also probed a case of forged travel entitlements and security
allowances by staff members of the U.N. Volunteers (UNV) programme working
in DRC. Another conflict of interest took place when a U.N. staff member,
who was assigned to identify likely properties, recommended premises owned
by a member of his extended family.
A slew of charges against U.N. peacekeepers, both civilian and uniformed
personnel, also include sexual exploitation and abuse of young girls,
particularly in DRC.
''Peacekeeping is particularly vulnerable to corruption because these
missions are far removed from the Secretariat in New York,'' says an Asian
diplomat, whose country provides thousands of troops for U.N. operations.
He said that with a possible increase in peacekeeping operations - from
the current high of 16 to about 18 - there will be more and more
opportunities for graft.
According to OIOS sources, there have also been cases of senior U.N.
officials in New York routinely abusing their first class or business class
airline privileges by re-routing their official travel plans to make
unauthorised visits to their home capitals - all at U.N. expense.
The hundreds and thousands of 'frequent flyer miles' accumulated by senior
officials on official travel, which rightfully belong to the United
Nations, are being used by family members for holiday travel.
The U.N. Secretariat is also hip-deep in trouble over allegations of
bribery and mismanagement of the now-defunct, U.N.-supervised oil-for-food
programme under which former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is accused of
collecting over 21 billion dollars in illegal oil revenues.
At least one senior U.N. official is accused of taking kickbacks from the
Hussein government, but he has vehemently denied the charge.
The oil-for-food programme is under investigation by the U.N. Independent
Inquiry Committee, which was created by the Security Council and is headed
by former U.S. Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Paul Volcker. The committee is
expected to release its preliminary findings in January 2005.
The secretary-general's son, Kojo Annan, is also under scrutiny because of
his links to a Swiss company that had contracts with the United Nations.
''If the United Nations wants to come clean on the oil-for-food programme
and prove that the allegations reported in the press are not correct, then
it must be open to disclosure and make information available - whether it
is bad or good, or simply put, give information as it is,'' says Merrill
Cassell, a former budget director of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF).
''It is sad to see the United Nations labelled as a corrupt institution. In
fact, the United Nations must be the world leader in encouraging
transparency, as it did on International Anti-Corruption Day on Thursday,''
Cassell told IPS.
Annan this week made it clear he would not resign over the oil-for-food
scandal, despite growing calls from conservative forces in the U.S.
government and media.
Neuer said that although member states are meant to monitor the United
Nations and are expected to hold peacekeeping missions accountable to them,
they are often hesitant to take on the Secretariat because they want to
sustain a good relationship.
''So there is a culture of walls when what we need is a culture of
windows,'' he said. ''If some of the things that happen at the United
Nations took place in a big corporation, people would have been fired.''
One of the world body's shortcomings is that most of its investigations are
done internally, Neuer added. The results take a very long time to come -
and they are mostly ''white washed.'' And most of them have occurred only
after ''a lot of prodding from the media and NGOs.''
''The United Nations is slow, hesitant obstructive and guarded. And that
creates suspicion, not trust."
Cassell said the world body is perceived as the global standard setter for
conduct. ''High on the list of U.N. standards are truth and impartiality,''
he added.
''These accusations are very serious when aimed at the United Nations, the
global corporation responsible for fostering peace and goodwill around the
world."
At a press conference last week, U.N. Spokesman Fred Eckhard was asked
whether Annan has fired any employee for misconduct.
''Well, we can start with last week. We fired a French national from the
U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Congo for allegations of sexual
misconduct,'' he responded.
''But there doesn't seem to be much of a history,'' the reporter said,
asking, ''Is it possible to indicate, to give a record that shows that the
United Nations, under Kofi Annan, has taken allegations of mismanagement
and misbehaviour seriously and fired people as a result?''
''I am not going to promise you I am going to do that,'' Eckhard replied.
''But I will certainly ask for you if those numbers are available.''
(END)
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