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UN Performance Problems UN Management Accountability Struggles Where is the Rule of Law? Inadequate UN Oversight Recent Developments |
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The second five years of OIOS existence had seemed to
settle into a comfortable routine, as the Office became more accepted and
used within the Secretariat. The hundreds of yearly audits and
consultations with managers continued, but the OIOS began doing some quite
useful reports on peacekeeping, human resource management and other
broader topics as the General Assembly wished. Mr. Nair put
much stock in collaboration with other oversight organizations and broader
policy efforts and assistance in the UN system, and Mr. Annan pronounced
himself "appreciative" of its work and annual reports. OIOS investigations work continued to struggle with
limited resources, and, after its burst of enthusiasm for investigating a
"wave of fraud" cases in 2000, suddenly adopted a very low profile of
reporting on overall investigations work. The greatest attention was
devoted not to "crime-busting", but to a three-year organizational
integrity initiative to strengthen integrity and professional ethics in
the UN. In two rather short and disorderly resolutions in late 2004 and
early 2005, the General Assembly pronounced itself generally satisfied
with, and supportive of, the OIOS and its progress. "Report of the Secretary-General on the activities of
the Office of Internal Oversight Services", General Assembly resolution
59/271 of "Report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services"
on strengthening the investigation functions in the United Nations",
General Assembly resolution 59/287 of Beneath the surface, however, quite momentous and
negative events were taking place concerning Secretariat accountability
and oversight efforts. By the time Mr. Nair departed in April
2005, under a cloud, the OIOS situation had become a serious mess. First, allegations of waste, mismanagement and abuse
arose in -- of all places -- the OIOS itself, first in mid-2004 and then
continuing on as part of a larger unease about Secretariat anti-corruption
efforts, as shown by the following quotes. "The United Nation's anti-corruption department has
been rocked by accusations that the office itself is corrupt. The head of the [OIOS]
, Dileep Nair, has been
accused of promoting and recruiting people in ways that are not consistent
with U. N. rules and regulations. Also, a senior investigator has been
suspended and there have been accusations of financial and sexual
misconduct. The scrutiny of Nair and his division comes at a
delicate time, as the United Nations is under intense scrutiny for alleged
abuse of the Iraqi oil-for-food program. Nair has been accused of covering up abuses [in that]
program.
Other allegations of impropriety include charges that
some inside the OIOS received financial kickbacks in return for promoting
people and that some people were promoted in exchange for sexual
favors." Jonathan Hunt, Watching the UN's watchdog", Fox News,
"There are
allegations that some inside OIOS
received financial and sexual favors in return for promoting people. The United Nations Staff Union has asked UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan to establish an independent investigation of
the OIOS, alleging that personnel decisions made by Mr. Nair 'violated the
rights of staff members.'
The union has also expressed concern over the
possibility that Mr. Nair suspended Mr. Francois Pascal, a senior
investigator in his organisation, 'because he was making waves over
controversial recruitment and promotion decisions Nair had made.' Mr. Annan -- who handpicked the Singaporean for the
job four years ago -- has asked Mr. Nair for an explanation. Fox News reported that Mr. Nair, currently on sick
leave, denied all the allegations made against him. He stressed that he had done nothing wrong and would
step down if the investigations found problems in the OIOS. Said Mr. Nair: 'That goes without question because that
would mean my integrity is impugned and the only thing I work upon in this
office is integrity and the credibility that people have in this office
'" Lee
Ching Wern, "S'porean UN anti-graft unit chief under probe", "Integrity sponsor unit 35: The staff council: [Recalling its April 2004 request that the
Secretary-General establish an independent investigation of violations of
the delegation of authority in the OIOS]
Regrets the decision of the Secretary-General to
accept the findings of an incomplete investigation;
Further considers that the failure to fully
investigate the allegations
upholds the findings of the [staff integrity
survey] that there is a lack of integrity particularly at the higher
levels of the organization; Recalls that the Secretary-General declined to accept
the honourable action of the deputy Secretary-General who tendered her
resignation as a result of the Baghdad bombing of a UN compound that
resulted in 22 staff members perishing, to hold accountable the head of
UNHCR for alleged sexual harassment and to hold accountable the chef de
cabinet whose son was employed by the Secretariat in contravention of
staff rules; Decides that the senior management no longer displays
the level of integrity expected of all employees of the organization
." "Raw
data: U.N. staff resolution", Fox News (US)
website, "The United Nations, which extols the virtues of 'good
governance', is not practising what it preaches, say [many long-time
observers.]
The complaints
come amidst several recent scandals,
including accusations of bribery, nepotism, sexual harassment, and
mismanagement of peacekeeping operations overseas. 'The underlying problem is a lack of transparency and
accountability" says Hillel Neuer, [one close observer.] ..
in 2003 the OIOS cleared the U.N. Office on Drugs
and Crime in
Senior U.N. officials in [Neuer said] 'if some of the things that happen at the
United Nations took place in a big corporation, people would have been
fired.' [A UN shortcoming, Neuer added, is that
the investigation results emerge very slowly]
are mostly 'white-washed'
[and occur] only after 'a lot of prodding from the media and NGOs.' [A reporter asked spokesman Fred Eckhard if there is]
'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?' [Eckhard replied]
'I will certainly ask for you
" Thalif Deen, "Corruption: U.N. failing to practice
'good governance', IPS Inter Press Service,
Second, there have been persistent doubts about the
determination of the OIOS, first under Mr. Pashke and then Mr. Nair. to
firmly address mismanagement problems, and that indeed it does "whitewash"
mismanagement allegations and excuse senior officials' abuses (see
especially this archive's subsections on Top corruption fighter corrupted and
Refugee Sexual Abuses ). However, in 2004 OIOS did stand up against a senior
manager on a sexual harassment case. Mr. Annan, however, overruled the
report and exonerated the official. Issuance of the OIOS annual report
(revealing the OIOS conclusion) was then delayed. Finally, Mr.
Annan had to reverse himself after persistent media pressure. The following
quotes show the damage that these events did to the idea of the
operational "independence" of the OIOS, and to the UN's stated commitment
to fighting corruption. "A senior UN official [Ruud Lubbers] was cleared of
sexual harassment earlier this year because the secretary general rejected
the verdict of an internal watchdog.
But a revised report issued by UN watchdogs on
Thursday revealed that investigators supported the allegation
[and
recommended appropriate action.]. Mr. Annan refused to take action, saying the
allegations were 'not sustainable.'
Despite the recommendation, Mr. Annan dismissed the
complaint, but instead wrote to Mr. Lubbers stressing his concerns 'in the
strongest terms.' The disclosure that the OIOS ruled against Mr. Lubbers
was made public when 'technical reasons' meant that details of the case
were included in a version of the watchdog's annual report. An original version
did not include details of the
case against Mr. Lubbers
In May Mr. Lubbers acknowledged making a 'friendly
gesture' which was misunderstood by the woman. He denied allegations of improper conduct."
"Kofi Annan 'vetoed UN sex claim'", BBC News,
The lawyer for the [UN] staff member who brought
sexual harassment charges [at UNHCR]
has said that [Secretary-General
Annans admission]
of having overruled his own investigators in clearing
[Ruud] Lubbers would spur an appeal
the admission that UN investigators had found the
womans complaint valid and had recommended punishment emerged this past
week in the [OIOS] annual report
[which restored this damning disclosure
in a last-minute restoration]
A senior UN official had said earlier that if the
claims against Lubbers were found to be true, he would be obliged to
resign.
When he cleared Lubbers of the formal charges in July,
Annan
did not reveal the negative findings of his own investigators
and said that the complaint against Lubbers could not be sustained.
[The lawyer, Edward Patrick] Flaherty, argued that the
doctored document strengthened his clients case
This demonstrates that there are two sets of [UN]
rules
Flaherty said. One for the protected class and one for
the rest.
Mr. Lubbers is part of the protected class. My client is
not. The appeal also cites 12 instances of Lubbers alleged
attempts to intimidate the complainant
Fiona Fleck and Warren Hoge, Appeal is expected in UN
sex case: Lawyer cites Annans overruling of his own investigators, International Herald Tribune, "The resignation of Ruud Lubbers
over allegations of
sexually inappropriate behaviour brought sighs of relief yesterday from UN
officials in After allegations surfaced last year, Mr. Lubbers
mounted a vigorous defence. Mr. Annan chose to issue a stern warning but take no
further action.
Since then, the UN has struggled to convince an increasingly
skeptical audience that it is serious about addressing mismanagement. Yesterday UN officials were wishing the affair could
have been dealt with sooner. 'The mistake was that it was treated as
a legal problem when it was a management problem,' one said. But it is also clear that
something of a revolution
is also needed. For a start, [UN senior officials] believe that the UN
can no longer hand out 'jobs for the boys' behind closed doors.
According to [an adviser to Mr. Annan], the UN faces
'a real crisis
an architectural crisis.' The next seven months will determine
whether the edifice can be refurbished or comes crashing down." Mark
Turner, "UN reformists see opportunity for change as Lubbers leaves", Financial Times ( Third, the staff integrity survey report of June 2004,
part of the three-year integrity initiative which Mr. Nair was so proud
of, also provided a very blunt conclusion of many staff who doubt the
commitment of the UN leadership to corruption-fighting, and support for
staff whistle-blowers who report problems to the OIOS. "
the UN has [examined the]
Secretariat's
perception of its own integrity.
[The Integrity Survey politely explains there are
concerns about accountability]
More directly ,,,, [the report notes (p. 11) that] 'Staff members feel
unprotected from reprisals for reporting violations of the codes of
conduct.
This is not a perception confined to a few staff in remote locales
and/or dangerous circumstances. Forty-six percent (46%) gave
unfavourable response to this item, whiles only 12% gave favourable
responses.' This is of course just one of the U.N.'s various
investigations into itself. Best-known this season is the
investigation into Oil-for-Food
Beyond that, there is an entire division
[the OIOS]
which produces in-house investigations
An April 14 U. N.
Staff Union resolution expresses concern 'over recent events regarding an
OIOS investigation into its own investigators
' Someone needs to help this institution, and it is not
a consulting team
nor a batch of investigators operating under terms
defined by the U.N.
I'm working around to the belief that in the matter of
reforming the U.N., the only thing worse than having the U.N. ignore a
problem is to have the U.N. investigate it." Claudia Rosett, "The problem with the Secretariat", The Wall Street Journal, Fourth,
the interim report of the Volcker inquiry in January 2005 made some very
severe judgments about OIOS work and the way that top management failed to
use its reports. "[The Volcker
commission's 36-page "provisional' assessment of UN auditors' performance
says they]
did not adequately monitor its giant oil-for-food program in
Iraq and that in some cases UN officials ignored recommendations deemed
crucial by the auditors.
The audits make
clear that many of the deficiencies were known in the late 1990s, at a
time when indications of corruption of the program by Saddam Hussein and
others were reaching the UN.
The briefing paper
chronicles numerous shortcomings in the In addition, the
commission noted, the auditors failed to monitor contracts for the oil
sales
or those for the purchase of goods
to ease the debilitating
effect of sanctions on Iraqis. Nor did the auditors examine the letters
of credit issued by the program's major banker
The program, the commission
said, suffered from a 'chronic shortage' of auditors assigned to monitor
the UN's largest aid program, financed through 2.2 percent of
Judith Miller,
"Oil-for-food auditors failed", International
Herald Tribune, "[The Volcker preliminary
report]
has sharply criticized the United Nations for insufficiently
auditing operations [of the oil-for-food program, especially]
at its
'There were no
examinations of the oil and humanitarian contracts
during the OFFP.
Oil
contacts were not examined
despite the fact that UN officials had
contract-approval responsibilities.' It was also 'unclear'
why the audits
'focused on areas and operations peripheral to or
away
from, headquarters operations of the OIP.' Even where audits of
the programme were done, there was often no follow-up.
The UN has explained
many of the programme's problems in terms of political games between
powerful countries, but the audits reveal that the UN secretariat itself
failed to exert necessary oversight. The report said more
comprehensive monitoring could have deterred the surcharge scheme on Iraqi
oil contracts,
as well as undercutting the Iraqi government's kickback
scheme for goods purchases.
[It found]
no
examination of the processing of letters of credit by the
bank that
handled the oil-for-food account, 'even though UN officials were
overseeing the work of the BNP and had approval roles in oil sales and
payments to vendors." Mark
Turner, "UN criticized by "Volcker said [his] interim report concluded that the
auditing system was 'underfunded and undermanned' and hence, 'unable to
meet effectively the challenge posed by a really unique, massive and
complex program of humanitarian assistance.' Despite 'the skill and dedication of auditing
professionals,' he wrote, the auditing system lacked 'clear reporting
lines and the management responsiveness critical to achieving a fully
effective auditing process.' Even though no evidence of 'systematic or widespread
abuse' was found in [spending the program's administrative funds], Volcker
wrote, the commission still found 'a clear lapse from disciplined
judgement.'" Judith Miller, "Panel calls oil-for-food program
'tainted'", International Herald Tribune,
Fifth, the widespread and drawn-out media discussion
of the involvement of Mr. Annan and his son in the Oil-for-food programme
scandal during late 2004 and in 2005 combine with the many other emerging
mismanagement scandals to further weaken the reputation of the UN
Secretariat, and to increase doubts about the capacities, performance, and
integrity of the OIOS. "U. N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday he
was disappointed in his son for accepting payments from a key contractor
in the oil-for-food programme for more than four years longer than
previously acknowledged.
But the appearance of a payoff to the
Secretary-General's son was just the latest
of revelations about the
Iraqi oil-for-food program
While the organization scrambles to respond to
oil-for-food inquiries, other troubles are piling up at the organization's
doorstep. ... The U.N. peacekeeping program is wracked by
accusations of rape, sexual harassment and extortion by blue helmets and
civilians in the U.N. mission in International pressure also is building on the United
Nations and the Security Council to do more to protect civilians in
Internally, a [staff]
group seeks to reopen an
investigation of [the head of the OIOS]
over charges of sexual
harassment and favoritism
The U.N. staff union also has criticized Mr. Annan's
willingness to exonerate Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette for
failing to protect U.N. staff members in [Mr. Annan] also threw out an internal report finding
merit in a [recent] sexual harassment complaint against
[UNHCR head]
Ruud Lubbers." Betsy Pisik, "Another oil-food scandal emerges", The Washington Times, The culmination of all these OIOS (and UN internal
oversight) travails came in March 2005, when Mr. Annan's previous firm
support for Mr. Nair abruptly evaporated. The Secretary-General's
spokesman announced that: "We yesterday issued a charge letter against Dileep
Nair based on an adverse finding made against him in the report of the
Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC). Separately, we are initiating an
independent, thorough review of allegations made against him by the Staff
Council to determine whether a full, external investigation is
warranted. "UN
says charge letter issues against Dileep Nair based on findings of Volcker
report", UN press release SGSM/9793, The sudden charge against Mr. Nair, less than a month
before his five-year term ended, was part of further accusations and
confusions in April 2005, involving as well UN Deputy-Secretary General
Louise Frιchette. "Dileep Nair
will be leaving the United Nations, on
April 23, ostensibly disgraced. [The second Volcker interim report accused him]
of
misusing Oil-for-Food funds and violating UN staff regulations. 'Given Mr.
Nair's oversight responsibility within the Organization, he must be held
to the highest standards of conduct,' concluded Volcker's findings on
Nair.
UN Secretary-General Kodi Annan, whose own conduct was
found to be 'inadequate', issued a charge letter against Nair
Annan said
he's 'relieved'
he's been 'exonerated' by the ongoing Volcker investigation.
Over four months ago, the UN Staff Council and Kofi
Annan said Nair was innocent.
[Mr. Annan had]
informed Nair that he had "every
confidence that the good work of the [OIOS under Nair's] leadership will
continue.' [Further, according to press reports, and the interim
Volcker report, Ms. Frιchette] intervened directly
to stop United
Nations auditors from forwarding their investigations to the UN Security
Council.
Frechette does not dispute she may have intervened because audits
are 'a management tool to be used only by internal managers.'" Marinka Peschmann, "The hell no I-won't-go
Secretary-General, the accused UN auditor and Louise", Canada Free Press, Sixth and finally, in May 2005 the Secretariat
released a new management reform document for "real action now" and
immediate reform, "particularly in the critical areas of management,
oversight and accountability." More specifically, under a section on
"Enhancing Oversight and Accountability", it stated that: 'Perhaps the most obvious shortcomings identified by
the Volcker Inquiry and other crises are in the area of oversight and
accountability.
The current 'control' systems for monitoring
management performance and preventing fraud and corruption are
insufficient and must be significantly enhanced.." "UN
management reforms 2005: Management reform measures to strengthen
accountability, ethical conduct and management performance",
To
address criticisms from both the General Assembly and the Volcker Inquiry
and increase oversight effectiveness, the Secretariat stated that it was
establishing a new Oversight Committee, with three internal and two
external members and meeting four times a year. The Committee,
it is stated, will "ensure" that appropriate action is taken on
recommendations from the OIOS, the Board of Auditors, and the JIU, using a
new tracking system to follow the 500-plus "important" audit
recommendations each year. In addition, the Secretariat highlighted
a comprehensive review of the OIOS: "In November 2004, the Secretary-General recommended
to the General Assembly that the [OIOS] undergo a comprehensive external
review to strengthen its independence and authority while ensuring it is
fully equipped in terms of resources, expertise, and capacity to carry out
all aspects of its work.
In addition, the General Assembly has
asked the Secretary-General to report on how to guarantee the full
operational independence of OIOS at the upcoming session this fall [of
2005]. Status: The Secretary-General's recommendation is
currently before the General Assembly
[and] preparation of his report is
underway.]" "UN
management reforms 2005: Management reform measures to strengthen
accountability, ethical conduct and management performance",
As
these allegations and findings continue to grind relentlessly on, doing
more and more damage to the OIOS, there is one piece of good news. In May the
General Assembly appointed Ms. Inga-Britt Ahlenius of
'General Assembly confirms appointments of UNDP
Administrator, head of internal oversight services", UN Press Release
GA/10345, Ms. Ahlenius inherits quite a mess, and certainly has
her work cut out for her. In addition to all the matters discussed
above, and especially the May 2005 Secretariat admission of the crisis in
UN oversight and accountability, she must deal with other major issues
discussed throughout this archive: --
recognition that the UN still lacks a comprehensive strategy and
mechanisms for fighting fraud and corruption, which the Secretariat is now
scrambling to address (see A real UN fraud prevention
programme); --
an understaffed and mysterious OIOS investigations unit which scarcely
reports on what it does (Investigation efforts: Is the OIOS a fig
leaf?); --
an investigations process which is contaminated by the use of amateur
manager/investigators, the very group who should themselves by the ones
most subjected to scrutiny (see Unleashed Managers and Manager/investigators?
); --
failure for over a decade to implement and actively use a required
whistle-blower system and to protect them from retaliation (see Disappearing Whistle-Blowers and Suppressed
whistle-blowers); --
the staff integrity survey results showing much mistrust of UN
corruption-fighting and staff-protection assertions: the consultants
emphasized that, once in place, such mistrust is quite difficult to
overcome (see the third item above and the second item discussed under
Late 2004: A "tipping point" for the
UN?); --
the flawed UN internal justice system and staff code of conduct, lack of
the rule of law, and tolerance of abuses (see inter alia Inept "Administration of Justice"
System, Behind the Scenes, Revision of the Code of
Conduct, Piercing the Cloak of UN
Impunity, Refugee Sexual Abuses,
and Anti-harassment efforts); -- the weakness of UN external oversight
groups (except for the UN Board of Auditors, who are only part-timers) and
the General Assembly's present apathetic performance of its own oversight
responsibilities (discussed in the following subsections of this section
on inadequate UN oversight); -- Mr. Annan's own ambitions to create
another one of his "independent" inquiry groups to reform OIOS operations,
which is awkward in light of his suppression of OIOS reporting in the 2004
sexual harassment case (see Anti-harassment efforts); -- the conveniently and repeatedly
postponed key actions to finally establish a complete system of monitoring
and evaluation of programme results for systematic management
accountability in the Secretariat, which was dumped on the OIOS in 2002
and comes due in 2006 (see the latter portions of Programme planning system
(PPBE)).
This entire process of management accountability and
oversight reform remains very hazy. The control mechanisms, it is said,
"must be enhanced". A new senior management committee can
help somewhat (by looking at 500 recommendations yearly in four
meetings?).
But far more important will be giving the OIOS "adequate resources
to carry out all aspects of its work" (the present staffing has long
seemed far short of what is needed, as Mr. Annan chose not to seek
additional resources). It also requires strong leadership, from the
Secretary-General himself and other top officials, and much closer
support, use of, and attention to these fundamental processes by all UN
managers and by the General Assembly itself. The key policy
question of strengthening OIOS "independence", of course, is akin to
squaring the circle, and may receive too much verbal "word-play"
attention, without addressing the clear and concrete oversight performance
and management systems mechanisms that need to be fully established and
implemented.
How can an Office of Internal Oversight
Services reporting to the Secretary-General (and to the Assembly, in
reports entitled "Report of the Secretary-General") have "full operational
independence"?
The UN clearly needs much stronger oversight, and
prompt and responsive Secretariat action on oversight findings in light of
the ongoing mismanagement "crisis." But it remains to be seen how and to
what extent the UN "old boys" will finesse or delay action in this area in
2006, and continue their decades-old gambit of promising "self-regulation"
of UN operations. IO
Watch concludes that it is Member States who must step in to help the new
head of OIOS in her daunting task, by accepting their own responsibilities
to provide independent and expert oversight, accountability, and
transparency, and to work closely and supportively to fulfill the
potentials of the OIOS (and by systematically following up on OIOS reports
to facilitate a much needed dose of independence and freedom of
operation). IO Watch offers
some Answers: A Starting Point in this area.
They include A real UN fraud prevention
programme, an External experts oversight
review, a General Assembly audit
subcommittee, annual reporting to
the General Assembly on both Secretariat results achieved and resource
status and use, and, most importantly, that the Member States who "pay the
bills" will overcome a Geneva Group "due diligence"
failure and enlist the support of
other Member States to help ensure that, this time, real UN Secretariat
accountability, transparency, and accountability will finally be
established, and the operational integrity of the UN restored. |
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