3.            Investigative websites on UN accountability problems.  In the early fall of 2006, IO Watch updated its list of Relevant websites, more than doubling their number from 28 to almost 60.  The most interesting new feature discovered was the number of websites now investigating UN accountability issues on a sustained basis, and focusing in particular on senior UN officials.  The websites seek to identify, analyse in detail, and make public serious instances of poor judgement, misconduct, or mismanagement by these officials, and the underlying management culture which consistently tolerates these scandals.  The websites' determination to pursue such matters wherever possible, until the Secretariat finally faces up to and corrects them (while admitting little if any guilt), is especially valuable. 

Media investigations, which had occasionally exposed UN scandals in the past, finally came into their own with the Iraq oil-for-food program scandals.  It was only determined media attention which kept the UN from covering them it up with an in-house "whitewash" in early 2004, but pursuing such cover-ups and scandals, is now clearly  becoming an important, ongoing, task.  This conclusion is underscored by the continuing Secretariat non-accountability, from the Secretary-General on down, as confirmed yet again by a General Assembly resolution of May 2006 -- see item 190. in Overview … Quotes III.

IO Watch has itself been able to informally piece together a list of some 18 senior UN  officials criticized for poor judgement, mismanagement, or worse during Mr. Annan's tenure.  They include Mr. Annan himself, his two Deputy Director-Generals, his long-time Chef de Cabinet, the first two heads of OIOS, his first two top crime-fighting officials, and the High Commissioner for Refugees, (and several of their family members.)  There are certainly more, and inevitably will be still more in the future.  But keeping track of them, even including Mr. Annan and others leaving UN office in 2006, is very important to expose the scandals of the past in hope of preventing their recurrence in the future.

Many sources worldwide now report to some degree on UN scandals and mismanagement:  Google Search identified almost six million items on "UN corruption scandals" as of October 2006. IO Watch wishes to note here the following websites, which concentrate more extensively on investigating, and following up on, UN management accountability and performance issues on a regular basis.

--   Claudia Rosett is a journalist who has followed the UN closely since the beginning of the oil-for-food scandal, and continues to do so.  She offers extremely well-informed insights not only on various specific UN scandals, but also on their relationship to an unaccountable UN management culture.  Her articles appear in multiple sources.  A list of her detailed articles on the oil-for-food program (along with many other recent articles on UN operating problems) can be found at sgac.senate.gov/Hearings/Detail, under "Other Resources", as "The U.N. Oil  For Food Scandal from start to finish", Apr 1, 2006.  More of her articles can also be found at Google Search, under "Claudia Rosett."

--    Inner City Press is a relatively new but very active service tracking down the peccadilloes, ethical challenges, and much more serious problems of UN senior officials on an almost daily basis.  It is found at www.innercitypress.com.

--   The UN Forum has been analyzing behind-the-scenes activities at the UN, particularly among the leadership, through many excellent insights and articles in an archive going back to the year 2000.  It is found at www.unforum.com.

--   Eye on the UN, from the Hudson Institute and the Touro Law Center, provides not only daily articles but an archive of "serious shortfalls recently exposed in the UN record", with hundreds of articles under many relevant categories.  It is found at www.eyeontheun.org.

--   The Heritage Foundation provides a collection of more in-depth analyses on UN problems and scandals under its research issue "International Organizations", which includes material going back some three decades.  It is found at www.heritage.org.

--    Some internet blogs do very extensive work on UN scandals.  For instance, www.acepilots,com/unscam, now apparently inactive, provided almost 1,000 entries on the evolving Iraq oil--for-food program scandal during 2004-2005, divided into many categories.

 -- Finally, IO Watch, for its part, attempts to contribute to this ongoing process with its "Overview Quotes" monthly updates, on the home page, and material on "UN Black Holes", "Top sources," and "Relevant websites", as well as its archives on all aspects of UN management accountability.

IO Watch will continue to seek out new investigative websites like those above and mention them here.  It certainly hopes that other institutions, groups, and even individuals will join the process of "naming and shaming" of UN managers to encourage, finally, an accountable and effective UN.

Anyone interested in learning more about the facts, context, and status of the many ongoing UN scandals also has a great source in Google Search.  A combination of name and topic can produce an instant overview of almost any case, including such examples as:

"Kofi and Kojo Annan" -- about 117,000 items (as of October 2006),

"Kofi Annan financial disclosure" -- about 201,000 items,

"Kofi Annan Mercedes" -- about 208,000 items,

and, even for lesser senior officials, a search at Google giving the name of the UN official involved and a key word or two on the issue or scandal can also often yield a set of articles on that topic.

Loyal UN supporters, of course, may object to this all this "muck-raking" as unfair.  However, recent events have certainly shown that there is a vast amount of muck to rake out of the stables after the Annan era.  In addition, exposing such mismanagement and corruption is infinitely better than covering it up as the UN has done for so long in so many areas. What oil-for-food or UN procurement scandal is still hidden under the UN's steady flood of verbiage?  

A very pointed last word on this topic comes, appropriately, from Claudia Rosett:

"Not to be outdone by his own ruckus-raising deputy, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan himself is now instructing the U.S. on how to treat the corruption-plagued, unreformed and unrepentant U.N.

… Apparently, America's power of the purse is quite acceptable if it entails forking out money with no reforms required.  If the US will only [cooperate] … says Annan, everyone … can 'turn down their rhetoric' and 'engage in serious negotiations' which will be used 'as a basis for more fundamental change,' which will happen 'later.'

For Kofi Annan, of course, there's not a lot of 'later' left.  He is due to retire at the end of this year. … The [many UN] scandals are still with us.   But there has been no major reform. …

Mark Maloch Brown referred in his speech … to 'unchecked U.N. bashing' … which has become U.N. jargon for dismissing all criticisms. … But [the scandals] are sourced and documented, in some cases by Annan-appointed investigators.  The U.N.'s real problem today is … that one after another, allegations of U.N. misconduct, mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and corruption have turned out to be true.

What happens next is now up for grabs …"

Claudia Rosett, "The unreality of U.N. reform: What if 'later' never comes?", National Review Online (US), June 12, 2006.     [emphasis added]