UN probes 200 fraud cases, contracts abuse
by Thalif Deen, United Nations, (IPS)
The United Nations, which is struggling to redeem its public image
over charges of nepotism and mismanagement in its $64 billion
now-defunct oil-for-food programme in Iraq, has admitted to another
growing scandal relating to its procurement activities.
"Clearly, I think the potential abuse could go into tens of millions
of dollars," said Christopher Burnham, UN Under-Secretary-General for
Management and Administration. Asked about the sums involved, he told
reporters Monday:
"It could go higher than that, but we are in the middle of looking at
200 different reports of abuse." The abuses relate mostly to UN supplies
and services both in the department of management and the department of
peacekeeping operations.
With a new "whistle-blower protection policy" now in force, Burnham
predicted that the number of cases under investigation could balloon
over the next six months.
A preliminary investigation by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight
Services (OIOS) has resulted in eight officials being placed on "special
leave with pay" four from the Department of Management and four from the
department of Peacekeeping Operations.
The highest ranking official on "special leave" is Andrew Toh, a
national of Singapore and an Assistant Secretary-General in charge of
UN's central support services.
"These measures are administrative, not disciplinary, and they fully
respect the due process rights of the staff members concerned and do not
presume any wrongdoing," Burnham said, pointing out that ongoing UN
procurement activities have not been affected.
He said the investigations had raised "a number of serious
allegations and concerns" about UN procurement practices.
"The design and maintenance of controls needed to ensure that UN
procurement complied with financial rules and regulations were
insufficient," said Burnham, a former official of the US State
Department. "Important controls were lacking while existing ones were
often bypassed."
He complimented "the courageous men and women of the United Nations
who have continued to come forward to report fraud". There was anecdotal
evidence, he said, that more staffers are "blowing the whistle" but it
is too soon to tell.
"We are doing all the right things to ensure that the global
taxpayers money will be protected going forward, and we are ferreting
out corruption and fraud where it existed and where it exists," he
added. While the United Nations is not making public the recent audit,
he said, there was substantial evidence of abuse in procurement for
peacekeeping operations leading to financial losses and significant
inaccuracies in planning assumptions.
Since 1948, the United Nations has spent $41 billion in its
peacekeeping operations worldwide. With 15 peacekeeping operations
currently in force, the total peacekeeping budget has reached over $5
billion for 2005-2006, compared to the UN's regular biennial budget of
over $3 billion.
Currently, there are nearly 85,000 personnel serving in UN
peacekeeping operations - from Lebanon and Western Sahara to Kosovo and
Haiti. As UN peacekeeping costs have skyrocketed over the last two
decades, waste and corruption have continued to increase
correspondingly.
The current investigations are being conducted by the Procurement
Fraud Task Force of the OIOS. The audit is being confined to five years
of peacekeeping-related procurement, including major UN procurement
contracts.
The 191-member General Assembly has already mandated the OIOS to
conduct a wide-ranging investigation into UN peacekeeping operations,
focusing specifically on supplies and services.
Besides the eight staffers on special leave, an additional four from
the peacekeeping department were recalled from their assignments
overseas. After being questioned, they have returned to their posts.
Briefing reporters, Burnham insisted that most UN staff were
"completely innocent". The vast majority of men and women working in the
procurement area are hardworking, honest and sincere, he said. And a
good number of them have come forward with reports of fraud and abuse.
Last month, the United Nations announced a new "whistle-blower
protection policy" aimed at encouraging staffers, contractors,
consultants and even the public to help expose corruption in the world
body.
The new policy assures whistle-blowers there will be no retaliation
for reporting misconduct and "for cooperating with duly authorised
audits or investigations".
The protection policy came into effect on January 1 pending the
establishment of a UN Ethics Office.
The proposed office has "broad support" within the General Assembly,
but there has been an ongoing debate on staffing levels.
The UN's much-criticised oil for food programme in Iraq - aimed at
easing the sufferings of Iraqis from economic sanctions - has been
singled out as a prime example of gross mismanagement by the U.N.
Secretariat.
After 18 months of investigations, the former US Federal Reserve
Chairman Paul Volcker concluded that of the 4,758 companies in the
programme, over 2,260 companies and individuals paid kickbacks to former
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to win contracts - mostly under the
supervision of the U.N. Secretariat. The Volcker inquiry found "illicit,
unethical and corrupt" behaviour in the tainted oil-for-food programme,
which was created in April 1995. |