Corruption, threats, and relations with influential people... Al-Sudani orders an investigation into

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Corruption, threats, and relations with influential people... Al-Sudani orders an investigation into “shocking” files about the work of the United Nations[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

[size=45]02-06-2024
After shocking newspaper reports about the work of its mission and its development program in Iraq, the United Nations confirmed an expanded investigation following information about employees of the international organization, specifically the United Nations Development Programme, who sought to obtain bribes from influential Iraqis in exchange for granting them deals. Within the framework of construction projects, worth up to $1.5 billion, Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani also directed a separate investigation.[/size]
[size=45]According to an internal United Nations document, obtained by the British newspaper The Guardian, the Director of the United Nations Development Programme, Achim Steiner, was assigned to “conduct an administrative review and evaluation of the allegations” after it was revealed that his employees were receiving bribes in exchange for helping businessmen obtain construction contracts.[/size]
[size=45]The British report stated that this 6-page document was sent to donors on January 25, with the aim of reassuring Western capitals that the United Nations Development Program is capable of implementing accountability against itself through internal control mechanisms, allowing the agency Restore its credibility.[/size]
[size=45]The report quoted a knowledgeable Iraqi government official as saying that Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani had ordered the Integrity Commission to conduct a separate investigation.[/size]
[size=45]According to a UNDP document, the agency had previously referred 136 cases to the Office of Audit and Investigations (OAI) in relation to the reconstruction program, the majority of which were against suppliers and not employees.[/size]
[size=45]The report added that 56 were confirmed, 52 of which related to sellers who later faced penalties, while the document did not indicate further details about the other four cases, or whether any disciplinary action had been taken.[/size]
[size=45]The report quoted the document as saying that the United Nations Development Program “is committed to strengthening a work culture and environment in which all UNDP employees can report violations without fear of retaliation.”[/size]
[size=45]The British report indicated that more UNDP employees had made these allegations, and spoke about the “culture of fear” and impunity that they said extended across the agency’s offices in the Middle East.[/size]
[size=45]The report explained that these employees accused UNDP managers who had established strong relationships with their government counterparts, of using those relationships as a weapon to protect themselves from accountability, and they practiced retaliation against employees who spoke publicly.[/size]
[size=45]A person who worked in an office in the Middle East told the newspaper that “the employees tried to sound the alarm regarding the transfer of hundreds of thousands of dollars to an organization run by a government official, but their bosses “indicated very quickly that we should not interfere.”[/size]
[size=45]The report continued that after the employees informed the “Audit and Investigations Office” of this case, this person was told that they had not provided sufficient documents to continue the investigation.[/size]
[size=45]The report quoted this employee as saying, “The Audit and Investigations Office is not working at all and is completely dysfunctional.”[/size]
[size=45]The Guardian covered a case in which it said that an employee of the United Nations program in Iraq had filed a complaint with the Complaints Officer and the Audit and Investigations Office, speaking of mismanagement and bullying by one of the supervisors, but the senior management turned against him.[/size]
[size=45]The report quoted him as saying, “They told me, either I drop the complaint or the next review of my job performance will not be good and I will be let go.”[/size]
[size=45]The report also quoted another employee working for the United Nations Development Programme, who indicated that the employees were threatened by a former manager after they expressed their concerns about wasteful spending.[/size]
[size=45]The employee added, “They immediately said: You know where the door is, and you will not get a job if you continue stirring things up,” indicating that this manager’s close relations with government officials do not allow them to be harmed, adding that they benefit from each other financially, which is something that is done through Top management.[/size]
[size=45]The report said that “the resident representative of the United Nations Development Program in Iraq, Ok Lootsma, wrote in an email to employees that the investigation conducted by the Guardian was “extremely regrettable,” and that his office “is working with the United Nations headquarters to refute these unfair allegations.” And unjust,” he called on employees to “refrain from any comment.”[/size]
[size=45]The British report concluded with a UNDP spokesperson saying that the allegations that employees were threatened with retaliation for reporting wrongdoing “are completely inconsistent with the UNDP’s commitment to accountability, integrity, and openness to scrutiny.”[/size]
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