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UN Refugee Agency Makes Deals with Donors for
Jobs and Contracts, Non-Answers including on Safety
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
March 25 -- The UN's
refugee agency has been accused of doling out jobs and contracts under
agreements with certain donor countries which violate the UN Charter
and
applicable rules. The allegation was made publicly in Rome last week at
a High
Level Committee on Management that "UNHCR
has signed with a donor government an agreement which contains a clause
that
requires UNHCR to increase the percentage of the nationals of that
donor country to 13% of all Professional staff [and increase access to
procurement
opportunities]. Such a clause is clearly contrary to Article 101 of the
Charter
and simply undermines all the principles of international civil
service."
Four days ago, Inner City Press requested comment from UNHCR's two lead
spokespeople, and its representative in New York, without response. The
details
of UNHCR's arrangements are more damning than the above-quoted, or the
underlying
Board of Auditors report, A/AC.96/1025, which noted
"the agreement with the United States of
America
required UNHCR to increase the percentage of its American staff to 13
per cent
of all Professional staff and to provide equitable access to
procurement
opportunities for American suppliers. UNHCR has signed a similar
agreement with
Denmark. Such clauses are contrary to Article 101 of the Charter of the
United
Nations, United Nations Financial Regulation 3.11 and article 3.1 of
the
Financial Rules for Voluntary Funds administered by the High
Commissioner for
Refugees."
Given
this Board of Auditors finding, one would expect UNHCR's spokespeople
to have a
response. But no. And so, further detail: after the agreement
with the biggest donor, the U.S., had been signed, other donors who
knew about
it started asking questions. Subsequently the agreement with Denmark
was signed.
But as the news of these agreements spread, Ambassadors or their envoys
began
paying visits to the Former High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud
Lubbers,
who resigned amidst a sexual harassment scandal,
and since then and the current High
Commissioner Antonio
Guterres to appoint their nationals too.
In
order to do so, the High Commissioner and/or the Deputy High
Commissioner Craig Johnstone had
to act in the aforementioned breach of the organization's rules on
recruitment
and posting. Many staff were so appointed including to key positions
such as the
Head of the Investigation Unit in UNHCR's Inspector General's Office,
IGO.
Although a qualified internal candidate was identified through an
elaborate
selection procedure established by the IGO, including an interview
panel, written tests and the like, and a formal review by the
Appointment, Postings and Promotions Board
(APPB), the former Deputy High Commissioner Wendy
Chamberlin, an American who was at that time
acting High
Commissioner following Lubbers resignation, decided to externally
recruit a
male external candidate, American Michael Dudley, who reportedly did
not meet
the published minimum requirements for the P-5 post, citing the higher
interests of the organization -- seemingly, a reference to the 13%
agreement
with the U.S..
Guterres signs on the dotted line, side deals not
shown
More
recently, current DHC Craig Johnstone reportedly violated the
established
procedures for the selection of the UNHCR Mediator and appointed in
September
2007 a staff member of his choice, Eddie Gedalof, after which the
Inspector
General (IG) Kofi Asomani then tried to oppose the recruitment of an
under-qualified Head of Investigation Unit but to no avail. The Head of
the
Investigation Unit Michael Dudley was reportedly then transferred in or
about
December 2007 to a position in OIOS and that important post in UNHCR is
currently vacant.
Looking
forward, a similar scenario is expected by insiders to happen with
regard to
the filling of the newly created D-1 post of Director of Ethics at
UNHCR.
Currently, a junior P-4 is appointed to the post of Ethics Officer,
Jane
Rasmussen, and is reporting to the Head of Policy Unit within the
Division of
Human Resources Management. UNHCR may belatedly purport to comply
with
the Secretary-General's already weak bulletin on whistleblower
protection - in the
above-mentioned way.
Inner
City Press submitted questions about the above, and also about safety
and
security and other matters, to three separate spokespeople within
UNHCR,
without response even days later on
March 27-28. Watch this site.
* * *
These reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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718-716-3540
Other,
earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available
in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
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2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request
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