| After UNOPS
Corruption Exposed by Inner City Press
Staff Tell It Nothing Is Reformed
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
UN GATE, Dec 13 –
In the United Nations under
Antonio Guterres, there is
nothing but failure and
excuses and fundraising on
crises like Gaza, Ukraine, Syria,
Burma, Haiti and
Cameroon.
There is impunity
for sexual abuse by
peacekeepers and UN staff like
Juan Carlos Cunillera, just
"along for the ride" during
the UN
sex-in-the-van exposed
by Inner City Press.
But now as we
looked at and asked about
Guterres' omission of his
links to UN briber CEFC China
Energy, leading to him banning
the Press (and Melissa Fleming
continuing the ban, not even answering
a law firm's pro bono letter),
on April 17, 2022 we published
on other officials - including
long time UNOPS operative
Vitaly Vanshelboim (whom Inner
City Press covered in
connection with UNOPS gag
orders before being banned
from UN by corrupt Guterres.)
We noted
that Vanshelboim's skeeze in
the S3i scam of UNOPS's Grete
Faremo.
While
others then noted for example
that a long time member of the
UN Correspondents Association
Gloria Starr Kins played a
role in hooking up the fraud,
they don't mention UNCA and
their role in banning the
Press. On December 13, 2024,
UNCA will put access to Guterres
up for sale again at Cipriani:
no questions have been
answered.
Now this:
Dear Matthew
Russell Lee:
We are a group of
current and former employees
of the United Nations Office
for Project Services
(UNOPS). We are reaching
out to kindly request your
assistance. The scandal
surrounding the S3i initiative
in 2022, which exposed the
diversion of funds, is merely
the tip of the iceberg in a
much broader pattern of
irregularities.
These unethical
practices have resulted in
significant financial and
moral crises, with the most
recent consequence being the
announcement of a series of
layoffs in 2025. The executive
leadership, led by [Lusophone]
Executive Director Jorge
Moreira da Silva, is
attempting to downplay
these layoffs...
This issue
is further exacerbated by the
lack of accountability and
leniency towards abuse
allegations—including sexual
harassment and physical
violence; reprisals against
whistleblowers; and the
widespread use of
non-disclosure agreements
(NDAs) to silence those who
try to bring these issues to
light.
This issue is
further compounded by
contractual inequality, which
systematically places the
majority of staff under
Independent Contractor
Agreements (ICA), a
controversial work arrangement
that lacks legal protections
against abuse. The
Ethics Office and internal
reporting mechanisms operate
in collusion, primarily aiming
to downplay or dismiss cases,
leaving whistleblowers
completely unprotected.
This is Guterres'
UN.
The upcoming
Executive Board meeting,
scheduled for the first
quarter of 2025, will be
crucial. Management intends to
mislead the board by
presenting manipulated reports
that falsely claim the success
of the Comprehensive
Improvement Plan (CRP). This
so-called reform plan,
introduced after the S3i
scandal, has proven to be
nothing more than a façade,
designed solely to appease
donors and the executive
committee. This attempt at a
cover-up is nothing but a
blatant farce aimed at
perpetuating corruption and
evading accountability.
With utmost
appreciation, The UNOPS
Personnel Collective Seeking
Accountability
We'll
have more on this.
***
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