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The UN will Continue to Fight Corruption in 2008
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The Procurement Task Force was established in January 2006, largely at the urging of then UN Under-Secretary-General for Management Christopher Burnham from the United States. At the time, there was a damaging perception being conveyed by the media that the UN was corrupt, even though Paul Volcker, the head of the commission investigating the oil-for-food scandal, had concluded that the UN suffered more from a "culture of inaction" than from fraud and corruption. But in view of the UN's growing need to contract for goods and services for peacekeeping operations, Burnham succeeded in his call for more vigorous investigations by a specialized task force, utilizing the seasoned investigators who had worked on Volcker's commission.

The Procurement Task Force, now comprising 27 positions—including 19 investigators—has an annual budget of nearly five million US dollars. Its current workload involves 289 cases, of which more than 40 are considered significant. Previously, the task force had closed 125 cases. Unfortunately, it is unclear how many of these 125 cases resulted in criminal charges: thus far, the Center for UN Reform Education knows with certainty of only one successful prosecution of a UN staffer based on the task force's work.

In November 2007, it became obvious that most countries from the North favored a continuation of the task force's work. However, the Group of 77—made up of 130 countries from the global South, constituting a member state majority in the General Assembly—disagreed and stalled discussions on the report of the task force's activities. The G77 disliked that the task force had been established without a mandate formally approved by the General Assembly. One member of their group, Singapore, voiced strong concerns about the way the task force conducted its investigations, especially that it did not allow staffers to have legal counsel when they were initially interviewed. Singapore's ire was aroused by the case of one of its nationals, Andrew Toh, the former assistant-secretary-general for support services, who remains under investigation by the task force for his alleged improper involvement in the leasing of two helicopters. According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the task force is still seeking Swiss bank records from a Canadian company before it can finally close Toh's case. Meanwhile, after an investigation of Toh by the Procurement Task Force for nearly two years, the internal justice system of the United Nations cleared him of all legal charges, but cited him for misconduct for not providing full financial disclosure of his personal assets when requested to do so. The secretary-general subsequently demoted him for this misconduct and fined him two months salary.

At the morning plenary on December 17, the Group of 77 dropped a bombshell by indicating that it would prefer for the task force to conclude its work by June 30, 2008, causing a crisis in the Fifth Committee's budget negotiations. But a compromise draft resolution seemed ready for approval on December 19. It stipulated that the task force would be able to continue its activities until June 30, 2008, when its continuation would be subject to an overall review of the capacity of the Investigations Division of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), of which the task force is an ad hoc part. But right before the Chairman was about to lower the gavel on the relevant paragraph, the G77 made it clear that no consensus had in fact been reached yet and that continuation of the task force beyond June 2008 was not acceptable. In addition, Singapore called for adding a new paragraph requesting the newly established Independent Audit Advisory Committee to review the activities of the Procurement Task Force.

In the end, the G77 showed flexibility and agreed to allow the Procurement Task Force to continue throughout 2008. Had this not happened, it is not hard to imagine how the press, some members of the US Congress and those who like to vilify the UN would have responded to the demise or curtailment of the task force. No doubt, many would have concluded that the United Nations is not serious about investigating fraud and corruption. It will be interesting to see whether the findings of the Board of Auditors—which as a compromise has been tasked with auditing the activities of the Task Force—will confirm concerns of the G77 that the task force targeted staff from the South; managed its caseload poorly; or hadn't complied with the established transparency and accountability measures of the UN and the OIOS.

Ms. Swart is the executive director of the Center for UN Reform Education.

http://www.unausa.org/site/pp.aspc=fvKRI8MPJpF&b=3793761&tr=y&auid=3293480

January 9, 2008 | 6:54 AM Comments  0 comments

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