by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
UN GATE, June 3 – How corrupt is today's UN under Antonio Guterres? Well, even those few UN officials bounced for corruption are simply re-hired, and no one answers why.
Inner City Press today publishes this, from UNOPS whistleblowers:
Dear Matthew Russell Lee and Inner City Press Editorial Team,
The UNOPS Personnel Collective Seeking Accountability—a group of employees at the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)—would like to share with you exposing yet another case of corruption and mismanagement coinciding with the Executive Board Annual Session (2–5 June 2025).
The staff denounces the irregular hiring and re-hiring of retired personnel through opaque procurement mechanisms designed to circumvent binding United Nations regulations. Specifically, it reveals how high-ranking UNOPS officials used external vendors—most notably Deployable UN-experienced Development Experts (DUNDEX)—as well as companies created by UN retirees, to contract former UNOPS staff and circumvent restrictions in recruitment processes. This practice directly violated UN General Assembly resolution 51/408 from the year 1996, which limits retirees’ earnings to USD 22,000 per year and restricts contracts to six months. DUNDEX became a tool for discretionary, opaque hiring driven by favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism—diverting public resources and undermining the organization’s credibility
We identify USD 1,118,934.71 in DUNDEX-related contracts alone in the period from 2016 to 2021. These violations were facilitated with the full knowledge of the offices processing these procurements and in some cases involved re-engaging the same retirees through companies they had established themselves. Although some of these issues were flagged by the Internal Audit and Investigation Group (IAIG), similar practices have persisted. The systematic omission and minimization of these issues by multiple UNOPS bodies—including procurement, legal, HR functions, and internal audit itself—points to a structural failure in oversight. These practices not only breach UN regulations but also risk triggering pension-related sanctions for the retirees involved. The report highlights serious misconduct, including fraud, conflicts of interest, and influence peddling. Despite the millions invested in governance reforms following the 2022 S3i scandal, the evidence demonstrates that irregular practices continue to persist at all levels of UNOPS. In your capacity as a key media outlet—and given the crucial role Inner City Press has played in exposing corruption within the UN—we trust that you will help hold UNOPS accountable for its serious mismanagement and corruption cases.
Keep it coming.
Earlier letter on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud here
No explanation, from Guterres, Courtenay Rattray, nor Melissa Fleming, neither of whom have answered letters from pro bono law firms about applying free press principles (including Article 19) to the UN, and readmitting Inner City Press. We'll have more on this.
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