by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
UN GATE, Nov 6 – How corrupt is today's United Nations? Well, when Inner City Press started questioning SG Antonio Guterres' role, it was roughed up and banned. Now this, to Inner City Press, about UNODC:
UNODC is in turmoil. Its Under Secretary General, the Egyptian Ghada Waly, is under investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services. She is being investigated on two accounts: harassment of staff and illicit use of UN financial resources - which come from taxpayers around the world - to fund frequent, long and not always justified trips to her home country, where most of her family continue to live. This situation has made even worse the already tense and negative atmosphere at UNODC, where two senior managers, and maybe also other staff, have taken long medical leave due to burn-out and psycho-physical stress, as a consequence of the UNODC boss' behavior. The Under Secretary General, after joining UNODC in early 2020, has upset and alienated many staff with her aggressive and disrespectful attitude, which has brought junior staff to tears and subjected others to humiliating behaviors. Internal sources say that one staff even ended up retiring for medical reasons, with disability benefits, because of the stress accumulated after working with her. The 4 year mandate of Ghada Waly is up for renewal in a few months. She will be in New York in the week of 6 November to seek an extension of of her appointment for another four years. Many people in the UNODC office are praying that this will not happen. Many diplomats in Vienna are also hoping she will not be extended by the Secretary General, as they have more and more doubts about her competence, credibility, and now also her integrity. And they do not forget that she was previously a minister in her country, in a government with zero democratic credentials. This is another source of embarrassment: UNODC is expected to be the big champion of the rule of law inside the United Nations system..
Inner City Press applied to enter to cover the UNGA week, on June 2023. No response from Guterres' Stephane Dujarric nor Melissa Fleming, nor now to a letter from a pro bono law firm. Dujarric lies and says it's because of danger, while not even responding to written questions like the above. That's how corrupt today's UN is.
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.
