Claudia Rosett: UNSCAM -&- the Volcker Report

Independent Inquiry into the U.N. Oil-for-Food Programme: Vol. 1


Independent Inquiry into the U.N. Oil-for-Food Programme: Vol. 2


Independent Inquiry into the U.N. Oil-for-Food Programme: Vol. 3



Independent Inquiry into the U.N. Oil-for-Food Programme: Vol. 4


An excerpt:

Press Release: INDEPENDENT INQUIRY COMMITTEE FINDS MISMANAGEMENT AND FAILURE OF OVERSIGHT: UN MEMBER STATES AND SECRETARIAT SHARE RESPONSIBILITY

[. . . . ] REFORM PROPOSALS

On the central matter of United Nations reform, the Committee’s investigation leads it to make six major recommendations:

Create the position of Chief Operating Officer (“COO”). The COO would have authority over all aspects of administration and would be appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. The position would report to the Secretary-General and the United Nations Charter should be amended as appropriate.

Establish an Independent Oversight Board (IOB) with a majority of independent members. In discharging its mandate, the IOB should have functional responsibility for all independent audit, investigation and evaluation activities, both internal and external, across the United Nations Secretariat and those agencies receiving funds from the United Nations and for which the Secretary-General appoints the executive heads.

Improve the coordination and the oversight framework for cross-Agency programs.

Strengthen the quality of the United Nations management and management practices.
Extend the financial disclosure requirement well below the current assistant secretary-general level within the organization and specifically include the Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General as well as all UN staff who have any decision-making role in the disbursement or award of UN funds (eg. Procurement Department, Office of the Controller). Expand and better define the United Nations conflict of interest rules so that they encompass actual, potential and apparent conflicts of interest.

Agencies involved in a United Nations program are entitled to reasonable support for “overhead” as well as direct expenses. In the context of the Oil for Food Programme, those charges were excessive and the Agencies involved should return up to $ 50 million in excess compensation secured as a result of work performed under Security Council Resolution 1483.

Emphasizing points expressed in the Report’s Preface, the Committee’s Chairman, Paul A Volcker, stated, “The inescapable conclusion from the Committee’s work is that the United Nations Organization needs thoroughgoing reform—and it needs it urgently. What is important—what has been recognized by one investigation after another—is that real change must take place, and change over a wide area. [. . . . ]

Claudia Rosett: Exposé, At Last? (09/06/2005) Claudia Rosett, National Review Online



Exposing the U.N. Oil-for-Food Scandal

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