U.N. workers accused of fraud
The AP obtained U.N. internal investigative documents and interviewed eight aid workers and former government officials. The upshot: internal auditors from the World Health Organization are investigating allegations that unqualified people were placed in high-paying jobs, hundreds of thousands of dollars were deposited in staffers’ personal bank accounts, dozens of suspicious contracts were approved without the proper paperwork, and tons of donated medicine and fuel went missing.
A second probe by another U.N. agency, UNICEF, focuses on a staffer who allowed a Houthi rebel leader to travel in agency vehicles, shielding him from potential airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition. The individuals who spoke to the AP about the investigations did so on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.
Critics of such corruption say it threatens the international lifeline on which the majority of Yemen’s 30 million people rely. Last year, the U.N. said international donors pledged $2 billion for humanitarian efforts in Yemen.
The main focus of WHO’s investigation into its Yemen operations is Nevio Zagaria, an Italian doctor who was chief of the agency’s Sanaa office from 2016 until September 2018, according to three individuals with direct knowledge of the investigation.
The only public announcement of the probe came in a sentence buried in the 37 pages of the internal auditor’s 2018 annual report of activities worldwide. The report did not mention Zagaria by name.
WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic confirmed that the investigation is underway. He said Zagaria retired in September 2018, but he would not confirm or deny that Zagaria specifically was under investigation.
“The Office of Internal Oversight Services is currently investigating all concerns raised,” he said. “We must respect the confidentiality of this process and are unable go into details on specific concerns.”