International Reform
GAP has been expanding its focus to include work in the international arena. Increased globalization of government and corporate power exponentially expands the impact of institutional wrongdoing on the environment, public health and citizen safety. Accountability achieved through defense of fundamental rights to free expression and information becomes critical to checking abuses of power and corruption.
GAP's primary international focus at present is the reform of five major Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs). These public lending organizations operate in a culture of secrecy despite their rhetorical commitment to transparency and anti-corruption. With a generous grant from the Ford Foundation, GAP is working to match the bank's practices to their rhetoric. Recently, GAP's work was instrumental in uncovering Paul Wolfowitz's mismanagement and abuse of power as President of the World Bank. By working with whistleblowers inside the World Bank and exposing his wrongdoing, GAP forced Wolfowitz to resign in May 2007.
Program Highlight: World Bank Whistleblower Policy Lacks Protections
June 12, 2008 -- The Government Accountability Project (GAP) greeted the new ‘whistleblower’ protection policy at the World Bank with both applause and disappointment. On the one hand, the numerous advances in the policy represent an important symbolic commitment to accountability. On the other, the policy violates two of four policy criteria in U.S. law for credible whistleblower protection at International Financial Institutions. GAP found that the policy denies those staff members who disclose misconduct, corruption and fraud:
* Access to an impartial forum that will hear their claims of retaliation;
* A guarantee of employment/reinstatement when they successfully contest retaliatory dismissal.
Click here to read GAP's press release.
Click here for Administrative Tribunal data on termination and reinstatement.
Program Highlight: GAP Analysis of the UN Secretariat’s Administration of Justice Proposal
June 6, 2008 -- The UN Secretariat has released a report regarding the establishment of a new internal justice system for the United Nations. While many aspects of this proposal represent advances relative to the existing system, GAP believes that these reforms could be strengthened by amending specific aspects of the Secretariat’s plan. The Secretary-General should adhere closely to the recommendations outlined by the Redesign Panel on the United Nations system of administration of justice in its original report and address concerns raised by the UN Staff Union in resolution EGM/42/4 and its accompanying proposal.
Click here to read the UN report on the Internal Justice System.
Program Highlight: UN Secretary General Proposes More Coordinated Investigatory and Ethics Offices
May 21, 2008 -- In a statement circulated internally, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced his support for a common “investigative capacity” across the UN system.
Click here to read his full statement
By creating a single, accountable and impartial investigative body to address wrongdoing, the UN could maximize efficiency, encourage integrity and promote the notion of “One UN”. GAP, which represents three whistleblowers in the United Nations system, believes the Secretary General and the Executive Heads should act quickly to realize this important reform and address increasing dissatisfaction with internal controls.
Click here to read GAP’s full analysis of the situation and response to Ban Ki-moon’s statement
Program Highlights: UNDP Whistleblower Details Comprehensive Wrongdoing in Somalia Projects
May 14, 2008 -- A whistleblower represented by the Government Accountability Project (GAP) is alleging that actions taken by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have allowed continued wrongdoing in the Somalia Office, which threatens to jeopardize the ability of remittance companies to comply with international anti-terrorism regulations.
Click here for the full press release
Click here for a letter detailing OAI’s conflicts of interest in this case, and the reasons that OIOS should take jurisdiction
Program Highlight: GAP Comparison of UN, UNDP, WFP, UNICEF and UNFPA Whistleblower Policies
April 1, 2008 -- GAP has compared the whistleblower policies at the United Nations (policy), United Nations Development Programme (policy), World Food Programme (policy), UN Children’s Fund (policy) and the UN Population Fund (policy). A comparison of the policies shows that they are inconsistent, weakened by arbitrary loopholes and, on the whole, less comprehensive than the original UN policy established in December 2005.
There is a clear need for harmonization of these policies and for the UN to create a better process for defending employees of conscience. GAP urges the UN Ethics Committee to establish a single policy and standard equivalent to the policy set out in SGB/2005/21. GAP also urges the UN to consider how best to enforce these policies and to establish an independent dispute resolution mechanism as expeditiously as possible.
Click here to read a chart comparing the policies
Click here to read an explanation of the chart
Program Highlight: World Bank Action “Too Little, Too Late” to Correct HIV Corruption; Bank Uses CDC in Cover-Up
March 19, 2008 -- After nearly one year’s delay, the World Bank announced last Thursday that it will further investigate disclosures involving the distribution of defective HIV/AIDS test kits, mass purchased as part of a health care project in India. GAP client Dr. Kunal Saha first informed the Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) of the use of the faulty kits in a draft report in May 2007. In the ensuing months, various World Bank officials have attempted to conceal the facts about the case, discredit Dr. Saha in both the US and India, and use the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) to cover-up fraud. Statements made by World Bank officials to the media last week about this issue were grossly misleading.
Click here to read GAP's full press release
Program Highlight: Senate Subcommittee Investigates the Disclosures of a GAP Whistleblower
January 23, 2008 -- Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing on the "United Nations Development Program: A Case Study of North Korea.” The hearing, which will start at 10 a.m. in Room 342 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, will focus on allegations of corruption in the UNDP North Korea office, including those raised by GAP whistleblower Artjon Shkurtaj. Mr. Shkurtaj was terminated after he reported serious allegations of wrongdoing related to the UNDP North Korea office, including that UNDP personnel were:
- Dealing and transferring hard currencies in cash to North Korean officials in violation of UNDP rules and regulations;
- Concealing counterfeit currency on UNDP premises; and
- Neglecting to enforce monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
Click here to read the case study
Program Highlight: World Bank’s INT Director Quits after Steady Criticism
January 16, 2008 -- Suzanne Rich-Folsom, controversial head of the World Bank Department of Institutional Integrity (INT), tendered her resignation to Bank President Robert Zoellick today. Ms. Folsom’s departure comes after increasing criticism of her own integrity and effectiveness from a variety of sources, including an independent review prepared by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), a Bank commissioned report from a panel headed by Paul Volcker, and a rising tide of dissatisfaction among her staff.
Click here to read GAP's press release
Program Highlight: GAP Applauds, Analyzes UN Reform
January 7, 2008 -- GAP was encouraged to learn that on December 22, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly approved the establishment of a new system for the administration of justice (A/62/597). Through this resolution, the UN declared its commitment to “…a new, independent, transparent, professionalized, adequately resourced and decentralized system of administration of justice consistent with the relevant rules of international law and the principles of the rule of law and due process to ensure respect for the rights and obligations of staff members and the accountability of managers and staff members alike.” The resolution includes many advances in the process of guaranteeing due process and labor rights to UN staff members, contractors and consultants. Continuing concerns about the measure primarily relate to issues that will arise regarding the specifics of implementation.
Click here to read GAP's full analysis
Click here to read the UN resolution
Program Highlight: GAP Releases Report on Proposed UNOffice of Staff Legal Assistance
January 3, 2008 -- After an independent UN panel found the existing justice system at the organization to be “…inefficient, dysfunctional and lacking in independence,” the international body embarked on the process of internal reform. As part of these reforms, the panel proposed and the Secretary-General endorsed plans to replace the current Panel of Counsel with a new Office of Staff Legal Assistance (OSLA). This office would serve as an advocate for staff members be responsible for receiving requests for legal services, investigate the claims to be filed, and defend the interests of personnel of the UN Secretariat and its Funds and Programmes in employment-related disputes.
Following consultations with the Under Secretary for Management of the United Nations Secretariat, GAP undertook a study of possible models and recommendations for OSLA, using both national and international precedents as a guide.
Click here to see GAP’s report
Program Highlight: New UN Ethics Guidelines Greatly Misleading
December 4, 2007 -- The codification of ethics standards and policies for various UN agencies detailed in the December 1st bulletin issued by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon complicates and confuses the issue, creating an entirely new level of bureaucratic dispute, delay, cost and inefficiency for those who report corruption in UN operations and suffer retaliation as a result, in the opinion of the Government Accountability Project (GAP).
Click here to read GAP's full press release
Click here to read the UN bulletin
Program Highlight: UNDP Draft Whistleblower Protections Inadequate
October 11, 2007 -- In the past few months, numerous whistleblowers have come forward with allegations of corruption and retaliation at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Many of them believed that they would be protected by UN Secretary General Bulletin ST/SGB/2005/21 (SGB), approved in December 2005, entitled “Protection against retaliation for reporting misconduct and for cooperating with duly authorized audits or investigations." Recent developments, however, show that they were mistaken. They have been told that UNDP has opted-out of coverage by the SGB in favor of its own protection policy.
GAP, which provided counsel and technical assistance in the formulation of the SGB, has obtained a draft copy of the UNDP policy, dated September 20, 2007. This “Updated UNDP Legal Framework for Addressing Non-Compliance with UN Standards of Conduct,” sets out UNDP’s procedures for investigating misconduct and retaliation. Although the UNDP Framework has not yet been finally approved, the Legal Support Office maintains that its provisions are currently in use as a guide for investigating retaliation.
To address the discrepancies between the two policies, GAP has prepared a comparison of the proposed whistleblower provisions in the UNDP Legal Framework and the SGB, using “International Best Practices for Whistleblower Policies at Intergovernmental Organizations” as a guide.
GAP found the UNDP Legal Framework to be substantially weaker than the SGB in several key areas including: due process rights, the statute of limitations, staff covered, the burden of proof, interim relief measures, retaliation sanctions and the provisions for reporting misconduct through external channels. The UNDP Legal Framework often borrows paragraphs virtually verbatim from the SGB, deleting (or adding) only select words and phrases, apparently for the purpose of restricting the scope of coverage and compromising the objectivity of investigations. In doing so, the UNDP Legal Framework weakens the original policy developed for the organization. Overall the UNDP Legal Framework also disregards the developments of the past two years during which management, staff, and member states have shown a determination to move the United Nations system toward an integrated and impartial internal justice system.
Click here to read GAP’s comparison between the UN and UNDP policies.
Click here to read a chart comparing International Best Practices, the UN and UNDP policies.
Click here to read the Updated UNDP Legal Framework for Addressing Non-Compliance with UN Standards of Conduct
Program Highlight: World Bank Funding Use of Defective HIV-Testing Kits
Septmber 28, 2007 -- A GAP client has come forward with evidence that World Bank funds have been used over a period of years to purchase defective HIV test kits, which have been supplied by the Indian government to hospitals and blood banks across India. The kits, distributed by Monozyme, Ltd., frequently give ‘false negative’ readings, meaning that HIV-contaminated blood will appear to be ‘clean’ and suitable for distribution.
Click here to read GAP's press release/explanation
Click here to read the Washington Post article regarding this case
Program Highlight: UNDP Whistleblowers Left Without Protections
Over the course of the past month, GAP has watched with dismay as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has ‘opted out’ of the jurisdiction of the UN Ethics Office as a mean of protecting whistleblowers. The General Assembly of the United Nations established the Ethics Office in 2006 for the purpose of shielding whistleblowers from retaliation when they reported corruption or misconduct. The unwillingness of Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to oblige Kemal Dervis, UNDP Administrator, to accept the authority of the Ethics Office is therefore inexplicable in light of Ki-Moon’s anti-corruption rhetoric. Because GAP represents whistleblowers who have exposed corruption and misconduct at UNDP, we are concerned for our clients and the lack of recourse accorded them now.
Click here for memo from the UN Ethics Office acknowledging retaliation against Tony Shkurtaj and requesting permission to protect him
GAP urges the Secretary General and management of the United Nations to move quickly to recognize the authority of the Ethics Office of the Secretariat to protect whistleblowers from retaliation.
One of the most serious cases of retaliation we have confronted in recent years involves Ivorian Mathieu Koumoin, a public utilities economist and an employee of UNDP for three years stationed in Senegal. In November 2005, Koumoin resisted approving improper contracting that would have directed UNDP funds allocated by the Global Environment Facility to global warming issues in Africa away from the continent to intergovernmental organizations in Canada and Europe. Koumoin has since been terminated by UNDP in a retaliatory manner and threatened with physical harm by unknown persons in Dakar. The recent decisions by Dervis and Ki-Moon leaves him without any protection as officials seek to silence his truth-telling. Koumoin remains in Dakar with his family, where he is unemployed and informally blacklisted by the United Nations for future employment, without resources or protection.
Click here to read Koumoin’s letter sent earlier this month to the U.N. Ethics Office asking for a review of his dismissal
Program Highlight: GAP Response to the Volcker Panel Report
The World Bank panel chaired by Paul Volcker and commissioned to review the practices of the Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) publicly released its report yesterday, one week after GAP issued an independent review of INT. The two reports share a number of convergent views, but at the same time, recommendations and conclusions diverge on a series of important issues.
In brief, both reports note that:
- The director of INT must relinquish her dual position as counselor to the president and director of INT. The two positions represent a conflict of interest that must be resolved.
- Americans are disproportionately represented among INT staff, especially at the higher levels, and diversity must be increased in the department.
- INT management is excessively critical of department personnel as indicated by the number of staff members on remedial performance improvement programs.
- Attrition among INT staff is dramatically higher than in other units of the Bank.
- A climate of distrust, miscommunication and secrecy has badly strained relations between INT and operations personnel.
GAP urges the Bank management to address these concerns regarding INT immediately. Additionally, GAP calls attention to numerous problems at INT that the Volcker report does not cover.
Click here to read GAP’s full response to the Volcker report.
Program Highlight: Report on World Bank INT Details Serious Problems
September 6, 2007 -- Today, GAP is releasing a review of the World Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) and its practices from 2005 – 2007. INT investigates allegations of misconduct, fraud, and corruption at the Bank, and designs anti-corruption measures to safeguard Bank resources. The GAP report documents several immediate and long-term problems at INT.
Click here for the report
Click here for the press release
Supporting Documentation
Click here for the Internal Auditing Interim Report
Program Highlight: World Bank INT Review Announcement
August 29, 2007 -- On September 6th, GAP will post its partial review of the practices of the Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) at the World Bank on our Web site. Originally, GAP had planned to post it on September 3rd, but logistical considerations have led us to delay the release of the report for three days. As originally envisioned, the review has been based on interviews conducted and documents provided by current and former World Bank staff members. The review is an independent and external exercise, designed to reflect the concerns of staff members as expressed to GAP during the governance crisis experienced by the World Bank earlier this year.
Program Highlight: UN Ethics are Not Optional
August 24, 2007 -- A UN official has found evidence that the UN Development Program (UNDP) retaliated against an employee who exposed wrongdoing involving the agency’s programs in North Korea. Unfortunately, the UNDP has refused a request from the UN ethics chief to submit to a formal investigation. The Ethics office is in charge of administering the whistleblower protection policy that GAP consulted with the organization about in 2005, and should have priority in this case. The whistleblower policy was meant to cover all UN employees.
In 2005, GAP provided technical assistance to the Under-Secretary for Management at the United Nations in the development of the whistleblower protection policy. Findings made by the UN Ethics Office determine whether a whistleblower has suffered retaliation, according to the terms of the policy. At no time during the discussions concerning the scope of the policy did the Under-Secretary for Management or GAP understand that the Funds and Programmes would be allowed to ‘opt out’ of the jurisdiction of the Ethics Office findings, as UNDP is currently attempting to do.
The Resolution of the General Assembly 60/1, which mandated the creation of the Ethics Office, states:
We urge the Secretary-General to scrupulously apply the existing standards of conduct and develop a system-wide code of ethics for all United Nations personnel. In this regard, we request the Secretary-General to submit details on an ethics office with independent status, which he intends to create, to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session.
The whistleblower protection policy that was subsequently formulated relied on this system-wide jurisdiction of the Ethics Office. Accordingly the “Protection against retaliation” policy explicitly states that it has been formulated in accordance with paragraph 161 (d) of General Assembly resolution 60/1.
The UN whistleblower protection policy was issued by the Secretary General of the United Nations at the direction of the General Assembly. GAP does not believe that the code of conduct, ethics and transparency of the UN system are optional for UNDP or for any other Fund or Program.
Program Highlight: Whistleblower Documents Corruption in Armenia
August 17, 2007 -- Bruce Tasker, a specialist on the commission established by the Parliament of Armenia to study the country’s foreign assistance, has documented widespread corruption and the embezzlement of public funds associated with the World Bank’s Municipal Development Program and the Government’s Integrated Finance Rehabilitation Plan, supported by the Bank and monitored by the IMF. Among other things, Tasker has reported the diversion of tens of millions of dollars from the Yerevan water company by the International Operator, who managed the World Bank-financed project. Although the Armenian Parliament and the World Bank received Tasker’s allegations in 2004, together with compelling evidence, three years later, neither the government nor the Bank have adequately addressed the problem.
Click here to read Bruce Tasker's blog
Program Highlight: GAP to Review World Bank's INT
June 12, 2007 -- Over the course of the coming 90 days, GAP will conduct a partial review of the practices of the Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) at the World Bank. We are undertaking this review as a parallel to a specific component of the work of the panel headed by Paul Volcker. While we welcome the Volcker panel’s evaluation of INT, GAP is concerned about the objectivity of the panel, particularly with respect to the protocols used by INT to conduct internal investigations with integrity.
Click here to read the program overview!
Click here to read the INT Terms of Reference!
Program Highlight: World Bank Names Iraq Country Manager; Bank Report Shows Candidate Weak Choice
5/21 - GAP has learned that Daniela Gressani, World Bank Vice President, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region, announced the appointment of Simon Stolp as World Bank Resident Country Manager for Iraq today.
GAP has also obtained the report filed by the seven-member panel that interviewed the two finalists for the position, including Stolp. The panel concluded:
- The pool of candidates was extremely limited and particularly weak given the importance and visibility of the Iraq CM position.
- While Mr. Stolp was found to have relevant experiences and was thought to bring a number of strengths, the panel was left uncomfortable as to whether he could become a credible, substantive (as compared to procedural) representative of Bank with Iraqi and Donor counterparts, on account of his weak analytical background, and lack of knowledge about the Bank.
- Compared with candidates on other CM [Country Manager] short lists (e.g. Lebanon), Mr. Stolp would not place in the top third.
The timing of this appointment is surprising. Although Paul Wolfowitz did not explicitly say he would ‘recuse’ himself from ongoing personnel decisions at this level, he strongly implied that he would do so. Last Friday, May 18, Wolfowitz wrote the World Bank Board of Directors to say:
I believe all country manager and director personnel have been completed for the Spring, so I have no expectation of being involved in these or any other personnel actions.
For reasons related to security and effectiveness, both the Board and the staff at the Bank have previously expressed serious concerns regarding greater Bank presence in Iraq, in general, and about this appointment, in particular. GAP has questions related to this latest development:
- If Wolfowitz and Gressani are planning to expand lending operations in Iraq, aren’t they in violation of Bank regulations that prohibit activity in an ongoing conflict?
- Was Paul Wolfowitz involved in the decision to offer Stolp the position?
- Was another search conducted, as the interviewing panel requested?
- What will the relationship be between Stolp, as Country Manager and the U.S. and U.K armed forces?
- What are the security costs associated with this appointment?
- Why is this appointment being finalized now, when violence in Baghdad is widespread and intense?
Click here to read Gressani’s email announcing the appointment.
Click here to read to interview panel report.
Program Highlight: Wolfowitz Scandal Summary 4/9/07 - 5/1/07
With new stories, twists and turns coming regularly in the Paul Wolfowitz scandal, below please find a quick summary of links to press releases and document releases (listed by date) that GAP has been involved with recently. For daily ongoing coverage of the scandal, refer to the front page of our Web site or the GAP Blog, All Things Whistleblower.
May 1, 2007 – Former Bank General Counsel’s & Ethics Chair Statements Challenge Wolfowitz’ ‘Recusal’
May 1, 2007 – Melkert’s Statement Echoes Concerns over ‘Recusal’ (Melkert statement)
April 30, 2007 – GAP Points Out Misrepresentations in Wolfowitz’ Statement
April 27, 2007 – Orders to Play Down Climate Change Came from Wolfowitz’ Office
April 27, 2007 – Wolfowitz and Cleveland Misrepresent Riza Assignment to World Bank Board (The full documents released by the Committee)
April 26, 2007 – GAP Points Out Riza Not Seconded To State Department (see front page of Web site)
April 24, 2007 – GAP Raises Questions Regarding Riza-SAIC Deal
April 23, 2007 – 40 Former Senior Bank Officials Signed Letter Urging Wolfowitz to step aside.
April 23, 2007 – Director General of the Independent Evaluation Group, a unit charged with assessing the effectiveness of World Bank projects, delivered a strongly worded message expresseing concern about the damage Wolfowitz has done to the Bank and the danger that his continued tenure will do more.
April 20, 2007 – Bank Executive Directors Reject Proposed Family Planning Strategy
April 18, 2007 – SAIC Contract Indicates Riza Paid
April 17, 2007 – GAP Releases SAIC Riza Contract
April 16, 2007 – Law Firm-Conflict of Interest Questions Raised by Bank Staff (see front page)
April 13, 2007 – GAP Points Out Board Given Wrong Information
April 12, 2007 – Email Trail and Draft Strategy Show Family Planning Removed from Bank’s Africa Plans
April 11, 2007 – Bank Staffer Comments Show Outrage; Low Morale
April 11, 2007 – Bank Staff Association Responds
April 9, 2007 – Wolfowitz Sends Out Problematic Statement (Statement)
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Program Highlight: The Ongoing Paul Wolfowitz-Shaha Riza Scandal
April 10, 2007 -- Over the last few weeks, GAP has been at the center of an emerging scandal involving World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and the salary of his girlfriend, fellow Bank staffer Shaha Riza. The entire episode underlines the palpable need for thorough whistleblower protections to be provided to Bank employees.
First, GAP provided documents to reporters showing that Riza has received raises far in excess of what World Bank regulations stipulate for her position. Riza, who transferred to work at the State Department for the Bank under Karen Hughes and Liz Cheney, currently makes $193,590, a salary greater than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's. Click here for the Washington Post article (3/28/07). This was later amended by another Washington Post article detailing that Riza's salary was tax-free.
GAP then released documents (4/5/07) showing that Riza's raises have caused an uproar among Bank staff employees, as evidenced by an internal Bank email from the World Bank Staff Association. The email states that "the Staff Association has been inundated with messages from staff expressing concern, dismay and outrage." Click here to read the Reuters article!
According to an anonymous source inside the Bank as quoted in an article by Inter Press Service (4/5/07), "Wolfowitz is much, much more concerned about who leaked the information than about how to rectify the situation. He's just furious."
Also, GAP sent out a press release (4/5/07) detailing how Riza did not receive Bank approval for outside employment as a consultant for a major U.S. defense contractor during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. Inter Press Service reported the story.
Note: GAP's Blog has near-daily updates about the Wolfowitz-Riza faisco. Click here to visit the blog! We'd love to hear from you!
Program Highlight: World Bank Lending to Africa Plummets
March 14, 2007 -- GAP has learned that through the first nine months of fiscal year 2007, the World Bank’s lending to poor African countries has plummeted relative to the amount lent through the same time period last year. The lending lapse has occurred despite Bank president Paul Wolfowitz’ frequent public statements that the region is his top priority.Click here for the World Bank's own graph showing the drop!
March 16, 2007 -- GAP has new information regarding the World Bank’s drop in lending for African programs for fiscal year 2007. Inside sources from the Bank have informed GAP that Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has set an impossibly high target for lending to Africa by July 1, the end of the fiscal year. To meet last year’s level, the Bank, would have to lend $3 billion in the next 15 weeks. GAP has learned that Wolfowitz plans to actually surpass that amount and will attempt to push through $4.7 billion in new commitments in the next 3 months alone. Africa region staff are facetiously calling this excess of money “the surge.”
Program Highlight: World Bank Makes Wrong Choice to Lead World Bank INT
March 2, 2007 -- GAP has learned that, despite an apparent conflict of interest, Wolfowitz has selected a man to lead an independent review of the organization's Department of Institutional Integrity, the office that investigates allegations of internal fraud and corruption (whistleblowing). Unfortunately, that person's past professional connections put him too close to the investigatory office, and to a company with a questionable relationship to the office, to allow him to qualify as an independent evaluator.
Click here to read the All Headline News article "Government Accountability Project Questions Professional Relationships of Lead Official for World Bank Corruption Committee"
Click here to read GAP's full press release!
Program Highlight: World Bank Staffer Shot; Wolfowitz Covering it Up!
March 1, 2007 -- GAP has learned and informed the media that inside sources revealed a Bank staffer had been shot and wounded in Iraq, and that Wolfowitz was trying, according to one report, to keep "the incident under wraps apparently for fear that the news could derail the appointment plans." These "appointment plans" refer to plans to appoint an Iraq County Director. The Bank tried to announce the incident informally, only sending out a staff email after employees had begun passing around an international article about the shooting.
Click here to read the Washington Post article "World Bank Slow to Inform Employees of Baghdad Shooting"
Click here to read the Reuters article "World Bank to Boost Iraq Presence despite Shooting"
Click here to read the Inter Press Service article "World Bank Mum over Report of Staff Injury"
Program Highlight: Wolfowitz Negotiating Contract for Iraq Resident Adviser!
February 16, 2007 -- GAP learned from inside sources that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is currently negotiating a contract with a new resident Iraq Country Director. This step strongly suggests that Wolfowitz intends to expand Bank-funded projects into the war-torn country dramatically in the near future. This development bears out the fears expressed by senior Bank career staff and board members when Wolfowitz was originally appointed by the Bush administration. The Bank is actually prohibited from operating in a conflict zone by its founding Articles of Agreement.
Click here to read the Inter Press Service article "Wolfowitz May Bring Bank into Iraq"
Click here to read the full GAP press release!
Program Highlight: Calling Nonprofit Organizations - Sign on to a Letter to Wolfowitz for Whistleblower Rights!
January 4, 2007 -- In the coming weeks, GAP will address a letter to World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz regarding the formulation of that organization’s new whistleblower protection policy. When drafting the policy, the president’s office consulted with nongovernmental organizations, the Bank staff association and external jurists on an ad hoc basis but did not conduct a public consultation.
GAP believes, along with many other organizations, that because this policy is a crucial element of any credible anti-corruption strategy, Bank management should make the policy available for a sixty-day public comment period. To date, more than ten organizations from around the world have signed on to the letter requesting this open consultation. If your organization would like to sign on too, please email GAP’s International Program Director, Bea Edwards.
Click here to read the letter!
 Email Beatrice Edwards
Program Highlight:
In Appreciation: Steve Turja
Program Highlight: Checklist for Effective Whistleblower Protection at Intergovernmental Organizations
Click here to read a compilation of the best from all national whistleblower laws in a global scale!
Program Highlight: New Whistleblower Protection Policy Proposed for African Development Bank
October 20, 2006 -- The African Development Bank is currently considering a new whistleblower protection policy that would shield employees from retaliation when they expose corruption or fraud in Bank operations. Because GAP successfully defended two whistleblowers at the AFDB, the Bank invited us to comment. The draft policy makes important advances in the protection of those who work to ensure that Bank resources are properly used. Among the most significant is the guarantee of employment for whistleblowers who prevail. If enacted, this policy change will provide assurance that managers and supervisors shall not be able to dismiss those who make credible disclosures of corruption in order to silence them.
Nevertheless, loopholes in the proposal raise concerns at GAP and must be addressed if the policy is to be effective.
Click here for the African Development Bank’ Draft Whistleblower and Complaints Handling Policy!
Click here for GAP's comments on the AFDB Whistleblower Policy!
Program Highlight: GAP Releases Internal World Bank Whistleblower Analysis
February 10, 2006 -- GAP today released the secret “Vaughn Report,” commissioned by the World Bank as a blueprint to modernize that institution’s inadequate whistleblower protection policies. This internal document details the recommendations of noted whistleblower law scholar Robert Vaughn to incorporate “best practices,” that were already adopted this year by the United Nations and enacted last fall as U.S. policy to strengthen anti-corruption efforts at all multilateral development banks (MDBs).
Click here for the press release!
Click here for the report!
Program Highlight: U.N. Issues Groundbreaking Whistleblower Policy; GAP Consulted Heavily in Drafting
December 21, 2005 -- GAP praised the United Nations for issuing a new standard of whistleblower protection in an anti-retaliation policy released yesterday as a Secretary General’s Bulletin. GAP, which was consulted directly regarding the policy, is hailing the protections as the benchmark for other Intergovernmental Organizations. The new protections take effect on January 1, 2006. While these breakthroughs set the bar higher for whistleblower protection for all IGOs, the group cautioned that they must be viewed in the larger context of unfinished structural reform that awaits U.N. General Assembly action next year.
Click here to read the Associated Press article!
Click here to read the Reuters article!
Click here to read GAP’s press release!
Program Highlight: Important Week for World Bank Whistleblower Rights!
September 6, 2005 -- Congress returns this week to take up the Development Bank Reform and Reauthorization Act, S. 1129, introduced and unanimously approved on July 26 by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after more than a year of field investigations, hearings and public roundtable forums. In addition, the FY 2006 omnibus appropriations law that soon goes to conference contains an amendment that Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R.-IN) teamed up with Senator Patrick Leahy (D.-NH) to secure Senate passage of a similar reform package (S. A. 1293 passed on July 20). Click here to read more about this development!
The map below shows the many places that GAP has advised and assisted in implementing whistleblower protections. However, this map is currently under construction. We thank you for your patience.
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