Andrew Toh of Singapore, a UN assistant secretary-general who has been placed on “special leave with full pay” while his office is under investigation, has implicitly accused

the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) of discrimination on grounds of nationality.

“Whether nationality pla-ys a part in this crude discriminatory practice, as reported in some quarters, is a matter of speculation at this stage although this sort of treatment of Singaporeans in the United Nations is not without precedent,” he said.

A preliminary investigation by OIOS of potential abuse relating to UN contracts has resulted in eight officials being placed on special leave with full pay — four from the Department of Management and four from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Toh, the highest-ranking Singaporean in the Secretariat, is the head of the Office of Central Support Services which comes under the Department of Management. One UN source told IPS that Toh has been “suspended” not so much for wrongdoing but for permitting wrongdoing under his watch. At the same time, he said, no senior official from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) has been suspended, even though four of its staffers are also on “special leave”.

Asked for his comments, Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Vanu Gopala Menon told IPS: “By all accounts, the OIOS report deals primarily with procurement actions by the DPKO. I also understand that the DPKO was authorised to conduct most procurement activities independently.” Unfortunately, he said, the media reports and the briefings given by the UN Secretariat have given the impression that all procurement activities were centralised in the Office of Central Support Services. “So, it is a surprise to me that while a senior officer of the Department of Management has been placed on administrative leave, no equally senior DPKO

officer has been similarly treated. This leads to questions about unequal treatment,” he said.

Asked to respond to charges of discrimination, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters: “Mr Burnham explained to you that there were a number of people put on special leave, which is an administrative rather than disciplinary issue. We will not speak about specific names or cases from here.” In his letter, Toh said the OIOS report contained “a litany of observations involving wrongdoings, including fraud in procurement activities in various peacekeeping missions and the requisitioning of items not required in field operations”. Peacekeeping operations and all associated staff are under the exclusive management responsibility of the assistant secretary-general and the under-secretary-general of the DPKO, he explained.

Requisitions for materials beyond the threshold are authorised and certified by DPKO management in UN headquarters as bona fide mission requirements before they are submitted for international competitive bidding. The highest-ranking DPKO official placed on special leave was a chief administrative officer of a field mission overseas. “As Assistant Secretary-General, I am therefore the highest-ranking official subjected to this administrative action, although I have no control whatsoever over the staff and activities of peacekeeping missions,” Toh pointed out. — IPS