My earlier writings on the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) available on this site highlighted wide scale corruption, misgovernance, and maladministration at the agency. The old mangement including the Executive Director of UNOPS were separated in disgrace, and various improvements were promised by new management. How well has that gone?
The following letter has been sent by the ‘UNOPS Personnel Collective Seeking Accountability’ to the President, Secretary, and Members of the Executive Board of UNOPS to report corruption and systematic abuse: The S3i Scandal is Not Over
22 January 2025
Dear President, Secretary, and Distinguished Members of the Executive Board,
We are a group of employees at the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). In the absence of secure reporting channels within the organisation, we feel compelled to anonymously expose the widespread corruption, mismanagement, and misconduct that are undermining its integrity and stability.
The scandal surrounding the S3i initiative in 2022, which revealed the diversion of funds, is merely the tip of the iceberg in a much broader pattern of irregularities that persist to this day. These unethical practices have triggered significant financial and moral crises, the most recent of which is the last minute announcement of personnel layoffs in 2025. The executive leadership, led by Executive Director Jorge Moreira da Silva, is attempting to downplay the severity of these layoffs by framing them as a one-off adjustment, while concealing their true scale. During the most recent global townhall, staff members accused UNOPS leadership of lacking transparency in their communication regarding restructurings.
We urgently appeal to the Board ahead of the upcoming First Regular Session 2025 (27–31 January) to seek your support in holding UNOPS accountable. We call on you to demand that UNOPS demonstrates the robustness of the measures outlined in the Comprehensive Response Plan (CRP), as previously requested by the Executive Board, to enhance the organisation’s governance, finances, and accountability. Furthermore, we urge you to endorse the initiation of an independent and impartial audit to assess the effectiveness of these measures.
We would like to kindly ask you to share this communication with all the members of the Executive Board (EB), with the expectation of a formal discussion during a Board session. Meanwhile, we are proceeding to share this communication with the UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina Mohammed, and Assistant Secretary-General, Mr. Ben Swanson, at UN OIOS. It is also being shared with the Permanent Representatives of all Member States at the United Nations in New York. In the interest of transparency, it is also being distributed to the media.
Current Situation
A 2022 KPMG report, following the S3i scandal, revealed serious deficiencies in UNOPS’ oversight and control mechanisms. More recent reports, including the 2023 Advisory Committee on Audits report, continue to classify UNOPS’ control environment as deficient, emphasizing significant gaps in the implementation of key policies and the organization’s failure to address structural issues.
Despite the impact of the case, the findings of the aforementioned audits, and the scale of the resulting crisis, the measures adopted since 2022 by the last two Executive Directors and their management teams have been reactive, insufficient, and inadequate in addressing the serious structural issues affecting the organization. Not only has a real solution not been implemented—only cosmetic changes—but, more concerningly, UNOPS is attempting to present a false image to the Executive Board, suggesting improvements in its operations, controls, and governance by manipulating information and giving the false impression that the proposed CRP is being successfully implemented.
In response to the trust crisis caused by the S3i and the freezing of funds by donors for programs and/or projects, including the European Union, USAID, and others, the Executive Board resolved that UNOPS return the surplus reserves to the countries. Additionally, the Interim Executive Director, Jens Wandel (2022-2023), and his advisory team allocated budgets to regions and countries, requiring them to spend the funds on office goods and equipment before the end of 2022. Similarly, the percentage of the fee in the budgets of new projects was reduced. These actions were taken reactively, solely to alleviate the severe reputational crisis (both external and internal), without properly analyzing the financial viability of UNOPS or its impact as a self-sustaining agency. In 2023, UNOPS was once again forced to increase the fee percentage in projects to the same levels as before the S3i scandal.
The chaotic release of large sums of money, which provided no added value, coupled with the lack of strategic planning and the failure to implement the necessary reforms to establish required internal controls, has led the Organization into a drift that jeopardizes its existence, resulting in a serious crisis that could have been avoided.
The enduring structural problems within UNOPS, particularly in its governance, continue to facilitate the abuse of power, conflicts of interest, and misappropriation of funds. Regional directors remain in their positions for many years without leadership renewal, a situation that has enabled the formation of power clans focused on safeguarding their own interests.
A toxic culture of fear persists, characterized by entrenched favoritism, corruption, and a lack of effective accountability mechanisms, This issue is further exacerbated towards abuse allegations—including sexual harassment and physical violence; reprisals against whistleblowers; Ineffective staff association and accountability mechanisms further erode morale, risking continued financial instability, reputational damage, efficiency, and the erosion of UNOPS’ mission integrity and the widespread use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence those who try to bring these issues to light.
The execution of projects at UNOPS is riddled with irregularities, including cost overruns, payments for incomplete works, all of which are systematically concealed to avoid accountability. These practices not only expose incompetence but also demonstrate an alarming and pervasive lack of ethics.
The weaponization of performance reviews has become a tool of control and intimidation. Rather than serving as an opportunity for professional development, country managers, along with the Regional Directors, exploit the performance review system to target and penalise employees who challenge the status quo or speak out. Employees who raise concerns about unethical practices or seek to highlight mismanagement are subjected to arbitrary and punitive evaluations, which damage their careers and reputations. The absence of a formal Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) policy allows managers to manipulate these reviews at their discretion, using them as a means of retaliation against those they perceive as threats. This lack of a formal policy ensures that performance evaluations are entirely arbitrary and vulnerable to the whims of vengeful leadership, fostering an atmosphere in which employees are afraid to voice their concerns.
The internal investigation processes currently in place are not only ineffective but also serve to shield perpetrators, leaving victims without any support. This issue is further exacerbated by the fact that most UNOPS staff hold ‘National or International Consultant’ contracts (LICA or IICA), which offer no legal protection, unlike the staff contracts of higher-ranking personnel, who can exploit this disparity for their misconduct. This asymmetry is becoming more evident in the decisions made by UNOPS Management. With the recent wave of staff layoffs, employees with staff contracts are given a 6-month compensation, while those on IICA/LICA contracts are offered only 3 months. This further highlights UNOPS’ discretionary management of contracts and its policies.
The latest 2023 Ombudsman’s Office Report highlighted a 50% increase in mediation requests from UNOPS staff, reflecting an internal culture of fear and retaliation against whistleblowers. The report also highlights the punitive use of PERs and performance PIPs to justify dismissals, along with the growing number of requests for psychological support from staff due to the toxic and repressive environment that persists within the organization.
The Ethics Office (ETO) and internal reporting mechanisms operate in collusion, primarily aiming to downplay or dismiss cases, leaving whistleblowers entirely unprotected. Retaliation, far from being an exception, has become a systematic and pervasive practice within the organization. Despite the ETO’s attempts to present a revamped speak-up and whistleblowing system, the lack of commitment to addressing the underlying issues—namely, poor governance and weak controls—along with the discretionary application of procedures, renders the system unfit for purpose.
The lack of true independence within the organisation’s grievance mechanisms facilitates this. For instance, ethics committees and grievance panels report directly to HR or senior management, creating conflicts of interest that undermine the entire process. Rather than providing a transparent, accessible, and impartial process for addressing complaints, UNOPS has established a convoluted and fragmented system that confuses and overwhelms those seeking justice.
As such, the presence of the UNOPS Ethics Director (Berkan Manaigo-Vekil) on the Ethics Panel of the United Nations creates an inherent conflict of interest, as it places the head of the department in a position where they could be both the subject and the arbiter of ethical matters. This structure raises serious doubts about the fairness of the process and whether individuals seeking justice and accountability will receive it, or whether the panel will merely serve as an extension of the director’s authority. In addition, the ETO’s direct reporting to the UNOPS Executive Director is a matter of serious concern. Such a lack of independence undermines the organisation’s commitment to ethical governance and raises significant doubts about its dedication to the fair treatment of staff and contractors.
This absence of independence and transparency discourages victims from pursuing their complaints, as they fear retaliation or the dismissal of their concerns. Consequently, those who seek to report misconduct, abuse, or unfair treatment find themselves trapped in a bureaucratic maze that deters them from speaking out or seeking redress.
The mounting frustration and lack of trust in UNOPS’ internal reporting mechanisms have reached a critical juncture. Recently, an email was leaked to multiple internal UNOPS addresses, exposing irregularities and sensitive information. This incident underscores the growing discontent within the organisation and suggests that additional whistleblowing groups may be forming. It strengthens our resolve and reinforces our belief in the necessity of urging the Executive Board to act decisively to address these issues.
UNOPS senior leadership, including Jorge Moreira da Silva as Executive Director, Sonja Leighton-Kone as Deputy Executive Director, Valerie Kushata as Director of People and Culture Group, Berkan Manaigo-Vekil as Director of the Ethics Office, and their direct reports, cannot feign ignorance of these allegations when presenting before the Board.
Furthermore, it is important to note that the issues denounced in this letter align with the findings of the Board of Auditors’ report published in the General Assembly document A/79/5/Add.11, Official Records Seventy-ninth Session Supplement No. 5K, in 2024. Notably, the inadequacy of personnel performance evaluations, where the audit highlighted stark inconsistencies and arbitrariness in granting satisfactory performance. Similarly, deficiencies in financial and budget management, investment management, and project management were noted, particularly regarding ambiguity and deficiencies in managing shared services costs, a lack of project-level financial clarity, and the risk of using surpluses from previous projects to cover deficits in new ones. Also in terms of the lack of transparency in the communication between UNOPS and its clients regarding the recovery of shared services, exacerbating the financial burden on clients. We firmly believe that an external audit is required to get to the bottom of things.
The upcoming First Regular Session 2025 will be crucial. Management intends to mislead the Board by presenting manipulated reports that falsely depict the Comprehensive Improvement Plan (CRP) as a success. This so-called reform plan has proven to be nothing more than a façade, crafted solely to appease donors and the Executive Board. This cover-up is a blatant farce, designed to perpetuate corruption and avoid accountability.
The Board of Directors must closely examine the activities and statistics of the UNOPS Ethics Office (ETO), particularly regarding protection against retaliation cases, as well as data from other mechanisms such as grievances and speak-ups. The Board will likely observe an unsettling increase in these reports, which reflects deeper systemic issues and a toxic organizational culture.
Member states must open their eyes and demand accountability for every dollar they contribute to the United Nations and, by extension, to each specialized agency. These contributions are intended to support global development, humanitarian aid, and sustainable progress, not to perpetuate corruption, mismanagement, and self-serving leadership practices. It is essential for member states to exercise their oversight role effectively and insist on transparency, independent audits, and genuine reform across the organization.
Recent articles by Inner City Press and other media outlets have exposed these critical issues. In the wake of these events, many colleagues are losing faith in UNOPS’ internal processes, as the organization continues to fail to provide reliable and trustworthy mechanisms for accountability.
In the absence of a functioning whistleblowing system, the only viable option is to report these concerns anonymously and seek attention from the EB. We count on your support to expose these issues and hold UNOPS leadership accountable for its actions. We have full confidence in your commitment to integrity and trust that you will help deliver justice to those affected by these grave violations. We cannot allow UNOPS to continue falsifying information and perpetuating impunity.
We sincerely thank you for taking the time to review this request and trust that our concerns will be raised with UNOPS at the forthcoming Executive Board session. Due to concerns about potential retaliation and to protect our anonymity, we respectfully request that the Board refrain from sharing our email address with UNOPS. However, we remain available to provide additional information that does not compromise the safety of our reporting and look forward to your response.
With utmost appreciation,
The UNOPS Personnel Collective Seeking Accountability
5 Comments
Dear Sir,
These employees are the ones who were directly appointed to senior positions bypassing the UN staff regulations and rules and were instrumental/directly involved in S3i and illegal sacking of staff who they didn’t like or were a threat to them (because of integrity and professionalism). Their sacking is a fall out of thieves. Erkan was a contractor who got directly appointed from a lowly position to director and has bitten the hand that fed him (Campbell). Campbell has never gone through a competitive process for all of her appointments. She was directly appointed by Vitaly to all of them. Several people have benefited under Jorge. They have jumped from contractors to senior staff positions. Also to look into the gross misuse, manipulation, self promotion, self service, greed, corruption etc by UNOPS. The donor dollar is majorly used to pay for unops profiteering, paying for seriously incompetent people who promote themselves regularly and only a few cents go into the actual project. Trump’s ‘business deals’ are a mockery compared to UNOPS’s. UNOPS must be shut down. It is superfluous to the UN’s administration. The organisations subcontracting UNOPS (UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, UNHCR, UNOG, UNON, etc) have their own administrative capacity which the donors are paying for and they should do their own work. UNOPS selling of the UN is another major criminal activity whereby groups, ngos that cannot access funding and countries pay UNOPS to use the “good name” of the UN to gain access. There IS something rotten in the State of Denmark and it is UNOPS.
UNOPS should be reintegrated into UNDP, with a thorough reassessment of positions, grades, and contract types. This is especially critical in the Geneva office, where more than 50% of personnel are in violation of Swiss regulations, using false addresses to evade income tax on ICA contracts.
UNOPS should be reintegrated into UNDP, with a thorough reassessment of positions, grades, and contract types. This is especially critical in the Geneva office, where more than 50% of personnel are in violation of Swiss regulations, using false addresses to evade income tax on ICA contracts.
I am UNOPS staff, not part of the personnel collective who has made the above communication, but I cannot agree more.
The tragic thing is that despite all of these complaints absolutely nothing will be done unless the leadership is forced to act. It’s all a game to them. They will engage in mickey mouse games of musical chairs moving staff here and there, making the usual noises about culture and then do nothing else.
Complaints will remain unaddressed, emails will still take 10 months to be replied to, decisions will not be made and the culture will remain toxic. Nobody in any responsible office in UNOPS knows what they are doing. It’s sad really