March 30, 2005
Review Finds Abuses by Management at the U.N.'s Election-Monitoring Office
By Judith Miller 

An internal review of the United Nations office responsible for promoting and monitoring free elections throughout the world has found a string of management abuses at the agency, including humiliation of its staff, the misuse of agency funds and a willingness by the agency's leaders to tolerate sexual harassment.
The scathing review, conducted by a Swiss-based management consulting company and detailed in a 22-page report, describes the agency, the Electoral Assistance Division, as an unhealthy family. The division, part of the United Nations' Department of Political Affairs, is charged with the supervision of elections in Iraq and elsewhere.
The report, which was disclosed Monday, concludes that a full management review of the agency is urgently required and recommends that the abuses it describes be investigated further and immediately by competent authorities.
Fred Eckhard, the United Nations spokesman, said that he had not read the report but confirmed that Kieran Prendergast, the under secretary general for political affairs who supervises the division, had authorized the review after a department retreat in 2003 in which complaints about the division and other units were discussed. 
Mr. Eckhard said Mr. Prendergast had also asked that the United Nation's personnel department open the full investigation called for in the report. Mr. Eckhard said the division had a professional staff of 13, a support staff of 5, and an annual budget of about $2 million.
We therefore do not believe it is appropriate at this stage to go into further details of the issues until the investigation is concluded, Mr. Eckhard said, quoting Mr. Prendergast, a close aide to Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The report, dated Feb. 16, was prepared by Mannet S.A.R.L., the Swiss-based consulting company chosen by Mr. Prendergast. A copy of the document, which has been circulated among some Security Council members, was provided to The New York Times on Monday by United Nations diplomats.
The assessment of the agency came as Mr. Annan faced another round of criticism over his management practices, the latest contained in a report on Tuesday on the oil-for food program by an independent commission headed by Paul A. Volcker, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve.
The review of the electoral division was particularly critical of Carina Perelli, a Uruguayan who is the division director. She had been considered one of the rising young stars at the United Nations and her office has been praised for its vigorous promotion of free and fair elections throughout the world.
The report faulted her management style and the culture it fostered. It said a political affairs officer and secretaries were routinely used to carry out personal errands for her and others who were in her inner circle. The tasks included driving them and their family members to and from various destinations and appointments, the payment of personal monthly bills and other similar tasks. 
In interviews that the Swiss consulting firm conducted this past January and February with 29 current and former members of the division, staff members complained about public humiliation of individual staff members, blatant favoritism, and the use of travel funds for unjustified travel, particularly to Latin America, by inner circle members. The employees also told of a culture of fear in which abused or sexually harassed employees were too frightened of retribution to protest treatment that many described as emotionally devastating. 
Several of those interviewed said Ms. Perelli often told them: There's nothing they can do to me. I'm the youngest D2, a woman from a developing country, the report states, referring to the highest-ranking director status, just below that of an assistant secretary general.
Membership within the inner circle appears to be based on personal affinities of the Director rather than on competence or experience, the report notes. The syndrome is so pronounced, it says, that it affects all aspects of the division's operations and contributes to serious problems of motivation, not to mention serious questions around the Director's judgment, ethics, and basic professionalism. 
Contacted for comment on the report, a member of Ms. Perelli's staff said she was out of the office in a meeting and could not be reached.
Some of the report's most expansive allegations involve the sexual and professional harassment of the division's staff, several of whom left or requested transfers because of such offensive treatment, the report states.
Those interviewed indicated that a constant sexual innuendo is part of the 'fabric' of the division. This included such practices as unwelcome advances and a constant stream of sexual references, jokes, and the use of sexually explicit, coarse language, the report notes. 
Mannet, the consulting company, did not respond to a call to its office late on Tuesday night.