U.N. announces new ethics rules after N.Korea case

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations announced plans on Monday to unify ethical standards across its system after allegations it failed to protect a whistleblower who criticized spending by a U.N. agency in North Korea.

An oil-for-food corruption scandal over Iraq and other ethics issues have battered the world body's reputation in the United States, the biggest provider of U.N. funds and a frequent critic of U.N. waste and lack of accountability.

A directive by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strengthens from January 1 the central control of the U.N. Ethics Office, whose authority until now has covered only the secretariat, not separately governed bodies like the U.N. Development Program, or UNDP.

That has led to charges, especially from the U.S. administration and Congress, that a whistleblower policy set up two years ago to allow U.N. staffers to expose wrongdoing without fear of retaliation was not being properly applied.

The issue came to a head this year after UNDP did not renew the contract of Artjon Shkurtaj, head of its operations in North Korea from 2005-2006, who said the agency broke financial rules in handing over money to the Communist government there.

Shkurtaj, a native of Albania with Italian citizenship, said he was victimized, which UNDP denied. Ethics Office chief Robert Benson told UNDP Shkurtaj appeared to have a case, but he could not proceed because of the limits on his powers.

Ban's directive said that in the future there would be "a uniform and consistent application of ethics-related issues within the United Nations system."

"Employees in the funds and programs will be extended the same ethics-related programs and protection as are already afforded to their colleagues in the secretariat," U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe told a regular news briefing.

FIRST RESORT

The measure, however, still does not give the Ethics Office direct and immediate jurisdiction over cases in the agencies, which are invited to set up their own ethics offices, with similar principles, as a first resort for complainants.

Staff who felt their complaints had been not been resolved by those offices could appeal to Benson's office. Benson, a Canadian, would also head a supervisory committee composed of the heads of all the ethics offices.

Benson told a news conference on Monday that UNDP and three other U.N. agencies had already designated chief ethics officers. He described Ban's move as "a positive initiative on behalf of moving this issue forward".

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has said the central Ethics Office "should have jurisdiction over all funds and programs." He told reporters in September that would be "a cost saving and an appropriate way to proceed."

Also in September, the U.S. Senate passed a bill with an amendment by Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman requiring certification that UNDP is implementing the U.N. whistleblower protection policy before it receives U.S. funds next year.

The Shkurtaj case and UNDP practices in North Korea are being reviewed by an outside board nominated by the agency and consisting of a Hungarian, an Indian and an American.

The board's findings are to be sent to Benson, who may then make recommendations on the claim of victimization.

Benson told reporters the issue of whether any other past cases could be investigated under the new system "is going to have to be looked at on a case-by-case basis".

(Editing by Eric Walsh)