Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, has accepted the resignation of the director of a United Nations agency under investigation for dubious investments. Grete Faremo, a former Norwegian minister of justice and public security, had served as the UN Office for Project Services’ undersecretary-general and executive director since August 2014.
The office, based in Copenhagen, claims to provide infrastructure, procurement, and project management services for a more sustainable future. Faremo’s resignation was accepted on Sunday, the same day the New York Times revealed that the agency made a befuddling series of financial mistakes that resulted in a $25 million deficit. The Times investigation follows an April 16 article in Devex, the global development media platform, by Brussels-based journalist Ilya Gridneff titled: What went wrong with UNOPS’ ambitious impact-investing plan.
According to the story, the probe centered on a series of loans made by the agency to a Singapore-based business that got tens of millions of dollars to prepare plans for more than one million affordable dwellings in six nations. The entire project is now stopped, UNOPS is owing tens of millions of dollars, and no dwellings have been completed, according to the report. As per Devex, an anonymous agency official stated that actions are being conducted to collect any overdue funds regardless of the source of operations.
The transactions have been investigated by the UN’s internal watchdog. Faremo’s resignation took effect on Sunday, according to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. He stated that Jens Wandel of Denmark, a former special assistant to the Secretary-General on reforms, will serve as interim head of the agency while a new executive director is sought. The secretary-general is appreciative of Faremo’s commitment and committed service to the organization, according to a statement from Dujarric. When asked if Guterres had requested Faremo’s resignation, he refused to go beyond the statement.
Post Your Comments