Team traveling to country after Guardian allegations against UN employees, govt officials Paper says more whistleblowers have come forward; UNDP warned staff not to comment LONDON: The UN Development Programme is investigating corruption allegations made against staff working as part of its $1.5 billion reconstruction program in Iraq. A UNDP team will travel to the country following an investigation by The Guardian, the newspaper reported. A six-page document seen by The Guardian was sent to UNDP donors on Jan. 25 after a number of them raised concerns following the revelations, saying it had referred 136 cases to its Office of Audit and Investigations, of which 56 had been substantiated. It did not elaborate on what action had been taken, and claimed that only four cases involved UNDP staff, with the rest involving third-party contractors and vendors. The document said the agency was “committed to fostering a work culture and environment where all UNDP personnel can report wrongdoing without fear of retaliation.” The Iraqi government has also launched an investigation into the allegations, an official told The Guardian. The newspaper reported that more UNDP employees have since approached it with allegations after the initial report. It said it had seen documentary evidence in support of their claims, which describe a “culture of fear” across the organization’s Middle East operations. It added that all whistleblowers had had their identities kept secret. One told the newspaper that they had notified superiors of “hundreds of thousands of dollars being channelled to an organisation run by a government official,” but that senior staff “signalled very quickly that we ought not to get involved.” The source said: “The OAI doesn’t work at all. It’s completely dysfunctional.” Another UNDP employee in Iraq said after filing complaints against a superior, the organization targeted the complainant instead. “They told me, either I drop my grievance or my upcoming performance review would not look good and I would be let go,” the source said. Another said a manager threatened them after raising concerns over spending. “Straight away, they said: ‘You know where the door is and you won’t have a job if you continue to raise things,’” the source told the newspaper, adding that the manager had close ties to government officials. “They are in each other’s pockets, and it’s enabled from the top,” the employee said. The Guardian reported that Auke Lootsma, UNDP’s resident representative in Iraq, said in an email last week to staff that the newspaper’s findings were “very unfortunate,” calling them “unfair and unjust,” and asking recipients to “refrain from any comment.” A UNDP spokesperson told The Guardian that allegations of threats made against employees were “completely at odds with UNDP’s commitment to accountability, integrity and openness to scrutiny.” The spokesperson said the agency would “welcome more details to allow the appropriate independent channels to assess further,” UNDP had trained staff on rules around conflicts of interest, threats and retaliation, and the OAI conducted its investigations “independently from UNDP management or any outside party and in line with UNDP’s whistleblowing and retaliation policies.”