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In July 1998, Financial Times reporters Jimmy Burns and Frances Williams broke the
story - actually, three pieces totaling over 4000 words - of financial mismanagement, or rather "incompetence and dubious accounting," at the UNHCR.
According to sources close to the Organisation and internal documents which have been made available to the FT, the UNHCR was wasting millions of dollars donated by western governments because of incompetent management, dubious accounting practices, and alleged fraud. The FT has also established that the organisation had, on a number of occasions, also failed to follow its stated policy guidelines in its treatment of refugees, particularly women and children, and the protection of the environment.
We'll spare you - or rather, encourage you to read for yourselves - the grim financial details. More interesting still is this claim:
The UNHCR had lost sight of its basic mandate to protect and speak up for refugees, according to former and current staff members.
Under Sadako Ogata, according to critics, UNHCR ceased to be an independent voice for those fleeing persecution and conflict, and had instead become one of the world's leading relief agencies, subject to the manipulation and pressures of countries' political and military interests.
The original articles, plus the vast paper trail that they've generated in their wake, can be found at the cited link.
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