Switzerland is pushing for an overhaul of the way the scandal-hit World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is run. The United Nations body, which opened its 15th congress in Geneva on Monday, is currently battling allegations of fraud and corruption.
The Swiss resolution contains two proposals: to allow member states to sit as observers on the executive council and take part in discussions; and to grant them access to all documents issued by the executive council and the WMO’s finance committee.
Last week the WMO’s chief auditor, who was sacked in November last year, launched criminal proceedings in New York alleging corruption over the election of secretary-general Michel Jarraud in 2003.
On Sunday the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper revealed that Geneva’s public prosecutor had launched a separate investigation into allegations of fraud and vote-rigging concerning the election. Jarraud has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
The investigation is said to be linked to an earlier Swiss probe into allegations that SFr4.3 million ($3.6 million) was embezzled by a Sudanese employee at the WMO.
It’s like every case of political corruption. An organization can have the best constitution in the world. It doesn’t mean squat when people in a position of trust betray their mandate.
Think about how familiar it’s beginning to feel.
The moral here:
Don’t get in the way of Big Oil as they pull out all the stops to discredit global warming.
What does this have to do with big oil? The UN has been a corrupt disaster, from top to bottom for decades. This is just one example.
TheGlobalWarmer: Why single out the UN? Corruption has been the mainstay of most national governmments. Why should an international government be any better?
Getting tired of XYZ-bashing, where XYZ is derided for some late-breaking scandal and is immediately singled out for derision and peevish, ad-hominem attack-comments.
#4 Especially an unelected one.
The UN isn’t a government BTW.
My point was: why is this surprising? The UN in general is a disaster, so why would anyone expect differently from any one of it’s agencies?
Not too bad. Only one ignoramus who never heard of UNICEF, etc.. Of course, it’s consistent for people (nations?) who don’t give a damn about environment, climate, health or disease – not to care about education or children either.
Shut down the UN and start over.
OK – two.
Sorry Moss, but what you said is like saying….**Hitler was a dog lover, we should have left him alone**……You can count on one hand with fingers leftover, the sub-groups of the UN that have actually been clean and corruption free. It’s bad enough that we have to deal with govermental corruption and hypocrsy in our own goverment, but then adding another layer with the UN is a bit much.
I hope people wake up to the mess we are making of this world before it’s to late. But when more people vote for American Idol than for President, I’m not expecting that to happen. The awakening is going to be far more than just *rude* when it happens.
After the reelection of mr. Jarraud, are we going to see another, much more serious, Wolfowitz case?