The UN staff union adopted a resolution in November 2004 backing Secretary General Kofi Annan while criticizing the organization's senior management. An earlier draft contained stronger "no confidence" language that union president Rosemarie Waters said risked being read as an attack on Annan himself, which her committee did not intend.
The final text was softened to prevent misinterpretation. Waters said the union wanted UN managers to act on Annan's call for greater accountability. "He's doing his best," she said of the secretary general.
Staff anger centered on Annan's decision to clear Dileep Nair, head of the UN's internal oversight office, who had faced accusations of harassment and favoritism. Spokesman Fred Eckhard said Nair was exonerated after a thorough review, but staff complained they had been excluded from the process despite raising concerns in April.
The resolution called for transparency and the release of the investigation report. Waters said confidence in senior management was low. The vote came as the UN faced pressure over the oil-for-food program, which managed Iraqi oil sales from December 1996 to November 2003 and had been linked to fraud and corruption allegations. Earlier, Ruud Lubbers, the UN's senior refugee official, had been cleared in July over a separate harassment complaint.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in November 2004, in its own words.