Tackling fraud and corruption in the United Nations

• Main Authors: PORTELA, Clara, Dileep, Nair
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2021
• Subjects: Government; Budgets and budgeting; Managing conflicts; Nonprofit organizations; Negotiation strategies; Leadership; Nonprofit Administration and Management
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/344; https://smu.sharepoint.com/sites/admin/CMP/cases/SMU-20-BATCH%20%5BPDF-Pic%5D/SMU-20-0049%20%5BUN%20Fraud%5D/SMU-20-0049%20%5BUN%20Fraud%5D.pdf?CT=1614845994928&OR=ItemsView
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Rahul Ratna recently gave up his position in a private corporation to head a new department at the United Nations (UN), Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), whose mandate was to fight fraud and corruption within the UN. As he rode the elevator up to his office on the 35th floor of the UN Secretariat building in New York City, a sense of frustration came over him. He began to wonder whether he had made the right decision in taking on his current job. Ratna was aware that he needed sufficient and capable staff, as well as adequate funding for support, if OIOS was to achieve any degree of success in this endeavour. Nonetheless, he was cautious that increasing the budget and headcount was a battle in and of itself. Ratna had just left the Committee Room of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, which vetted all requests for additional staff and funding before such considerations were approved by the General Assembly. However, he was only met with frowns and furrowed brows during an exhaustive 90-minute session in the Committee Room., which remained unconvinced by his arguments and his chances of getting more staff or funding were close to nil. Ratna contemplated his next move. Was it possible to look outside the UN for funding from individual countries and civil society organisations that took a strong stance against corruption and fraud? What about getting outside help from educational institutions to provide training for UN staff? These and other questions swirled through his head as he sat down to ponder his next move. Following the reading of the case study and class discussion on it, students will gain a better understanding of UN policy. Students will also have the opportunity to develop a communication strategy, conduct a stakeholder analysis and calculate a budget.