UNITED NATIONS — The U.N.’s internal oversight body says in a report on U.N. peace operations that the number of fraud cases it decided to investigate last year increased nearly 80% from 2018, while the number of sexual exploitation and abuse cases rose 40%. The 2019 report by the Office of Internal Oversight Services, which was circulated Friday, said the highest number of cases it investigated were in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic, followed by the peacekeeping operations in Mali, Congo, Western Sahara and South Sudan. Of the 241 cases investigated, 77 related to fraud, a 79% increase from the previous year, and 73 cases related to sexual exploitation and abuse, a 40% rise. In audits of peace operations, the investigative body criticized the South Sudan mission for its management of office space and accommodation units. It said that “weaknesses in the invoicing and collection of rental fees from third parties had led to $1.8 million in rental charges not being collected for more than 14 months.” It added that as of Aug. 31, 2019, the mission had not recovered $379,742 for accommodations provided to uniformed personnel and U.N. volunteers at the United Nations House, a peacekeeping base in the capital of Juba.

Source: International New York Times March 21, 2020 03:11 UTC