UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Friday that UNICEF is handling allegations against a senior staff member accused of secretly sharing confidential UN information with Israeli diplomats while working for another UN agency.
Haq told reporters that UNICEF is taking action over "serious allegations" concerning an employee, identified as Yahav Lichner, who has reportedly been placed on administrative leave.
Asked whether Lichner's leave was with or without pay, whether Secretary-General Antonio Guterres or his Cabinet had been consulted, and whether the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) was investigating, Haq said he could not provide further details.
"I don't have further details on the status of the person involved to share with you," Haq said.
He emphasized that UNICEF, which employs Lichner and where he currently heads the agency's Washington office, is leading the matter.
"UNICEF is the agency that employs the person, so they're in the lead on this," Haq said.
Haq said that if the allegations are substantiated, the conduct would violate the obligations expected of UN personnel.
"What I can tell you is that UNICEF is aware of serious allegations concerning an employee and is taking the appropriate action.
"If true, such actions would be inconsistent with staff obligations under the UN Charter, the staff regulations and the standards of conduct for the international civil service, all of which emphasize that the responsibilities of staff are international, not national, and which call for the independence and impartiality of the staff of the UN," he added.
The questions follow a report alleging that Lichner, while serving at the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), secretly shared confidential UN documents and internal deliberations with Israeli diplomats in 2014 and 2015.
The report said the allegations were based on emails from a hacked archive belonging to Ron Prosor, Israel's former ambassador to the UN. According to the report, the emails were obtained by the Iranian hacking group Handala and later published by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a non-profit whistleblower website.
