ROME – Government appointed staff at the FAO operation in Jordan regularly bully and intimidate employees including alleged physical assaults while the FAO Representative to the kingdom, Nabil Assaf, and the Assistant director general for the near east turn a blind eye to the harassment, leading to “a breakdown in trust within the organization, leaving staff vulnerable and without support,” sources at the Amman office say.

 In a letter to the FAO Office of the Inspector General (OIG), a well-placed source says that the parlous state of affairs in the Jordan operation “reflect broader concerns across the region. The office is facing significant leadership challenges, with a weak FAOR  who is heavily influenced by government-affiliated staff. This has led to a lack of accountability, fairness, and transparency in decision-making processes.”

 “Staff members have experienced harassment, threats, and unethical behavior, yet despite raising these concerns, no meaningful actions were taken by leadership to address them,” says the source, who resigned from the FAO in January after a dispute over contract renewal. “The environment has become one of fear and favoritism, where certain individuals hold disproportionate control, negatively affecting staff morale and overall workplace culture.”

 “These issues are not isolated to FAO Jordan. Similar patterns of poor management, failure to address staff concerns, and a lack of accountability moreover sexual harassment have been observed across the region. This has resulted in a breakdown of trust within the organization, leaving staff vulnerable and without support.”

 “During my time at FAO Jordan, I witnessed numerous instances where staff faced threats from Government Staff, Mr Talal Alfayez. There were even situations where individuals were physically assaulted. Personally, I was subjected to threats from Mr. Alfayez, who threatened in two meetings, one in FAOR Jordan presence and the other in front of government focal point.”

 “He said that his connections with the Ministry could lead to the termination of my contract. He created lots of conflicts between me and the ministry focal points.  Despite informing FAOR – Mr Nabil Assaf, and the Administration Officer – Ms Leslyar Masri, she was also the Ethics focal point, no action was taken to address this threatening behavior. In fact she advised not to pursue the complaint and make up with Mr Alfayez.”

 “Talal, a government staff member, also bragged about his tribal background, claiming that his tribe only deals with weapons, even telling the ADG about it. He is certain that he can close even the office with his connections.”

 In other disclosures on evident irregularities in the FAO’s troubled Jordan operation, the source mentions “the misuse of donors’ EU and Italian  funds by some project managers to over spend on travel for personal benefits” and that the FAOR’s wife and children use FAO cars.”

 Efforts by the whistleblower to raise his concerns with the Libyan ADG for the Middle East, AbdelHakem ElWaer, fell on deaf ears, he said, while he claims complaints about sexual harassment by a senior advisor to the ADG have not been investigated.

 As the whistleblower tells it, the situation is no better at the FAO office in Baghdad.

 “In Iraq, the FAOR continuously exceeds travel budgets to conduct trips between governorates and international travel. He humiliates national staff with harsh and degrading and dirty  language, orders and shouting, to an extent where a young staff nearly faced a panic attack despite staff speaking out, no action was taken. Many office has the same situation.”

 jf