IFAD staff association pledges to defend whistleblowers against management threats

 ROME – The IFAD staff association Wednesday pledged to defend whistleblowers at the UN agency after Argentine American managing director Carola Alvarez threatened to sue the Italian Insider and any employees speaking to the newspaper, IFAD sources said. Argentinian senior managers in UN agencies such as FAO as well as IFAD appear to be mounting a power grab at the UN following Argentinian IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s bid to become the next UN Secretary General, diplomatic sources say.

 Ms Alvarez and her deputy Director Costanza Di Nucci at a staff meeting of their embattled Office of Development Effectiveness last week “threatened that the whole of IFAD’s senior management is fully determined to launch legal action against the Italian Insider and anyone speaking against them.” Alvarez called the meeting after the Insider disclosed how Alvarez is under internal investigation following multiple complaints of harassment and mobbing of staff and revealed that the two Argentinian women created a director level job for Di Nucci, the alleged lover of IFAD President Alvaro Lario, then presented the scheme to him to sign off on without competition.

 Lario on Saturday was quoted denying having an affair with Di Nucci, which would be a violation of IFAD’s code of conduct for senior management.

Staff at the meeting share that they felt threatened that if they speak up they will suffer retaliation and potentially dismissal. One staffer who attended the session  said it “felt like Alvarez and DI Nucci wanted to make staff know that they hold the power to destroy anyone who gets in their way and can count on the support of the Senior Management Team to retaliate against anyone speaking up.”

 In a newsletter issued this week, however, the IFAD Staff Association offered support to staff wanting to come forward and report abuse of power and authority.

Some ambassadors to IFAD from donor countries say that IFAD governance issues have been known to the IFAD Executive Board for a while but nobody seems willing to do anything about the situation.

 “Lario is known for being a procrastinator when it comes to making difficult decisions ,” a veteran IFAD watcher told the Insider.

 “He lacks strength and determination. Members are saying they hope that the exposure the Insider article gave these issues will finally create enough of a consensus to force a thorough investigation and oblige Lario to make some overdue  decisions.”

 “It has been a known weakness of Lario to give space and power to managers seen as venal,” the seasoned observer said.

 “He appears to many as a weak puppet of the two Argentians and not very presidential.”