The head of the World Health Organisation’s Eastern Mediterranean region told staff he was "very disturbed” by allegations that its Syria director Dr Akjemal Magtymova misspent millions, abused staff and violated Covid-19 protocols as the pandemic hit the country.
In an email message sent to all staff in the Middle East, Dr Ahmed Salim Al Mandhari said “the allegations negatively impact the people of Syria, whom we strive to serve”.
This week, two members of the WHO’s ethics department in Geneva, including its director, are visiting the agency’s Eastern Mediterranean headquarters in Cairo, which oversees Syria.
“The purpose of the visit is to advance awareness through various sessions, on the ethical conduct, principles, values and expectations,” staff were told in the email.
The AP on Thursday published an investigation based on more than 100 confidential UN emails, documents and other materials showing that WHO staffers told investigators that the agency’s Syria representative, Dr Akjemal Magtymova, engaged in abusive behaviour, pressured staff to sign contracts with high-ranking Syrian politicians and plied government officials with gifts.
Ms Magtymova declined to comment and called the allegations “defamatory”.
A former Syrian official said the WHO’s failures could jeopardise Syria’s halting response to the emerging cholera outbreak amid a global shortage of vaccines.
“People care about institutional failure because that affects the lives of millions of people,” said the former health official who worked in opposition-held north-western Syria.
'Weapon of war'
He said UN aid had previously been used “as a weapon of war”, failing to provide timely aid for Syrians because of their political standings or views or because they lived in areas beyond government control. He criticised the WHO for cosying up to Damascus instead of acting in the best interest of all Syrians.
The misconduct claims regarding the WHO’s Syria director from more than a dozen staffers have triggered one of the biggest internal probes in years.
“As the investigation continues, we have already taken mitigating action,” Mr Al Mandhari told the staff, referring to the decision to name an acting Syria representative in May and “proactively” inform their donors.
Still, Ms Magtymova remains in her position and continues to draw a director-level salary.
Karam Shaar, a Syria expert at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said there had been rumours of UN corruption in Syria for years but the AP report showed that “they are more extreme than we ever thought”.
“What reportedly happened at the WHO Syria office is particularly egregious because at this point in time, Syrians have never been more vulnerable,” Mr Shaar said. “It’s exactly at this time that WHO should be responsible, yet we have never heard as serious allegations from any other UN agency. The charges against WHO are by far the worst.”
Mr Shaar calculated that more than 80 per cent of the WHO’s purchases from Syria, where it spent $39 million between 2016 and 2021, came from suppliers whose identities were hidden. He said it was the highest share of any UN agency working in the country.
Syria’s health system has been devastated by more than a decade of war and for years the country has relied almost exclusively on humanitarian aid. Nearly 90 per cent of the population lives in poverty.
Adam Kamradt-Scott, an expert in global health at the European University Institute in Italy, said because the WHO’s funds come from taxpayers, the agency must prove its spending is warranted.
Financial documents obtained by the AP showed, among other examples, that Ms Magtymova once spent more than $11,000 of WHO funds on a party mostly to honour her own achievements during Covid-19. WHO staffers also alleged that she used WHO funds to buy gifts for Syrian government officials, including gold coins and expensive cars.
“If it were any other context than the UN and there was a misappropriation of funds, you would likely see employees being held criminally responsible,” Mr Kamradt-Scott said.
Our House, Louise Candlish,
Simon & Schuster
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Fatherland
Kele Okereke
(BMG)
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
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The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Specs
Engine: 2-litre
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 255hp
Torque: 273Nm
Price: Dh240,000
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Specs
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Engine: 3.5-litre V6
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Oppenheimer
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
The biog
Favourite colour: Brown
Favourite Movie: Resident Evil
Hobbies: Painting, Cooking, Imitating Voices
Favourite food: Pizza
Trivia: Was the voice of three characters in the Emirati animation, Shaabiyat Al Cartoon
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
