UNICEF is addressing allegations that a senior employee secretly shared confidential United Nations information with Israeli diplomats while previously working for another UN agency, a UN spokesperson said on Friday.
UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said the allegations concerning Yahav Lichner, who currently heads UNICEF’s Washington office, were being treated seriously. Lichner has reportedly been placed on administrative leave.
“UNICEF is aware of serious allegations concerning an employee and is taking the appropriate action,” Haq told reporters.
He declined to provide details on whether the leave was paid, whether UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres or his senior officials had been consulted, or whether the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) had opened an investigation.
Haq stressed that UNICEF, as Lichner’s current employer, was leading the response to the allegations.
He said that if the claims were substantiated, such conduct would be inconsistent with obligations imposed on UN employees under the UN Charter, staff regulations and standards of conduct for the international civil service, which require personnel to maintain independence and impartiality.
The allegations stem from a report claiming that Lichner, while working for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in 2014 and 2015, provided confidential documents and details of internal UN discussions to Israeli diplomats.
The report said its findings were based on emails allegedly obtained from a hacked archive belonging to Ron Prosor, Israel’s former ambassador to the United Nations. The material was reportedly acquired by the Iranian hacking group Handala and subsequently published by whistleblower organisation Distributed Denial of Secrets.
The allegations have not yet been independently established, and UNICEF has not publicly disclosed the outcome of any investigation.