Nadine Osman
The UN has said UNICEF is taking “appropriate action” over allegations that a senior staff member secretly shared confidential UN information with Israeli diplomats while working for another UN agency.
UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said on August 7 that UNICEF was handling the allegations concerning Yahav Lichner, who has reportedly been placed on administrative leave.
Lichner currently heads UNICEF’s Washington office. The allegations relate to his previous work at the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), where he is accused of sharing confidential documents and internal UN deliberations with Israeli diplomats in 2014 and 2015.
Asked whether Lichner had been placed on leave with or without pay, and whether UN Secretary-General António Guterres, his Cabinet or the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) had been involved, Haq declined to provide further details.
“I don’t have further details on the status of the person involved to share with you,” Haq told reporters.
He said UNICEF was leading the matter because it is Lichner’s current employer.
“UNICEF is the agency that employs the person, so they’re in the lead on this,” Haq said.
Haq said the alleged conduct, if substantiated, would conflict with the obligations placed on UN staff.
“What I can tell you is that UNICEF is aware of serious allegations concerning an employee and is taking the appropriate action,” he said.
“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,” he added.
Those rules require UN personnel to act independently and impartially, with their responsibilities understood to be international rather than national.
The allegations reportedly emerged from emails contained in a hacked archive belonging to Ron Prosor, Israel’s former ambassador to the UN.
According to reports, the emails were obtained by the Iranian hacking group Handala and subsequently published by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a non-profit whistleblower website.
The material allegedly shows Lichner sharing confidential UN information with Israeli diplomats during his time at UNFPA.
The allegations have not been established as fact, and Haq did not provide details of any investigation or disciplinary process.
UNICEF has not publicly disclosed the specific action being taken against Lichner beyond confirming that it is addressing the allegations.
