WHO launches internal probe into Syria boss after staff accuse her of corruption

WHO has launched one of its biggest internal investigations in years into its Syria representative after staffers accused her of corruption, fraud and abuse.

The Associated Press has been through over 100 confidential documents and messages which reveal that officials accused Dr Akjemal Magtymova of pressuring her staff to sign contracts with top Syrian government officials and misspending donor funds that were allocated for health aid.

Magtymova also gave politicians computers, gold coins and cars and met with the Russian military, which could be a breach of the UN organisation’s neutrality.

In an October 2021 email, Magtymova’s boss told her he urgently needed reports on how money was being spent in Syria and to show that WHO resources were being spent as intended.

WHO officials complained that the organisation paid for items for a health project in northern Syria, including medicine, wheelchairs, crutches and hearing devices, which were not there when staff checked.

According to the documents analysed by AP, Magtymova once hosted a party which cost over $10,000 at a time when the country was struggling to get coronavirus vaccines.

READ: Lebanon reports cholera spread among Syrian refugees

Syria was particularly hard hit by covid due to the government’s destruction of healthcare infrastructure during the war, a lack of reliable aid delivery and the subsequent dire humanitarian situation in the country.

Employees accused Magtymova of concentrating medical supplies in Damascus only and neglecting the rest of the country where there was a major shortage of medicine and equipment.

Ignoring WHO’s advice on COVID-19, Magtymova infected other staff members after coming to the office with coronavirus and did not encourage remote working.

She also arranged for the staff to perform flash mob dances and attend parties with no social distancing during the height of the pandemic.

The WHO Syria boss is also accused of abusing staff, calling them “cowards” and said that they were “retarded”.

She also hired relatives of government officials who had been accused of multiple human rights abuses, according to one staff member.

During her time in Syria, from October 2020 to May 2022, Magtymova stayed in the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus in a room at a cost of $450 a night.

The Four Seasons Hotel has been sanctioned by the US and the EU because its owner was financing the Syrian regime.

The owner Samer Foz was accused of war-profiteering and the Damascus branch was also dropped by the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

Magtymova declined to respond to AP’s questions about the allegations, saying that she was “prohibited” from sharing information “due to [her] obligations as a WHO staff member.” She described the accusations as “defamatory.”