Fox: WIPO criticised in UN report
A damning report criticising the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has been compiled by a United Nations (UN) investigative body, according to US broadcaster Fox News.
It says the report slams WIPO for its alleged lack of management of its workforce, secrecy surrounding meetings and rising spending costs.
Called “Review of Management and Administration in the World Intellectual Property Organization,” the study allegedly says that WIPO “fails to coordinate” the work of its various branches, and keeps member states that supposedly control it “in the dark” about its top officials’ meetings
It adds that spending is still “rising fast” and that its planned budget for this year and next sees a personnel cost increase of almost two thirds.
According to Fox, which says it has examined a draft copy of the report, it also says the failings have led to director general Francis Gurry and other leaders being “placed in a position to take the leading role” on numerous issues, “without a formal input” from member states.
The study also says WIPO’s member states complain that relevant documents are often dumped on them at short notice.
WIPO did not respond immediately to requests for comment on the report, which Fox says was produced by two Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) inspectors at the UN.
According to the UN website, the JIU assists “the legislative organs” of participating organisations in meeting their responsibilities, management of finances and to promote greater coordination between the organisations within the UN.
The latest criticisms are not the first time Gurry and WIPO have been questioned.
In 2012 the organisation came under fire for sending computers to both North Korea and Iran, allegedly in violation of UN sanctions.
Last month, a complaint by WIPO worker Jim Pooley accused Gurry of taking unlawful DNA samples from members of staff in 2008.
In the “Report of Misconduct” Pooley, one of Gurry’s four deputies and head of the Information and Technology branch, said Gurry directed security officers to break into offices to obtain DNA samples from personal items of selected staff members at WIPO’s Geneva-based headquarters.
The samples were allegedly used by Swiss police to check if any of the staffers were the authors of a series of anonymous letters that hinted of financial impropriety against Gurry and his wife.
Gurry, who was recently re-selected for a second six-year term, has described the accusations as being “without foundation”.
