A report by the UN Ethics Office on the mismanagement and abuse of power by senior officials at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is facing an unprecedented financial crisis after cutting off US funding.
UN investigators are currently looking into the accusations in the confidential report of the ethics office.
UNRWA confirmed that it was cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation and could not make any comments before it ended.
The report of the Ethics Committee refers to serious violations of "credible" ethics, some of which involve the Commissioner-General of the Agency, Pierre Krangpol.
The report also includes accusations by some senior officials of the agency of involvement in "inappropriate sexual behavior, favoritism, discrimination and other practices of abuse of power for personal benefit and repression of dissenters for personal ends."
According to UNRWA, an official named in the report left the organization because of "improper conduct" in connection with the investigation, and another official resigned "for personal reasons."
"It is probably one of the most monitored UN agencies because of the nature of the conflict and the complex and politicized environment in which it operates," the UN agency said.
"Over the past 18 months, the agency has faced enormous financial and political pressure, but its staff has done so and has been able to provide services to 5.4 million Palestinian refugees during a major financial crisis unprecedented in the agency´s 70-year history."
The report of the Ethics Committee was sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations in December, and since then, UN investigators have visited the IAEA offices in Jerusalem and Amman to gather information on the allegations, informed sources said.
"If the current investigation, once completed, reaches results that require corrective measures or other administrative measures, we will not hesitate to take them," Cranbol said in a statement to AFP.
UNRWA provides educational and medical services to millions of poor Palestine refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the Palestinian territories.
The agency employs some 30,000 people, mostly Palestinians.
