London: Top Director of the World Health Organization western pacificDoctor. takeshi butcherAccording to internal correspondence obtained by the Associated Press, he has been removed from his position indefinitely.
Butcher’s removal comes months after an AP investigation revealed dozens of employees accused him of racist, abusive and unethical behavior that undermined the UN agency’s efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic in Asia.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Western Pacific told employees in an email Friday that Butcher was “on vacation” without elaborating further.
Tedros said that Deputy Director General Dr. zuzsanna jakaboThe WHO regional headquarters will arrive in Manila on Tuesday to “ensure business continuity”.
Two senior WHO officials, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the press, said Butcher had been placed on extended administrative leave after internal investigators confirmed some complaints of misconduct.
The WHO said in a statement it was unknown how long Butcher would be away.
The UN health agency said their investigation was ongoing and it was believed to be the first time a regional director had been relieved of his duties. Butcher did not respond to requests for comment, but previously denied that he used racist language or acted in an unprofessional manner.
In January, the AP reported that more than 30 unidentified employees sent a confidential complaint to WHO’s senior leadership and members of the organization’s executive board, alleging that Butcher created a “toxic environment” at WHO’s offices in the western Pacific. Is.
Documents and recordings show Butcher made racist remarks to his employees and blamed the rise of COVID-19 in some Pacific countries for “lack of capacity due to their low culture, race and socioeconomic status”.
Several WHO employees working under Butcher said they inappropriately shared sensitive coronavirus vaccine information to help Japan, his home country, score political points with his charity.
Days after AP report, WHO chief tedros Announced that butcher’s internal investigation has begun.
Several months later, however, WHO staff alleged that Butcher was manipulating the investigation.
In a letter sent in April to the UN agency’s top governing body, the Executive Board, employees wrote that Butcher had ordered senior managers to destroy any incriminating documents and that IT staff had been sent “emails from all staff members”. ordered to monitor.”
Kasai is a Japanese doctor who began his career in his country’s public health system before moving to WHO, where he has worked for more than 15 years.
The temporary removal of a regional director at the WHO is “unprecedented”, according to Lawrence GostinDirector of the WHO Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights at Georgetown University.
“There have been a lot of bad regional directors at the WHO, but I’ve never heard of an action like this,” Gostin said.
Withdrawing support from Japan for Butcher could accelerate his dismissal. A Japanese government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he hoped the WHO conducted an impartial investigation.
Butcher’s expulsion is in contrast to the WHO’s previous reluctance to discipline perpetrators of unethical and sometimes illegal behavior, including the disclosure of sexual abuse during the Ebola outbreak in Congo from 2018-2020.
Under the direction of WHO, more than 80 outbreak responders sexually abused vulnerable women; An AP investigation found that senior WHO management had been informed of several exploitation claims in 2019, but declined to act and even promoted one of the managers involved. No senior WHO employee has been fired for abuse.
“Those allegations shattered the reputation of the WHO,” Gostin said, describing the lack of accountability in Congo as “truly outrageous”.
He welcomed the disciplinary action taken against the butcher and called on the WHO to continue its investigation in some form or the other.
Gostin and other public health academics said that if the WHO’s executive board determines that Butcher breached his contract by engaging in allegedly racist and abusive conduct, his contract could be terminated.
The WHO’s own staff association urged Tedros to take action against the butcher at a meeting in June, saying that failing to do so “would be a sad mistake”, according to a memo from the private briefing.
“If prompt action is not taken, the consequences can be questionable at best, certain and at worst,” the staff warned Tedros.
“If the butcher’s fault is proven, the assumption would be that many other items were swept away to save face.”
Before Butcher went on leave, the WHO’s Western Pacific office planned a town hall this week to address “workplace culture”, including concerns about racism and abusive conduct.
In an email to employees on Saturday, Dr. angela pratoA director in the butcher’s office announced that the meeting had been postponed.
Butcher’s removal comes months after an AP investigation revealed dozens of employees accused him of racist, abusive and unethical behavior that undermined the UN agency’s efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic in Asia.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Western Pacific told employees in an email Friday that Butcher was “on vacation” without elaborating further.
Tedros said that Deputy Director General Dr. zuzsanna jakaboThe WHO regional headquarters will arrive in Manila on Tuesday to “ensure business continuity”.
Two senior WHO officials, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the press, said Butcher had been placed on extended administrative leave after internal investigators confirmed some complaints of misconduct.
The WHO said in a statement it was unknown how long Butcher would be away.
The UN health agency said their investigation was ongoing and it was believed to be the first time a regional director had been relieved of his duties. Butcher did not respond to requests for comment, but previously denied that he used racist language or acted in an unprofessional manner.
In January, the AP reported that more than 30 unidentified employees sent a confidential complaint to WHO’s senior leadership and members of the organization’s executive board, alleging that Butcher created a “toxic environment” at WHO’s offices in the western Pacific. Is.
Documents and recordings show Butcher made racist remarks to his employees and blamed the rise of COVID-19 in some Pacific countries for “lack of capacity due to their low culture, race and socioeconomic status”.
Several WHO employees working under Butcher said they inappropriately shared sensitive coronavirus vaccine information to help Japan, his home country, score political points with his charity.
Days after AP report, WHO chief tedros Announced that butcher’s internal investigation has begun.
Several months later, however, WHO staff alleged that Butcher was manipulating the investigation.
In a letter sent in April to the UN agency’s top governing body, the Executive Board, employees wrote that Butcher had ordered senior managers to destroy any incriminating documents and that IT staff had been sent “emails from all staff members”. ordered to monitor.”
Kasai is a Japanese doctor who began his career in his country’s public health system before moving to WHO, where he has worked for more than 15 years.
The temporary removal of a regional director at the WHO is “unprecedented”, according to Lawrence GostinDirector of the WHO Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights at Georgetown University.
“There have been a lot of bad regional directors at the WHO, but I’ve never heard of an action like this,” Gostin said.
Withdrawing support from Japan for Butcher could accelerate his dismissal. A Japanese government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he hoped the WHO conducted an impartial investigation.
Butcher’s expulsion is in contrast to the WHO’s previous reluctance to discipline perpetrators of unethical and sometimes illegal behavior, including the disclosure of sexual abuse during the Ebola outbreak in Congo from 2018-2020.
Under the direction of WHO, more than 80 outbreak responders sexually abused vulnerable women; An AP investigation found that senior WHO management had been informed of several exploitation claims in 2019, but declined to act and even promoted one of the managers involved. No senior WHO employee has been fired for abuse.
“Those allegations shattered the reputation of the WHO,” Gostin said, describing the lack of accountability in Congo as “truly outrageous”.
He welcomed the disciplinary action taken against the butcher and called on the WHO to continue its investigation in some form or the other.
Gostin and other public health academics said that if the WHO’s executive board determines that Butcher breached his contract by engaging in allegedly racist and abusive conduct, his contract could be terminated.
The WHO’s own staff association urged Tedros to take action against the butcher at a meeting in June, saying that failing to do so “would be a sad mistake”, according to a memo from the private briefing.
“If prompt action is not taken, the consequences can be questionable at best, certain and at worst,” the staff warned Tedros.
“If the butcher’s fault is proven, the assumption would be that many other items were swept away to save face.”
Before Butcher went on leave, the WHO’s Western Pacific office planned a town hall this week to address “workplace culture”, including concerns about racism and abusive conduct.
In an email to employees on Saturday, Dr. angela pratoA director in the butcher’s office announced that the meeting had been postponed.