• About this Portal
    • Internal Audit and Investigations Group
    • Ethics Office
    • Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment Team
    • Health, Safety, Social and Environmental Team
    • Workplace Conduct Team
    • People Planning and Performance Team
    • Legal Group
    • Ombudsman Office for United Nations Funds and Programmes
    • Navigation, Support and Advocacy Team
    • Well-being Support
    • Personnel and Staff Associations
    • General
    • Internal Audit and Investigation Group
    • Ethics Office
    • Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment
    • Workplace Conduct Team
    • People Planning and Performance Team
    • Legal Group
    • Navigation, Support and Advocacy
    • Well-being Support
  • Resources
    • Report alleged misconduct (except retaliation, harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination)
    • Report alleged retaliation
    • Report health, safety, social or environmental concern
    • Report alleged harassment, discrimination, abuse of authority
    • Performance rebuttal request
    • Management Evaluation Request
    • How to Submit a Case
  • About this Portal
    Read more about the aim of the Portal and our ethical values.
    Internal Audit and Investigations Group
    Investigates allegations of misconduct and undertakes audits.
    Ethics Office
    Nurtures a culture of ethics, integrity, and accountability at UNOPS, and helps protect UNOPS personnel against retaliation.
    Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment Team
    Coordinates UNOPS efforts on prevention and protection against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.
    Health, Safety, Social and Environmental Team
    Develops and implements health, safety, social and environmental best practices in UNOPS' projects and operations.
    Workplace Conduct Team
    Handles allegations of harassment, discrimination, and abuse of authority.
    People Planning and Performance Team
    Responsible for managing the performance appraisal rebuttal process.
    Legal Group
    Handles key formal aspects of UNOPS internal justice system.
    Ombudsman Office for United Nations Funds and Programmes
    Offers dedicated informal dispute resolution services to all UNOPS colleagues.
  • Navigation, Support and Advocacy Team
    Helps reporters navigate and understand UNOPS' internal justice and whistleblower systems.
    Well-being Support
    Advocates for mental health through prevention and referrals to crisis or counselling services.
    Personnel and Staff Associations
    Support personnel by advocating for their working conditions.
  • General
    • Where do I report what? (Guidance on which office might be the right one for you to submit a case to.)
    • How do I report a case or concern?
    • How does confidentiality work?
    Internal Audit and Investigation Group
    • What does IAIG do?
    • How does IAIG maintain confidentiality?
    • What are some examples of evidence that I should provide?
    Ethics Office
    • What is the Ethics Office?
    • What does the Ethics Office do?
    • What does the Ethics Office NOT do?
    Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment
    • What is the role of the PSEAH team at UNOPS?
    • What are UNOPS core principles on PSEAH?
    • What is "sexual exploitation and abuse"?
    Workplace Conduct Team
    • What does the Workplace Conduct Team do?
    • What is the difference between Workplace Conduct Team and Internal Grievances?
    • What does the Workplace Conduct Team NOT do?
    People Planning and Performance Team
    • What is a performance review rebuttal process?
    • Who conducts the rebuttal?
    • What are the requirements for requesting a rebuttal?
    Legal Group
    • Can I get legal advice from the Legal Group about an administrative decision that I would like to contest?
    • Can I take my dispute with UNOPS to a national court for resolution?
    • What are my options for resolving a workplace dispute in UNOPS internal justice system?
    Navigation, Support and Advocacy
    • What is “victim/survivor support”?
    • What is a “victim-centered approach”?
    • What kind of support is offered by the Navigation, Support and Advocacy Team?
    Well-being Support
    • What does UNOPS do to promote the well-being of personnel?
    • How can I access mental health services at UNOPS?
    • What is the process for receiving Well-being Support?
  • Resources
  • Report alleged misconduct (except retaliation, harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination)
    Report alleged retaliation
    Report health, safety, social or environmental concern
    Report alleged harassment, discrimination, abuse of authority
    Performance rebuttal request
    Management Evaluation Request
    How to Submit a Case
  • FR
  • ES

The Ethics Office is an independent office within UNOPS mandated to nurture a culture of integrity, transparency and accountability.

The Ethics Office focuses on providing assessments of conflict-of-interest situations to help protect the reputational integrity of the organization. The Ethics Office will also provide guidance on the organization’s standards of conduct more broadly. The Office does training and awareness raising activities on the standards of conduct.

The Ethics Office is responsible for prima facie reviews of retaliation allegations.

The Ethics Office does not receive reports of misconduct (except related to retaliation, pursuant to the Protection Against Retaliation policy) and does not undertake investigations.

According to OI.Ethics.2022.01 “retaliation” means “any direct or indirect detrimental action that adversely affects the employment or working conditions of an individual, where such action has been recommended, threatened or taken for the purpose of punishing, intimidating or injuring that individual because they engaged in a “protected activity”.” (Section 4.1) This definition means that retaliation can take many shapes; it is essentially anything that negatively affects your employment or working conditions. 

Importantly, the action can only be determined as retaliation if it was done as a consequence of a protected activity. This means that to establish retaliation or a threat of retaliation, there has to be a causal connection between the “protected activity” and the “detrimental action”. A detrimental action without a protected activity could potentially constitute other misconduct.

A protected activity is either where you (as UNOPS personnel) cooperated in good faith with an investigation or audit (if you were the subject of an investigation or audit  this will not normally be considered a protected activity), or where you reported alleged misconduct through one of the “established channels” (see paragraph 3.1 of OI.Ethics.2022.01). The report of misconduct must support a reasonable belief that the alleged misconduct has occurred, and must be done in good faith (see paragraph 7.3 of OI.Ethics.2022.01).

  • Reporting the issue to management or the Executive Director;
  • Reporting allegations of misconduct that fall under the purview of the Workplace Conduct Team (WCT) or IAIG to the Ethics Office, unless you authorize the Ethics Office to refer the case to the correct established internal mechanism(s);
  • Requesting management evaluation of an adverse administrative decision;
  • Contacting the Ombudsman; and
  • Making a report or providing information that is intentionally false or misleading, as well as making false accusations or spreading unsubstantiated rumors that are not considered to be made in good faith and are therefore not considered protected activities.

Detrimental actions might be harassment, intimidation or bullying; discrimination; unsubstantiated negative performance appraisals; unjustified contractual changes, such as non-extension or termination of appointment, demotion, reassignment, transfer, dismissal, reductions in wages; suspension or loss of promotion opportunities; or other actions that affect your working conditions or employment with the organization.

If you did not engage in a “protected activity” but believe you have been subjected to actions as those described as detrimental, you can contact the Navigation, Support and Advocacy Team for a discussion around possible ways to address the situation, or you can make a report to the WCT (see OI.Ethics.2022.01 for further guidance). 

Please note that expressing disagreement or criticizing work-related decisions, work performance or conduct, for instance, would not in itself constitute retaliation under the meaning of the UNOPS Protection against Retaliation policy. 

The United Nations Dispute Tribunal has repeatedly held that there is a “universal obligation of both employee and employer to act in good faith towards each other”, which “includes acting rationally, fairly, honestly and in accordance with the obligations of due process”. On the basis of this, the Ethics Office will review whether a dependable report is made. There is no expectation for you to investigate the case yourself or to provide information that would not be readily available.

No, the Ethics Office will not make its review conditional on the substantiation of claims, i.e., that the protected activity found there to be actual misconduct. It is enough that a report was made in good faith and the information was submitted to support a reasonable belief that misconduct occurred.

Prima facie means “upon first impression” and entails that the Ethics Office will review – but not investigate – your request for protection against retaliation and if, as a matter of first impression, the situation could constitute retaliation this will be the prima facie determination. It also means that, potentially, IAIG may come to a different conclusion after it does the investigation. 

If you request protection, you will be responsible for providing evidence to support your allegation of retaliation. Where the case is investigated, the burden of proof is reversed to the administration, which has to show by “clear and convincing evidence” that it would have taken the same action also in the event you had not engaged in the protected activity or that the alleged retaliatory action was not made for the purpose of punishing, intimidating or injuring the individual.

Yes! The Ethics Office is bound by confidentiality and will seek your consent first if there is a need to obtain information from other colleagues or offices.

However, there are exceptions to this rule:

  • The  Ethics Office may be required to cooperate with requests for information from UN oversight bodies or the UN Dispute and Appeals Tribunals. If compelled to provide information to a Tribunal, the Ethics Office shall seek to cooperate without attending tribunal hearings and without testifying about confidential information.  
  • Confidentiality may also be waived by the Ethics Office in the following scenarios:  
    • The Ethics Office considers that there is a danger posed to the reporting person or another individual; 
    • There is a risk of environmental damage or a threat to public health;
    • There is a need for the Ethics Office to obtain legal advice regarding the person making the report, information contained in the report, or any matter that arises during the investigative process; or
    • If UNOPS is required to provide information to a national or international authority or a law enforcement agency.
  • In all such instances, the Ethics Office would consult the reporting individual before making the disclosure, but is not required to obtain their consent. 
  • The Ethics Office will not be bound to maintain confidentiality in situations where the person requesting protection against retaliation does not maintain confidentiality themselves, i.e., copying persons or management functions that are not bound by confidentiality into correspondence to a wider audience.

Current or former UNOPS personnel may seek protection against retaliation. UNOPS cannot protect third parties (i.e., non-personnel) from retaliation because the organization would not be able to implement corrective measures.

Contact the UNOPS Ethics Office providing as much detail as possible to establish that (i) you engaged in a “protective activity”, (ii) you experienced detrimental actions and, (iii) the detrimental actions were likely a consequence of your protected activity. We recommend that you use this form to report alleged retaliation.

An Ethics Officer will be assigned to your case and the documentation provided will be reviewed. The case officer will be in touch and may ask for additional information, if needed. If deemed appropriate, the Ethics Office may recommend protective measures to safeguard your employment conditions. The Ethics Office will seek to finish the preliminary review within 30 days of receiving all requested information. For this reason, it is important that you give us all the necessary information as quickly as possible.

In some cases and only with your express written consent, the Ethics Office will recommend that interim measures are taken during the preliminary review to safeguard your interests (i.e., employment conditions, safety and security). The recommendation is made to the Executive Director and might include:

  • Temporary suspension of the alleged detrimental action (e.g., suspension of a termination of employment, change of duty station, or other);
  • Your temporary reassignment to another office or a change of reporting lines; or 
  • Special leave with full pay for you (this is not normally requested as the alleged retaliator would then become aware of your request for protection).

The protective measures do not include reinstatement of the employment of UNOPS personnel or extension of an employment contract.


The Ethics Office will send the findings to the IAIG and request the case be investigated. When the investigation is done, IAIG will share the investigation report with the Ethics Office, who will conduct an independent review of the findings, applying the same reverse burden of proof, to make a final determination as to whether retaliation is established.

If the Ethics Office considers that there has been retaliation, it may recommend to the Executive Director that disciplinary measures be considered, as well as appropriate measures aimed at correcting negative consequences suffered as a result of the retaliatory action and protecting the individual from any further retaliation. The Executive Director will consider the recommendation and issue a written decision on the advice of the Ethics Office.

Where the case is investigated, the burden of proof is on the administration to show by clear and convincing evidence that it would have taken the same action absent the protected activity or that the alleged retaliatory action was not made for the purpose of punishing, intimidating or injuring the individual.

If the Ethics Office determines that, prima facie, there is no retaliation you are informed of this and the case is closed. If you disagree with the decision, a request for a secondary review can be submitted to the Ethics Panel of the United Nations (EPUN).

That depends on a number of factors, but retaliation is considered misconduct and therefore disciplinary measures, including administrative actions, may be taken where retaliation is found.

If retaliation is found, the Ethics Office may recommend corrective measures to the Executive Director, such as:

  • Reversal of any decision that is seen as part of the retaliation, including for example: reinstatement, change of reporting lines, transfer to another duty station; or
  • Transfer to another office or function or transfer of the person who retaliated against you.

If the Ethics Office determines there was no retaliation following the investigation, you will be informed of this determination and the case is closed. The decision is not subject to secondary review.

You should raise the issue with the Ethics Office and ask that the matter be assessed. If the Ethics Office determines that there is an actual or potential conflict of interest in reviewing a request for protection against retaliation, the Ethics Office will inform the individual and refer the request to an alternative reviewing body, including the Chair of the Ethics Panel of the UN (EPUN) or another member of EPUN. If the Ethics Office considers that there is an actual or potential conflict of interest in any particular member of the Ethics Office reviewing a request for protection against retaliation, that member of the office shall not be involved in reviewing the request or have any role in determining the outcome of the review.

A conflict of interest occurs when, by act or omission, our personal interests interfere with the performance of our official duties and responsibilities or with the integrity, independence and impartiality required by the our status as UNOPS personnel. When an actual or possible conflict of interest does arise, we shall disclose the conflict to our head of office, mitigated by the organization and resolved in favour of the interests of the organization. If we have questions, we can contact the Ethics Office for guidance.

A termination of contract is a so-called "administrative decision". Such an administrative decision that impacts your employment can be reviewed by a Management Evaluation Request.

With the Management Evaluation you request Management to evaluate whether a specific administrative decision (in this case the "termination") is lawful according to UNOPS' regulatory frameworks. This process is managed by the Legal Group and you can read more about it under their page on this Portal. You may also wish to seek counselling through well-being support, as losing one's job unexpectedly can cause stress and anxiety.

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Disclaimer

The summary content provided on this page is issued for informative purposes only and reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication. However, the summary does not amend, replace or override the applicable legal framework set out, inter alia, in the UN Charter, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, the UN Staff Regulations and Rules, relevant administrative issuances and any specific contracting arrangements in place. UNOPS personnel should therefore not rely upon the summary information provided in the portal, as it is not intended to be an authoritative resource. Instead, they should refer to the aforementioned legal framework and their contract with UNOPS for definitive guidance.

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