WFP's McCain faces staff revolt over Gaza

Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme, has come under fire from her agency’s rank and file for failing to attend a commemoration earlier this month for the more than 100 United Nations’ Palestinian workers killed in the ongoing bombardment of Gaza, while she participated days later in an awards ceremony honoring the people of Israel. Staff at the Rome-based food agency have organized a letter-writing campaign urging colleagues to raise concerns about her conduct with WFP’s ethics office, saying it compromises the global food outfit’s perceived neutrality and potentially endangers U.N. staff in the region. The letter calls for an ethics office “review of whether this is appropriate and in line with her role and responsibilities, as well as with WFP guidelines and policies.” “We should be putting pressure in the right places to have a cease-fire. Instead of that, the leadership is showing support for one side. … We are supposed to be neutral. We are not right now.” --— Anonymous WFP official McCain, the widow of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, attended the Halifax International Security Forum between Nov. 17 and 19, where she delivered an address on the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food security. But before that, McCain, seated alongside former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, appeared at an awards ceremony for the John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service, which recognized the people of Israel. The award was accepted on behalf of the Israeli people by Lital Leshem, an Israeli entrepreneur and active reservist officer in the Israeli Defense Forces. Leshem was representing the Brothers and Sisters in Arms, an organization of reserve IDF members which began as a political protest movement challenging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move to bring the country’s judiciary under greater government control. It transformed into a humanitarian relief organization after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. “Israel’s story is a miracle, but most of all it is the story of justice and freedom,” Peter Van Praagh, president of the Halifax forum, said in granting the award. “No doubt that is why John McCain loved Israel and why this award in his name to the people of Israel on the occasion of the state of Israel’s 75th anniversary is so appropriate.” “After World War Two, leaders understood that a Jewish national home was necessary to keep Jews safe from endless efforts to annihilate them,” he added in a separate written statement. It remains unclear who organized the letter-writing campaign, which was first reported by PassBlue, but it was circulated widely among staff this week, according to several WFP workers. It appeals to the ethics office to review whether McCain’s attendance at the awards ceremony “may qualify as a serious error of judgement” and should be raised with WFP’s executive board, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, and Qu Dongyu, director-general of the Food and Agricultural Organization. The two U.N. leaders appointed McCain to the top job on the recommendation of the United States, WFP’s largest donor. Asked if many WFP employees sent a copy of the letter to the ethics chief, one staffer told Devex: “I did and I think a lot of people are.” “As a committed WFP staff who spares no effort to uphold WFP’s principle and values, I question the ED [executive director]’s absence from the SG [secretary-general]-called mourning for our fallen UN staff and her participation in this Halifax International Security Forum,” the letter states. “I believe the Executive Director’s attendance and active participation in this event, and not participating in the mourning event, could compromise WFP’s perceived neutrality by being seen as siding with one party to a conflict,” the letter added. “I am extremely concerned that such a perception may also lead to increased risk to our personnel, especially in countries in the Middle East.” A spokesperson for WFP declined to comment on McCain’s attendance at the awards ceremony or her no-show at the Nov. 13 ceremony for fallen U.N. workers at WFP’s Peace Garden. The ceremony was part of a global observance, initiated by the U.N. secretary-general, for what has proven to be the largest loss of life by U.N. staffers in the organization’s history. The controversy follows a petition drive by WFP staffers urging the agency’s leadership to “strengthen advocacy for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and to leverage WFP’s influence to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war.” The petition voiced strong support for WFP’s participation along with other U.N. humanitarian agencies, including the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in a joint statement calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. “However, we noticed in the days following this statement, WFP public statements, social media posts, and official interviews have failed to carry forward this call. Further, WFP has not released any advocacy materials on the illegality of the use of hunger as a weapon of war, an issue directly linked to WFP’s core mandate,” according to the petition, which was obtained by Devex. McCain did subsequently sign on to a joint statement by U.N. and private humanitarian agencies heads calling for a cease-fire. But she has never issued a personal call for a full cease-fire or a humanitarian cease-fire. “We should be putting pressure in the right places to have a cease-fire. Instead of that, the leadership is showing support for one side,” said a second WFP staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity to be able to speak candidly about an internal controversy. “To me, that is absolutely wrong. Everybody is very, very concerned. We are supposed to be neutral. We are not right now.” In response to the petition, McCain instructed her deputy, Carl Skau, to meet with the authors to discuss their concerns, according to an internal account of the meeting. “The authors shared their grave concerns of what the UN Secretary General has called ‘a crisis of humanity,’” the account stated. “In Gaza today, the humanitarian space is virtually non-existent, and the humanitarian aid system is on the brink of collapse.” “We fear that our collective failure to defend respect for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) will have long-term implications for the credibility of the entire UN system,” according to the account. “While WFP operates within a complex political landscape, we believe that this should not inhibit our public and private advocacy around clear violations of the rules of war, especially where it directly relates to WFP’s mandate.” “The UN’s future ability to operate, protect civilians, and uphold human dignity is at stake. Our outrage over more than 100 UN colleagues killed should feature prominently in all discussions,” it added. In response, Skau “thanked all the petition signatories and spoke of how WFP is responding to the crisis in both public and private advocacy. He shared that Leadership is guided solely by our mandate of saving lives, and responded positively to our request to share more with employees globally on how WFP navigates its humanitarian diplomacy and advocacy.”