Francesco Frangialli, the Honorary Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), speaks out to urge UNWTO to adhere to its rules and prevent the current Secretary General, Zurab Pololikashvili, from causing further damage and scandals.
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Francesco Frangialli, former UNWTO Secretary General from 1997 to 2009, had had enough after the UN-Tourism Executive Council surprisingly recommended a mostly unknown lady from the United Arab Emirates, Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais, as the organization’s next Secretary General, but ignored a request by a European member state to restrict activities by the current Secretary General.
In the meantime, despite efforts by Francesco Frangialli and Czechia, a member state of the EU, the current UN-Tourism Secretary General, Zurab Pololikashvili, managed to ignore a vote requested by Czechia for the Executive Council, forcing him to step down and have an independent committee take over the affairs until December 31.
On January 1, 2026, the newly elected Secretary General is expected to take over, if the General Assembly in Riyadh confirms the recommendation by the Executive Council for Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais.
After Shaikha was elected, the Czech Republic minister must have been speechless, not to insist that his motion be heard, to demand that the organization form an independent committee to relieve Zurab Pololikashvili of his duties until the new incoming successor takes his helm.
This motion by Czechia was entirely ignored by the Executive Council when the two expected “leading candidates” from Greece and Mexico left the gathering early in disbelief at the surprise outcome of this election.
Fears of ongoing abuse of the UNWTO office have resurfaced in staff promotions, including a case involving a woman who may be in a personal relationship with the outgoing secretary-general, according to numerous sources within and outside UN-Tourism.
Mr. Frangialli demands that UN-Tourism put an end to the scandals.
Mr. Frangialli told eTurboNews:
I published an appeal a few weeks ago to the Executive Council, where, along with my successor Taleb Rifai, I was advocating for an interim management of the UNWTO from the moment of the election of the new Secretary General to the departure of Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili from Madrid that will take place on December 31st.
I wanted to establish external governance to prevent any damaging behavior by the current Secretary General. I had especially in mind issues related to staff management, such as the recruitment or the promotion of a friend or a relative.
The Executive Council did not respond to my call, nor a similar demand from the Czech Republic. I suppose that its members were too focused on the election itself and did not pay attention to what would immediately follow.
What I had anticipated has happened with the outrageous and, from my point of view, irregular promotion of Ms. Shirin El Tayan from salary grade P1 to P5, justified by her capacity for the position of New Chief of Protocol. This happened after she had already benefited from a “special post allowance.”
Everyone within UNWTO is aware that Ms. El Tayan has a special relationship with Zurab Pololikashvili. Recruited as a simple assistant by Taleb Rifai, she has already received a rare upgrade from the General service category to the Professional one from her successor.
The justification given to this decision is both genuine and shameless: “This upgrade, spanning more than one grade within the same category, would typically require competitive recruitment. However, I have determined that it is in the best interest of the Organization not to initiate a competitive process, Zurab wrote.”
All the savor of the sentence lies in the words “best interest of the Organization”. The protocol of competitive recruitment is an area in which one can find excellent candidates within and outside the Organization.
Ms. El Tayan’s unexpected promotion is not only ethically questionable but also irregular. It doesn’t respect the rules that UNWTO is required to follow, having become, in January 2004, one of the 15 specialized agencies of the UN System.
At that time, I signed the treaty with the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, which will govern the relations between the two Institutions.
In most areas, specialized agencies act independently and are not subject to UN guidance. It is not the case for human resources management. In being converted into a full-fledged agency, the Institution became part of the “UN common system”.
It must follow the rules imposed by the UN International Civil Service Commission to all the Organizations of the System, especially those governing recruitments and promotions of professional staff.
Under these rules, Ms. El Tayan could not be promoted directly from P1 to P5.
I therefore urge the incoming Secretary General to put an end to this abnormal situation. Ms. El Tayan should be asked to renounce her promotion and reimburse the amount she received in excess.
If she refuses, she should be forced to leave the Organization. She legally could appeal such a decision to the tribunal of the International Labor Organization, but she would most likely lose the case.
Joint Inspection Unit of the United Nations System |
The Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) is the only independent external oversight body of the United Nations system mandated to conduct evaluations, inspections and investigations system-wide.
More generally, I urge the Executive Council to request that the Joint Inspection Unit of the United Nations review the existing human resource management practices in UNWTO and provide recommendations for their improvement.
The period of troubles is not finished for UNWTO. They are part of Zurab Pololikashvili’s legacy.
Francesco Frangialli
