Africa Staffers Cite UN Racial Bias -Ghanaian Involved

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Three African U.N. staffers said they are victims of racial bias at the world body, claiming that the problem is widespread in the organization.

Two of the staffers told journalists Friday they are resigning - effective at the end of July - because of discrimination in the U.N.'s mission in Kosovo, the Yugoslav province administered by the United Nations since 1999.

The United Nations is investigating the claims but denies a pattern of racial discrimination.

Nana Ackom-Mensah, of Ghana, and Abdi Yahya, a Somali native and U.S. citizen, said they and at least one other person, a Filipino, were transferred from their posts within the last year.

Yahya claimed discrimination in personnel matters is widespread in the United Nations, even in missions such as Kosovo, set up ``to create a climate of ethnic tolerance'' among Serbs and ethnic Albanians.

In March, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the organization had a ``very open and transparent system for recruitment and promotion'' and that a 1999 investigation did not uncover serious race discrimination in personnel matters.

Ackom-Mensah said that ``to be bullied and intimidated by senior management anywhere in the world is not only stressful, but also mentally, morally and psychologically disturbing.'' In a hazardous place like Kosovo, it is particularly unwelcome, she said.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said that a panel is investigating the allegations of discrimination at the U.N. mission in Kosovo and will issue findings by July 25.

Eckhard said it was ``too bad they did not wait for the outcome'' of the investigation before making the accusations publicly.

A third African, Joao Gomes of Guinea-Bissau, said he was repeatedly passed over for promotion since he joined the United Nations in 1989 and is fighting a 1998 decision not to renew his contract. Eckhard declined to comment on Gomes' case.