UN Special Envoy Julie Bishop reported to UN Office of Internal Oversight Services over conflicts of interest

9 May 2025

On 4 May 2025, four Myanmar civil society organizations (CSOs)—Blood Money Campaign, Defend Myanmar Democracy, Karen Peace Support Network, and Progressive Voice—submitted a report of wrongdoing to the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) regarding the business activities of UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar Julie Bishop.

This wrongdoing report to OIOS follows an open letter which 290 Myanmar, regional, and international civil society organizations sent to the UN Secretary-General and UN General Assembly (UNGA) on 17 March 2025, calling for an investigation into Julie Bishop’s business activities and the revocation of the Special Envoy’s mandate. OIOS is the UN’s internal oversight body, and it has operational independence under the authority of the Secretary-General.

In the 17 March letter and subsequent wrongdoing report, CSOs urged the Secretary-General to urgently investigate the Special Envoy’s business activities and connections to the mining industry and Chinese state-owned companies with reported commercial interests in Myanmar, including Shenghe Resources and China Communications Construction Company.

The UN has not responded to the civil society open letter, and the Secretary-General’s Office continues to defend Julie Bishop’s conduct, ignoring the serious concerns raised by civil society. Multiple international anti-corruption experts have stated that civil society concerns about Julie Bishop’s conflicts of interest are credible and warrant action by the UN.

The UN’s failure to respond to civil society’s concerns is all the more egregious given the UN Special Envoy on Myanmar’s mandate to engage “with all relevant stakeholders, including civil society, and affected populations.” Yet, the Secretary-General and the Special Envoy herself continue to ignore the Myanmar people.

With no meaningful response from the UN, Julie Bishop’s business activities related to China continue to endanger the human rights of the Myanmar people, as China remains a top source of military support and false legitimacy for the illegal Myanmar military junta, aiding and abetting the junta’s ongoing crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Myanmar people. These concerns have only deepened following the 28 March earthquake that devastated central Myanmar: Following the earthquake, China has provided substantial support to the military junta, under the guise of humanitarian aid, despite the junta’s continued weaponization of such quake-related aid for its own material and political gain.

Blood Money Campaign, Defend Myanmar Democracy, Karen Peace Support Network, and Progressive Voice urge OIOS to conduct a prompt, thorough, and transparent investigation into Julie Bishop’s business activities and publish the findings.

Khin Ohmar of Progressive Voice said, “If the UN’s desire to ‘end the hostilities’ and support the Myanmar people is genuine, it would immediately investigate Julie Bishop’s conflicts of interest, remove her from the position, and abolish the Special Envoy on Myanmar mandate. Julie Bishop further taints the UN’s reputation in Myanmar and beyond. It’s time for the UN to respect its own rules and regulations. OIOS must initiate a thorough and transparent investigation into Julie Bishop’s business activities without further delay and share those findings publicly.”

Naw Aung of Defend Myanmar Democracy said, “Julie Bishop’s connections to the mining industry and Chinese state-owned companies show a complete lack of integrity and are wholly untenable for a UN Special Envoy. The UNGA must seize this moment to revoke the mandate, and revamp the UN’s address of Myanmar’s crisis to be based on human rights rather than political lobbying.”

Mulan of Blood Money Campaign said, “China is a major arms supplier of the military junta, providing the fighter jets and drones used to murder civilians across Myanmar even after the earthquake on 28 March. Julie Bishop’s commercial interests with this complicit actor in the junta’s crimes must be immediately investigated by the UN. It must also finally end the mandate of the Special Envoy on Myanmar, which has been a total failure in producing meaningful change for the people. The Secretary-General himself must take the lead to end the military junta’s international crimes. Refusing to do so will only embolden the junta to continue its terror campaign against the people and thus further damage the little credibility the UN has left.”

Cherry of Karen Peace Support Network said, “The UN must respect our voices as civil society and stop doing harm in Myanmar. For more than four years, the UN has failed to take meaningful action to stop the junta’s war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The UN and the international community must stand with the Myanmar people and robustly support our revolution to build sustainable peace and an inclusive federal democracy. This support must start with opening an investigation regarding Julie Bishop’s conflicts of interest and publishing the findings.”

For more information, please contact:

• Mulan, Blood Money Campaign; [email protected]
• Naw Aung, Defend Myanmar Democracy; [email protected]
• Naw Cherry, Karen Peace Support Network; [email protected]
• Khin Ohmar, Progressive Voice; [email protected]

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