About the IIU

Mission

In accordance with Article 68 of the Governing Instrument for the Green Climate Fund, the Board established the IIU as a key function of the accountability mechanism of GCF. As a body independent from the GCF Secretariat, the Unit is tasked with the following:

Proactive prevention

The IIU takes a proactive approach to deter occurrences of fraud, corruption, and other Prohibited Practices in GCF-funded activities by establishing integrity policies, proactively assessing and mitigating integrity risks, and recommending further improvements to existing GCF policies and procedures.

The IIU employs measures to detect compliance failures and potential integrity violations (red flags) in GCF operations through a risk-based oversight of GCF-funded projects and programmes.

Investigation

As an initial point of contact, the IIU investigates allegations of Wrongdoing, including Misconduct and Prohibited Practices, in line with international best practices and in close cooperation with relevant counterpart authorities.

Awareness raising and capacity building

The IIU promotes awareness of GCF integrity standards to GCF staff and implementing entities and helps build capacities of accredited entities to effectively prevent, respond to, mitigate, and remedy prohibited practices. The Unit also collaborates with relevant counterpart offices of other international organizations to ensure it is at the frontier of relevant practices.

Unit Head

Albert Lihalakha, Head of the IIU a.i.

Albert Lihalakha is the Head of the Independent Integrity Unit, a.i. of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), effective 01 November 2022 by virtue of Board decision GCF/B.34/26. He has over 15 years of international experience in the public and private sectors, conducting and managing investigations into misconduct, fraud, corruption, and high-technology crimes.

He has long served to reinforce integrity values and bolster ethical practices in business conduct in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and North America.

At GCF, Albert has been instrumental in transforming the effectiveness of investigative responses and instituting mechanisms that proactively mitigate integrity risks while supporting relevant stakeholders.

Prior to joining the Fund, Albert worked in a senior capacity at Saudi Aramco’s specialised security and investigations division in Saudi Arabia. He served as Principal Forensic Officer at the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Department of the African Development Bank in Tunisia, where he investigated misconduct and other sanctionable practices. In the United States, Albert worked as a Risk Advisory Services Manager at KPMG, where he assisted organisations to prevent, detect, and respond to the theft of intellectual property and other financial crimes.

He is a Certified Fraud Examiner and holds a master’s degree in International Criminal Law and Justice and a Master of Science in Information Systems.