Whistleblower.org reports that State Department officials have long known that the U.N. fails to protect whistleblowers and thereby fails to Congressional statutory funding requirements. But in order to avoid controversy, the State Department has remained silent instead of formally refusing to certify compliance. Under a new law, they no longer have that option.On January 17, 2014 President Obama signed the 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act. Section 7048. (a) of the Act requires the Secretary of State to certify that each agency at the United Nations which receives U.S. contributions is adhering to "best practices" for the protection of whistleblowers. Agencies that lack such certification would lose 15 percent of their U.S. funding.The "best practices" include "the protection of whistleblowers from retaliation, including ...(i) protection against retaliation for internal and lawful public disclosures;(ii) legal burdens of proof;(iii) statutes of limitation for reporting retaliation;(iv) access to independent adjudicative bodies, including external arbitration; and(v) results that eliminate the effects of proven retaliation."This condition, however, can be waived on a "case-by-case basis" if the Secretary of State determines it is "important to the national interest of the United States."