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Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, believes the spying allegations against UNICEF's Representative in Armenia Marianne Clark-Hattingh are “baseless”.

The Armenian government has terminated the mandate of the UNICEF representative in the country due to “failures in implementing her mandate and uncooperative conduct.”

However, some media outlets reported that Clark-Hattingh was allegedly engaged in espionage in favor of Azerbaijan and UK, and the Armenian authorities declared her persona non grata.

“The allegations against…  the spying allegations against her are baseless, and I would defend her strongly,” Dujarric told a daily press briefing on Tuesday, when asked to comment on the matter.

“What I can tell you and what my colleagues of UNICEF have told me is that UNICEF and the Government of Armenia have agreed that Marianne Clark Hattingh will complete her assignment as UNICEF Representative in Armenia this month, and she’ll be redeployed to another duty station.

“She is a highly qualified, extremely experienced and committed development professional, who has previously served with UNICEF at Headquarters, as well as being the Representative in Malaysia and other posts in places such as Somalia, Guinea, Benin and Madagascar.

“UNICEF has been working for the children in Armenia since 1993 and has had a close and effective partnership with the Government,” the spokesman said.