PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES AND UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES

AND UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS

An investigation by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) had not confirmed allegations of widespread sexual exploitation of refugees by humanitarian aid workers in West Africa, Under-Secretary-General Dileep Nair told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

Introducing the OIOS report, Mr. Nair added that none of the allegations against any regular United Nations staff member had been substantiated.  He was joined at the press conference by Kenzo Oshima, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.  Mr. Oshima is also Chairman of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which brings together operational humanitarian agencies both within and outside the United Nations system, including the Red Cross movement and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Mr. Nair said that late last year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Save the Children United Kingdom had commissioned two consultants to study the issue of girl mothers, sexual violence and exploitation of refugees in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.  The consultants' preliminary report contained allegations of sexual exploitation of refugee women and girls by humanitarian aid workers and United Nations peacekeepers.  At the end of last year, OIOS was asked to conduct an investigation to determine whether the allegations were true to see if there was sufficient evidence to warrant disciplinary action or even criminal charges, to check if the problem was widespread as alleged, and to assess any contributing factors.

He said OIOS had assembled a team from eight countries, comprising investigators, lawyers, refugee protection and human resource specialists, translators and a paediatric trauma specialist.  The team had great difficulty verifying the stories reported by the consultants, which were too vague, too general, comprised third-hand information and involved many internally displaced persons.  During the course of the investigation, which began in February and concluded in July, the team had interviewed some 300 refugees and about 100 UNHCR and NGO aid workers. 

From the consultants’ report, he said, the OIOS had only been able to investigate 12 cases fully, none of which had been substantiated.  From information gathered separately, OIOS had identified and fully investigated another 43 cases, of which 10 had been substantiated.  One case involved a 44‑year-old United Nations volunteer working with UNHCR in Guinea, who entered into a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old refugee and abandoned her after she became pregnant.  His contract had been terminated.

He described another case involving a NGO worker in Guinea and the rape of a 14-year-old Sierra Leonean refugee girl.  That matter had been referred to the NGO concerned and to UNHCR, who would bring it to the attention of the authorities.  A third case involved a peacekeeper with the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and a 14-year-old boy who was sodomized.  The boy's mother reported the case to local police, who at that time were denied access to the alleged offender. 

Only after OIOS had notified the Mission was an investigation conducted.  The peacekeeper had since been repatriated and UNAMSIL had asked the troop-contributing country concerned to take action.

Noting that the consultants' allegations of widespread sexual exploitation could not be substantiated, he said that their report had unfairly tarnished the reputation and credibility of a large majority of United Nations aid workers and peacekeepers in the field.  However, conditions in the camps and refugee communities did make the refugees, particularly young females, very vulnerable to sexual exploitation, he pointed out.  Among those conditions identified were communal bathing facilities, limited availability of clothing and insufficient food.  Teachers were involved in some cases, sometimes withholding grades and refusing to pass students who did not submit to them. 

Emphasizing that sexual exploitation was a significant issue in West Africa and wherever else refugees were in desperate circumstances, he noted that UNHCR and its implementing partners had already made 17 recommendations to help them in further addressing the issue and following up on cases with organizations whose employees had been found guilty.  As far as OIOS was concerned, the investigation was complete and cases that had been substantiated had been turned over to the authorities for follow-up.

Mr. Oshima said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) viewed the sexual exploitation of refugees and displaced people with the utmost gravity and would act firmly and quickly to ensure that such abuse did not occur again, in accordance with the Secretary-General’s specific instruction. 

He said that his Office would, in parallel with the OIOS:  review whether sufficient systems and modalities were in place to deal expeditiously and firmly with such cases; what kind of training was in place for staff, either employed by or affiliated with the United Nations; and what kind of accountability and recourse measures were available.  The review should indicate clearly and frankly any weaknesses in existing procedures and standards of behaviour as well as propose specific remedial measures.

He said that last February, the Standing Committee had established a Task Force on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises, co-chaired by OCHA and the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).  It consulted widely with humanitarian partners, Member States and interested parties, including the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and was mandated to recommend preventive and remedial measures to strengthen and enhance the protection and care of children and women in situations of humanitarian crisis and conflict.

The Task Force had developed a Plan of Action for remedial and preventive measures, which had been endorsed by all United Nations agencies, the Red Cross movement and NGOs, he said.  The Plan of Action had established six core principles, to be incorporated into the codes of conduct and staff rules and regulations of member organizations of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which represented the agreed principles and standards of behaviour that all humanitarian agencies expected their staff to uphold.

Among other things, he said, the code explicitly:  prohibited sex with children under 18; prohibited the exchange of money, employment, goods or services for sex; called for disciplinary steps, including dismissal, against violators of the code; and required staff to report suspected abuses.  The code also made clear

the particular responsibilities of managers to support and develop systems to maintain an environment that prevented sexual exploitation.  Implementation of those principles and other measures was underway, he added.

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