Aid agencies take steps to combat sexual abuse

A consortium of key humanitarian agencies has adopted a policy statement designed to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation in humanitarian crises throughout the world. In the statement members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) pledged to ensure that their staff and implementing partners do not abuse their power and influence to exploit and harm victims of conflict, particularly women and children. “Sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarian staff represents a failure on the part of humanitarian agencies, whose stated role is to provide protection and care,” the IASC statement said. In February, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged that possible allegations of sexual abuse of refugee children in West Africa be thoroughly investigated and remedial action aimed at strengthening the protection of women and children be undertaken. “Sexual abuse in humanitarian crises is a global issue,” Mark Bowden, co-chair of the recently-established task force on protection against sexual exploitation said. “The humanitarian community has committed itself to addressing all aspects of this serious problem.” In the statement, the IASC agreed to prohibit any sexual relationship between a member of staff and a child, defined as someone under the age of eighteen. It also calls for comprehensive monitoring, and for disciplinary regimes and appropriate penalties to be established. “The whole issue of accountability needs to be addressed,” Ian Levine, the other chair of the sexual exploitation task force said. “A crucial element of addressing this problem is improved beneficiary participation in humanitarian programming.” Meanwhile, UN humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organisations in West Africa have implemented concrete measures at regional, country and camp level designed to combat abuse and exploitation, including a common “zero tolerance” policy. According to the IASC, reporting channels have been established to enable refugees and humanitarian workers to report cases of abuse or exploitation in confidence, and refugees have been advised of their rights through the media. “We need established codes of conduct and mechanisms for ensuring compliance,” Bowden said. Several training workshops have been held for UN and NGO staff and refugee leaders in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the IASC said. In Sierra Leone, more than five workshops on prevention and response to sexual abuse were held in March and in Guinea more than ten training workshops are being held to address related issues. In Liberia, social workers are being trained on child rights and the prevention of sexual abuse. Efforts are being made to improve the physical security of women and girls through the creation of separate sanitary facilities for women and more than 250 refugee shelters have been expanded or rebuilt in Liberia. In all three countries, measures have been taken to rotate camp staff between field locations, the IASC said. UNHCR has deployed additional staff to the region since the beginning of 2002 to help ongoing repatriation efforts and to address the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse. In addition, an assessment of reproductive health services was made in March in camps in Guinea and Sierra Leone.