UN probe finds no widespread refugee abuse by aid workers

A six-month investigation by the UN's watchdog office was unable to confirm allegations of extensive sexual exploitation of refugees in West Africa by aid workers and United Nations peacekeepers. The allegations were made in November last year by consultants hired by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the non-governmental organisation Save the Children (UK) to study violence in refugee camps in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. During the investigation, which began in February, the UN Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) was unable to substantiate any of the 12 cases in the consultants' report. “None of the allegations against any regular UN staff member was substantiated, so in OIOS's view, the consultants' allegations of widespread sexual exploitation by UN aid workers and peacekeepers cannot be substantiated," OIOS chief Dileep Nair said at a press conference in New York. "Indeed we feel the consultants' report unfairly tarnished the reputation and credibility of a large majority of UN aid workers and peacekeepers who are out there in the field." But the report did confirm that conditions in the camps and in refugee communities in the region made refugees, especially young women, vulnerable to sexual and other forms of exploitation. OIOS looked into 43 additional cases of possible sexual exploitation and was able to substantiate 10 of them, including one involving a 44-year old UN Volunteer who had sexual relations with a 15-year old refugee. His contract has since been terminated. In another case, a peacekeeper serving with the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) sodomized a 14-year old boy. The soldier has since been repatriated, and UNAMSIL has asked the troop-contributing country to take action against him. The report indicated that a number of remedial measures were being implemented by UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies, as well as the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations. "We view the problem of sexual exploitation of refugees and displaced people with the utmost gravity," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Kenzo Oshima told journalists in New York. "...The problem of sexual exploitation and abuse of vulnerable populations is a global phenomenon. It is not limited to refugees, but it also concerns internally displaced persons and people in similarly vulnerable situations and is not geographically limited to Western Africa. While the vast majority of humanitarian workers are dedicated to helping people in need with deep commitment and with integrity, the IASC (Inter-Agency Standing Committee) position has been and remains that 'one case is too many,” Oshima added. Oshima said that the IASC, the main forum for bringing together operational agencies from the UN system, the Red Cross Movement and the NGO community, had developed a plan of action to combat the problem and a set of core principles representing agreed standards of behaviour among humanitarian agencies. "Among other things, the code explicitly prohibits sex with children under 18, prohibits the exchange of money, employment, goods or services for sex, calls for discipline, including dismissal, against those who violate the code of conduct, and requires staff to report suspected abuses," he explained. "While the immediate investigation may now be largely complete with the release of the OIOS report, the work of the humanitarian community to ensure the protection of the populations we work with is an ongoing effort, one to which we are deeply committed," Oshima stressed.