UN deals with sexual abuse allegations against peacekeepers

The United Nations has requested funds for hiring additional staff to beef up preventative measures aimed at tackling allegations of sexual abuse perpetrated by some UN peacekeepers. In a report to the General Assembly this week, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that the number of claims of sexual abuse and exploitation lodged against UN peacekeepers last year was more than double the number reported in 2003. In March the UN released a report by Annan's special adviser on the issue, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan, which argued that sexual exploitation by soldiers under UN command damaged the credibility and effectiveness of peacekeeping operations. The UN manages a force that tops 70,000 in 17 missions worldwide. Annan said the money would be used to set up Personnel Conduct Units (PCU) in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at UN Headquarters in New York and seven existing missions, and hiring 33 of the recommended 63 PCU employees from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006. "The chief of the unit would make recommendations on how to prevent, identify and respond to misconduct by all categories of mission personnel; the unit would ensure that the provision of training in United Nations standards of conduct included specific training on sexual exploitation and abuse," Annan said. In the field, PCUs would establish mechanisms for receiving complaints of misconduct, review and verify facts, forward allegations of misconduct, and liaise with headquarters on the follow-up to investigations. PCUs are to be based at missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Burundi, Liberia, Haiti, Sierra Leone and Sudan. Annan noted that the rise in the number of reported cases of sexual misconduct was in part due to newly implemented measures for preventing and responding to sexual exploitation and abuse. "Focal points have been designated to facilitate receipt of complaints; reporting procedures have become more clearly defined; and managers have clearly and publicly indicated that sexual exploitation and abuse will not be tolerated," he pointed out. Last year the UN faced 121 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse. The report said 16 allegations, ranging from inappropriate verbal conduct to sexual assault and rape, were reported from United Nations entities other than the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). The balance of 105 allegations were levelled against the DPKO and its 77,330 personnel, of which "45 percent of those allegations involved sex with minors, and 15 percent involved rape or sexual assault." Thirty-one percent concerned prostitution with adult women, while the remaining six percent involved other forms of sexual exploitation and abuse. Seventy-three allegations against uniformed personnel were sent to the Board of Inquiry, of which 15 investigations were pending, five were found to be unsubstantiated, and in 53 cases the allegations had been substantiated by the end of last year. "In substantiated cases, the military personnel were repatriated on disciplinary grounds", and UN member States were responsible for following up, the report said. For an indepth report on UN reforms to end sexual abuse by peacekeepers