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The World Health Organization on Friday unveiled part of its zero tolerance plan to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation in crisis zones, following pressure from member states.
The WHO said its full plan, involving experts sent to the field and a culture shift, would be revealed soon, following a damning sex abuse scandal implicating its workers in DR Congo.
The UN health agency has allocated an initial $7.6 million “to immediately strengthen its capacity to prevent, detect and respond to sexual abuse and exploitation, in 10 countries with the highest risk profile”, the organisation told AFP.
Once recruited, experts will be deployed to Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen.
The WHO has apologised to victims after a report on allegations of rape and sexual abuse by workers sent to fight Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2018 and 2020.
Major WHO donor countries have publicly put the UN health agency under pressure on the issue.
In a rare joint statement, dozens of countries, including the United States and European Union members, demanded full commitment from the WHO and its leadership on the subject.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed the draft response plan to member states on Thursday for their feedback.
The final version will be published in the coming days, the WHO said in a statement.
An independent commission of inquiry was set up after a year-long probe by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and The New Humanitarian brought the allegations to light.
On September 28, the commission released a devastating report which found that 21 WHO employees – among 83 alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse – had committed such abuses against dozens of people in the DR Congo during…
Source : france24
