UN receives 37 sexual accusations against personnel

The United Nations has received about 37 allegations of sexual abuse against its personnel in the first quarter of 2019, according to one of its representatives.

Mr. Farhan Haq, who is the Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the organization, revealed this at a news conference in New York on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the alleged offenders, according to Haq, include civilian and uniformed personnel from peacekeeping as well as employees of agencies. He quickly noted, however, that not all the accusations reported had been fully substantiated, and that many were in the initial stage of assessment.

“Of the 37 accusations, there are 49 victims: 28 are women while 11 are girls, one boy, seven females of unknown age, one unknown adult and one unknown child.

He also stated that “Sixteen of these allegations are considered as sexual abuse, 27 as sexual exploitation, four are of an unknown nature, while other two have been categorized as “other”, of which one was closed.

“Of these 37 allegations, one has been validated through an investigation and has been referred to the Member State,’’ the spokesperson said. He also added that four of the accusations were not substantiated; 26 at various stages of examination, and six under preliminary assessment to determine if there is adequate information to investigate.

In addition, Haq also detailed that the world body had received about 33 allegations, involving 37 victims and 38 perpetrators, against non-UN personnel working as implementing partners.

Meanwhile, the UN has continued to strengthen efforts to implement the Secretary-General’s strategy to fight sexual exploitation and manipulation, according to Haq.

More so, “In March, the 2018 Secretary General’s unusual actions for protection from sexual exploitation report was however released, which contains updates to the data provided in the previous reports.

“This also includes prioritizing the rights and self-esteem of victims, ending impunity, engaging with all member states, civil society and external associates and improving strategic communication for education as well as transparency.

“We’ve also continued in our exertions to engage with all associate states and encourage their Heads of State and Government to join the Secretary General’s Circle of Leadership, on prevention of response to sexual abuse in UN operations, which now stands at about 74 members.

Similarly, “The Secretary-General encouraged member states to become parties to the Voluntary Compact with the Secretary-General of the UN on the Commitment to Eradicate all forms of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse,’’ he said.