Geneva: In October last year, an Independent Commission was appointed by the Director-General of the World Health Organization to investigate allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse during the response to the tenth Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in North Kivu and Ituri, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The commission was co-chaired by Aïchatou Mindaoudou, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Social Development of Niger, and Madame Julienne Lusenge, an internationally recognized human rights activist and advocate for survivors of sexual violence in conflict, from DRC.
Today, the commission published its report, which, in the words of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, made for “harrowing reading”.
“The first thing I want to say is to the victims and survivors of the sexual exploitation and abuse described in the commission’s report. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what was done to you by people who were employed by WHO to serve and protect you. I’m sorry for the ongoing suffering that these events must cause. I’m sorry that you have had to relive them in talking to the commission about your experiences,” Dr. Ghebreyesus told the victims.
Terming sexual exploitation as inexcusable, the WHO D-G said his top priority would be to ensure that the perpetrators are not excused, but are held to account.
“As the Director-General, I take ultimate responsibility for the behaviour of the people we employ, and for any failings in our systems that allowed this behaviour. And I will take personal responsibility for making whatever changes we need to make to prevent this happening in future,” he said.
He said while the commission had done “outstanding” work to get the voices of victims and survivors heard, the investigation was not yet complete, and required further work.
He said: “But we must act immediately, and we will, in three areas: First, support, protection and justice for the victims and survivors; Second, actions to address management and staff failures; and third, wholesale reform of the WHO structures and culture.
The commission has identified dozens of potential victims of sexual exploitation and abuse, and 21 alleged perpetrators, who were employed by WHO at the time of the events.
“The victims were only able to provide first names for several other alleged perpetrators, whom we are yet to fully identify. For those cases, WHO is engaging an external investigative service to assess what additional steps are required,” Dr. Ghebreyesus said. He added: “Based on the information we have, the Organization will ban the identified perpetrators from future employment with WHO, and we will notify the broader UN system.” He further informed that WHO was terminating the contracts of four people identified as perpetrators who were still employed by the Organization “when we were made aware of the allegations against them”.
WHO will also refer the allegations of rape to national authorities in DRC for investigation, and in the country of nationality of the alleged perpetrators, where applicable. “We have requested confirmation from the Independent Commission that the victims of rape have provided consent for WHO to refer their cases to the relevant national authorities,” he said.
Dr. Ghebreyesus said providing services and support to victims and survivors would be his central concern. “WHO is not yet aware of the identity of the victims and survivors,” he though claimed, and said he will ensure that all victims had access to the services they needed, including medical and psyclosocial support, and assistance for education for their children.
“As we receive more information from the Commission on their identity and location, we will ensure that they all have access to the services they need, including medical and psychosocial support, and assistance for education for their children. These services are available in DRC from our partners across the UN system,” he said.
The commission has identified negligence on the part of certain individuals that may amount to professional misconduct in the management of some of the incidents reported.
“In my view, the failure of WHO employees to respond adequately to reports of sexual exploitation and abuse is as bad as the events themselves. We must have zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, and zero tolerance for inaction against it,” the D-G said.
The Commission has recommended an investigation to identify individual responsibilities for the failure to activate investigation procedures, and we are taking immediate steps to initiate that investigation, using an external investigative service.
While that investigation proceeds, the Organization has placed two senior staff on administrative leave, and we’re taking steps to ensure that others who may be implicated are temporarily relieved of any decision-making role in respect of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse.
“It is important to be clear that these actions do not in any way prejudge the outcome of the investigation and are not a disciplinary measure or attribution of guilt. The Organization will initiate appropriate disciplinary action in respect of findings of misconduct from the investigation. We have also asked the Independent Expert Oversight Advisory Committee to engage an external body to conduct an audit into cases processed by WHO’s Internal Oversight Services, to establish whether any further cases of incidents of possible sexual exploitation and abuse were subject to procedural failings,” he said.
WHO now plans to undertake wholesale reform of policies and processes to address sexual exploitation and abuse.
“But we must go further, to identify and address any shortcomings in our culture or leadership that fail to adequately protect the people we serve, or that create opportunities for abusers to exploit,” Dr. Ghebreyesus said, pointing out that the commission has identified the need for fundamental changes in our structures and institutional capacity for preventing, detecting and responding to sexual exploitation and abuse in the communities we serve.
“We will engage external experts and services to make sure this happens. We need to make sure that victims and survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse have safe and easily accessible reporting mechanisms, anywhere in the world,” he said.
The commission has made 7 recommendations, with 20 specific actions. WHO claimed many of these actions are already underway, and that it will expand its work to include other priorities recommended by the commission.
“We plan to provide a comprehensive management action plan with our Member States within the next 10 days, and transparency will be at the centre. To further strengthen accountability, we have asked the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme to monitor and report transparently on our progress,” Dr. Ghebreyesus said.
This is a dark day for WHO…We want the perpetrators to know there will be severe consequences for their actions,” he asserted. He added: “We will hold all leaders accountable for inaction in any suspected incident of sexual exploitation and abuse.”
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, stated: “We in WHO are indeed humbled, horrified and heartbroken by the findings of this inquiry.” She thanked all the women and girls who came forward and gave evidence to the investigation.
– global bihari bureau
