DPKO-DFS release of third quarter 2011 statistics on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving UN peacekeeping personnel
United Nations, New York, 31 October 2011: The UN Departments of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and Field Support (DFS) today released the updated statistics for the third quarter of 2011 on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN personnel in peacekeeping missions.
During this period, missions received 24 new allegations, seven of those involving minors. These bring to 60 the total number of allegations received since 1 January 2011, of which 16 involved minors. When compared to the 2010 statistics, the trend shows a 6 percent decrease in the total number of allegations and a 7 percent decrease in those specifically involving minors. Further details are available on the UN Conduct and Discipline website (http://cdu.unlb.org).
In her statement to the Fourth Committee, Under Secretary-General for Field Support, Susana Malcorra, expressed concern for the fact that the number of allegations relating to non-consensual sex or sexual relationships with minors remains high. "Despite the collective and noteworthy accomplishments and dedication and sacrifices of our peacekeepers over the years, this exemplary record continues to be clouded by serious acts of misconduct by a few individuals, including inexcusable acts of sexual exploitation and abuse that continue at an unacceptable rate."
More than 100 UN staff members are dedicated to addressing conduct and discipline issues in 19 peacekeeping and special political missions. They work towards the elimination of sexual exploitation and abuse focusing on prevention, enforcement and remedial action. Conduct and Discipline staff handle over 1,000 allegations per year for all types of misconduct and for UN civilian, military and police personnel.
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DPKO-DFS release second quarter 2011 statistics on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving UN peacekeeping personnel
United Nations, New York, 12 August 2011: As part of the United Nations zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and its policy of transparency in reporting on these issues, the UN Departments of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and Field Support (DFS) today released statistics for the second quarter of 2011 on allegations of SEA and other forms of misconduct in field missions.
The reported number of allegations of SEA for this period marked a decrease of nine percent compared to the same period in 2010, and a 50 percent decrease of cases involving minors. In the second quarter of 2011, missions received 36 reported allegations of SEA, nine of which related to minors. Further details are available on the UN Conduct and Discipline website (http://cdu.unlb.org).
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Field Support, Anthony Banbury, said the United Nations would continue its focused efforts to decrease the incidents of SEA, including through preventive efforts and training, but that "any case of sexual abuse by a peacekeepers strikes a blow at the very core of who we are, and we will not be satisfied until we reach zero cases."
In meetings of the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations during the first half of 2011, Member States emphasised the importance of continued and strengthened efforts to implement the zero tolerance policy of SEA in United Nations peacekeeping operations as well as continued implementation of the United Nations Comprehensive Strategy on Assistance and Support to Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.
In 2011, the United Nations operates 16 DPKO-led peace operations across four continents, with over 120,000 peacekeepers in the field.
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DPKO-DFS release first quarter 2011 statistics on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving UN peacekeeping personnel
United Nations, New York, 18 April 2011: The Departments of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and Field Support (DFS) today released statistics on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse and other forms of misconduct in field missions for the first quarter of 2011.
Duringthe first quarter of 2011 (as of 31 March 2011), the Department reported a total of 15 allegations, of which 4 of them or 26 per cent concerned minors. In comparison, during the same period in 2010, there were 24 allegations, of which 10 or 42 per cent concerned minors. Compared to the first quarter of 2010, this represents a 38 per cent decrease in terms of the total number of allegations reported in that quarter and a 16 per cent decrease in the proportion of those allegations concerning minors. Further details are available on the UN Conduct and Discipline website (http://cdu.unlb.org).
The latest Report of the Secretary-General on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, released on 18 February 2011 (A/65/742), recognized that "in peacekeeping and special political missions supported by the Department of Field Support, marked progress was made in combating sexual exploitation and abuse globally." During the reporting period 116 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse were reported; the statistical data available point to a downward trend, most notably with regard to military personnel. The allegations involving the most egregious forms of sexual abuse, however, continue to represent over 50 per cent of the total number of allegations reported and remain a cause of serious concern. In conclusion, the Report highlighted the need to focus more on the involvement of civilian and police personnel in preventing sexual exploitation and abuse and to enhance preventive measures and awareness-raising activities in respect of those two categories of personnel.
The UN is addressing all forms of misconduct by all categories of UN peacekeeping personnel and is profoundly committed to a zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse. Sexual relations with any persons under 18 or with prostitutes are strictly prohibited (ST/SGB/2003/13).
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DPKO-DFS release 2010 statistics on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving UN peacekeeping personnel
United Nations, New York, 25 January 2011: The Departments of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and Field Support (DFS) released today statistics for 2010 relating to allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse and other forms of misconduct in field missions.
Allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving all categories of peacekeeping personnel decreased to 85 in 2010 from 112 in 2009, while 83 were reported in 2008 and 127 in 2007.
“I am pleased to announce that the number of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving peacekeeping personnel decreased 24 per cent from 2009 to 2010. The UN takes each and every allegation seriously, and we are fully committed to eradicating such abuse,” said the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support, Ms. Susana Malcorra.
At the same time, the UN remains concerned regarding the number of allegations of the most serious forms of sexual exploitation and abuse, those involving non-consensual sex and minors, as they represent 51% and 35%, respectively, of the total number of allegations in 2010. The United Nations has a zero tolerance policy for sexual exploitation and abuse in field missions, including consensual transactional sex by peacekeepers with adults in the host community. Further details are available on the UN Conduct and Discipline website (http://cdu.unlb.org/).
2010 marked the five-year anniversary of the establishment of a dedicated mechanism to address misconduct involving peacekeeping personnel. The Conduct and Discipline Unit (CDU) and its Conduct and Discipline Teams (CDTs), currently deployed in 13 peacekeeping and special political missions, were created in November 2005 in response to serious allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving peacekeeping personnel.
CDU and CDT personnel work on the implementation of the UN’s three-pronged strategy to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse:
prevention of misconduct,
enforcement of UN standards of conduct, and
remedial action.
“During the past five years we have made significant progress in implementing our strategies of Zero Tolerance and Zero Impunity for sexual exploitation and abuse,” said Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. “However, there is still work to be done, and prevention of misconduct remains a top priority for the UN peacekeeping community,” he said.
Prevention measures include pre-deployment training of troops, raising awareness of the UN Standards of Conduct and the consequences of misconduct, and the dissemination of information to host country populations.
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DPKO-DFS release of third quarter 2010 statistics on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving UN peacekeeping personnel
United Nations, New York, 18 October 2010: As part of the ongoing efforts to improve transparency on the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse involving peacekeeping personnel, the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and Field Support (DFS) have added a new statistical tool to the UN Conduct and Discipline website (http://cdu.unlb.org/). This interactive “dashboard” will allow users to customize their queries by specific filters including date, mission, categories of misconduct and personnel, status of investigations and follow up with Member States.
Website users can sort the information displayed in the charts by using the dropdown menus that appear at the top of each screen. The data contained in the dashboard will be updated monthly.
“I am very pleased to launch this new interactive feature, which underlines our efforts to provide public information about the measures we are taking to address sexual exploitation and abuse and other forms of misconduct,” said the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support, Ms. Susana Malcorra.
The launch of the new dashboard came as the Departments release the aggregated statistics for the third quarter of 2010 on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving UN personnel in peacekeeping and special political missions.
During the third quarter of 2010, there were 19 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, of which 5 concerned minors. During the first three quarters of 2010, 64 allegations were reported, compared to 81 allegations during the first nine months of 2009, which shows a decrease of 21 percent. Further details are available on the Conduct and Discipline website.
“The UN is 100 percent committed to a zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and we are working tirelessly with Member States to ensure that this policy is enforced,” said Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.
More than 100 UN staff members are dedicated to addressing conduct and discipline issues in 19 peacekeeping and special political missions. They work towards the elimination of sexual exploitation and abuse focusing on prevention, enforcement and remedial action. Conduct and Discipline staff handle over 1,000 allegations per year for all types of misconduct and for UN civilian, military and police personnel.
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DPKO-DFS release of second quarter 2010 statistics on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving UN peacekeeping personnel
United Nations, New York, 19 July 2010: Continuing their efforts to improve transparency on the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse involving peacekeeping personnel, the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and Field Support (DFS) have today released statistics on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse in field missions for the second quarter of 2010.
During the second quarter of 2010, there were a total of 21allegations, of which eight concerned minors. In comparison, during the second quarter of 2009 there were 17 allegations reported, seven concerning minors. During the first quarter of 2010, there were 24 allegations, of which ten concerned minors. Comparing the first half of 2010 with the first half of 2009, the total number of allegations was comparable. Further details are available on the UN Conduct and Discipline website (http://cdu.unlb.org/).
The UN employs around 120 staff members in the field dedicated to addressing conduct and discipline in 14 Conduct and Discipline Teams covering 19 peacekeeping and special political missions. They handle more than 1,000 allegations per year for all types of misconduct and for all categories of UN personnel –civilian, military and police. Their job is to work towards the elimination of sexual exploitation and abuse, focusing on prevention, enforcement and remedial actions as part of the UN’s strategy.
The release of the statistics for the first half of 2010 follows the annual workshop in New York for the Chiefs of Conduct and Discipline Teams from Peacekeeping and special political missions that took place in May. Five years since the Conduct and Discipline Unit (CDU) was created to address misconduct in UN peacekeeping operations, the workshop provided an opportunity for Conduct and Discipline Officers at Headquarters and in the field to take stock of the progress made, look at policy developments, guidance materials and map the strategic future direction for conduct and discipline work.
During the workshop, the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support, Ms. Susana Malcorra, stressed the UN’s commitment to eliminating sexual exploitation and abuse. “We will continue to combat the scourge of sexual exploitation and abuse as an absolute priority,” she said.
“We now have systems in place and a recognition of the misconduct problems that exist and the processes and tools we have to tackle them,” Ms. Malcorra said.
The UN General Assembly has also focused on the issue. In its resolution 64/269, of 18 June 2010, the Assembly recognized the shared responsibility of UN organizations and agencies and troop contributing countries to ensure that all personnel are held accountable for sexual exploitation and related offences committed while serving in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations.
The resolution also “strongly urges Member States to take all appropriate measures to ensure that crimes by United Nations officials and experts on mission do not go unpunished and that the perpetrators of such crimes are brought to justice” and underlined the great importance attached to the elimination of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
The resolution requested the Secretary-General to take measures to prevent unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct from damaging the credibility of UN peacekeeping operations and to take steps to maintain and restore the image and credibility of any Peacekeeping mission, Troop Contributing Country or UN Peacekeeping personnel in cases where allegations of misconduct are legally unproven.
The CDU website contains aggregated statistics on the status of investigations, reflecting the number of substantiated and unsubstantiated allegations per year.
The UN is committed to a zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse. Sexual relations with any persons under 18 or with prostitutes are strictly prohibited (ST/SGB/2003/13).
“I am encouraged to see Member States, the United Nations Secretariat, Troop Contributing Countries and Police Contributing Countries committed to working together to ensure there is zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse, and zero impunity when such incidents do occur,” said Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.
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DPKO-DFS release of first quarter 2010 statistics on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving UN peacekeeping personnel
United Nations, New York, 15 April 2010: As part of the efforts to improve transparency on the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse involving peacekeeping personnel, as of December 2009 the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and Field Support (DFS) have begun to issue quarterly press releases to make public updated statistics regarding sexual exploitation and abuse cases in field Missions. During the first quarter of 2010, the Departments reported a total of 24 allegations, ten of them concerning minors. During the first quarter of 2009, the number of allegations was 29, ten of them concerning minors. Further details are available on the UN Conduct and Discipline website (http://cdu.unlb.org/).
“We are continuing our efforts to report on the issue in a more transparent and systematic manner,” said Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support. “We are painfully aware that SEA continues to be a major challenge for the peacekeeping family and one of our goals is to take every possible preventative measure to ensure no harm comes to those we serve”, she added.
The latest Report of the Secretary-General on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, released in February 2010 (A/64/669), recognized the strong preventative measures put in place and indicated that “sustained attention must continue to be paid to the issue”.
Complementing existing training materials on sexual exploitation and abuse, Conduct and Discipline Teams in Lebanon, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Western Sahara and Timor Leste began piloting new induction training during the first quarter of 2010. The new materials provide an overview of the UN Standards of Conduct and focus on all other forms of misconduct, such as fraud, theft, corruption and abuse of authority.
“The vast majority of troops conduct themselves in a professional and admirable manner, but there are some instances where misconduct occurs. This is simply unacceptable when you serve under the UN flag and we convey this message on every interaction we have with our Troop Contributing Countries, with whom we are working closely” said Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. “On Sexual Exploitation and Abuse cases, we are following up with Member States on a case-by-case basis and we will continue to engage with them to increase the level of response to substantiated cases of misconduct,” he said.
There are currently 14 Conduct and Discipline Teams covering 19 peacekeeping and special political missions. These teams have launched extensive outreach campaigns to ensure that the local population understands the process for filing an allegation and to call upon the UN’s partners (including NGOs) to report any allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse that they may be aware of as soon as possible, as rapid response is key in ensuring that investigations and follow up occur in an accurate and timely manner.
The UN is profoundly committed to a zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse. Sexual relations with any persons under 18 or with prostitutes are strictly prohibited (ST/SGB/2003/13).
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DPKO-DFS quarterly report on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving UN peacekeeping personnel
United Nations, New York, 05 February 2010: As part of UN efforts to improve transparency on the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse involving peacekeeping personnel, the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and Field Support (DFS) will be issuing quarterly press releases to make public updated statistics regarding SEA cases. The statistics will be updated simultaneously on the Conduct and Discipline website (http://cdu.unlb.org/).
In 2009, the number of sexual exploitation and abuse allegations increased to 112 from 83 in 2008. Even though these numbers still show a decline from 127 allegations in 2007 and 357 in 2006, one case is one too many. Particularly disturbing is the increase of allegations involving minors, to 51 in 2009 from 34 in 2008. During the period, completed investigations show that allegations were substantiated against 21 UN peacekeeping personnel and unsubstantiated in respect of 18 others. All other allegations are still under investigation.
“The UN is facing these challenges in a proactive and forceful manner. We will continue to take action in terms of prevention, awareness-raising with host populations, training, investigation, disciplinary sanctions and assistance to victims,” said Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support.
In 2009, Conduct and Discipline Teams in field operations designed specific initiatives to reinforce the United Nations’ strategy to combat sexual exploitation and abuse, including the opening of three new Conduct and Discipline offices in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (Goma, Bunia and Bukavu). In Southern Sudan, awareness campaigns were extended to the state level, with public events taking place in Bor and Torit. In Liberia, the UN Mission is raising local awareness of existing reporting mechanisms, and continues to work in cooperation with other UN agencies and government offices.
New Core Pre-deployment Training materials on conduct and discipline were launched in regional peacekeeping training centers in Guatemala and Ghana during 2009. A Core Induction Training Module was also developed by the Conduct and Discipline Unit to ensure UN personnel in the field understand and adhere to the Secretary-General’s Zero Tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse.
“When peacekeepers sent to help local populations cause harm, it damages local communities and undermines the positive contributions and achievements of the UN. We must keep up the momentum in the fight to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse,” said Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.
Members of military contingents deployed on peacekeeping missions remain under the jurisdiction of their national government. Troop Contributing Countries are responsible for investigating allegations of serious misconduct and taking disciplinary action, under the revised model memorandum of understanding, endorsed by the General Assembly in 2007. DFS ensures regular follow-ups with Member States on action taken, through official communication channels as well as bilateral meetings.
The UN is addressing all forms of misconduct by all categories of UN peacekeeping personnel and is profoundly committed to a zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse. Sexual relations with any persons under 18 or with prostitutes are strictly prohibited (ST/SGB/2003/13).
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United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI)
Allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse
Abidjan, 19 December 2009: In October 2009, the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) received allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by military personnel deployed within the Mission area. These allegations refer to incidences that may have occurred as early as 2006 and appear to include minors.
UNOCI is extremely concerned and taking all possible measures to ensure that the matter is investigated urgently. On receipt of the allegations an assessment visit was conducted by the Mission in November 2009, in the area where the allegations reportedly occurred. The Investigation Division of the Office of Internal Oversight (OIOS) was immediately apprised of the matter.
The authorities of the country concerned have been informed by UN Headquarters and requested to carry out an investigation in accordance with the revised model memorandum of understanding between the UN and troop contributing countries (A/61/19 Part III). The personnel against whom the allegations have been made have returned to their country of origin on regular rotation.
The UN is committed to a zero tolerance policy with respect to sexual exploitation and abuse. UNOCI has already taken additional preventative measures to reinforce adherence to this policy.
For further information, please contact:
Hamadoun Touré, Spokesman
Tel. : 225-06203305 ; Cellphone : 225-05990075 ; Fax : 225-020235107
Email: hamadoun@un.org.
http://www.onuci.org