High Level Conference on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse among UN and NGO personnel, UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK

I was invited to attend a High Level Conference on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN and NGO personnel. The conference was organised by the Department of Peacekeeping, UNICEF, UNDP among others. The conference was opened by Secretary General Kofi Annan, and was one of his last official engagements. Also attending were H.R.H. Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein (Jordan), the Secretary-General's Adviser on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN Peacekeeping Personnel, and Jasmine Whitbread, Chief Executive of Save the Children-United Kingdom. Most of the participants were heads of UN agencies and international NGOs, but there were also women activists from Congo, Liberia, East Timor and Burundi, who I was fortunate enough to meet.

You can view a webcast of the opening speeches on the UN webcast by following the link:
http://www.un.org/webcast/2006.html

And look for the following on the 4th December 2006.
Special Event: Opening speeches at the High-Level Conference aimed at eliminating sexual exploitation and abuse.
[ Speech by United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan ]
[ Speech by Secretary-General's Adviser on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN Peacekeeping Personnel, H.R.H. Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein ]
[Webcast: Archived Video - English: 19 minutes ]

The main thrust of the discussions were around the abuse of women and girls by UN Peacekeepers in West Africa. The main aim of the conference was to enable participant organisations to sign up to a Statement of Commitment.

Goals, Objectives and Expected Outputs
Main Goals
1. To raise awareness amongst the leadership of UN entities and NGOs on their role in preventing and responding to sexual exploitation and abuse by their personnel;
2. To agree on a common framework for implementing the standards of conduct in the UN SecretaryGeneral’s bulletin on sexual exploitation and abuse (ST/SGB/2003/13).

Subsidiary goals
1. Exchange lessons learned and best practices in addressing sexual exploitation and abuse by UN and NGO personnel;
2. Review progress made to-date by the UN system and NGOs in preventing and responding to sexual exploitation and abuse by UN and NGO personnel and challenges faced;
3. Identify strategies for involving host governments in addressing sexual exploitation and abuse by UN and NGO personnel;
4. Identify strategies for involving donor countries, troop- and police-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping operations in addressing sexual exploitation and abuse by UN and NGO personnel.

I was able voice my own concerns about the statement and what I consider to be ommissions or weaknesses. I felt there was little focus on vulnerable groups, and according to this statement, if you are anything but a man, you are vulnerable (i.e. a woman, girl or boy). I disagree with this, and felt the main vulnerable groups in society are minorities and Indigenous Peoples. Conflict occurs on their lands, they are discriminated against and ignored by policy makers both at national and international levels, and their needs and situations are rarely understood by the mainstream.

Another concern I raised was that if Peacekeepers are found guilty of sexual abuse and repatriated. Then follow up prosecutions are supposed to take place in their own countries. This seems to be ridiculous, to expect a woman or girl who has been raped or abused to go to that country to give evidence against him.

From the UN's own statistics: Since 2004, the United Nations has investigated 319 cases of sexual exploitation involving some UN staff. The investigations have led to the summary dismissal of 18 civilians and the repatriation on disciplinary grounds of 17 police and 144 military staff.

But, what we do not know how many of these dismissals, led to criminal prosecutions in their home countries?? I asked this question, but there was no answer.

But, this statement of commitment is at least a starting point and shows willing by the UN to tackle this issue. If you would like to see a copy of the statement of commitment or if your organisation wants to endorse it or comment on it, then you can email:
UN-NGO-HighLevelConference@un.org