Under strong pressure from its donors, the World Health Organization (WHO), whose employees have committed sexual assault, unveiled, Friday, October 15, part of a "zero tolerance" strategy, including a plan to action, experts and a culture change.

"The WHO has allocated an initial amount of 7.6 million dollars (6.5 million euros, editor's note) to immediately strengthen its capacity to prevent, detect and respond to sexual exploitation and assault, in ten countries with the highest risk profile, "the organization told AFP.

Once recruited, experts will be deployed to Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen.

After the scandal of sexual violence committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the WHO made its mea culpa at the end of September.

But the main donor countries have since put the leadership of the institution under public pressure.

In a rare statement, dozens of countries, including the United States and EU member countries, demanded "full commitment" from the organization and its leaders on this issue.

The head of the UN agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, presented his plan to them on Thursday, in order to obtain their comments.

The finalized document will be released in the "next few days", according to the WHO.

On September 28, an independent commission of inquiry released a devastating report for the WHO, which found that 21 of its employees at the time, among 83 alleged perpetrators of sexual violence, committed such abuses against dozens of people. in DR Congo during the 2018-2020 Ebola epidemic, in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.

The report of the commission, whose constitution was announced by Dr. Tedros only after revelations from The New Humanitarian and the Reuters Foundation, denounces "structural failures" and "individual negligence".

The response plan "presents immediate, medium and long-term actions to address the shortcomings identified in the report," the WHO said.

This document emphasizes several points aiming "to place victims at the heart of prevention and responses to sexual assault" and to "strengthen individual and management responsibilities", according to the institution.

"Severe consequences"   

The document also aims to "reform the culture of WHO, its structures and systems, in order to create a culture in which sexual exploitation and abuse have no place, in which impunity has no place. does not exist and has zero tolerance for inaction ".

According to a first quantified estimate, the organization will need approximately 15 million dollars per year to implement the plan.

Dr Tedros, who had the public support of the majority of European countries to run for a second term in 2022, said he was "sorry" to the victims and promised "severe consequences" to those responsible immediately after the publication of the report. on the DRC.

The WHO is committed to implementing the recommendations of the commission of inquiry and to secede from the employees behind the violence, as well as those responsible who should have intervened.

As soon as the report was published, the organization terminated the contracts of four of the 21 people directly involved that it still employed.

Two senior officials were placed on administrative leave.

As the victims were only able to provide the first names of several other alleged perpetrators, which the WHO has not yet fully identified, the organization will call on an external investigation service for these cases in order to assess the additional actions that need to be taken.

It will also call on an external service to identify individual responsibilities within the organization, she announced, after the publication of the report.

In addition, in the context of the new Ebola epidemic which is currently raging in eastern DR Congo, "we have deployed an expert in the prevention of sexual assault among the team of 15 people deployed in Beni", indicated WHO Friday.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR