In the Democratic Republic of Congo, about 50 women accuse employees of UN agencies and international NGOs of sexual abuse. WHO, among the accused agencies, announces the initiation of an investigation.
This reveals a signed study The New Humanitarian and Thomson Reuters Foundation. Facts would have taken place between 2018 and 2020 as part of the fight against Ebola viruses. Women who never reported the rapes for fear of retaliation are accusing several employees of UN agencies and NGOs of sexual abuse.
They are chefs, housekeepers, community workers, paid between $ 50 and $ 100 a month. A total of 51 women accused international workers of sexual abuse. Among them, at least 30 say employees of the World Health Organization were involved. The WHO, which assured Tuesday that its workers were “scandalized” by these allegations, launched an internal investigation.
“The actions allegedly committed by people claiming to work for the WHO are unacceptable and will be thoroughly investigated. “… Anyone whose involvement in such actions has been identified will be held accountable and have serious consequences, including immediate dismissal,” the WHO said. in a press release.
The other men they accuse come from other organizations such as Unicef, Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières, the International Organization for Migration, Worldview and ALIMA.
Most testimonies were gathered in the town of Béni in the eastern DRC. Some alleged victims claim they were trapped in offices or hospitals. Some were allegedly forced to accept sexual advances in return for a promise of employment or were threatened with dismissal.
.
