Original title: Tedros Tedros apologizes for the WHO shocking scandal!
The scandal is a real hammer! Several WHO staff members were exposed to sexual exploitation of African women. Tan Desai: The dark hour is unforgivable!
The scandal is a real hammer! The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on the 28th that the story of “sexual exploitation of African women by international aid workers” broke out by the news media in 2020 is true: after verification by the WHO Commission of Investigation, it was confirmed that more than 80 suspects were involved in the case At least a quarter are directly employed by WHO. For this embarrassing fact, WHO Director-General Tan Desai publicly apologized to the victims. Some media pointed out that because international rescuers have their own “halo” and related international organizations lack the necessary accountability mechanisms, it is difficult for people who commit evil acts in the cloak of “charity” to be punished by corresponding laws.
According to a report from Agence France-Presse on the 29th, British Reuters and the non-profit news organization “New Humanitarian” released a heavy investigative report last year, revealing that the staff of a number of international organizations used to fight the epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2018 to 2020. The name of the aid is “sexual assault and exploitation” by local women.This report recorded the confessions of more than 50 female victims. The international organizations involved include WHO, UNICEF, International Organization for Migration, Doctors Without Borders, and Oxfam.After the scandal broke out, the WHO established an independent investigation committee and dispatched staff to learn about the situation with the victimized women.
On the 28th, the investigation committee issued a 35-page report, which confirmed that at least 21 of the 83 suspects involved were from the WHO. Among the female victims visited by the committee, the oldest was 34 years old and the youngest was only 13.According to the report, in April 2019, a WHO driver stopped an underage girl selling phone cards on the side of the road and offered to send her home. However, after the girl got in the car, the driver drove the car directly to a nearby hotel, raped her and became pregnant. Coulibaly, a member of the investigation committee, revealed that many men involved in the crime refused to take safety measures when committing the crime, resulting in 29 female victims becoming pregnant, and some of them were forced to abort.
According to Qatar Al Jazeera, at a press conference on the 28th,WHO Director-General Tedros Tedros publicly apologized, saying that “this is a dark moment experienced by the WHO.” He promised that the WHO would take a “zero tolerance” attitude to hold the perpetrators accountable, denounced such cases as “unforgivable”, and said that all persons involved in the case will be temporarily removed from decision-making positions.Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said the findings were “horrifying and heartbreaking.” At present, WHO has terminated the labor contracts of the four employees involved in the case and stated that they “will never continue to use them.” The WHO will hand over the rape suspects to the country where the crime was committed and allow them to accept the sanctions of local laws.
According to the “Deutsche Welle” report, most of the women victims in this case live in areas where the Ebola epidemic is raging, and there is no guarantee for their economy or livelihood. In such a dilemma, the staff of local international organizations are almost in an “absolute leadership position” for them.
The persons involved in the case have many means to implement “hidden rules” to the victims, such as promising jobs, promotion opportunities, or simply threatening to suspend wages or suspend the contract. A woman in the Democratic Republic of the Congo admitted to the media: “If there are foreigners (from the International Rescue Organization) who like you, you are willing to give in and get the job you want right away. I was just a cleaner at the Ebola treatment center. …But after a month, the man was promoted to me as a manager.”
Another victim reported:“Because of the Ebola epidemic, it is particularly difficult to find a job. When these agencies are recruiting, the leadership clearly stated that we will’sleep’ with them. If they refuse, they will definitely not get a job opportunity.”
According to the New York Times, sex trafficking is very common among institutions established by international organizations. An archivist in Beni, Congo, told the media: “Everyone can barter… Once I wanted to take a basin and wash, I was asked to exchange for my body.” There are also many women. Encountered more despicable routines, such as being “medicated”, being “raided” or “blocked” in the workplace. What’s particularly hateful is that individual offenders are all infected with STDs and have not taken any protective measures, resulting in the victim being also infected: a married woman was forced to have a relationship with her boss in order to keep her job, and she was eventually infected with AIDS. .
Regarding the abuse of employees, the WHO Commission of Inquiry admitted in the investigation report that the WHO had “oversight”, saying that it was “completely unprepared” for such situations, which is a “systematic disorder”. The committee believes that the main reason for this situation is that the recruitment process is flawed, the quality of the local hires is uneven, and they are negligent in training after they are hired. Reuters blamed this situation on WHO’s “inaction”, saying that many victims lack the necessary assistance after being harassed or violated, and some senior WHO officials “knowingly did nothing.”
In fact, there has been a long-standing phenomenon in which a small number of international workers with depraved morals acted in the disaster-stricken country in the name of “aid” and damaged the reputation of their organizations. According to the Associated Press, from 2005 to 2017, the United Nations received approximately 2,000 complaints of sexual assault worldwide, 700 of which occurred in the Ebola-affected Congo (DRC). Experts say that such phenomena are ultimately caused by the lack of supervision and accountability systems. If the perpetrator is a foreign national, he enjoys a certain degree of immunity and can often be exonerated after he is sent back to the country. International organizations, including the United Nations, rarely achieve “zero tolerance” in the true sense.Reuters said that even if the WHO has pointed out the identity of the sexual assault suspects and the circumstances of the case, it is still unknown whether they can be prosecuted.
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