UN receives 138 allegations of sexual misconduct as per report

Representation picThe United Nations received 138 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse last year and nearly half of them were against the personnel deployed at its peacekeeping and special political missions a report said today The report compiled by UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres on implementing a zerotolerance policy for these crimes the number of such allegations brought against the personnel serving with the UN dropped from 165 in 2016 to 138 last yearSpecial Coordinator on Improving UN Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Jane Holl Lute said yesterday that the report underscored the SecretaryGenerals consistent message that no one serving under the UN flag should be associated with sexual exploitation and abuse It remains one of his key priorities she said Lute said that data from 2017 indicates a downward trendiquest in the number of allegations reportedOverall there were 138 allegations last year compared to 165 in 2016 Of this number 62 concerned personnel deployed to UN peacekeeping and special political missions down from 104 the previous year she said However she said allegations emanating from other UN entities and their implementing partners increased over the same period from 42 to 75 At the same time there was a sharp decline in allegations involving nonUN forces from 18 in 2016 to one in 2017The UN has implemented several measures over the past year to tackle the scourge since Guterres launched a systemwide strategy to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse The initiatives focus on areas such as putting victims first ending impunity and increasing partnerships for example with civil society They include the appointment of a Victims Rights Advocate responding rapidly to allegations and ensuring that UN staff understand their responsibilities and obligations to prevent and report incidentsOn ending impunity the SecretaryGeneral has strengthened mandatory reporting through the development of a uniform incident reporting form Lute said We have strengthened investigations in cooperation with Member States We have encouraged Member States to promptly appoint and deploy national investigation officers where allegations have been reported and we continue to support the capacity building and training of national investigative officers she addedLute added that a trust fund to support victims had seen a threefold increase in contributions and she encouraged countries to maintain this positive momentum The trust fund was established in March 2016 As of December 2017 it stood at USD 189 million in commitments andor contributions Additionally grants have been made available or approved to support victims through projects services and training in Congo Central African Republic and Liberia Over 90000 military personnel are assigned to UN peacekeeping operationsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever