Anifa, a younger Congolese lady who labored at an Ebola therapy heart in Beni throughout the outbreak, stated she couldn’t perceive WHO’s seeming excusal of misconduct.
“It is a shame for WHO to give work to the kinds of men who do not respect women,” she stated, declining to share her full identify, for concern it might harm her future job prospects. Anifa stated she had been supplied a job by a WHO physician in change for intercourse throughout the Ebola epidemic, however refused. The AP doesn’t determine victims of sexual abuse.
“Perhaps WHO does not consider us because we are Africans?” she requested. “As long as I am alive, I will hate the entire World Health Organization until (the perpetrators) are charged and punished.”
Paula Donovan, co-leader of the Code Blue marketing campaign, which seeks to carry the U.N. accountable for sexual offenses, stated WHO member international locations seemed the opposite manner on the company’s sexual misconduct fees as a result of they may not afford to weaken the establishment throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
“Countries could not go after WHO because it was doing what the U.S. and other rich countries would not do during COVID, which is try to figure out how to get vaccines to the poor.”
She stated donor international locations had seemingly made a disturbing calculation in regards to the prices of responding to world well being crises.
“It is very depressing, but officials have essentially concluded this is the price that has to be paid, that some women are going to be sexually exploited.”
The U.N. report was targeted on a case first reported by the AP in Might 2021, involving Dr. Jean-Paul Ngandu, who labored on the Ebola response in northeastern Congo in 2019. Shortly after his arrival, Ngandu met a younger lady at an area restaurant. The 2 had intercourse later that night, however the relationship soured, and the girl and her aunt complained to WHO that Ngandu had impregnated her.
AP obtained a replica of a notarized settlement between Ngandu and the girl, signed by two WHO staffers, by which he agreed to cowl her well being care prices and purchase her land.
After considerations in regards to the Ngandu case have been raised to WHO’s Geneva headquarters, “a decision was made not to investigate the complaint on the basis that it did not violate WHO’s (sexual exploitation and abuse) policy,” the U.N. report stated. The report stated this was as a result of the girl was not a “beneficiary” of WHO, which means she didn’t obtain any humanitarian or emergency support, and thus, didn’t qualify as a sufferer beneath WHO coverage.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has stated repeatedly he’s “outraged” by experiences of sexual misconduct. However so far, no senior staffers linked to the sexual abuse allegations in Congo’s 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak — the place greater than 80 employees beneath WHO’s path have been discovered to have abused or exploited ladies — have been fired.
Some world well being specialists have been unconvinced by Tedros’ professed indignation.
“It undermines the complete integrity of WHO that no one has lost their job over this,” stated Sophie Harman, a professor of worldwide politics at Queen Mary College in London. “If WHO is serious about gender equality, then it is time for Tedros to go.”
WHO’s director of communications insisted the company was dedicated to addressing sexual misconduct.
“WHO is focused on continuing the deep and broad strengthening of our policies and practices, staffing, training and resourcing to prevent sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment,” stated Gabriella Stern.
After the Congo allegations grew to become public, WHO created a brand new division to handle sexual exploitation, headed by Dr. Gaya Gamhewage. In her interview with U.N. investigators, Gamhewage stated that previous to being appointed, she had no information of the WHO’s sexual misconduct insurance policies and had not even learn them.
Cheng reported from London. Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.
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