UN reports increase in sex abuse allegations by UN staff

AFP  |  United Nations 

A UN report released Monday showed an increase in allegations of and exploitation by staff working in UN agencies and their partner organisations.

Guterres has vowed to stamp out at the following a string of cases over recent years that have severely tarnished the image of UN peacekeepers and staff.

In all, there were 94 allegations against UN personnel in 2018 and 109 targeting staff of local organisations that work with the worldwide, up from 25 in 2017.

Eleven cases involve child rape, according to the report.

The received 19 allegations of sex against its staff and partner organizations in 2018, compared to 26 over the previous 12 years.

UNHCR reported 34 allegations in 2018 compared to 19 in 2017 while there were 15 allegations at the UN children's agency last year compared to eight in 2017.

The increase was in part attributed to improved efforts to encourage victims to come forward.

The latest figures suggest that "awareness-raising and outreach efforts are having an impact and that there is increased trust among victims and witnesses and increased understanding of the need to report," said the report.

Among peacekeepers, the majority of claims - 74 per cent - in 2018 came from two UN missions, in the and the

Under UN rules, it is up to governments to take action against their troops sent as peacekeepers who face credible allegations of rape or other misconduct but there were few details on prosecutions, with many cases still under review.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, March 18 2019. 20:50 IST