United Nations Strategy on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA)
The United Nations has a three-pronged strategy to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse: prevention of misconduct, enforcement of UN standards of conduct and remedial action.
Prevention
Training, awareness-raising activities and preventative measures at mission level are at the center of the actions taken by peacekeeping operations and special political missions to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse.
Training
Conduct and discipline issues are an essential component of pre-deployment and in-mission induction training, which is mandatory for all civilian, military and police peacekeeping personnel.
Pre-deployment training for all international civilian staff is conducted by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations’ Integrated Training Service (ITS) at the UN Logistics Base in Brindisi, Italy.
Troop Contributing Countries and Police Contributing Countries are responsible for providing mandatory pre-deployment training for military and police personnel. This training is usually delivered by peacekeeping training institutions operating on a national or regional/sub-regional basis.
The Conduct and Discipline Unit (CDU) at Headquarters is helping troop and police contributing countries to improve their pre-deployment training on the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse by developing and providing training modules and advice. For example, CDU, in coordination with ITS, is training the trainers on the Core Pre-deployment Training Module on conduct and discipline, and strengthening the instructors’ understanding of the standards and best practices in conduct and discipline training methodologies and materials.
Since 2005, training on preventing sexual exploitation and abuse has been mandatory for all personnel on arrival in a UN peacekeeping mission. CDU identifies training needs in field missions and supports the development of a community of practice on conduct and discipline training.
In cooperation with Integrated Training Mission Cells (IMTC), Conduct and Discipline Teams (CDT) in field missions provide direct induction, refresher and on-going training in missions and work with Headquarters to incorporate mission-specific information in training modules. The core conduct and discipline training in missions covers a range of topics including the Conduct and Discipline Team mandate and functions; Code of Conduct and core values; definitions and types of misconduct; examples of sexual exploitation and abuse and consequences; individual and management responsibilities; obligations to report misconduct; disciplinary and administrative procedures; and the rights and responsibilities of the peacekeeping personnel. CDTs provide ongoing training including ‘train the trainer’ courses.
Awareness-raising
Mission-based awareness-raising initiatives form a significant part of the strategies of the Conduct and Discipline Teams to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse. The teams seek to raise awareness by reaching out to host populations, including local government officials, relevant civil society organizations, international organizations and non-government organizations.
The wide range of awareness-raising measures undertaken in field missions include poster campaigns, newsletters, brochures, websites and radio broadcasts. Peacekeeping missions in Sudan (UNMIS), Liberia (UNMIL), Haiti (MINUSTAH), Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC), Timor-Leste (UNMIT) and Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) conducted campaigns during 2008-2009 to combat prostitution/transactional sex involving UN personnel.
Preventative measures
Prevention measures at field level include restriction of movement, curfews, requiring soldiers to wear uniforms outside barracks, designating off-limits areas, non-fraternization policies, increased patrols around high risks areas and decentralization of CDT personnel into locations with a potentially high risk of misconduct.
Enforcement
Once an allegation is received, the UN will carry out an administrative investigation. The Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the independent investigative arm of the UN, is the sole body in the UN responsible for such investigations, but may refer the allegation to other investigative authorities, depending on the category of personnel and the gravity of the allegations. However, specific procedures apply to investigations involving members of military contingents.
For investigation purposes, OIOS has grouped allegations into Category 1 and Category 2 [A/RES/59/287], depending on the risk such cases present to the organization.
Allegations of misconduct defined as Category 1 [ST/SGB/2003/13] include: all SEA-related offences including rape, transactional sex, exploitative relationships and sexual abuse, cases involving risk of loss of life to staff or to others, abuse of authority or staff, conflict of interest, gross mismanagement, bribery/corruption, illegal mineral trade, trafficking with prohibited goods, life threat/murder, abuse or torture of detainees, arms trade, physical assault, forgery, embezzlement, major theft/fraud, use, possession or distribution of illegal narcotics, waste of substantial resources, entitlement fraud and procurement violations.
Allegations of misconduct defined as Category 2 [ST/SGB/2008/5] include: discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, abusive behavior, basic misuse of equipment or staff, simple theft/ fraud, infractions of regulations, rules or administrative issuances, traffic-related violations, conduct that could bring the UN into disrepute, breaking curfew, contract disputes and basic mismanagement.
Responsibility for investigations and disciplinary action
OIOS is responsible for investigating all Category 1 allegations, except for military contingents, for whom special provisions apply. Category 2 allegations may be investigated by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), Military Police, UN Police and ad-hoc panels.
The Office of Human Resources Management in the Department of Management takes decisions concerning disciplinary measures for civilian personnel.
When allegations of serious misconduct involving military and police personnel occur, the UN may repatriate the individuals concerned and ban them from future peacekeeping operations. Disciplinary sanctions and any other judicial actions remain the responsibility of the national jurisdiction of the individual involved.
Members of military contingents deployed on peacekeeping missions remain under the exclusive jurisdiction of their national government. The responsibility for investigating an allegation of misconduct and taking subsequent disciplinary action rests with the Troop Contributing Country, in accordance with the revised model memorandum of understanding, endorsed by the General Assembly in 2007. The Troop Contributing Country involved must then report back to the UN on the outcome of misconduct investigations and actions taken.
Reporting misconduct
Conduct and Discipline Teams provide information to UN personnel and the host country population for reporting allegations of misconduct. Record-keeping and data tracking of allegations of misconduct and subsequent actions started in 2006. In July 2008, the Department of Field Support launched the Misconduct Tracking System (MTS), a global database and confidential tracking system for all allegations of misconduct.
The Secretary-General’s Bulletin states that UN personnel have a duty to report all concerns or suspicions of sexual exploitation and abuse [ST/SGB/2003/13].
Missions have established a range of reporting mechanisms, including locked drop-boxes, private meeting rooms to allow reporting in a confidential setting, telephone hotlines, secure email addresses, regional focal points, local women’s organizations and the local UN-NGO network. The UN’s ‘whistleblower’ policy protects staff members who report in good faith from retaliation
[ST/SGB/2005/21].
Criminal accountability of UN staff and experts on mission
In December 2007 the General Assembly adopted the Resolution Criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on missions [A/RES/62/63] to address the extension of national jurisdiction by Member States to cover criminal misconduct of UN officials or experts on mission. The General Assembly encouraged Member States to cooperate with each other and with the UN in the exchange of information and facilitation of investigations and, as appropriate, the prosecution of the relevant persons.
Remedial Action
The United Nations, non-governmental organizations and inter-governmental organizations are committed to providing assistance to victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by their personnel, as agreed in the Statement of Commitment on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN and Non-UN Personnel (2006) [PDF]. This commitment is reinforced by the General Assembly resolution on the UN Comprehensive Strategy on Assistance and Support to Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by United Nations Staff and Related Personnel [A/RES/62/214]. The resolution calls for the establishment of a Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Victim Assistance Mechanism (SEA/VAM) in every country in which the UN operates. The UN and NGOs have worked together through an inter-agency task force to formulate a joint approach to victim assistance.
The objective of the SEA/VAM is to help persons victimized by sexual exploitation and abuse to access the services they need as a result of these acts. This does not replace or negate the responsibility of perpetrators of acts of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. The provision of assistance is not an acknowledgment of the validity of the claims, a form of compensation or an indication of acceptance of responsibility by the alleged perpetrator.
Each country develops its own SEA/VAM, adapted to the national context, to assist complainants and victims. The mechanism will serve all complainants and victims of SEA by UN staff and related personnel, so that assistance and support remain consistent regardless of the agency, department or organization associated with the incident. ‘Related personnel’ includes consultants, volunteers, individual contractors, personnel of partner organizations, experts on mission and peacekeepers, including both civilian and uniformed personnel.
A report on the implementation of the victim assistance strategy was completed in July 2009 and will be discussed during the 64th General Assembly session.
Who should receive assistance and support?
Assistance and support should be provided to complainants, victims and children born as a result of sexual exploitation and abuse.
Complainants are persons who allege or are alleged to have been sexually exploited or abused by UN staff or related personnel before such allegations have been substantiated or dismissed through a UN administrative or a governmental judicial process. To receive assistance as a complainant, the allegation should be officially registered in accordance with the procedures of the relevant organization.
Victims are persons whose claims that they have been sexually exploited or abused have been substantiated through a UN administrative process or a governmental judicial process. These include all such persons, irrespective of age or gender. Children born as a result of sexual exploitation and abuse are children who are found by a court of law in any country with jurisdiction to have been born as a result of sexual exploitation or abuse by staff or related personnel.
What assistance and support should be provided?
The SEA/VAMs provide medical, legal, psychosocial and immediate material care as well as the facilitation of the pursuit of paternity and child support claims. Assistance and support is to be offered based on individual needs directly arising from sexual exploitation or abuse. Direct financial assistance/ compensation should not be provided under the SEA/VAM.
Basic assistance (that which cannot await the substantiation of claims) and support should be provided to complainants. They should be helped to access psychological counseling and to find shelter, clothing or food where the sexual exploitation or sexual abuse impedes them from using their own, and provided with protection if their security is at risk. Complainants should also be assisted to understand how to pursue claims, both administrative and legal, against the alleged perpetrators.
Once a victim’s claim has been substantiated, s/he can receive additional help known as expanded assistance and support. Victims should receive assistance to address the broad range of consequences of the sexual exploitation or abuse. The strategy recommends that the UN work with Member States to facilitate, within their competence, the pursuit of paternity claims and child support. This should be undertaken in conjunction with the relevant national governments and may include the coordination of DNA testing. Children born as a result of sexual exploitation and abuse should be entitled under SEA/VAMs to receive medical, legal and psychosocial care to meet their needs directly arising from the sexual exploitation or abuse.