Since its adoption in 2019, the United Nations Protocol on the Provision of Assistance to Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN staff and related personnel has served as a cornerstone of the Organization’s efforts to support and protect victims.
The protocol establishes a common set of norms and a framework to ensure a victim-centred, rights-based, and non-discriminatory approach to victims’ assistance, applying to all UN entities and non-UN forces operating under a Security Council mandate.
It outlines key forms of assistance, ranging from medical care and psychosocial support to education, livelihood, and legal services, and includes special considerations for children, including those born as a result of sexual exploitation and abuse.
It delineates the roles and responsibilities of UN entities in delivering assistance.
On 28 April, the Office of the Victims' Rights Advocate and UNICEF hosted an event to commemorate the protocol’s fifth anniversary.
Leaders from the UN and international non-governmental organizations discussed the progress and the way forward in ensuring quality assistance and support for victims.
E. Courtenay Rattray, Chef de Cabinet, emphasized that “providing safe, timely and comprehensive assistance to victims is not optional - it is a moral and institutional imperative”, especially in a context of mounting financial pressures and shrinking budgets.
"Only through addressing the specialized assistance needs for children, sustained investment, system-wide collaboration, and collective efforts can we truly uphold the rights and dignity of survivors - especially children, who are often among the most vulnerable,” stated Hannan Sulieman, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director for Management.
Catherine Pollard, Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance echoed this call: “We must move from reliance on voluntary funding sources to integrated, sustainable funding: victims must have access to whatever is available across the UN system, and we must be better coordinated.”
Christian Saunders, Under-Secretary-General and Special Coordinator on Improving the UN Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse stressed: “What we truly need is a genuine, system-wide commitment to action and accountability...We have the knowledge and the tools – now more than ever, we need to act.”
The event culminated with UN leadership issuing a joint statement renewing the commitment to a victim-centred, integrated response that prioritizes the rights, safety, and dignity of all victims and survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse.
"We recommit to placing the rights, needs, and dignity of victims at the forefront of all that we do. Together, we can — and we must — honour our promise to put victims first." stated Najla Nassif Palma, United Nations Victims’ Rights Advocate.
