The World Health Organization, whose employees have engaged in sexual abuse in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is preparing to release an action plan promising "
zero tolerance
" in the future, she said. reported Friday, October 15 to AFP.
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Major donor countries have publicly put WHO under pressure.
In a rare statement, dozens of countries, including the United States and EU members, demanded "
full engagement
" from the organization and its leaders on this issue.
21 employees suspected of sexual abuse
The head of the UN agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, unveiled his plan to them on Thursday.
"
Yesterday, the Director General presented the draft response plan to Member States in order to gather their comments and reactions,
" WHO told AFP, specifying that the finalized document will be published in the "
next few days
" .
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On September 28, an independent commission of inquiry released a devastating report for the WHO, which found that 21 of its employees at the time, among 83 alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse, committed such abuses against dozens of people. people in DRC during the 2018-2020 Ebola epidemic.
The report of the commission, whose constitution was announced by Dr Tedros only after revelations from The New Humanitarian and the Reuters Foundation, denounces "
structural failures
" and "
individual negligence
".
WHO, sorry
The response plan "
presents immediate, medium and long-term actions to address the shortcomings identified in the report,
" the WHO said.
The organization explained that the document emphasizes several points aimed
at
"
putting victims at the heart of prevention and responses to sexual abuse
" and "
strengthening individual and leadership responsibilities
".
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The document also aims to "
reform the culture of WHO, its structures and systems, in order to create a culture in which sexual exploitation and abuse have no place, in which impunity does not exist. does not exist and has zero tolerance for inaction
”. Dr Tedros, who had the public support of the majority of European countries to run for a second term in 2022, said he was "
sorry
" to the victims and promised "
severe consequences
" to those responsible just after the publication of the report. .
WHO is committed to implementing the recommendations of the commission of inquiry and getting rid of the employees behind the violence, as well as those responsible who should have intervened.
As soon as the report was published, the organization terminated the contracts of four of the 21 people directly involved that it still employed.
Two senior officials were placed on administrative leave.
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