WHO is launching an investigation into DRC violence by August | World Health Issues

The World Health Organization, which faces challenges from donors, says an independent inquiry into violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) against WHO aid workers is due in late August.

A report by the Associated Press earlier this month said internal emails revealed that WHO officials were aware of allegations of rape in the DRC in 2019 and had been asked what they could do about it.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the agency’s annual meeting that some countries were disappointed with the results of the study. The statement “undermines the integrity of the WHO and threatens the very work we do,” he said.

The Independent Commission established its base in Goma in March and hired a research company that began investigating in early May, Tedros said.

Despite security tensions in the North Kivu region of the DRC and volcanic eruptions last week, he said: “The group is working to complete its mandate by the agency to submit its report by the end of August 2021”.

In the past, 53 countries have been alarmed by reports that WHO leaders are aware of cases of violence against UN staff and have failed to report them.

Together, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan and others have demanded that WHO kings show “strong and exemplary leadership” to prevent sexual harassment.

In a statement issued at the annual WHO General Assembly, Canadian Ambassador Leslie Norton said the statement “should be established from above” and that 53 countries want “reliable results” in tackling the problem.

“Since January 2018, we have been very concerned about cases of rape and torture, torture, and abuse of power, in relation to WHO activities,” he said.

At a meeting of the WHO’s executive committee program, budget and operations last week, members and the WHO secretary discussed the issue “strongly and concisely”, he said.

“We were shocked by the media’s perception that WHO monitors were aware of cases of sexual harassment and harassment and failed to report them, in accordance with UN and WHO guidelines, and that WHO staff members had taken steps to resolve cases.”

‘Discipline’

These countries, including Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Switzerland and Uruguay, have said that tackling the problem requires cultural change in organizations and groups.

“It requires strong and exemplary leadership from managers and leaders throughout the organization where the voice is spoken from above,” he said, emphasizing that they want “appropriate punishment” for which their claims have been substantiated.

The WHO and two other UN agencies came close to protesting last month in September after a report on the abuse of women and those committed by the UN during the Ebola crisis in the DRC 2018-2020.

The WHO, the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Children’s Fund were named in a research report published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and The New Humanitarian.

A year-long study found that more than 50 women had criticized Ebola aid workers – mainly from the WHO and other UN and non-governmental organizations – for abuses, including solicitation, forced sexual activity, or termination of contracts.

Similarities between the accounts in which women in eastern DRC in Beni show that the practice is widespread, the report said.

The WHO External Statistics report, released on Friday, said there were 14 sexual harassment cases involving WHO staff last year, including the DRC case, compared to 11 in 2019.

“The prevalence of complaints or reports of misconduct reflects the organisation’s status and its ‘high voice’,” the report said, “which is why the prevalence of such complaints should be of concern to management.”