Global Policy Forum

Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday his policy of "zero tolerance" of sexual abuse in the United Nations' far-flung global operations is still not getting through to civilians and soldiers. A conference on eliminating sexual exploitation and abuse brought U.N. staff, member states and non-governmental organizations together to discuss new strategies for addressing the problem, as a frustrated Annan reported that allegations of sexual misconduct against U.N. peacekeepers continue.

"My message of zero tolerance has still not got through to those who need to hear it — from managers and commanders on the ground, to all our other personnel," the secretary-general said at the beginning of the daylong conference at the Millennium Hotel across from U.N. headquarters. "Acts of sexual exploitation and abuse by both civilian and uniformed United Nations personnel continue to occur." Annan detailed some of the breaches of U.N. policy including sex with adult prostitutes and crimes including rape, pedophilia and human trafficking.

During the first 10 months of 2006, 63 percent of all misconduct allegations involving peacekeeping related to sexual exploitation and abuse, of which a third were prostitution related, according to the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations. "All of this is utterly immoral, and completely at odds with our mission," Annan said. "Our behavior should be something that others can emulate, and be judged against. We are here today to chart a way for achieving that."

Discussions were expected to include best practices as well as how to establish better methods to report and expose abuses, hold those who commit such acts accountable, and improve the overall culture of the organizations. In less than three years, the U.N. has investigated 319 peacekeeping personnel in all U.N. missions, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters last week. Nearly 180 soldiers, civilians and police in U.N. peacekeeping missions have been targeted for disciplinary action for sexual abuse.

The U.N. estimates about 80 percent of some 100,000 people who serve in peacekeeping operations cannot be disciplined by the U.N. system. They belong to troop contributing countries, which the U.N. must rely on to discipline offenders.

"Where there is perceived criminal activity, it's only the right of the host state, or the state of nationality, normally speaking, that can exercise" disciplinary measures, said Jordan's U.N. Ambassador Prince Zeid Al-Hussein, the secretary-general's adviser on sexual exploitation and abuse. "And the situation is made worse for us when ... you don't have a complete judicial system in place in those particular countries." Zeid said that the use of DNA sampling has been suggested and would be discussed to help investigations and to be used as a "considerable deterrent."

A number of solutions are needed to address the issue, said Jane Lute, assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping. "We don't think you solve the problem by simply building a fence around your peacekeepers," she said in an afternoon press conference at the U.N.

In her remarks at the conference, Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children in Britain, said a look at financial priorities was also necessary. "We need to do something about the fact that there is a supply side as well as a demand side to the problem. That means getting our organizations to work much more closely together in the field to make sure that selling her body is not the only way a girl can feed herself or her family," Whitbread said.

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