Off the wire
• 1st LD Writethru: Gold down on stronger U.S. equities  • News Analysis: Tight spending, but strong growth expected in Cypriot economy  • (Recast) News analysis: Blaming China for UK steel woes is misleading  • Burkina Faso President Kabore to pay first state visit to France  • Roundup: Italy approves extradition to Belgium of Algerian allegedly linked to terror attacks  • U.S., Japan announce to remove sensitive nuclear materials from Japanese research reactor  • Roundup: Triennale int'l exhibition of design, architecture and art kicks off in Milan  • Spanish Royal family get 1 pct pay rise  • Dortmund' s Neven Subotic to miss rest of the season  • Ireland's public broadcaster appoints new director-general  
You are here: 　 Home

UN urges military personnel to be personally committed to countering sexual abuse

Xinhua, April 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

United Nations Under-Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations, Herve Ladsous, urged military personnel to be personally committed to countering sexual exploitation and abuse in light of latest allegations of sexual abuse by international forces in the Central African Republic (CAR).

Ladsous held video conference with personnel from the UN Mission in Bangui, capital of CAR, and with staff from the field on Friday, said UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric at Friday' s noon briefing.

Addressing military personnel commanders and police officers, Ladsous reminded them firmly of the need for them to be personally committed to countering sexual exploitation and abuse.

In addition, Ladsous stressed the responsibility of Police and Troops Contributing Countries to provide military and police staff personnel that have been sensitized, trained and fully aware of sanctions they will face if allegations are confirmed, said Dujarric.

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)-led integrated team continued to interview victims to gather more information on new allegations of sexual abuse, said Dujarric. On Thursday he said that 108 alleged victims have been interviewed in the area.

This team is made up of staff members of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), Human Rights, Child and Women's Protection, Conduct and Discipline, as well as the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), according to the spokesman.

On March 11, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to take strong action to combat the problem of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by peacekeepers since the United Nations has been under mounting pressure as the allegations against peacekeepers continue to surface. Enditem