Remarks by Paula Donovan, Co-Director, AIDS-Free World, at the Informal Discussion with the Special Coordinator and Civil Society Partners following the Secretary General’s High-Level Meeting on the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
United Nations Headquarters, 5:30 p.m., Monday, September 18, 2017
Chairperson, colleagues,
I’m Paula Donovan, Co-Director of AIDS-Free World and its Code Blue Campaign.
Thank you for inviting Code Blue to this consultation with civil society at which the UN will solicit views on what the Organization needs to do.
I wish to use the brief time at my disposal to recall for you extracts of a speech by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on December 4, 2006. The occasion was a day-long High-Level Conference on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by United Nations and Non-Governmental Organization Personnel, held here in New York and involving the UN Member States, the UN Organization, and civil society. Three years after issuing the Bulletin that declared that the UN had “zero tolerance” for sexual exploitation and abuse, then-Secretary-General Mr. Annan spoke these words, almost 11 years ago:
“We are here to address a question of crucial importance to the standing and effectiveness of the United Nations. ...
The bulletin spells out prohibited sexual conduct, and explains the duties of individuals and managers. It applies to all UN staff, as well as uniformed personnel. ...
I am pleased that Member States recently adopted the standards set out in the bulletin for all uniformed personnel serving under the United Nations flag. ...
Staff who commit such acts are being fired. And uniformed peacekeeping personnel are being sent home and barred from future peacekeeping service, and also in the expectation that their own Governments will deal with them. ...
Despite these concerted efforts, … Acts of sexual exploitation and abuse by both civilian and uniformed United Nations personnel continue to occur. ...
We need to create an environment in which people feel able to report abuses without fear of retaliation. People must be able to have faith in the Organization’s ability to respond swiftly and effectively when such acts occur. And they need to be secure in the knowledge that victims, as well as the children born of such acts, will receive the assistance they require. ...
I have put forward a draft policy statement and comprehensive strategy on assistance to victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations personnel. ...
Another key indicator of our seriousness is the degree to which those who commit such acts are held accountable. No one in the United Nations is above the law. ...
I am encouraged to know that many of you, as a further expression of your intent and will to act, have been involved in developing a statement of Commitment on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN and Non-UN Personnel. The statement’s 10 commitments provide the framework for the development of a UN-wide strategy to implement the bulletin. I call on those of you who have not yet done so to endorse the Statement at the earliest possible opportunity. ...
As we move ahead, we will also need to continue enlisting the help of non-governmental organizations, international organizations, Government representatives and others in a position to contribute. The United Nations cannot do it alone. ...
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As you can see, what is being said and done and committed to today has been said and done and committed to before. That was almost 11 years ago; already, the UN was looking back at a trail of thousands of victims, countless hours and galling amounts of financial and human resources.
We are stuck in a vicious pattern.
It’s time for dramatic change. The Code Blue Campaign proposes the creation by Member States of an independent, autonomous Special Court Mechanism. This solution will finally break the decades-long pattern of saying and doing the same thing, over and over, and expecting different results. This proposal is dramatically different from everything that has gone before in five crucial ways:
The Special Court Mechanism would eliminate the Organization’s involvement in sexual offense complaints made against its own personnel. It would be independent from the Organization, unbiased and autonomous, ending the Organization’s conflict of interest.
The Special Court Mechanism would be established by and would report directly to Member States. Its qualified personnel would receive all complaints. For cases involving non-military personnel—who are currently subject to nothing more than the UN Organization’s administrative sanctions—the mechanism’s intake officers, investigators, prosecutors and judges would handle the entire judicial process. For military personnel—who are subject to the jurisdiction of their troop-contributing countries—the mechanism would handle intake, and make appropriate referrals. Wherever a troop-contributing country with jurisdiction failed to act, the Special Court Mechanism would promptly take over. The regular progress and outcome of every complaint would be tracked and reported on by the Special Court Mechanism.
It would end the double standard in which UN military peacekeepers can land in prison, while UN non-military personnel accused of the same offenses merely risk losing their jobs.
It would clarify that UN immunity does not apply to sexual crimes.
And it would free the UN Organization to focus full-time on its unique, crucial roles in global peace, security, and humanitarian assistance.
Learn more about Code Blue's proposal here.
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Media contact:
Gill Mathurin, media@aidsfreeworld.org, +1-646-924-1710
AIDS-Free World's Code Blue Campaign aims to end impunity for sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeeping personnel. www.codebluecampaign.com