Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Thank you for taking the time to attend this first quarterly Member State Briefing for 2023 on the prevention of, and response to, sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, for which we are now using the umbrella term sexual misconduct.
As you know, 2022 was a busy year for all of us.
We implemented the Management Response Plan and laid the foundation for the work we must do to achieve zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, protecting those who report it from retaliation and ensuring due process for all involved.
We began 2023 by launching our three-year strategy, which is built around four overarching goals:
The first is making sure that victims and survivors are at the heart of all our work in this area.
We have already supported 114 victims and survivors through UNFPA, 21 of whom are victims and survivors of allegations against WHO employees, and the remainder are related to other agencies.
In this regard, I have asked Dr Gaya Gamhewage to travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to assess the actions currently under way and what further steps are needed, with our country head Dr Boureima Hama Sambo and also the UNFPA Country Director Dr Eugune Kongnyuy.
She is meeting with local stakeholders, including representatives of the government, UNFPA, NGOs, members of our country team, and one of the co-chairs and another member of the Independent Commission.
Most importantly, she is seeking feedback directly from some of the survivors and victims.
She and colleagues from the Regional Office and Country Office in Kinshasa will brief you shortly on their work.
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The second goal is to ensure that our policies and procedures support zero tolerance.
Our new Policy on Preventing and Addressing Sexual Misconduct came into force on the 8th of March.
This new, comprehensive policy brings all forms of sexual misconduct under one umbrella, and clarifies the roles and responsibilities of all WHO staff and collaborators, of supervisors and the Organization.
It also addresses gaps and potential loopholes that existed in our previous policies.
The policy aims to provide timely and effective support to victims and survivors, and ensures that not only our staff, but all our collaborators are held to the same standard of conduct.
We have already begun disseminating the new policy among our workforce. Three thousand personnel attended the first live webinar we gave earlier this month.
Our three year-strategy to fully implement the policy will be rolled out to personnel and partners from April, accompanied by a mandatory training module.
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The third goal is safeguarding our operations in all settings in which we engage directly with communities.
To achieve this result, we need the strong collaboration and cooperation of UN partners, NGOs, civil society, and most importantly our Member States.
We need all our implementing partners, including government entities, to become more proactive in how we jointly safeguard community-facing operations.
This includes assessing our joint capacity for safeguarding our community interactions;
facilitating greater engagement from governments in countries where we have operations;
taking mitigation measures such as agreeing on standards of conduct, training and capacity building;
establishing safe and accessible reporting mechanisms in communities;
and strengthening services for victims and survivors.
I am asking all our Heads of Country Offices to initiate this dialogue, but I also plan to have a global consultation on this later this year.
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The fourth goal is to achieve a broad organizational culture change, building awareness and ensuring that bystanders will report allegations, providing safe reporting channels, and ensuring confidentiality and due process for all involved in the allegations.
While in some ways this cultural change is the most complex of our tasks, we are already starting to see results.
The Independent Commission, which I established in 2020, has set us on a trajectory of external scrutiny, transparency and accountability.
We are building trust in the system, as evidenced by the steep rise in the reporting of allegations of all forms of abusive conduct.
Our publicly-accessible website contains monthly updates of allegations of sexual misconduct and other forms of abuse.
As you know, we have already taken disciplinary action in a number of past incidences. We have now added information on disciplinary measures to the website.
In 2022, we received 122 complaints of sexual exploitation, abuse or harassment.
79 reports were issued and the remaining complaints are still being investigated.
In all cases that are substantiated, we are taking action.
In 2022 we dismissed or terminated the contracts of four employees, the most in any year in WHO's history.
So far this year we have dismissed or terminated the contracts of a further three employees.
We are also continuing with training, awareness raising and providing safe spaces for discussing key issues related to sexual misconduct.
We already see evidence that our efforts so far - in training, transparency, and accountability - are giving people the confidence to report misconduct, and know that they will be protected, and that prompt action will be taken.
I will receive a report on our culture change efforts in the coming weeks, which will inform our actions going forward.
In April, we will launch an organization wide culture survey, including questions on perceptions of sexual misconduct, to be repeated every two years so that we can establish a baseline and track key indicators.
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Now, let me update you on the outcome of the investigation into the allegations of managerial misconduct or professional negligence by WHO officials in the context of the allegations of sexual misconduct in the 10th Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
As you know, the conclusions reached by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services in their report differ from those of the Independent Commission.
We therefore shared the UN OIOS report with the Independent External Oversight Advisory Committee, which, among other things, oversees WHO's work in preventing and responding to sexual misconduct.
The IEOAC met on this matter last week and we are awaiting their recommendations.
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Finally, I want to address the media articles that you may have seen saying that WHO's support for victims and survivors in DRC was too little, too late.
We welcome the role of the media in maintaining the spotlight on this important issue.
However, I would like to assure you that the support we have offered is the full package of services for one year for 114 victims and survivors, based on international and UN standards.
We have used our Survivor Assistance Fund to provide this support and we are grateful to our partners on the ground, including UNFPA and two local NGOs.
If more is needed, we will check case-by-case and provide it, which is why Dr Gamhewage is in DRC now.
Dr Eugene Kongnyuy, UNFPA's Representative in DRC, will say more in a few moments on the support provided to survivors.
We are committed to continue our efforts to provide appropriate support to the survivors and victims and are working with experts, practitioners and the Independent Commission as we continue to assess and expand our efforts.
In sum, we have made significant progress on a number of fronts, but we still have a long way to go.
You have my assurance that WHO will stay the course, and fully implement our three-year strategy so that we move forward in a systematic way to achieve zero tolerance and to truly put victims and survivors at the heart of our work.
I thank you once again for your continued engagement, guidance and support, which are critical to achieving these goals. As always, we look forward to your inputs, comments, guidance and questions.
I now hand the floor to Dr Gamhewage, who is joining us from DRC.
