United Nations – There were 99 new allegations of sexual exploitation, also known as sexual abuse, against UN staff members across the UN system in 2015, a new UN report has said.
According to the report, the figure represents a sharp increase from the 80 allegations in 2014.
The majority of those allegations, which were 69 in all, involved personnel in 10 peace keeping missions, it said.
The report said that the military and police personnel accused of sexual crimes while serving for the UN involved some 21 countries, claiming that most of them are African.
The report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon does not identify the nationalities of the 30 UN staff members that were accused of sexual abuse or exploitation who were not working for peace keeping missions.
The report said that the advance copy of the UN report came in response to a new UN name and shame policy for UN peace-keepers implemented after a series of allegations of rape and sexual abuse by international troops in Central African Republic (CAR).
Most of the allegations involved peace-keepers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, seven in all, serving in CAR.
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There were also allegations against several European countries and Canada.
There were allegations against troops and police from Burundi, Germany, Ghana, Senegal, Madagascar, Rwanda, Congo Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Tanzania, Slovakia, Niger, Moldova, Togo, South Africa, Morocco, Benin, Nigeria and Gabon.
In addition to CAR, the allegations involved peace keeping missions in places like Haiti, Mali, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ivory Coast.
The report includes recommendations for member states to make it easier to identify suspected perpetrators and prosecute them. (Reuters/NAN)
