March 19, 2021: The Code Blue Campaign spent much of the past year tracking data on sexual offenses committed by UN personnel. We hoped that today’s press conference at the UN, held to announce the release of the Secretary-General’s annual report on UN sexual exploitation and abuse, would discuss the hard truths of the ongoing crisis. No mention was made of the fact that 336 allegations were lodged against civilian personnel working under the UN umbrella in 2020. Instead, the session focused on frivolous and insubstantial matters. We are appalled by what we witnessed.

The Victims’ Trust Fund, which took up far too many minutes of talk, has raised a paltry $2.7 million since its establishment in 2015. Speaking remotely from Bukavu, the UN’s Field Victim Rights Advocate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo conceded that only 400 people there are benefitting from the fund. Actually, it does not compensate victims, but supports community projects such as farming mushrooms and sewing school uniforms. And actually, only 10 percent of those 400 people are victims of UN sexual exploitation and abuse.

It was baffling and repugnant to watch the lighthearted bantering among the UN officials in New York and the DRC who released this year's report: “Wow, you look great!” Assistant Secretary-General Jane Connors exclaimed when her DRC colleague appeared on screen. At another point, she laughed with the UN spokesperson, "You can see I am over-excited about all this!” One can only hope that the happy-go-lucky exchange wasn’t heard by any of the hundreds of women and children who were sexually violated by other officials and personnel working under the UN flag last year.

The press conference was characteristic of Secretary-General António Guterres’ preference for public relations over genuine reform. The focus on distractions over facts exemplified his increasing indifference about the systemic flaws that keep the UN’s culture of impunity alive and well.

Our sober analysis of 2020’s catalog of reported cases of sexual exploitation and abuse by personnel employed by and affiliated with the UN can be found here. It reveals what the United Nations hid away last year in its opaque public database.

Namely: 

// The total number of sexual exploitation and abuse allegations has remained steady. 

// Civilians continue to account for a disproportionate number of alleged perpetrators.

// The response of troop-contributing-countries to sexual exploitation and abuse committed by their uniformed personnel has not improved.

// As in past years, the UN has taken few actions against alleged perpetrators.

// Progress has continued to stall on initiatives that the UN touts as being central to its response to sexual exploitation and abuse. 

// Public data on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse remain incomplete and difficult to navigate.

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