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 Some 83 aid workers, a quarter of them employed by the WHO, were
involved in sexual exploitation and abuse during the country's
massive Ebola epidemic from 2018 to 2020, an independent commission
said last month.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus vowed to ensure that
the affair and the victims' suffering would be "the catalyst for a
profound transformation of WHO's culture."
There would be no opportunity for sexual exploitation to occur, no
impunity if it does and "no tolerance for inaction," he said in a
statement on its management response plan.
Major donors, led by the United States and European Union, have
urged WHO to launch a deeper external investigation demanding how
the scandal was allowed to happen, diplomats told Reuters last week.
The pressure seems to have paved the way for further scrutiny.
"WHO is requesting UN OIOS (Office of Internal Oversight Services)
to carry out a review of, and where necessary, further investigation
into all cases of alleged SEA (sexual exploitation and abuse)
identified by the Independent Commission, including those in which
they identified an alleged WHO perpetrator," the statement said.
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 A separate, independent
oversight body established by WHO's Executive
Board is to select a team of external
investigators to oversee an inquiry into
"alleged managerial misconduct in respect of
failure to initiate investigation procedures".
Tedros, who visited Congo 14 times during the
Ebola epidemic, told reporters last month when
the commission unveiled its full findings that
no one had raised the allegations.
He is believed to be seeking a second five-year
term in WHO's election next May, but declined to
comment earlier on Thursday when asked at a
press conference.
As first reported by Reuters last week, the WHO
said on Thursday that it was deploying experts
to 10 high-risk countries, including Afghanistan
and Ethiopia, to prevent sexual exploitation. In
the past week nearly 40 employees of WHO and UN
partner agencies have been trained in
prevention, it said.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Mark
Porter)
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