Official lauds report on sexual exploitation

Atul Khare, UN undersecretary-general for field support, welcomed on Monday the evaluation report on the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN personnel during peacekeeping operations, a UN spokesman said.

"He said that this report provides an additional insight on how the implementation of the secretary-general's zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse is handled, where progress has been made, and where challenges still exist," Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The report was published by the Office of the Internal Oversight Services.

According to media reports, French soldiers sexually abused starving young boys at a center for internally displaced people in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, from December 2013 to June 2014.

Khare said that the Department of Field Support is committed to the zero-tolerance policy and implementing the recommendations made in the secretary-general's annual report, Dujarric said.

"He (Khare) said, 'Any allegation of sexual violence is shocking. Sexual exploitation and abuse when allegedly committed by those who should be protectors is truly abhorrent," Dujarric said.

The allegations drew great attention worldwide, in part over the suspension of a UN aid worker over leaking a related confidential report, and questions about whether the UN properly handled the allegations when they first emerged.

Following the allegations, the UN, through its Office of Human Rights in Bangui, conducted a human rights investigation in late spring of 2014, according to the UN.