GENEVA: Preventing sexual abuse in humanitarian settings is a top priority for the World Health Organization , its chief insisted Friday , amid pressure from donors over an abuse scandal in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He described how the organisation had dramatically scaled up its efforts to root out the problem since allegations surfaced in 2020 of rape and other sexual abuse by humanitarian workers, including WHO employees, in the DR Congo. Tedros, who at the time described the commission's findings as"horrifying", stressed to WHO member states Friday that"the prevention and response to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment is a high priority issue".
This, he said, was an"indication that the system is beginning to work better and that victims and bystanders are more willing to raise an alarm".