WHO management response to preventing and responding to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment: report 2021- 2022
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World Health Organization
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vi, 27 p.
This report summarizes the World Health Organization’s management response during 2021–2022 to preventing and responding to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH), following the recommendations of the Independent Commission established to investigate allegations arising during the response to the tenth Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It outlines progress in implementing the WHO Management Response Plan, which established an organization-wide framework centred on three priorities: adopting a victim- and survivor-centred approach, strengthening individual and managerial accountability, and reforming WHO’s systems, structures and organizational culture. The report describes actions undertaken to institutionalize zero tolerance for sexual misconduct and strengthen safeguarding across the Organization. The report reviews achievements in supporting victims and survivors, enhancing workforce capacity, reinforcing oversight and accountability mechanisms, improving policies, investigations and reporting systems, and integrating safeguarding measures into WHO operations, particularly in high-risk settings. It also describes collaboration with United Nations partners and humanitarian organizations, identifies implementation challenges, and outlines the transition from the Management Response Plan to WHO’s 2023–2025 strategy on preventing and responding to sexual misconduct, with the aim of sustaining institutional change and continuous organizational improvement.
This report summarizes the World Health Organization’s management response during 2021–2022 to preventing and responding to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH), following the recommendations of the Independent Commission established to investigate allegations arising during the response to the tenth Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It outlines progress in implementing the WHO Management Response Plan, which established an organization-wide framework centred on three priorities: adopting a victim- and survivor-centred approach, strengthening individual and managerial accountability, and reforming WHO’s systems, structures and organizational culture. The report describes actions undertaken to institutionalize zero tolerance for sexual misconduct and strengthen safeguarding across the Organization. The report reviews achievements in supporting victims and survivors, enhancing workforce capacity, reinforcing oversight and accountability mechanisms, improving policies, investigations and reporting systems, and integrating safeguarding measures into WHO operations, particularly in high-risk settings. It also describes collaboration with United Nations partners and humanitarian organizations, identifies implementation challenges, and outlines the transition from the Management Response Plan to WHO’s 2023–2025 strategy on preventing and responding to sexual misconduct, with the aim of sustaining institutional change and continuous organizational improvement.
Keywords
World Health Organization, Organizational Policy, Ethics, Institutional, Organization and Administration, Emergencies, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola, Disease Outbreaks, Workplace Violence, Sex Offenses, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Harassment, Sex Work, Strategic Planning, prevention and control, ethics