- Title: WHO says 'heartbroken' by Congo sex abuse probe findings
- Date: 28th September 2021
- Summary: BENI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (MARCH 31, 2019) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EBOLA TREATMENT CENTRE SIGN READING (French) "EBOLA TREATMENT CENTRE" VARIOUS OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS AT EBOLA TREATMENT CENTRE BEING SUITED UP IN YELLOW PROTECTIVE GEAR VARIOUS OF HEALTH WORKERS SANITIZING A DEAD BODY WORKERS SANITIZING CROSS WORKERS SANITIZING COFFIN WORKERS PLACING COFFIN IN BURIAL SITE VIEW OF CEMETERY FOR EBOLA VICTIMS VARIOUS OF HEALTHCARE WORKER TENDING TO A CHILD, WORKER IN PROTECTIVE SUIT TIDYING ISOLATION CUBE VARIOUS OF A HEALTH WORKER HANGING SANITIZED BOOTS AND GLOVES
- Embargoed: 12th October 2021 15:14
- Keywords: Congo sex abuse Ebola WHO World Health Organization heartbroken
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / BENI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / BENI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
- Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of the
- Topics: Africa,Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA002EWMV5MV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The World Health Organization's regional director for Africa said on Tuesday (September 28) that the agency was "heartbroken" by the findings of an independent commission on sex abuse in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"We in the WHO are indeed humbled, horrified, and heartbroken by the findings of this inquiry," Matshidiso Moeti said at a news briefing.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the commission's report made for "harrowing reading."
The commission found that some 21 of 83 alleged perpetrators were employed by the WHO and that the abuses, which included nine allegations of rape, were committed by both national and international staff.
Alleged victims "were not provided with the necessary support and assistance required for such degrading experiences," the report said.
In an investigation published last year by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and The New Humanitarian, more than 50 women accused aid workers from the WHO and leading charities of demanding sex in exchange for jobs during the 2018-2020 Ebola crisis.
In June last year, Congo's government announced the end of the two-year outbreak that killed more than 2,200 people - the second-largest Ebola outbreak since the virus was identified in 1976.
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