Efforts to tackle sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers have had 'little impact', watchdog finds

The UK government is a leader in tackling the “culture of impunity” that has allowed international peacekeepers to escape punishment for sexual abuse but there is little evidence its work has had any impact, the UK’s aid watchdog has found.

A report by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact examined the work of the UK government in tackling sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers, soldiers, police and civilian personnel - of which there have been numerous allegations over the years.  Only last year troops stationed in Haiti were said to have fathered hundreds of children.

The UN has launched a number of initiatives to stop the abuse and hold perpetrators to account but have had limited success.

Peacekeepers are immune from prosecution by the country where they are stationed. And the UN can choose to waive this immunity for civilian staff if it feels a fair trial is possible - rarely the case in conflict zones.

The UK government has been a leader in corralling the rest of the world to tackle the problem, the report found, raising awareness internationally of accepted standards of behaviour and funding small-scale aid projects to reform the UN.

For example, the Ministry of Defence’s British Peace Support Team in Nairobi trains 10,000 peacekeeping troops a year.

The report said this initiative showed “promise” but there was no attempt to gather evidence of long-term changes in practice.

The report also found limited evidence that the government’s work had any impact in reducing sexual exploitation and abuse.

The report adds: "Given the long-term nature of that challenge, the UK approach appears to have an insufficient focus on working directly with survivors and vulnerable communities."

ICAI chief commissioner Dr Tamsyn Barton said the UK has done "important and useful" work in training troops and and ensuring that civilian UN staff who commit crimes cannot simply move from post to post within the UN system.

She added: “But with survivors facing significant and daunting barriers to obtaining justice, there should be a greater focus on their needs, and the government should do more to link up its learning on ‘what works’ across all forms of conflict-related sexual violence, in order to build an integrated body of evidence that all departments can use.

"These steps would help the UK to have more impact in tackling this persistent and widespread problem.”

A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson said since 2016 the UK had spent £6 million to stop sexual abuse within the the UN.

The spokesperson added: "Sexual exploitation, harassment and abuse are completely abhorrent, and ICAI rightly recognises the UK’s leading work to prevent abuse by UN peacekeepers.

“Working with the UN, survivors and charities to end violence and protect the most vulnerable is a priority for the new Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s vital humanitarian work.”

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