H. Con. Res. 349
Agreed to November 20, 2002
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two
Concurrent Resolution
Whereas the United Nations and organizations engaged in inter-
national humanitarian relief periodically receive reports of sexual
exploitation of refugees, particularly women and children;
Whereas last year a report commissioned by the United Nations
High Commissioner of Refugees and the British organization
Save the Children accuses aid workers in Liberia, Sierra Leone,
and Guinea of refusing to give food and medicine to young girls
unless they perform sexual favors;
Whereas in response to this report the Secretary General of the
United Nations denounced sexual exploitation of refugees and
called for a full investigation of the humanitarian staff from
the agencies involved;
Whereas the charges against aid workers in West Africa are still
being investigated and in recent years there have been reports
implicating employees of international nongovernmental organiza-
tions, 
government 
agencies 
responsible 
for 
humanitarian
response, and peacekeeping forces in sexual exploitation of refu-
gees;
Whereas many of these reports have involved children, some as
young as 10 to 12 years of age;
Whereas the insufficiency of food rations in refugee camps has
been cited as a primary factor contributing to sexual exploitation;
Whereas refugees are often extremely poor and cut off from employ-
ment and other ordinary means of income, so that they can
be highly susceptible to demands that they exchange sex for
food to help their families survive; and
Whereas the relationship between refugee workers and refugees
is a custodial or caregiving relationship in which the custodian
or caregiver can exercise substantial power over the life of the
other party, and which carries a corresponding risk of abuse:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concur-
ring), That the Congress—
(1) supports the Secretary General of the United Nations
in condemning the sexual exploitation of children by humani-
tarian aid workers;
(2) urges the United Nations to conduct a comprehensive
worldwide investigation into the extent, if any, of sexual exploi-
tation of refugees by agents or employees of United Nations
agencies, of other international nongovernmental organizations,
and of governments;
H. Con. Res. 349—2
(3) urges the President to—
(A) affirm the commitment of the United States to
protecting the well-being and human rights of women and
children, particularly those in refugee situations; and
(B) instruct the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development and the Secretary
of Agriculture to review the distribution of food assistance
to refugee communities throughout the world to ensure
that humanitarian assistance to refugees provided by the
United States is respectful of the human rights of women
and children and is distributed in such a way as to mini-
mize the risk of sexual exploitation; and
(4) urges the Secretary General, the President, and the
executive authorities of all governmental and nongovernmental
entities engaged in refugee work to adopt codes of conduct
for employees, contractors, and other agents of the United
Nations, of the United States Government, and of such govern-
mental and nongovernmental entities, respectively, who are
engaged in refugee work that strictly prohibit sexual relation-
ships between international refugee workers and those
entrusted to their care, and to enforce these prohibitions vigor-
ously.
Attest:
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Attest:
Secretary of the Senate.