WRITTEN QUESTION P-0691/02

by Amalia Sartori (PPE-DE) to the Council

(5 March 2002)

Subject: Sex in exchange for humanitarian aid

It is reported in the international press that staff of non-governmental organisations employed in distributing and managing humanitarian aid on behalf of the United Nations have been accused of sexual abuse of refugees. This has emerged from UN inquiries conducted during aid monitoring operations in crisis areas.

What happens is that food, medicines and other commodities are apparently traded in exchange for sex with young girls (many of whom are minors). The violence and abuse is further exacerbated by the fact that no precautions are taken, thus promoting the spread of AIDS, which is already at alarming levels in the areas concerned.

Situations of this kind appear to have occurred in Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and East Timor, suggesting that it may now be an established practice.

In view of the fact that UN humanitarian aid programmes are co-financed by the EU, what measures does the Council intend to take to investigate these deplorable incidents involving relief workers who, instead of providing aid to people facing a state of emergency, are humiliating and exploiting the very people they should be helping?

If these allegations prove to be true, what does the Council intend to do to punish those responsible and ensure that abuses of this kind do not occur again?

Reply

(26 June 2002)

1. The Council does not possess any documents formally attesting to the veracity of the reports quoted by the Honourable Member. However, if the reports turn out to be true, the Council will, to the full extent of its powers, support any measure aimed at identifying and punishing the persons responsible for the acts in question as well as any other action to prevent such incidents from happening again.

2. It may be noted that, under Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 of 20 June 1996 concerning humanitarian aid(1), cooperation between the European

Community and the UN's international humanitarian agencies and organisations comes within the sphere of competence of the Commission. It is therefore the Commission's responsibility to determine the conditions for financing and implementing the humanitarian operations carried out by those bodies to monitor their execution and to assess the results.

3. On a general level, the Council is watching very closely the development of relations between the EU and the UN in this area. In response to the Commission's communication of 2 May 2001 to the Council and the European Parliament entitled Building an effective partnership with the United Nations in the fields of Development and Humanitarian Affairs, the Council adopted conclusions on 31 May 2001 in which it urged the Commission to strengthen and improve its relations with the relevant UN agencies in this area. Among other things, the Council stressed the importance of enhancing dialogue to build a strategic partnership between the Community and the UN in order to tackle humanitarian crises.

4. In addition, the EU is in the forefront of the international efforts to ensure that the personnel charged with carrying out UN humanitarian measures meet the highest standard required for performing the relevant tasks. On the initiative of the EU, in particular, the UN General Assembly adopted on 21 December 2001 a Resolution entitled Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel (RES/56/217), which reaffirms, among other things, in paragraph 15, the principle whereby all humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel [are obliged] to observe and respect the national laws of the country in which they are operating, in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations. The principle is reiterated and developed in paragraph 18, which requests the UN Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to ensure that United Nations and other personnel carrying out activities in fulfilment of the mandate of a United Nations operation are properly informed about [] the standards that they are required to meet, including those contained in relevant domestic and international law, [] and reaffirms the necessity for all other humanitarian organisations to provide their personnel with similar support.

(1) OJ L 163, 2.7.1996, p. 1.