The United Nations has been accused of ignoring an internal report that describes sexual exploitation and abuse as “the most significant risk” to peacekeeping missions across the globe.

The leaked internal document examines UN peacekeeping missions in Congo, Haiti, Liberia and South Sudan, where 85% of all sexual abuse cases against peacekeepers come from. Of the allegations made in these countries in 2012, 18 (30%) involved minors.

The actual number of incidents could be far higher, says the document, referring to significant under-reporting and poor record-keeping, which means that “the UN does not know how serious the problem of SEA [sexual exploitation and abuse] is”. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, in his annual report told members that the number of sexual abuse cases against UN peacekeepers was, at 51 in 2014, the lowest since measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse were put in place.

Reflecting on 'collective failure': is the United Nations still relevant? Read more

The report describes a culture of “impunity” when dealing with sexual cases among UN peacekeepers. “UN personnel in all the missions we visited could point to numerous suspected or quite visible cases of SEA that are not being counted or investigated,” the researchers said. These findings appear to contradict the secretary general’s assurance to member states that the UN had a zero-tolerance policy “towards all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse”.

UN peacekeeping missions have been dogged by allegations of sexual abuse in the past. In 2006, peacekeepers in Liberia and Haiti were accused of forcing girls to perform sexual favours in return for food. Two years later, researchers from Save the Children found UN peacekeepers in Ivory Coast, southern Sudan and Haiti had raped children as young as 13.



The report was commissioned by the secretary general to monitor abuse in peacekeeping missions. It is an internal document, circulated within the UN, which was leaked to AIDS-Free World, an NGO advocating an urgent response to HIV and Aids.

A UN official told the Guardian: “The report of the team of experts is an internal document that, from the team’s inception, was never intended for public release. As the secretary general has repeated, ‘a single substantiated case of sexual exploitation or sexual abuse involving United Nations personnel is one case too many’.”

In response, Dr Rosa Freedman, senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham School of Law, accuses the UN of ignoring the report.

“It seems that they’ve been looking to put this report in a drawer and cover up what the experts said,” she says. “On the issue of sexual abuse and exploitation, there are clear contradictions between what the experts set out in their research and what Ban Ki-moon would like to present as factual in his annual report to members.”

Paula Donovan, co-director at AIDS-Free World, says that both the findings of the report and UN’s reaction to it are “horrible” for the organisation.

“Many people don’t know a lot about the UN, and their first introduction to it is through peacekeepers and UN staff. So when these people commit these crimes, they are exploiting vulnerable people and doing great harm to the UN,” she says.

How to keep aid workers safe: what the security experts say Read more

Mary Creagh, the shadow secretary for international development, called on the UN to be transparent with the experts findings in order to maintain public confidence.

“Sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers is completely unacceptable. The UN has worked hard over many years to tackle sexual exploitation in its peacekeeping missions but it is vital that the work of the independent experts who assess progress is published so public confidence is maintained,” she says.

“It is only when the full extent of exploitation and abuse is known that survivors can be supported and get the justice they deserve.”

The Labour MP’s views were echoed by Anwarul Chowdhury, former Bangladesh ambassador to the UN and former UN under-secretary general.

“When the UN flag goes to a country mandated by the security council it defends the role and objectives of the UN charter: to keep peace, improve human rights and support economic and democratic development,” he says. “Peacekeepers are the protectors of the people in the countries they serve. But if the protectors become predators, that ruins the good name of the UN.”

A UN official denied the report had been covered up and insisted that the organisation “remains committed to the implementation of the secretary-general’s zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN and related personnel. The secretary-general reports on this issue annually and he chaired a meeting of several heads of departments, agencies, funds and programmes in January 2015 and many of the recommendations and proposals are included in his 2015 report.”

From soldiers to peacebuilders: can Liberia's taxi drivers help stop Ebola? Read more

The official added: “Dedicated conduct and discipline personnel deployed in field missions continue to support each field mission with the implementation of the United Nations three-pronged strategy to address sexual exploitation and abuse through prevention, enforcement and remedial actions. Details on concrete activities concerning each aspect of the strategy, including field missions’ specific examples, can be found in the latest report of the secretary-general on special measures for the protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, as well as in each of the preceding reports issued since 2005.”

• This article was corrected on 25 March 2015 because the 51 total allegations mentioned in the Secretary General’s annual report were made in 2014, not 2013 as was originally stated.

Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow@GuardianGDP on Twitter.