Mary Bowerman, and Oren Dorell

USA TODAY

The United Nations on Wednesday condemned allegations of sexual exploitation and other "egregious conduct" by U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic and called for a full investigation.

U.N. officials learned last month that at least four peacekeepers paid as little as 50 cents for sex with underage girls during a mission in the Central African Republic, The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed U.N. officials.

The allegations are the most recent in a series of sexual abuse and exploitation claims linked to U.N. employees. At least 26 incidents, including the most recent incidents, have occurred in the past 14 months, according to the U.N.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said new allegations have been referred for a full investigation “by the appropriate authorities.”

Haq would not confirm details of the allegations to USA TODAY, but said U.N. Special Representative Parfait Onanga-Anyanga last week announced new information "on instances (of) sexual exploitation and abuse.”

The most recent allegations allegedly took place at a displacement camp called M’Poko in the capital of Bangui, according to Haq. The U.N. workers allegedly paid for sex through a prostitution ring run by young men and boys, the Post reported.

In response to the allegations, the U.N. has dispatched a team to the camp, Haq said Wednesday.

"The U.N. mission in Central African Republic assembled and dispatched a joint protection team consisting of human rights and child protection personnel along with UNICEF to the MPOKO IDP camp in Bangui to assist with victim’s support," he said.

In addition to investigation, the U.N. and local partners are implementing prevention activities "aimed at deterring this egregious conduct,” he said.

In August, Ban called the string of sexual misconduct claims a “cancer” in the U.N.’s system. He said the U.N. would strive to implement a “zero tolerance position” when rooting out claims of abuse.

Since the early 1990s, there have been reports of sexual abuse at the hands of U.N. peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Cambodia, East Timor, West Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Liberia, South Sudan and most recently in the Central African Republic, according to a 2015 independent U.N. report on the allegations.

In the December report, the U.N. said the sexual abuse allegations were putting peacekeeping operations in “jeopardy.”

“In particular, the U.N. must recognize that sexual violence by peacekeepers triggers its human rights mandate to protect victims, investigate, report and follow-up on human rights violations, and to take measures to hold perpetrators accountable,” the report stated.

There are currently nine U.N. peacekeeping operations in Africa.

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