UNITED NATIONS: Secretary General Ban ki moon on Wednesday fired the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic over the force’s handling of a series of sexual and other misconduct allegations, including rape and killing.

At a press stakeout at the UN headquarters, Ban told reporters he has accepted the resignation of Babacar Gaye of Senegal and declared: “Enough is enough”.

He called a special session of the U.N. Security Council for Thursday over the sexual abuse allegations that has rocked the world body.

“I cannot put into words how anguished and angered and ashamed I am by recurrent reports over the years of reports of sex abuse and exploitation by UNforces,” said Ban. He first heard about the latest allegations on Tuesday, a week after the first UN officials were informed. “I will not tolerate any action that causes people to replace trust with fear.” Ban said he will hold a special meeting on Thursday with the heads of all peacekeeping missions around the world to stress their responsibilities to “report allegations immediately, investigate thoroughly and act decisively”.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2015

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