LONDON – A confidential UN report on alleged missteps by senior World Health Organization officials in handling a case of sexual misconduct during a Ebola Outbreak in Congo noted that her response did not violate agency guidelines, as some officials described it as a “loophole” in WHO’s definition of a victim of such behavior.
The report, which was submitted to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last month and was not published, was obtained by The Associated Press. The WHO has not publicly described the content of the report.
The UN investigation follows a review in 2021 by a blackboard appointed by Tedros found three WHO managers fumbled a case of sexual misconduct First reported by the AP earlier this year, a UN health agency doctor signed a deal to buy land for a young woman he had reportedly impregnated.
Last weekTedros said UN investigators had concluded the charges of “managerial misconduct” were unfounded and the three staff members returned to work after their administrative leave. The WHO chief said the agency would seek expert advice on how to deal with the contradictions between the two reports.
Investigators said Tedros was briefed on the sexual misconduct allegations in 2019 and warned the previous year about worrying gaps in the WHO’s guidelines on misconduct.
“If Tedros has been made aware of these issues and no action has been taken, then (WHO) member states must hold themselves accountable,” said Dr. Irwin Redlener, global health expert at Columbia University.
Tedros has previously said he only became aware of complaints of sexual misconduct in Congo after media reports in September 2020 and learned of the specific case being reported by the AP when it was made public. He said anyone involved in sexual misconduct faces consequences, including dismissal. To date, no senior WHO staff associated with the abuse and exploitation has been fired.
In May 2021, an AP investigation found that sexual exploitation was reported to senior WHO management during the agency’s efforts to stop Ebola in eastern Congo from 2018 to 2020, but little was done to stop it.
The AP published a notarized agreement between former WHO doctor Jean-Paul Ngandu and the woman he allegedly impregnated, in which he agreed to pay for her healthcare costs and buy her land. The deal, also signed by two WHO employees, was intended to protect WHO’s reputation, Ngandu said. According to internal WHO correspondence, the woman and her aunt went to the WHO office in Beni to complain about Ngandu.
“After the allegations were raised with WHO (headquarters), it was decided not to investigate the complaint as it does not violate WHO guidelines (sexual exploitation and abuse),” the UN report said.
The review explained that the decision was made by officials from the UN health agency’s legal, ethics and other departments and was based on the fact that the woman was not a “beneficiary” of WHO aid, meaning she was not an emergency received or received humanitarian assistance from the agency and was therefore not considered a victim under WHO policy.
WHO officials interviewed by UN investigators said this could be seen as a “loophole that could allow complaints to slip through the cracks”.
“Ngandu’s conduct did not violate any WHO standards of conduct (sexual exploitation and abuse),” the report said, describing his agreement to pay off the woman as a “private financial settlement.”
UN investigators found there were problems with the WHO’s sexual misconduct policy, calling it “a collective responsibility”. In February 2018, several employees sent a memorandum to Tedros warning of the policy’s shortcomings.
Experts have criticized the WHO’s defense, saying the agency should uphold the highest standards when dealing with sexual exploitation as it coordinates global responses to acute crises like COVID-19 and monkeypox.
“It is unacceptable to evade accountability based on weasel words and jargon, say, when you are not a ‘beneficiary’ of WHO aid,” said Larry Gostin, Chair of Global Health at Georgetown University. “The fact that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services has excused this behavior on the basis of this legal formality shows that the UN and WHO do not take sexual abuse seriously.”
After reports of sexual misconduct emerged in Congo, the WHO created a new office to prevent such behavior, headed by dr Gaya Gamhewage. In her interview with UN investigators, Gamhewage said she was unaware of, and had not even read, the WHO’s guidelines on sexual misconduct before starting her new job.
“Sexual exploitation and abuse were unfamiliar terms to her,” the report said.
The UN probe comes weeks after the AP published another story detailing sexual misconduct at the WHO, which a doctor in Fiji with a history of allegations of sexual assault within the agency, who was preparing to run in an election for WHO’s chief director in the western Pacific.
“These repeated instances of sexual assault and, arguably worse, their cover-up, are absolutely unbearable,” said Columbia University’s Redlener. “It’s possible that technically this Ngandu case didn’t violate WHO guidelines, but there are guidelines and then there are morals and ethics,” he said. “There is something deeply uncomfortable about what happened here.”
During the Ebola epidemic, Tedros traveled to Congo 14 times to personally monitor the WHO’s response.
“At the very least, Tedros should promise and implement a major overhaul of policies and accountability,” Redlener said. “There might even be an expectation that he has failed in his responsibilities and should therefore resign.”
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Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
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