The Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in Malakal opened its doors in late 2013 to offer refuge to people fleeing South Sudan’s ruinous civil war. Accounts of sexual abuse committed by aid workers first emerged in 2015, but the scale of the problem has since grown despite a UN-led task force charged with tackling it, according to aid workers, camp residents and victims interviewed by The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera. Reporters also analysed several UN and NGO documents.
“The Secretary-General is appalled by these allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse which causes irreparable harm to victims and their families,” Guterres’s spokesperson said in a statement to The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera after the publication of the report on Thursday, and “has asked for an urgent report on the immediate actions being taken by the UN Country team to address sexual exploitation and abuse across our operations in South Sudan and ensure accountability.”
The revelations suggest a litany of systemic failures and missed opportunities by the aid sector and a deep betrayal for vulnerable women and girls at the camp, which now hosts some 37,000 people.
Aid workers with organisations such as the International Organization of Migration, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres), the World Food Programme, and World Vision were among the alleged perpetrators, with allegations including rape and sexual abuse of minors, as well as pressuring women and girls to have sex for gifts, and other examples of exploitation.
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