A World Health Organisation (WHO) staff has been accused of sexually assaulting a participant attending a global health summit in Berlin, Germany this week.
The three-day forum ending October 18, brought together health professionals and stakeholders from across the world.
On Tuesday, Dr Rosie James complained on Twitter of a sexual attack by a WHO staff.
“I was sexually assaulted by a @WHO staff tonight at the @WorldHealthSmt. This was not the first time in the global health sphere that this has occurred (for MANY of us). I will be reporting it. So disappointing+disheartening. We must do better,” she tweeted.
This drew a prompt response from WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who said he was horrified to know about the incident but promised to address it.
He said: “I am so sorry and horrified to hear this and want you to know that @WHO has zero tolerance for sexual assault, and we will do everything we can to help you. I truly hope you will report what happened to investigation@who.int. Please feel free to reach out directly to me.”
This is, however, not the first time the WHO staff has been implicated in sexual offences.
Last year, an independent commission appointed by WHO to look into the atrocities committed by its staff in Congo in 2018-2020 during the Ebola crisis, revealed the worst.
The probe had been prompted by an investigation by Thomson Reuters Foundation and The New Humanitarian, which revealed accusations of more than 50 women who said the staff from WHO and other charities demanded sex in exchange for jobs.
In its report, the independent commission established that indeed at least 21 of 83 suspected perpetrators were employed by the WHO, and that the abuses, which included nine allegations of rape, were committed by both national and international staff, Reuters reported.
Out of the abuse, 29 women and girls became pregnant and the perpetrators forced some of them to abort. BY DAILY NATION