(2) what steps his Department plans to take through the United Nations to improve reporting of and action taken in response to sexual exploitation and abuse of children by UN peacekeepers.
I have been asked to reply.
We believe strongly that UN personnel must uphold the highest standards of behaviour. The vast majority of UN peacekeepers uphold those standards while doing important work in difficult and dangerous circumstances. They are working to build the conditions for sustainable peace.
The UK takes all allegations of misconduct by UN and other peacekeepers extremely seriously. The UN is responsible for tackling any individual allegations of misconduct with troop-contributing countries. We will continue to work closely with the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations and other partners to ensure that its ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards incidents of abuse is implemented in full. We have been instrumental in instigating some recent policy changes at the UN aimed at preventing and tackling sexual exploitation and abuse. These include: a more robust Model Memorandum of Understanding between the UN and Troop Contributing Countries; an upgraded Welfare and Recreation Strategy for peacekeeping and related personnel; a Victim's Assistance Strategy to provide assistance for survivors of sexual violence perpetrated by UN personnel; and a resolution on 'Criminal accountability of UN officials and experts on mission’.
We are also helping to support the UN's efforts to assess, prioritise and respond to the sexual exploitation and abuse of children by UN peacekeepers and aid workers. This has involved taking concrete measures to address both military and civilian branches of peacekeeping support operations. One such measure, the UN's Conduct and Discipline Units, is funded by the UK's Conflict Prevention Pool. These teams work to ensure that all peacekeeping personnel undergo training on UN standards of conduct relating to sexual exploitation and abuse, and that all allegations of wrongdoing are reported upon and followed up with appropriate action. In the UN Mission in Liberia, for example, the number of cases reported to the UN was reduced by half from 2006 to 2007.
The UK supports all efforts to protect the world's most vulnerable children from sexual abuse. To strengthen the UN's approach further, the UK supported the UN Secretary-General's recent recommendation to include, where appropriate, child protection advisers within the mandates of peacekeeping missions. As an active member of the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, we will continue to work to improve the effectiveness of existing UN monitoring, reporting and disciplinary mechanisms.
Through its Conflict Prevention programme, the UK also helps to train military personnel for peacekeeping operations. Good conduct and respect for human rights is an integral part of all training courses. The UK will continue to provide training on peace support operations for troops from other countries, which covers conduct and discipline, particularly the importance of protecting civilians (including women and children) in accordance with international law.
Save The Children (the non-governmental organisation) raises some important concerns in its report about abuse committed by not just UN personnel but aid workers employed by non-governmental organisations. We need to consider carefully with the UN and the non-governmental organisation community how best to ensure that children are not subject to abuse.