80 alleged abuse cases linked to WHO’s response to Ebola in DR Congo – report

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appointed the panel’s co-chairs to investigate the claims last October, after media reports claimed unnamed humanitarian officials sexually abused women during the Ebola outbreak that began in the DRC in 2018. Picture: AP Photo/Bilal Hussein

A panel commissioned by the World Health Organisation has identified more than 80 alleged cases of sex abuse during the UN health agency’s response to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – including claims implicating 20 WHO staff members.

The panel released its findings on Tuesday, months after an Associated Press investigation found senior WHO management was informed of multiple abuse claims in 2019 but failed to stop the harassment, and even promoted one of the managers involved.