Sex abuse allegations against aid workers in South Sudan UN camp

Malakal, South Sudan – Accounts of sexual abuse committed by aid workers at a camp run by the UN in South Sudan first surfaced in 2015, two years after the country’s civil war erupted. Seven years on, such reports have not only continued, but they recently increased, an investigation by The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera found.

The revelations come at a tense time, with the UN estimating that as many as 5,000 displaced people may be headed towards the camp in Malakal soon and current residents worrying that this influx may increase the incidents of sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA). They say these incidents have gone largely unchecked despite a UN-led task force charged with tackling the problem.

Residents also worry that the recent violence that these people are fleeing will seep into the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site – recent clashes between Shilluk and Nuer tribespeople in the camp have already flared up.

Aid workers who have worked at the PoC site told reporters that accounts of abuse began trickling in shortly after the camp opened in late 2013, but The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera’s investigation found that the scale of abuse has since grown, according to aid workers, camp residents, and victims. Reporters also analysed several UN and NGO documents.

One woman said she became pregnant in 2019 by a local World Food Programme (WFP) worker – although the relationship was consensual, most aid groups, including WFP, ban sexual relationships with aid beneficiaries because of the stark power imbalances between aid workers and aid beneficiaries. She told reporters in December 2021 that she is so worried about the continuing sexual abuse that she is putting her eldest daughter, now 15, on birth control.

A teenager said she was 15 when a local World Vision worker raped and impregnated her. Fearful of her future, she said she tried to hang herself before deciding to leave the camp in an attempt to build a better life.

World Vision said it was opening an immediate investigation into the woman’s case, while WFP said it could not comment on specific cases.

The women’s allegations tally with those of other camp residents – testimonies that were detailed in a UN Population Fund (UNFPA) report sent to humanitarian agencies on October 5, 2020, and shared with The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera by an aid worker who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of reprisals.

In the report, residents said sexual exploitation was experienced “on a daily basis”, mostly perpetrated by humanitarian workers; UN and NGO workers were renting houses in the camp to have sex with women, and UN peacekeepers were paying bribes to gain access to women. Camp residents also said that three girls had been raped and impregnated by a teacher in 2018. Some schools in the camp are supported by UN agencies and NGOs.

Further accounts of abuse continued for at least 18 months after the release of the report.

“I received with greatest alarm information on the increased incidents of sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA) in Malakal Protection of Civilians (POC) site,” Sara Beysolow Nyanti, deputy head of South Sudan’s UN peacekeeping mission, stated in a March 21, 2022, letter sent to some 17 aid organisations working in the camp, as well as several camp coordination groups. A copy of the letter, which was not made public, was obtained by The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera.

Nyanti, who assumed her role in January 2022, said the reported increase was noted during a meeting with humanitarian partners in the Malakal PoC, which now hosts some 37,000 people.

She told reporters in an email on August 12 that tackling such abuse is one of her “top priorities”, but she did not offer comment on why past strategies may have fallen short.

The reference to an increase, even if aid officials declined to give information on specific cases or were unable to provide a fuller picture, offers a rare glimpse into a grossly underreported problem, and one that comes up around the UN and aid sector often.

Aid groups acknowledged that hurdles remain in tackling such abuse. Their representatives told reporters they are working towards increasing awareness about what constitutes exploitation and how to report it. Measures include holding talks with the community, broadcasting messages over the radio, and sharing hotline numbers to raise awareness.

Although some women said sex was consensual, they also told reporters that they had no other means of supporting themselves or their families without the money or gifts the men provided. They said they feared if they stopped having sex with the aid workers, support would stop.

“Sexual exploitation and abuse is a consequence of the broader abuse of power and gender inequality, which is entrenched in existing social and institutional structures and practices,” Peterson Magoola, a spokesperson for UN Women told reporters in an email. UN Women has co-chaired the national task force since 2018.

According to the UN, sexual exploitation is defined (PDF) as any actual or attempted abuse of one’s position of power, using vulnerability or trust, for sexual purposes. It forbids it because it is based on unequal relationships, noting any kind of transaction for sex – such as providing gifts or offering support – reflects this unequal power balance.

“Consent is irrelevant; even if someone accepts a gift or support … the transaction is still considered exploitative,” reads a guide.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a statement sent by his spokesperson to The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera after the publication of the investigation, called 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 statement added that the UN chief was “appalled by these allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse which causes irreparable harm to victims and their families”.

The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan opened its bases to more than 200,000 people at the onset of the war in 2013 – an unprecedented move in the history of UN peacekeeping missions and one that was credited with saving thousands of lives. Malakal, which was intended to be a temporary refuge, was one of those sites.

Other civilian camps across the country were under UN protection until last year when all except Malakal were placed under government control.

Due to heightened ethnic and political tensions in the town of Malakal – and continued fighting between government-backed forces and the opposition – the PoC site was deemed too risky to redesignate and has remained under UN control.

Despite the challenges of operating in South Sudan, including access constraints, insecurity and funding cuts, the chronology of events at Malakal suggests a litany of systemic failures and missed opportunities by the aid sector and a deep betrayal for vulnerable women and girls who sought refuge in the camp.

“The people sexually exploiting and abusing women in [protection sites] are the very people meant to serve and protect them; their entire lives depend on services from these same aid workers,” said Aluel Atem, a South Sudanese development economist and feminist activist who has researched and written about gender-based violence in South Sudan.

“The people sexually exploiting and abusing women in [protection sites] are the very people meant to serve and protect them; their entire lives depend on services from these same aid workers.” Aluel Atem, activist

Complicating matters are the cultural, political and gender dynamics in South Sudan.

“At a community level, [sexual exploitation and abuse] is not being perceived as a violation of individual women or children’s rights but rather as a violation of property for which the family should obtain compensation or secure marriage for their daughters,” reads a strategy report for the UN-led task force’s mandate for 2018-2021.

Although the UN and most international NGOs ban sexual relationships with aid beneficiaries, several local aid workers who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs said they should be allowed to have relationships with women in the camp. Some said it was one of the only ways to find a wife and start a family.

Many local aid workers live in the camp amongst residents and have themselves also been displaced or traumatised by the war, which has killed nearly 400,000 people.

Despite a fragile peace deal that was signed in 2018 – the second such agreement – gender-based violence has continued to surge in South Sudan.

Adeyinka Badejo, WFP’s acting director and co-chair of the national UN-led task force that aims to prevent such abuses, said in a written response to reporters that some efforts to prevent sexual abuse had also been disrupted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

An external mid-term review of the UN-led task force between August 2018 and December 2020 noted concerns over providing survivor care, ensuring the safety and protection of survivors and witnesses, and a lack of uniform standards on how risks are mitigated amongst NGOs and UN agencies. The report, which also noted uneven data collection between UN agencies and NGOs, was shared by an aid worker who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

The review found that only one-third of the cases between August 2018 and December 2020 were provided with victim assistance, and less than half of the cases were closed within a year. The report did not offer a total number of cases during that period.

The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera spoke to several women in the camp who said they were sexually abused or exploited by aid workers. Reporters also obtained nearly a dozen documents that show the UN and other aid groups knew about the problem for years.

Reporters also spoke to aid workers who had worked in the camp early on, and who said the scale of the problem had grown worse over the years. Although there was no central system to prevent, log, and tackle cases of sexual abuse and exploitation when the camp was set up in late 2013, organisations began hearing of such reports as early as 2015, according to the aid workers.

By 2018, alarms were sounded that the overcrowded camp was particularly risky for women and girls due, in part, to aid workers having “inadequate knowledge of policies and procedures”, according to a planning document for the UN-led task force. The document was shared with reporters by an aid worker who asked for anonymity because they were not authorised to share the report.

Talk of sexual exploitation in Malakal had become so pervasive by 2019 that local musicians invited to play at a Christmas party that year sang about it in Shilluk, their language, chiding aid workers for “flashing their VHF radios and exploiting poor women”, according to one foreign aid worker in attendance who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

By 2020, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) – an NGO working in the camp – had noted the lack of progress on the issue, according to a confidential 2020 report from DRC shared by an aid worker who asked to remain anonymous given the sensitive nature of its contents.

It said DRC was concerned that the UN-led task force in Malakal had become less effective between 2019 and 2020 when there was staff turnover, that community groups and aid workers were worried about a lack of follow-up on cases, and that complainants had been kept in the dark about progress on cases.

In the report, DRC also noted the potential risk from UN peacekeepers.

The Malakal camp is steps away from the UN peacekeeping base. UN peacekeepers stand guard at the entrance of the camp and periodically patrol it.

“Research has shown that environments with a high proximity of military forces, including those deployed as United Nations Peacekeeping Forces, presents a heightened risk of SEA for vulnerable populations,” the DRC report said.

It also noted a higher risk of sexual abuse and exploitation given that peacekeepers were deployed for long periods and kept in a confined environment with regular camp access, coupled with a lack of criminal justice systems and training.

James Curtis, DRC executive director in East Africa and the Great Lakes, told reporters in an email on August 16, 2022, that DRC had long called for measures to be reinforced and called the reports “hugely disturbing”.

“This is a very important story to be told, and DRC is committed to being a part of the solution,” Curtis said, adding that DRC recorded four reports of sexual misconduct in Malakal from 2015 to 2018. One was proven, but Curtis provided no details, citing legal and confidentiality issues.

Between 2013 and 2018, the reporting and logging of allegations involving both NGO and UN agencies countrywide were patchy. The extended mandate of the task force in 2018 was supposed to have changed that.

Since 2019, there have been a total of 28 logged allegations in all of South Sudan, Badejo, the task force co-chair, told reporters in January. Eight of the allegations were in Malakal. But the actual scale of the abuse is likely to be larger.

In the space of roughly a week, one reporter was able to find seven women in Malakal who were willing to share their stories. It was unclear if those cases were part of the eight that Badejo noted.

Community leaders, women’s rights activists, healthcare workers, and aid workers, told reporters they knew of even more cases, suggesting the abuse was widespread and vastly underreported.

Most of the women said they knew the men’s names.

“Failing to punish offenders adequately undermines confidence in the system and makes people less willing to report violations they’ve experienced or witnessed.” Nina Masore, Equality Now

One woman told The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera that she feared for the safety of her 13-year-old daughter, saying that a local Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) staff security guard tried to rape the girl in October 2021.

According to the mother, the MSF worker dragged the child off the street and into his house, only relenting when his wife pushed him away and tried to help the girl.

She said she escalated the case to local police who issued a letter demanding the man be brought to town, the woman said, but community chiefs then threatened anyone who turned him in, saying they would be responsible for whatever happened to him.

“It’s the consequence of men with money,” the girl’s mother told reporters.

Some cases of abuse are covered up by men paying money, proposing marriage, or giving the family a dowry, said Josephina James, assistant head for the women’s group in the camp that holds regular meetings to discuss such abuse and other concerns.

MSF said its worker was suspended for a month while it conducted an internal assessment.

The man was then allowed to return to work.

Leaders in the community – South Sudan society is largely patriarchal – took the side of the man, who accused the mother and girl of lying, the mother said.

“Our primary concern was for the wellbeing of the child, and MSF offered immediate medical care and psychological support,” Malika Ait, ethics and behaviour lead at MSF, told The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera.

“We then quickly opened an internal investigation, but we did not find any evidence to substantiate the allegations. Throughout the process, we provided support and communicated all steps to the family. If new information surfaces, MSF will immediately reopen an investigation into this case.”

Three of the victims who spoke with reporters said they were minors when the alleged assaults occurred between 2017 and 2021.

One child – who was 17 when reporters spoke to her in January – said she was raped in 2019 by a local World Vision worker. She was 15 then.

She said once the man was alone with her, he covered her mouth so she wouldn’t scream as he raped her. She said her economic circumstances were dire, so she continued having sex with him, four more times before she became pregnant. Feeling trapped and desperate, she tried to hang herself before finding the courage to leave the camp to seek a better life for herself and her young daughter.

“What went through my mind was that my mother had no work and no money, and so I decided to continue sleeping with him to help support the family,” she said, adding that the man refused to take any responsibility for her daughter.

Many women said they had sex because the men promised to marry them. Others said they were afraid that if they refused, the money and gifts that were often used to help their families – such as mobile phones – would stop.

“Based on an initial review, no allegation of this nature in this location has been made to us before,” World Vision Country Director Mesfin Loha said in a statement emailed to The New Humanitarian on July 12. “The investigation will be conducted with global oversight, given the seriousness of the claim that a staff member may have sexually abused a child.”

That investigation is still ongoing.

The mother who said she was putting her eldest daughter on birth control also recalled her own pregnancy by a local WFP worker in 2019.

WFP told The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera that since 2019 it had received six allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse against WFP staff in South Sudan – two in 2019, one in 2020, and three in 2021. It was unclear whether the case of the women becoming pregnant was among them.

“Investigations are ongoing and we are unable to comment on specific cases,” said Badejo, the country director and co-chair of the UN-led task force. She said there had been no cases against WFP staff in 2022.

For years, tensions have been high in the camp – where locals compete for scarce jobs in the aid industry – a reality compounded by poverty, an outsized dependence on aid, and a lack of government investment to address the country’s many humanitarian problems. In a recent UN report, South Sudan was ranked as having one of the lowest life expectancies in the world, at just 55 years.

Some women who used to cultivate land before the war told The New Humanitarian and Al Jazeera they are still too afraid to leave the camp for fear of being raped by soldiers or militias.

Those who are able to find work can spend 12 hours a day earning little more than $1, serving tea in shops, braiding hair, or selling charcoal. Those who can’t find work are reliant on family members and the aid sector, making them even more vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

One 25-year-old woman said she became pregnant in 2017 by a South Sudanese aid worker who said he worked for the UN’s migration agency, IOM.

When the man abandoned her after she gave birth, she reported the case directly to IOM, she said. But after a meeting in August 2021 with an IOM representative who took DNA samples, she said she hasn’t heard anything else.

“They asked where and when I met him, how much he paid, and if [he was taking care of] the child,” she said. “But I’ve had no contact since then.”

Another respondent, now 21, says that when she was 16 years old, a man who also said he worked for IOM offered her gifts in exchange for sex – things her father, who worked at a school in the camp, couldn’t afford. She said he cut all ties months after she gave birth to his child.

“I forced myself to have sex with him so he wouldn’t question why he was giving me gifts and money,” said the woman.

IOM, which said it had received 11 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation against its workers in Malakal since 2017, said two of them involved paternity claims, but it could not comment on the women who spoke to reporters due to having insufficient information.

According to IOM spokesperson Safa Msehli, IOM also adheres to strict policies to protect complainants when dealing with paternity complaints.

In two cases, in 2021 and 2022, one allegation was closed for lack of evidence; another was referred for potential disciplinary action, Msehli said.

In both of the paternity claims, IOM staff voluntarily submitted DNA samples, and tests were negative, IOM said.

One of the overriding complaints from camp residents in Malakal has been inaction over cases and the absence of justice.

The woman who said an MSF worker tried to rape her daughter said community leaders took the side of the aid worker because he had status and power.

Another case mentioned by camp residents was that of a camp teacher who impregnated at least one student.

War Child Canada – which oversaw some school programmes in the camp – confirmed that a volunteer teacher had impregnated an 18-year-old student in 2019. It said it had dismissed the project director for not reporting it and also dismissed the teacher after an investigation. War Child Canada’s Country Director Emmanuel Gumbiri said it only learned of the incident in 2020 after UNICEF reported it.

The girl’s parents also took the case to a community tribunal and in the end, the parents agreed to marry the girl off to the teacher, who was ordered to give the family a number of cows as dowry, Gumbiri said in an email on August 17, 2022.

“Failing to punish offenders adequately undermines confidence in the system and makes people less willing to report violations they’ve experienced or witnessed,” said Nina Masore, who works for Equality Now, which campaigns for the end of sexual and gender-based violence.

Although aid officials have often fired workers if sexual abuse cases are found to be substantiated, referring cases like rape for criminal prosecution is more difficult.

Since 2016, the UN has referred only two cases to South Sudan’s government, according to a UN database. South Sudanese officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

In the meantime, Nyanti, deputy head of the UN peacekeeping mission, has put UN agencies and aid groups in Malakal on notice.

“I request a review of your internal arrangements to further enhance sensitisation of aid personnel on these international commitments and raise awareness on PSEA (prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse), policies, standards, and code of conduct on PSEA,” she wrote in a March 2022 letter to the organisations, shared with reporters by an aid worker.

Aid groups in Malakal told reporters they would investigate cases that had been uncovered and said they are constantly working to bolster measures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse.

More broadly, many aid organisations have also vowed to increase the number of female aid workers, though nearly a dozen organisations working in South Sudan did not disclose the current numbers when contacted by reporters via email in August.

While the fate of the Malakal camp is unclear – there has been talk of turning over control to South Sudan’s government – aid groups say they are committed to providing a “survivor-centred approach”.

But for many women who fled South Sudan’s war, justice and accountability are even harder to come by when the means of survival are often provided by aid agencies and NGOs, according to Atem, the South Sudanese feminist activist.

“It’s not a matter of having beautifully written zero-tolerance policies,” she said. “They must serve and protect victims and survivors without any compromises.”

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Mednick and Craze reported from South Sudan. Paisley Dodds reported and edited from London