Note: Full coverage of today's meetings of the Economic and Social Council will be available Friday, 23 May.

From internally displaced people to victims of sexual exploitation and abuse, the United Nations development system and Member States must work together to support those who fall between the cracks, the Economic and Social Council heard today.

As the Operational Activities for Development Segment entered its third and final day, the Organization’s development officials and delegates exchanged views in a series of panel discussions that assessed the work of the development system and how to improve its accountability.

In the morning, the Segment held a panel discussion on “Effective accountability:  Action for the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Sexual Harassment”.

“In 2024, the UN received 675 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse”, Christian Saunders, Special Coordinator on improving the United Nations response to sexual exploitation and abuse, noted.  Nearly 30 per cent of allegations involved child victims.  “These numbers however don’t tell the full story,” he pointed out, because many more cases go unreported due to stigma and a lack of trust.  “Even in this room, I can see people who look uncomfortable speaking about this issue and listening to my words,” he said.  While it is uncomfortable to talk about these issues, “we need to get over these reservations and talk about it openly and honestly”, he added.

The challenge has been amplified by the recent UN funding cuts, he said stressing the need to shift from an ad hoc reactive approach to a model where the prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation is “embedded in everything we do”.  “Sexual exploitation and abuse are rooted in deep structural issues, power imbalances, inequality, poverty and weak rule of law,” he said.  Member States have a sobering responsibility to address these root causes.  While Resident Coordinators can lead this effort, “they need your support and access to dedicated sustainable resources”, he said.

Long Wait to Complete Sexual Abuse Investigations Increases Sense of Impunity among Perpetrators

Speaking virtually, Gwyn Lewis, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, said:  “I have witnessed firsthand the heartbreaking impact on survivors awaiting outcomes.”  The lack of investigative capacity at country level results in long waits for investigations to be completed.  The delay also increases the sense of impunity among perpetrators.  The UN country team in Bangladesh is “developing and sharing key messages tailored to the local context”, training staff and volunteers, and ensuring victims support is available.  She proposed establishing “a system to track perpetrators to avoid rehiring them across the UN and NGO system”.

Dedicated Victim Support Specialists on the Ground Making a Difference

Najla Nassif Palma, Victims’ Rights Advocate for the United Nations, highlighted the steps taken by the UN system — including the creation of her mandate — to place victims at the heart of its prevention and response efforts.  “Dedicated victim support specialists on the ground make a real difference”, she said.  Such personnel on the ground in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and South Sudan are performing her system-wide role at the field level, by mobilizing resources, facilitating access to assistance, accompanying victims during investigations, and where there are children born of sexual exploitation and abuse, assisting in the resolution of the paternity and child maintenance claims. She called on Member States to align national legislation with international standards and to “adopt a more flexible legal approach to addressing paternity and child support claims”.

Survivor-Centered Responses Must Remain Priority

Maritza Chan Valverde (Costa Rica), Vice President of the Economic and Social Council, highlighted several key areas in which Member States can contribute.  First, “investing in survivor-centered responses must remain a priority, even in a challenging financial landscape”, she said.  As members of governing bodies, it is essential to demand consistent implementation.  “Standards on paper must translate into action on the ground,” she underscored.  Also stressing the need to align national systems with international standards and ensure credible reporting structures, she said it also essential to support coherent inter-agency approaches that avoid duplication.

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