The UN has been shaken by a series of allegations against its peacekeeping soldiers stationed in multiple African countries. In 2016, accusations surfaced that blue helmets on a peacekeeping mission in the CAR had committed sexual crimes including sexual assault, rape, abuse of minors and transactional sex. After investigating, the UN identified 41 suspected soldiers from Gabon and Burundi in December 2016 before passing proceedings onto those countries.

The in June 2017, the Republic of the Congo withdrew around 600 of its troops in the CAR in relation to sexual abuse allegations, leaving some 140 Congolese soldiers under the UN banner.

Peacekeepers in Haiti have also allegedly committed sexual exploitation crimes.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres thus announced last month that Jane Connors will become the organization’s first Victims’ Rights Advocate, to eliminate sexual exploitation committed by peacekeeping troops… read more