NGO scandal during Ebola epidemic: WHO paid victims of sexual abuse $250 each

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Health center in Beni in July 2019

Photo: Jerome Delay / AP

When the Ebola outbreak raged in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2018 to 2020, danger loomed not only from the epidemic – but also from employees of the organizations that were supposed to protect the population, including the World Health Organization (WHO).

Women like Alphonsine were affected. She was pressured to have sex with a World Health Organization (WHO) employee. In return, the now 34-year-old says, she got a job as an infection control officer in the Ebola response team in the eastern Congolese city of Beni.

Alphonsine told her story to the AP news agency. Her accounts coincide with those of other women and paint a picture of non-governmental organizations that exploited the Ebola crisis and their position of power to sexually abuse and exploit dozens of women and several men.

The AP report, citing internal WHO documents, describes how attempts were made to cover up the scandal, fob off the victims with embarrassingly small amounts and dictate conditions to them in exchange for receiving the money.

Alphonsine, for example, says she received $250 from the WHO, but only after taking a baking course. "The money helped, but it wasn't enough," the woman said. She said she later went bankrupt and would have preferred to get a piece of land and enough money to start her own business.

According to the AP, 104 abuse and rape victims received $250 each. This covers the cost of living for less than four months in a country where many people live on less than $2.15 a day. For a WHO employee working in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the standard daily allowance ranges from $144 to $480.

In total, the WHO has only provided $26,000 to the victims, according to the AP. The money went to women like Denise, 31. She was forced to have sex with a WHO employee during the Ebola outbreak in order to get a job. She also received $250 after taking a baking class. "They promised to provide us with evidence that the matter was settled, but there was no follow-up," Denise said. The WHO has not done enough to discipline its staff.

$250 compensation – but only after the tailoring and bakery course

Another woman, who claimed to have been sexually exploited by a WHO doctor and became pregnant, negotiated compensation with the organization, including land and medical care. The doctor agreed to pay a hundred dollars a month until the birth of the child in order to "protect the integrity and reputation of the WHO."

Audia, 24, told AP she became pregnant after a WHO employee forced her to have sex in exchange for a job. She now has a five-year-old daughter. She received the $250 from the WHO only after taking tailoring and bakery courses. The sum is "really inadequate," says Audia.

She worries about what might happen in the event of a future health crisis. The poor infrastructure and limited resources mean that any emergency response will continue to rely heavily on the help of the WHO and others. "I can't trust (the WHO) anymore," she said. "If she lets you down in such trouble and doesn't do anything, it's irresponsible."

Many victims of abuse have not received anything at all. The WHO said in a confidential document last month that about one-third of the known victims are still "impossible to trace." In addition, almost a dozen women had turned down the offer.

Paula Donovan, co-director of the Code Blue campaign, which fights to punish sex offenders during UN operations, calls the WHO payments "perverse." She is particularly annoyed by the fact that the women had to take part in training courses before the money was paid out.

"Obviously, we didn't do enough"

The WHO is aware of the explosive nature of the case. In March, the WHO's senior official for preventing and combating sexual misconduct, Gaya Gamhewage, travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo and met two victims of abuse. One of the abused women gave birth to a child "with a deformity that required special medical treatment," which poses an additional significant financial challenge for the young mother, according to the WHO documents.

According to the internal papers, the two women told Gamhewage that what they wanted above all was for "the perpetrators to be held accountable so that they can no longer harm anyone."

The explanation for the $250 payments seems contrived. Among the criteria used to determine the "package for the survivors of the victims" were the cost of food in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the "global policy of not spending more cash than would be appropriate for the community so as not to expose recipients to further harm," the WHO said. Follow recommendations from experts, local charities and other UN organizations.

The fact that this is hardly convincing was also noticed by Gamhewage. "Obviously, we didn't do enough," she said. The WHO will ask the survivors directly what further support they would like. In addition, the WHO has already helped to cover the medical costs of 17 children born as a result of sexual exploitation and abuse. "There's nothing we can do to make amends (for sexual abuse and exploitation)," Gamhewage said. She was paid $231 a day during her three-day trip to the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, according to internal documents.

The AP research also shows that the majority of money from a fund for abuse victims does not go to those affected, but is spent on personnel costs. According to internal documents, these accounted for more than half of the $1.5 million allocated by the WHO for 2022 and 2023 for the prevention of sexual misconduct in the Democratic Republic of Congo – $821,856.

Hardly any consequences for perpetrators

Another 35 percent is spent on prevention measures and 535 percent or $000,174 on "victim support." According to Gamhewage, this includes legal aid, transport and psychological support. The WHO office in the Democratic Republic of Congo has a total budget of about $<> million. The main funder is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

However, there can be no talk of consistent clarification. A WHO-mandated panel found at least 83 perpetrators during the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including at least 21 WHO staff. The youngest known victim was 13 years old.

Back in May 2021, an AP investigation revealed that WHO leaders learned of sexual exploitation while working to fight Ebola. However, she did little to stop them. None of the senior executives, including some who knew about the abuse during the outbreak, were fired.

After years of pressure from Congolese authorities, the WHO shared information on 16 alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse and exploitation linked to the WHO during the Ebola outbreak, according to internal documents. According to the organization, only five employees have been fired for sexual misconduct since 2021.

col/AP