London, June 21: The treatment of whistleblowers at the UN must be examined by an external committee, said Purna Sen, a former UN spokeswoman on sexual harassment.
This comes following a BBC report that several UN staff who tried to expose alleged wrongdoing were sacked.
In an interview to BBC Newsnight, Sen said: “Whether it’s corruption, fraud, sexual harassment, (UN staff) feel they can’t progress even to making a report that the complaints are initially dismissed far too early. They’re not given alternative procedures and appeals access.
“The UN has certainly addressed some of the big failures it had before, but it hasn’t gone far enough. I have seen things that are very troubling – that can and should be addressed as a matter of urgency, not just in words, but in deeds.”
Sen was appointed as the spokesperson of Executive Coordinator and Spokesperson on Addressing Sexual Harassment and Other Forms of Discrimination in 2018.
The BBC documentary featured accounts from UN staff members who tried to report allegations – including fraud and sexual abuse. All said they had been penalised after speaking out. Some were sacked.
In the report, Sen said there were women at the UN who had been “approached, accosted and raped”.
She told BBC that she was not surprised by the “deeply-upsetting” testimonies.
“It suggests that sometimes the protection of the senior folk within each organisation matters more than the absence of harm to those who aren’t powerful.
“It means there is a real tension within an organisation which not only upholds and advocates for human rights, but is actually the birthplace of most of these human rights – yet it hasn’t learned to bring them home to the people who work for that organisation,” she pointed out.
(UNI)
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