OneWorld.net (U.S.)

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 2 (OneWorld) - Independent humanitarian groups that work closely with the United Nations welcomed the world body's decision to call a high-level meeting next week to address the issue of sexual abuse against children by its peacekeepers.

"We believe that there's definitely a commitment on a high level," said Joel Charny, vice president for policy at Refugees International, a Washington, DC-based independent group.

Refugees International and 24 other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are likely to participate in the high-level meeting at UN headquarters in New York Monday.

UN officials told OneWorld that the outgoing UN chief Kofi Annan decided to convene the session because allegations of sexual abuses continued even after the UN had taken strict measures to curb such incidents.

Earlier this week, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that UN soldiers stationed in Haiti and Liberia were subjecting children to rape and prostitution.

UN officials said they were unable to confirm whether such cases actually took place in those two countries, but added that even one case of sexual abuse was "one case too many."

After UN soldiers were found to be engaged in sexual exploitation and abuse in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations tightened its rules and ordered officials to enforce the secretary- general's "zero tolerance policy."

Despite the "zero tolerance" policy, however, about 80 percent of some 100,000 people involved in peacekeeping worldwide cannot be disciplined by the UN, said an official.

"They belong to various troop-contributing countries, and we rely on those countries to discipline their personnel," Stephane Dujarric told reporters. However, he added that the UN took all the cases of sexual abuse "extremely, extremely seriously."

In July 2005, the organization sacked two of its peacekeepers in Burundi who had sex with minors and sex workers, officials said, adding that, since 2004 the UN has investigated a total of 319 personnel, resulting in 18 dismissals of civilians and the repatriation of 17 policemen and 144 soldiers.

While much of the spotlight on sexual abuse has been cast on the UN, humanitarian aid groups point to the fact that NGOs involved in humanitarian operations have faced similar charges.

"Such behavior must not be tolerated," said Sarah Martin, a researcher at Refugees International who believes that all international organizations must ensure that their staffers would not commit abuses against women and children.

In her 2005 study, "Must Boys be Boys? Ending Exploitation and Abuse in UN Peacekeeping Missions," Martin held that "a hyper-masculine culture and tradition of silence that encourages sexual exploitation and abuse," would not change unless the UN and other international agencies were willing to take practical actions in the field.

To that end, some NGOs, including Refugees International, appear to have already taken a new initiative. As a prelude to the high-level meeting, this week they pledged to take "10 key steps" to end sexual exploitation and abuse.

Those steps include taking immediate actions against staff members who commit sexual abuse, incorporating sexual exploitation warnings in training procedures, preventing perpetrators from being hired, and ensuring that people can report on such crimes in an easy and accessible way.

"These ten steps are critical to stopping overseas personnel from exploiting and abusing the very people they are there to assist," said Charny, "but as a community we must go beyond words and ensure that all international agencies implement these measures as they help vulnerable people."

Next Monday's high-level UN conference will take place amid global efforts to build pressure on governments worldwide to adopt and implement laws against gender violence. The annual awareness-raising campaign, known as 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, is fully backed by the UN and its various agencies.

The 16-day campaign is held each year between the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (November 25) and International Human Rights Day (December 10).