On the 11th of March , the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution endorsing United Nations Secretary-General (SG) Ban Ki-moon’s recommendations on how to prevent and combat sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers.  This is the first time the UN has approved measures to deal with the sexual abuse allegations by peacekeepers deployed to protect civilians in conflict.

The US-drafted resolution was adopted by a vote of 14 in favour, no votes against it, with the abstention of Egypt. The Security Council specifically endorsed the SG’s decision “to repatriate a particular military unit or formed police unit of a contingent when there is credible evidence of widespread or systematic sexual exploitation and abuse by that unit.”

The recommendations were presented in a report by the UN Chief, that listed the names and countries of alleged perpetrators, showing an increase in number of allegations in 2015, with a majority of the claims involving UN personnel serving in peace operations. The resolution comes after months of pressure on the UN over allegations of sexual abuses and child rape of peacekeepers in Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

UN adopted Resolution 2272 requests the replacement of all units of the troop- contributing country which the perpetrator is from, if the country has not taken appropriate steps to investigate the allegation, or held the perpetrator accountable, or there was a failure to inform the SG of the investigation and its progress.

To read more, visit:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/adopts-resolution-sex-abuse-peacekeepers-160312064018396.html  
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53426#.VucvZ8eLTww   
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/UN-adopts-first-resolution-to-stop-sex-abuse-by-peacekeepers-/-/1056/3114538/-/vx39ixz/-/index.html  
http://in.reuters.com/article/un-peacekeepers-sexcrimes-idINKCN0WD2IM  
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53430#.VucxMceLTww