Statement
Statement by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Sexual Harassment
31 July 2024
Statement
31 July 2024
This statement affirms the commitment of the IASC Principals to actively prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment by humanitarian workers, and the role of Humanitarian Coordinators and Humanitarian Country Teams to implement PSEA commitments in all response operations.1
We, the IASC Principals, re-affirm our determination to achieve our vision of a humanitarian environment in which people caught up in crises are safe, respected, and can access needed protection and assistance without fear of sexual exploitation or abuse (SEA) by any aid worker and in which aid workers themselves feel supported, respected, and empowered to deliver assistance free from sexual harassment.2
We recognize that sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH) occurs everywhere and is a symptom of power imbalances that are particularly acute in humanitarian contexts and even greater for those who are systematically marginalized. Given the gender dimensions of SEA and sexual harassment, we will therefore strengthen the role of women, girls and people at risk as key partners and accelerate work to increase accountability of the aid community to the affected people. We will protect those reporting SEA and sexual harassment. We will redouble our efforts to ensure that all our staff and affiliated personnel are aware of, and comply with, their rights to, and their responsibilities in maintaining, a workplace free of discrimination, exploitation, harassment or abuse. We will be even more proactive in improving diversity and gender parity in all our organizations, especially at the frontlines of programme delivery and at the most senior levels.3
We recognize our leadership responsibility to strengthen the humanitarian community’s resolve to protect from SEA and sexual harassment to create a system of collective accountability, and we commit to provide the necessary resources to prevent and address this wrongdoing.
In so doing, we:
Recall the Secretary General’s Bulletin on Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse,4 including its condemnation of SEA, and the IASC Six Core Principles relating to protection from sexual exploitation and abuse;5
Recall previous and existing commitments, including the Statement of Commitment on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN and Non-UN Personnel;6 the Minimum Operating Standards (MOS) on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) by our own Personnel; the UN Protocol on Allegations of SEA involving Implementing Partners;7 the IASC Vision and Strategy on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Sexual Harassment 2022-2026;8 and the IASC Definition and Principles9 of a Victim/Survivor Centered Approach;10
Reaffirm that creating and maintaining a workplace culture that prevents sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment is both an individual and organizational responsibility;
Reaffirm zero tolerance for inaction against any form of sexual misconduct;11
Recognize that inter-agency cooperation is crucial to effectively prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment;
Recall the importance of due process in referrals and investigations and the respect for the rights of all victims and individuals concerned;
Take note of the best practices and lessons learned from the numerous studies and initiatives carried out by the IASC and other international forums which identify PSEA and sexual harassment issues that need to be addressed at the global level;12
Find that PSEAH commitments are not universally implemented in practice, and we must prioritize taking further action on these commitments to invoke real change;
Commit to the following Action Points to fulfil our previous and ongoing commitments to protect from SEA and sexual harassment, and to ensure that all responses are developed in a manner that balances respect for due process with a victim and survivor-centered approach:
1 This Statement supersedes previous IASC Statements on PSEA and sexual harassment, notably IASC Principals' Statement on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, 2015; IASC Principals' Statement on Zero Tolerance on Sexual Harassment and Abuse within the Humanitarian Sector, 2017; IASC Statement on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Sexual Harassment and Abuse, 2018.
2 IASC Vision and Strategy: Protection from sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment (PSEAH) 2022-2026.
3 IASC Statement on Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Sexual Harassment and Abuse, 2018.
4 SGB ST/SGB/2003/13 (9 October 2003).
5 IASC Six Core Principles Relating to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, 2019.
6 Statement of Commitment on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN and Non-UN Personnel (2008).
7 UN Protocol on Allegations of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse involving Implementing Partners, 2018.
8 IASC Vision and Strategy: Protection from sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment (PSEAH) 2022-2026.
9 IASC Definition and Principles of a Victim/Survivor Centered Approach, 2023
10 Other related commitments include IASC Principals' Statement Addressing Racism and Racial Discrimination in the Humanitarian Sector, 2019 and IASC Guidelines on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, 2019.
11 Sexual misconduct includes sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment.
12 See Report of the Secretary-General, Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse A/77/748 (16 February 2023); 2021 IASC External Review of PSEA/SH.
13 See Leadership in Humanitarian Action: Handbook for the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and Humanitarian Country Team Terms of Reference, 2017 and Humanitarian Coordinator Terms of Reference, 2024.
14 See IASC Generic terms of reference for PSEA Networks.
15 See IASC Generic terms of reference for PSEA Coordinator and deployment package for PSEA Coordinators.
16 IASC Guidance Note on Inter-Agency Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Referral Procedures (IA SEARP), 2023.
17 As set out in the Management and Accountability Framework of the UN Development and Resident Coordinator System (MAF), 2021; UNGA Report 2022, A/77/748, para 8: The MAF establishes the roles of the Resident Coordinator and United Nations country team in developing an environment that prohibits, deters and responds to sexual misconduct. See also UN Resident Coordinator Generic Job Description, 2022.
18 IASC Definition and Principles of a Victim/Survivor Centered Approach, 2023; UN Protocol on the Provision of Assistance to Victims of SEA, 2019; Technical Note on the Implementation of the UN Protocol, 2021; UN Victims’ Rights Statement, 2023; CHS Alliance Victim/Survivor-Centered Approach to protection from Sexual Abuse, Exploitation and Harassment in the aid sector, 2023. Applicable standards on victim assistance include, but are not limited to, standards contained in the Human Rights treaties (e.g. protection of physical integrity, freedom from torture, right to an effective remedy); in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocol; authoritative guidance provided by treaty bodies (e.g. concerning access to justice for women victims of SGBV in CEDAW GR 33); as well as policy and programmatic guidance.
19 See Screening database Clear Check at unsceb.org/screening-database-clearcheck and misconduct-disclosure- scheme.org.