You lead a small office with limited staff and budget. How do you manage to maintain the effectiveness of your mandate despite these resource constraints?

The role of my Office is to improve the UN’s response to sexual exploitation and abuse across the development, humanitarian and peace sectors. With 35 UN entities who partner with governments, numerous international and national NGO partners, CSOs and other stakeholders, this is no easy task. Our strategy is to advance protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) – despite our very limited resources – through advocacy and through examining and addressing policy and operational gaps. We do this in an inclusive manner, working closely with leaders and personnel throughout the UN system, Member States, donors, and the NGO community. We work closely together as ‘one team’ in spaces where we are able to have the maximum multiplying effect, and to reduce duplication and promote a consistent approach to PSEA.

In 2023 we managed to have four positions moved from extra-budgetary funding to the regular budget, which has allowed us to address additional priority areas and to have a more strategic, long-term approach. However, like many offices in the current context, we struggle to have the impact needed and that we aspire to have due to the absence of the necessary resources.

A variety of coordination and support mechanisms have been set up, which allow us to pool our knowledge and resources, reduce duplication, and promote a consistent approach to PSEA across the peace, humanitarian and development sectors.

What are the main challenges you encounter in fulfilling your mandate, and how do you overcome them?

The biggest challenge we face is that we live in a patriarchal society where abuse of power and violence against women and girls, including sexual exploitation and abuse, is tolerated. 

Social and cultural norms make it difficult for survivors of abuse, both to speak up and to access the justice that they deserve. People must feel confident that their reports will be taken seriously and acted upon in a manner that also keeps them safe while respecting their wishes.

To tackle this issue, my Office has been working to empower UN personnel, and in particular, leaders at all levels of the Organization to speak up, take action, and change the culture from within. The victim-centered approach, anchors our work to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse.

We are building trust by being transparent about how we respond to cases – including publicly sharing details about numbers of reported allegations and the status of investigations. We are also working with DMPSC and with Member States to encourage a swift response and investigation of all allegations and paternity claims involving their uniformed personnel.

Despite all the work we are doing, adequate, sustainable funding remains the major obstacle. We need long-term, predictable and sustainable financial commitments from Member States, and we need the UN to institutionalize safeguarding and to treat PSEA as  part of the cost of doing business.

A significant part of your work involves raising awareness at the local level. Can you share how you go about achieving this goal?

This is a top priority on my agenda. In my two years in this role, I have visited over 40 different countries (over 70 visits), meeting with government officials, including the military and police, UN and NGO staff, civil society organizations, and community members. I don’t just visit capital cities, but travel to wherever we have personnel and programs on the ground to witness first-hand how our programs and operations are addressing sexual exploitation and abuse, and to ensure we are doing everything we can to address it effectively.

Inter-agency collaboration is key to ensure that communities receive clear, consistent messaging about their rights, expected behavior of our personnel, and how to report concerns and obtain support. PSEA Coordinators/ Focal Points in high-risk countries support a network of UN and NGO actors to ensure streamlined communication with communities, training for staff, as well as referrals for investigation and survivor support.

Despite the essential role these PSEA Coordinators/Focal Points play, there are significant funding gaps which leads to high turnover or long periods of time without a Coordinator/Focal Point in place – even in high-risk contexts. We need to ensure that every humanitarian response and UN operation has PSEA Coordinators/Focal Points on the ground from the very outset of an emergency and that they have the necessary resources to be able to do their job properly. This is particularly poignant at present with assistance dwindling and demand increasing around the world, which means the risks of SEA are rising everywhere. This means that we need to ensure that resourcing the PSEA response is an ever-increasing priority. 

SEA also occurs in development contexts, and we need to support the work of country teams in fighting this scourge – either through dedicated interagency coordinators, or at a minimum through regional PSEA Coordinators.

Your mandate works closely with the Office of the Victims’ Rights Advocate. Could you tell us more about this collaboration?

The mandates of my Office and of the Victims’ Rights Advocate are complementary. In my role, I work across the UN system’s offices, departments, and agencies to strengthen the UN’s response to sexual exploitation and abuse, wherever it may occur – whether at headquarters or in the most remote field locations. Since taking on this responsibility in September 2022, I have focused on raising the profile and bringing more attention to this issue. 

This includes coordinating efforts to move our response forward through, for example; streamlined approaches and policies and procedures, promoting cooperation and reducing duplication, ensuring coherence and providing support to our teams working in the field. Our focus is on preventing abuse from occurring, ensuring channels where reports can be made confidentially and safely, and improving how we respond when allegations do occur. 

Are there any specific results you hope to achieve but find impossible due to various obstacles?

Our primary focus has to be preventing sexual exploitation and abuse from happening in the first place. We must bring sexual misconduct into the light. Leaders must prioritize creating a safe, transparent, and accountable work environment. We need leaders who have courage and are willing to confront uncomfortable truths and take the right actions, even when it is difficult. It is essential that leaders, including military and police commanders, recognize that preventing and addressing sexual exploitation and abuse is not a secondary concern, but a fundamental responsibility that aligns with our core mandate. The bottom line is that each and every one of us has the right to live our lives free from the fear of violence, exploitation or harassment – it is a fundamental human right!

Finally, what personal and professional experiences have prepared you for this role?

For over 30 years, I have worked in the field and at HQ, with NGOs and various UN entities, including the Save The Children Fund, Action Aid, the UN Secretariat, Peacekeeping, UNRWA, UNHCR, and UNFPA. My roles have spanned diverse functions, including operations, emergency responses, development programs, and peacekeeping.

I think my experience and operational background helps as it enables me to come up with practical solutions to addressing SEA, to enhance coordination between the UN system and the NGO community, and to improve the overall coherence of our response efforts.

On a personal level, I feel a responsibility to speak up and take action – especially because most of these abuses are committed by men. As men, especially those of us in leadership positions, we need to actively challenge and work to dismantle systems and beliefs that fuel cultures of inequality, misogyny, and patriarchy. Our commitment to ending inequality must be front and center and integrated into every aspect of our lives—whether in personal relationships or professional environments—and it demands continuous effort to create lasting, meaningful change for a more just and equitable world.