We spoke with Andrew Awuah, Field Conduct and Discipline Officer with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), about his work to protect communities from sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA).
What does a typical day in your role look like?
A typical day in my role balances prevention (including training and outreach), enforcement, support to victims, and coordination.
My day can involve any of the following:
Prevention: I conduct training sessions and briefings on the UN’s standards of conduct – including our ‘zero tolerance’ policy on SEA – risk assessments visits, review and enforcement of out-of-bounds locations, and community engagement and outreach activities.
Enforcement: When SEA does occur, I receive allegations; assess cases and refer them for investigation; review investigation reports; and provide advice on potential disciplinary measures, reporting, and management to help leaders make decisions.
Victim support: I frequently coordinate with our Senior Victims’ Rights Officer to make sure that victims of SEA are referred for support, monitor and follow-up on their wellbeing, facilitate DNA samples for paternity testing when it’s needed, and provide feedback on completed investigations to victims.
Coordination: Finally, I ensure that our leaders have the advisory support they need on substantive and procedural conduct and discipline matters. I also coordinate activities with a range of partners from the mission and other UN agencies, NGOs, national administrative authorities, and community networks.
What major challenges do you encounter when protecting communities from sexual exploitation and abuse, and how do you overcome them?
There are deep-rooted challenges to shielding communities in the Central African Republic (CAR) from sexual exploitation and abuse, including:
1. The culture of silence around SEA: for many people in CAR, sexual topics are taboo. Victims who speak out face intense stigma, rejection by their community, and the threat of retaliation.
2. Mistrust of formal reporting mechanisms: we constantly work to strengthen our reporting mechanisms and to combat the perception that nothing will be done when SEA cases are reported.
3. Funding: in the current climate, securing adequate resources to support victims is a challenge.
We take many different measures to overcome these challenges. For example, we work with community networks to build trust; routinely improve reporting mechanisms to facilitate accessible, safe, and confidential reporting; and provide funding for direct and immediate support to victims and children born as a result of SEA.
What achievements are you most proud of?
As MINUSCA’s Conduct and Discipline Team (CDT), we are especially proud of our partnership with community networks. In addition to our own staff, community networks are our “eyes and ears” on the ground. They’re a vital early warning tool.
We support the networks with cell phones and motorbikes to enable them to travel and communicate more easily. With the support of local authorities, this partnership has improved how we communicate to people the behavior that they should – and should not – expect from UN personnel.
We have also made major improvements to reporting mechanisms by providing additional, toll-free reporting hotlines and deploying specialized national officers to remote areas where MINUSCA has a presence, so local people can have the confidence to report allegations safely and confidentially.
Finally, we’ve supported victims to be part of the accountability process, including by facilitating the resolution of long-standing paternity cases, and implemented vocational skills training to provide them with a dignified livelihood.
What motivates you to work on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse?
As CDT officers, we are critical links in the sensitization and enforcement of the UN’s zero tolerance policy in MINUSCA. Our leaders depend on us for guidance, and our work protects the integrity of the mission; if it goes unaddressed, SEA could erode years of gains made towards sustainable peace in CAR.
Ultimately, what motivates us is our role in breaking the culture of silence on SEA and supporting victims to come forward and report, access justice, and receive the support and assistance they need.
If you had one “ask” to strengthen our efforts to address SEA in peace operations, what would it be?
Hold commanders personally accountable for SEA committed by troops under their command. There should be a binding presumption of accountability where commanders knew – or should have known – of SEA, yet failed to take reasonable measures to prevent it.
If their failures don’t come at a personal cost, commanders have an incentive to ignore or minimize SEA.
What message would you like to share with colleagues, partners, and leaders?
Protecting people from SEA requires the participation of all personnel, especially leadership. That collective commitment is what distinguishes a peacekeeping mission that uplifts lives from one that causes lasting harm.
To my colleagues, I would say: never confuse gradual progress with low impact. Every case we pursue, every perpetrator we hold accountable, and every victim we support restores justice.
To our partners: hold us accountable, critique us openly, and trust that we will listen. Ultimately, we share the same goal – serving the vulnerable communities that depend on us.
To our leaders: match your promises with adequate resources to address SEA. End the delays in investigations (by investing strongly in investigation capacity) and delays to paternity claims, and advocate for tangible and long-lasting support to victims and children born from SEA.
USEFUL RESOURCES
How to report sexual exploitation and abuse:
Learn more about the UN response: