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STORY: UN / PATERNITY SEXUAL EXPLOITATION VICTIMS
TRT: 07:43
SOURCE: UNIFEED / MONUSCO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / SWAHILI / NATS
DATELINE: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
14 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Pollard, Under Secretary General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, United Nations:
“Vast majority of peacekeepers serve with honour and integrity. But we do have a situation where children who have been born of victims of sexual exploitation and abuse and unfortunately some of these cases go back several years. We have around 700 cases of children going back to 2006.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
3. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
14 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Pollard, Under Secretary General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, United Nations:
“We have not always given the focus and attention over the years to this particular aspect of our work on improving conduct and discipline, but we now have a focus on this because these are children left behind, and it really is our role as the United Nations to acknowledge our responsibilities and to work with the Member States who have the peacekeepers who have been part of this problem that we have been dealing with.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
5. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
14 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Pollard, Under Secretary General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, United Nations:
“Member States, many of them have national legislative frameworks that make it difficult for them to take on the responsibility of paternity because many of them view the situation of paternity as a private obligation of the peacekeeper. From the UN side, we view that differently because the Member State has provided personnel to peacekeeping operations, we think the Member State also has responsibility, and it is their responsibility to have the peacekeeper acknowledge this paternity.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
7. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
14 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Pollard, Under Secretary General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, United Nations:
“We have had a few cases where the peacekeepers have admitted the paternity and so the process can start for recognition of the child and to provide the maintenance and support for that child and to the mother.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
9. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
14 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Pollard, Under Secretary General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, United Nations:
“We can do DNA testing as the UN, but only if the member State requests. So, we would like all Member States to more broadly adopt DNA testing so that when these allegations come forward, we can actually have the records to do the testing to establish paternity or not, and then to be able to initiate the process of recognition and support for these children.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
11. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
14 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Pollard, Under Secretary General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, United Nations:
“We have had some member states who have voluntarily come forward. They have sent teams to the mission area, and they have done DNA testing, and they have told us that they want to work with us to establish the claims for those victims. And in one instance, it's actually in Liberia where the mission has been closed for many years. So that country wants to be able to establish the obligations and so they have worked with us.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
13. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
14 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Pollard, Under Secretary General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, United Nations:
“To serve under the Blue Flag in peacekeeping is the honour of a lifetime for anyone. And through these acts of misconduct, let us not betray the purpose of the United Nations and the sacrifice of some of our peacekeepers and colleagues. And these acts of misconduct are really a betrayal of everything and all the values that the United Nations stands for.”
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
15. Close up, exterior, UN flag
20 DECEMBER 2024, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
17. SOUNDBITE (French) Najla Nassif Palma, Victims’ Rights Advocate, Office of the Victims' Rights Advocate (OVRA), United Nations:
“I am also advocating to Member States for a temporary measure because it takes a long time to address all the legal issues related to filing a paternity claim. Also, within civil society, what I have noticed is that institutions that are committed to providing assistance to victims, but also the CBCMs and CBCNs, need more support to be more effective in this very important task.”
NOVEMBRE 2024, NORTH-KIVU, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
18. Various shots, kitchen window, mother and daughter putting wood in fire, hands
19. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mother, Congolese victim of sexual exploitation and abuse:
"After the 2002 volcanic eruption, I lost everything and became a disaster victim. Since then, I have been living near the MONUSCO camp. This is how the contingents of MONUSCO passed by our home and this is how I had a child with a MONUSCO peacekeeper.”
20. Various shots, mother watching outside through door, mother and daughter putting meat in bag, hands’ mother cutting meat
21. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mother, Congolese victim of sexual exploitation and abuse:
“After I became pregnant, the father of my daughter left and disappeared for good. I gave birth, and to this day, I have not heard from him.”
22. Various shots, mother hands taking vegetables from bag, daughter walking away, someone pouring water to wash meat, view from door
23. SOUNDBITE (Swahili), daughter:
"One day, while sitting next to my mother, I asked her who my father was and where he was. She told me that my father was South African. He worked here in the past. He left while she was pregnant, and until now, she doesn't know where he went."
24. Various shots, daughter serving food, cleaning red beans, daughter and mother cutting meat
25. SOUNDBITE (Swahili), daughter:
"I am 20 years old, and I come here to the restaurant to help my mother with tasks like fetching water, serving, and performing other duties."
26. Various shots, daughter opening pot on fire and giving it to her mother, mother cleaning red beans, back of daughter’s head, daughter cleaning beans
27. SOUNDBITE (Swahili), daughter:
"I believe my father is still alive; he is not dead, but I miss his affection. When I hear others talk about their fathers, I feel a lot of pain."
28. Various shots, daughter placing a pot on the fire, feet, daughter cleaning meat
29. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mother, Congolese victim of sexual exploitation and abuse:
“When I arrived at MONUSCO, I was warmly welcomed. They funded my child’s education and gave me support for $100, to start an income-generating activity to ensure the children have enough to eat. That $100 allowed me to start this activity.”
30. Various shots, hands shaking between mother and MONUSCO staff member, MONUSCO staff member greeting mother and daughter, pots and pans
31. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mother, Congolese victim of sexual exploitation and abuse:
"Many of the children born from MONUSCO peacekeepers are suffering, and their mothers lack the means to raise them. I ask MONUSCO to support and help them because soon, these children will be able to help the country. It is also important to help them find their fathers so that they can take responsibility."
32. Med shot, mother and daughter hugging each other
Urgent support is needed for children born from misconduct by personnel serving with the UN.
UN personnel are strictly prohibited from exchanging money, food or other favors for sex.
UN peace operations go to great lengths to prevent this type of misconduct, but unforgivably, cases continue to occur.
In some instances, children are conceived and left behind in the conflict environments where their father was serving.
Since 2006, the UN has received over 700 paternity and child support claims implicating peace operations personnel.
95 percent of these involve military or police personnel provided by UN Member States to serve under the UN’s banner.
Member States are responsible for addressing these claims, but more than 70 percent remain unresolved, leaving 500 children without much-needed legal recognition and financial support.
Some Member States are working to resolve claims despite the challenges of navigating multiple countries, legal systems, and socio-economic contexts. Some are locating fathers and guiding mothers on how to file claims in their country.
Some have established national paternity focal points to facilitate DNA testing and help mothers access pro-bono representation and assistance with court fees.
These Member States remain in the minority, however.
In most cases, Member State responses to claims are slow.
Sometimes they do not respond at all.
The UN is working to support victims of sexual misconduct in their pursuit of justice and accountability for perpetrators.
The UN facilitate contact with officials in the country where they wish to bring their claim and can help with legal fees.
When the father is a UN civilian staff, the UN will enforce court orders and deduct salaries to ensure perpetrators meet their parental obligations.
Also, the UN’s Trust Fund in Support of Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse has helped mothers engage in income-generating activities and pay for their child’s school fees and uniforms.
The UN is also taking steps to help Member States more quickly address cases, for example facilitating DNA collection and cross-border child-support payments.
A UN Task Force was also established to identify additional ways Member States can make progress with support from the UN.
The Task Force is currently developing criteria for assessing Member State responses to claims, which will become a factor when considering their personnel for deployment with peace operations. And to promote greater transparency on the issue, it established a public dashboard showing the status of all outstanding claims.
Although these are important steps forward, UN efforts will not succeed alone.
“We can do DNA testing as the UN, but only if the member State requests. So, we would like all Member States to more broadly adopt DNA testing so that when these allegations come forward, we can actually have the records to do the testing to establish paternity or not, and then to be able to initiate the process of recognition and support for these children,” explained Catherine Pollard, UN Under Secretary General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance.
The UN continues to call on Member States to resolve paternity and child support claims.
As a practical step forward, the UN Secretary-General has asked all Member States to appoint a national paternity focal point that can help move cases towards resolution.
