Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Representatives of Member States and co-chairs of the Independent Commission, and dear colleagues,
I would like to join Dr Tedros in expressing my thanks to the Independent Commission for carrying out this important work. We also appreciate the concern that has been expressed by you, our Member States. I would like to assure you that these concerns are shared by all of us at WHO.
The Commission’s activities were divided into two workstreams: first to do outreach and fact finding to establish what happened, the underlying circumstances, support needed by the victims, and to hold the perpetrators to account. This also included reviewing and advising on WHO’s measures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse. The second workstream was to investigate individual cases.
I would like to reiterate that in the Region the WHO Secretariat will build on the Commission’s work and its findings, to strengthen our systems to prevent and address sexual exploitation and abuse, and to add that in the African Region, we have already, within the framework of this initiative started by the DG, started to implement, particularly in our emergency operations, some of the measures that are going to be further developed in the future.
So, thank you very much and thank you once again to the Commission for the work done.