#NoExcuse WHO - World Health Organization

Dr Fiona Braka, WHO's program area manager for emergency response in the African region, talks about the 2021 Independent Commission report on allegations of sexual misconduct during the 10th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo the previous year. 

 
Fiona talks about her shock and horror at learning about the allegations, the sadness she felt for victims and the sense of shame that the allegations were being leveled at the organization by the very communities it was meant to serve. 

While there are still challenges around funding and resources, we learn about the steps taken since the report to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse in emergency operations - and the work going into rebuilding trust within communities. 

Dr Jasmine Westendorf, Associate Professor at La Trobe University in Australia, shares some of her findings about sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by peacekeepers and aid workers in humanitarian operations.  
 
In this episode, Dr Westendorf discusses the economic interests that lead to exploitation - and how this can have a lasting impact on a community even when the peace operation moves out. We hear about the false premise of consent in transactional sex, and the long-term effects it has on individuals, communities and trust in the very organisations there to support them. 
 
Dr Westendorf talks about the importance of community involvement in responding to exploitation and abuse. She also emphasises the need for further research on prevention and the particular vulnerabilities of different population groups.

Ellie Kemp is the strategic partnership director of the humanitarian linguistic organization, Clear Global. In this episode, Ellie talks about how language is tied up with power dynamics, and how this is amplified within the aid system.
In an Anglo-centric sector, professional standards and official documentation are developed in English, reflecting a certain worldview. Ellie says this hinders communication and access to resources for affected communities. Crucially it also affects the reporting and prevention of sexual misconduct, as survivors may not be able to communicate their experiences as effectively and coherently as their abusers.
 

Ellie talks about successful initiatives used to break down barriers, including listening stations to allow people to provide feedback in their own language, and developing glossaries in multiple languages. She also says AI language technology has the potential for improving communication, providing work is done to assist machine learning of marginalised languages.

Abigail Averbach is the manager of the Coordination Unit of the Protection From Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment at The Global Fund. In this episode, Abigal talks about what needs to happen to achieve zero tolerance for sexual misconduct. 
Abigail shares her journey from being a US prosecutor to her current role and highlights the lessons she learned from her career. 
She emphasises the importance of creating trusted and safe reporting systems and the need for partnerships among international agencies. Abigail also emphasises how vital victim survivor-centred support and trauma-informed investigations are for addressing the needs of those affected by sexual misconduct. 

NASA engineer Bryan Robles, a male survivor of sexual violence, speaks as our first survivor to feature in the "#NoExcuse Podcast" series. Recounting how he connected with WHO’s work on supporting victims and survivors of sexual misconduct, Bryan explains his long journey filled with internal struggle, shame and self-blame. He shares why he chose to speak publicly about his experience. He delivers a powerful message of resilience, self-worth, and the importance of collective action in addressing sexual misconduct and supporting survivors – both female and male. Making links between NASA and WHO, Bryan advocates for not just lip service, but for meaningful survivor-centric culture within all our organizations.  

In this episode, Kelly Clements, Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, speaks about how she led a culture change to address sexual harassment not just in her agency, UNHCR, but across the UN system.  Deputy High Commissioner Clements emphasizes how UNHCR took a survivor-centered approach, and the role of strong and shared leadership to enable organizational change.