UN Development System, Member States Must Work Together to Better Support Internally Displaced Persons, Sexual Abuse Victims, Speakers Urge Economic and Social Council
From internally displaced people to victims of sexual exploitation and abuse, the United Nations development system and Member States must work together to support those who fall between the cracks, the Economic and Social Council heard today.
As the Operational Activities for Development Segment entered its third and final day, the Organization’s development officials and delegates exchanged views in a series of panel discussions that assessed the work of the development system and how to improve its accountability.
In the morning, the Segment held a panel discussion on “Effective accountability: Action for the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Sexual Harassment”.
“In 2024, the UN received 675 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse”, Christian Saunders, Special Coordinator on improving the United Nations response to sexual exploitation and abuse, noted. Nearly 30 per cent of allegations involved child victims. “These numbers however don’t tell the full story,” he pointed out, because many more cases go unreported due to stigma and a lack of trust. “Even in this room, I can see people who look uncomfortable speaking about this issue and listening to my words,” he said. While it is uncomfortable to talk about these issues, “we need to get over these reservations and talk about it openly and honestly”, he added.
The challenge has been amplified by the recent UN funding cuts, he said stressing the need to shift from an ad hoc reactive approach to a model where the prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation is “embedded in everything we do”. “Sexual exploitation and abuse are rooted in deep structural issues, power imbalances, inequality, poverty and weak rule of law,” he said. Member States have a sobering responsibility to address these root causes. While Resident Coordinators can lead this effort, “they need your support and access to dedicated sustainable resources”, he said.
Long Wait to Complete Sexual Abuse Investigations Increases Sense of Impunity among Perpetrators
Speaking virtually, Gwyn Lewis, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, said: “I have witnessed firsthand the heartbreaking impact on survivors awaiting outcomes.” The lack of investigative capacity at country level results in long waits for investigations to be completed. The delay also increases the sense of impunity among perpetrators. The UN country team in Bangladesh is “developing and sharing key messages tailored to the local context”, training staff and volunteers, and ensuring victims support is available. She proposed establishing “a system to track perpetrators to avoid rehiring them across the UN and NGO system”.
Dedicated Victim Support Specialists on the Ground Making a Difference
Najla Nassif Palma, Victims’ Rights Advocate for the United Nations, highlighted the steps taken by the UN system — including the creation of her mandate — to place victims at the heart of its prevention and response efforts. “Dedicated victim support specialists on the ground make a real difference”, she said. Such personnel on the ground in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and South Sudan are performing her system-wide role at the field level, by mobilizing resources, facilitating access to assistance, accompanying victims during investigations, and where there are children born of sexual exploitation and abuse, assisting in the resolution of the paternity and child maintenance claims. She called on Member States to align national legislation with international standards and to “adopt a more flexible legal approach to addressing paternity and child support claims”.
Survivor-Centered Responses Must Remain Priority
Maritza Chan Valverde (Costa Rica), Vice President of the Economic and Social Council, highlighted several key areas in which Member States can contribute. First, “investing in survivor-centered responses must remain a priority, even in a challenging financial landscape”, she said. As members of governing bodies, it is essential to demand consistent implementation. “Standards on paper must translate into action on the ground,” she underscored. Also stressing the need to align national systems with international standards and ensure credible reporting structures, she said it also essential to support coherent inter-agency approaches that avoid duplication.
UN Prioritizes Development Needs and Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons
Another panel discussion held today focused on “Development needs and solutions for internally displaced persons”. The 2024 quadrennial comprehensive policy review resolution, for the first time, made internal displacement explicitly a responsibility also of the development system. Speakers welcomed this shift, noting that internal displacement is not only a humanitarian challenge but also a development and governance issue.
Ghulam Mohammad Isaczai, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, speaking virtually, noted that Iraq is one of the countries most affected by internal displacement in the past decade. While over 5 million people have returned, “thousands remain in protracted displacement”, he said. The UN system in that country is working to support the Government’s role as the first responders and move from short-term aid to long-term recovery.
Clementine Awu Nkweta-Salami, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, also speaking virtually, said the conflict in there has caused widespread destruction and massive displacement — there are 11.3 million internally displaced persons in Sudan. Community engagement and ownership are key to long-term solutions, she said, noting also the need for vulnerability analysis and ongoing monitoring to ensure that assistance is timely and conflict-sensitive.
High Expectations for Resident Coordinators Must Be Matched by Resources
“We are expecting an awful lot from the [resident coordinators],” Nicole Ruder, Assistant-Director General for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, said. They should be given the resources they need, she said, adding that the design and implementation of durable solutions to internal displacement is a complex endeavor that needs funding and time.
“Resident coordinators have been a force multiplier,” agreed Robert Piper, former Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on solutions to internal displacement. “They have worked with Governments to move the issue out of the purely humanitarian into the political and development realms,” he observed. Also welcoming the great strides made in increasing Government leadership, he said: “Real solutions require unlocking political leadership.” He also stressed the importance of speedy responses. “Every day an internally displaced person remains displaced, the more vulnerable they become,” he added.
That discussion also featured Juan José Quintana Aranguren (Colombia) and Syndoph Paebi Endoni (Nigeria).
Evaluating Effectiveness in Delivering Accountability in UN System
In the morning, Andrea Cook, Executive Director of the UN Sustainable Development Group System Wide Evaluation Office, presented her office’s report and discussed it with Member States. This was followed by a discussion on “Effective accountability: UN system evaluation”, featuring Ms. Cook; Fatoumata N'Diaye, Under-Secretary-General of the Office of Internal Oversight Services; Isabelle Mercier, Chair of the United Nations Evaluation Group and Director of the Independent Evaluation Office of the United Nations Development Programme, speaking virtually, Robert Kayinamura (Rwanda) and Thomas Peter Zahneisen (Germany). Speakers discussed concrete actions to strengthen the internal oversight of the UN development system.
Focus on Development-Peacebuilding Nexus to Help Countries Implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Complex Settings
Also held today was a panel discussion on “Supporting countries in implementing the SDGs in complex settings: interlinkages between development and peacebuilding”. Speakers included Elizabeth Mary Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support; Oscar Fernández-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Development Coordination; Francois Batalingaya, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad (speaking virtually); Catherine Sozi, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Mozambique (also speaking virtually); Yamazaki Kazuyuki (Japan); and Fritzner Gaspard (Haiti). Speakers focused on how investing in peacebuilding efforts contributes to development by enabling social dialogue, as well as by building inclusive State institutions.
Closing Remarks by Deputy Secretary-General and Economic and Social Council Chair and Vice-Chair
In the closing segment, speakers reflected on the many insights shared throughout the three days. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, thanked all participants and said: “You were clear about your expectations for the road ahead that we need to shift towards a more tailored UN development system”. Krzysztof Szczerski (Poland), Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council, also thanked all participants as well as those who worked behind the scenes to organize this year’s Operational Activities for Development Segment.
There is clear evidence that the UN development system’s reform process is working, Bob Rae (Canada), Council President, said in his closing remarks. Deepening those reforms means strengthening internal UN systems to capitalize on artificial intelligence and digitization, and putting in robust polices to ensure equality, equity, inclusion and access. “There is nothing woke about these ideas,” he stressed.
Highlighting the Organization’s “simultaneous liquidity and funding crisis”, he noted: “We have no other sources of revenue apart from the revenue that is received from membership. We are not allowed to take out loans; we're not allowed to borrow money; we're not allowed to float bonds.” Calling on the international community to “be clear-eyed” about the financial and political challenges ahead, he stressed that ending hunger and providing healthcare and education are “not the product of some kind of ideology”; they represent basic decency.
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