UN sexual abuse claims 'must be investigated'
The BBC documentary, The Whistleblowers: Inside the UN, details allegations of corruption, management turning a blind eye to wrongdoing and sexual abuse.
Staff members who tried to report allegations told the BBC they had been penalised after speaking out - and some were sacked.
In the film, Ms Sen - who was appointed spokeswoman on harassment, assault and discrimination in 2018 - said there were women at the UN who had been "approached, accosted and raped". The more men were allowed to get away with it, she said, "the more they will keep doing it".
Sima Kotecha & Sarah Bell for BBC News highlight some insights from a recent BBC documentary on UN whistleblowers.
Taking action, not sides: the benefits of humanitarian neutrality in war
Humanitarians face a host of dilemmas when trying to alleviate the suffering of people caught up in armed conflict and must make hard choices when balancing the potential benefits and harms of aid. Taking a neutral stance resolves none of these dilemmas. But it does provide a logical and consistent thread to all that the ICRC does and says. Consistency is vital in building trust – who can trust an organization which veers from one position to another with the winds of public sentiment? Neutrality is not the opposite of ‘solidarity’, but a way to render this noble sentiment actionable. MSF realized this 20 years ago and I was on the losing side of the debate: neutrality remains inscribed in MSF’s charter.
Fiona Terry for ICRC’s Humanitarian Law & Policy explains her conversion from a neutrality sceptic to a genuine believer in the purpose and utility of retaining a neutral stance in war.
Alaa Abd el-Fattah and the Hope of a Generation
The encamped city that coalesced for just over a fortnight was proof of everything—religious coexistence, meticulously managed field hospitals, and even efficient rubbish collection and disposal—that the regime, and many individuals, had long believed to be impossible. In these staged and telegenic acts of citizenship, revolutionaries refuted a long-standing political claim that only the threat of torture, forced disappearance, and ritualized public humiliation would ensure that Egyptians didn’t succumb to internecine, sectarian, and fanatical violence. (…).
It is hard for me to write of that moment without feeling overtaken by nostalgia. But Alaa reminds us, time and time again, not just how aesthetically kitschy such nostalgia has always been but also how dangerous it is, politically speaking. “Our sin,” he insists, “was pride not treachery.”
Hussein Omar for the Nation with a long essay on Egypt, spaces of a civil society & the long road to freedom.
‘A fantastic recognition for my field of Humanitarian Studies’
For the first time since 1998, a scientist from the Erasmus University has won the Spinoza Prize, the highest recognition in Dutch academia. The lucky winner is Thea Hilhorst, professor of Humanitarian Studies.
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A few days before the announcement, the professor of Humanitarian Studies spoke in her garden in the heart of Utrecht about her scientific career and what the prize means to her. Also bout the normality of crises, paternalistic NGOs and imposter syndrome.
A bonus link to say “congratulations” to my PhD examiner Thea Hilhorst & celebrate her achievements for the field of humanitarian studies with her!
