WHO Paid $250 Each to Over 100 Sexual Abuse Victims in Congo

Payments Part of 'Complete Package' of Support; Many Victims Still Uncompensated

The World Health Organization (WHO) has paid $250 each to at least 104 women in Congo who say they were sexually abused or exploited by officials working to stop Ebola.
The payments were part of a 'complete package' of support and required the women to complete training courses intended to help them start 'income-generating activities.'
Many Congolese women who were sexually abused have still received nothing, with the WHO stating that about a third of the known victims were 'impossible to locate.'
The total of $26,000 that WHO has provided to the victims equals about 1% of the $2 million, WHO-created 'survivor assistance fund' for victims of sexual misconduct, primarily in Congo.
The WHO continues to struggle with holding perpetrators of sexual abuse and exploitation to account in Congo, with a WHO-commissioned panel finding at least 83 perpetrators during the Ebola response, including at least 21 WHO staffers.