Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the work of the UN Secretary-General's Coordinator for improving the UN's response to sexual exploitation and abuse.

The British Government is committed to tackling sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) as made clear by the Minister of State, my noble Friend, the Rt Hon. the Baroness Anelay of St Johns at the UK hosted UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial in September 2016 where she outlined the importance of working with the UN to eradicate the scourge of SEA, for the credibility of peacekeeping missions, and for the people we serve to protect. The UK has provided £1 million to support the UN's work on SEA, and that of Dr Jane Holl Lute the UN Secretary-General's Special Coordinator for SEA. This support has allowed the Department of Field Support's Conduct and Discipline Unit to enhance pre-deployment vetting and training. It has also helped Dr Holl Lute to coordinate a range of activity across the UN to address fragmentation in the UN system, including producing detailed response manuals for Missions and adopting a victim-centred approach to minimise further harm to the victim.

The British Government also continues to support the Department for Peacekeeping Operations to implement an SEA communications strategy to raise local awareness of SEA and promote redress for victims. Given the history of SEA cases, awareness raising activities such as these are vital for ensuring the trust of the communities in which UN personnel are based.