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Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Other Donors Spoke On Sex Abuse Reports At WHO

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which is WHO's third-largest funder said that it expects the U.N. agencies to conduct a thorough investigation into the sexual abuse issue as soon as possible.

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Tripti Shahi
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Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation: The American, British, and European diplomats and donors have voiced serious concerns over how the World Health Organisation has handled the sex abuse allegations over their staff during an outbreak of Ebola in Congo.
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On Tuesday, May 11, an investigation report was published documenting that a senior WHO management was informed about multiple sex abuse allegations which involved two of its doctors during the epidemic of 2018.

A notarised contract which was obtained by Associated Press showed that both of the WHO staffs signed an agreement between Dr Jean-Paul Ngandu, a doctor at WHO and a young woman that he allegedly impregnated in Congo during the period. Ngandu promised the young woman to pay money, cover her pregnancy cost and buy her a plot of land.

According to Ngandu, the contract was made to protect the integrity and reputation of the organisation.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which is WHO's third-largest funder said that it expects the U.N. agencies to conduct a thorough investigation into the sexual abuse issue as soon as possible.

The foundation said that its role as a funder of the organisation (WHO) that receives grants from the foundation is to hold it to the highest standards of transparency and accountability. It also added that it is their role to insist that the organisation take steps to prevent such misconduct in the future.

Other than the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, many other funders of the organisation have also raised concerns regarding the issue. Simon Manley, U.K.'s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said that the U.K. has a zero-tolerance approach regarding sexual harassment and exploitation and it applies to all the international organisations that they fund.

Britain, which is the second-largest donor of WHO has said that they and other major donors are speaking to the organisation as a matter of urgency to establish the facts.

WHO, however, has declined to comment on the allegations and said that it is waiting for the results of a panel to investigate the issue. The panel was created in October last year to investigate the sexual abuse during the Congo outbreak involving WHO staffs.

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