Charity workers from international aid agencies have been implicated in a decade-long sex-for-food scandal, according to a UN report which was leaked to The Times but never formally published.
The 84-page document produced in 2001 for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), identified more than 40 aid organisations “whose workers are alleged to be in sexually exploitative relationships with refugee children” in camps in west Africa in the 1990s.
Refugee families told UNHCR researchers of sex regularly being traded for essentials such as food, oil, access to education and even plastic sheeting for shelters.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
According to The Sun, charity workers in a camp in Guinea would tell women “a kilo of flour for sex”.
The list of organisations implicated includes the World Food Programme, Save the Children, Medecins Sans Frontieres, the International Rescue Committee, and the International Federation of Red Cross Societies.
Claims against 67 people were passed to senior UNHCR officials “in confidential lists”, however, The Times understands that fewer than ten were dismissed and none were prosecuted.
The latest revalations come just months are the international aid sector was rocked by allegations of sexual misconduct by Oxfam aid workers in the aftermath of the 2011 Haiti earthquake. Oxfam’s chief executive, Mark Goldring, announced he would be stepping down last week in the wake of the scandal.
The Commons international development committee, which launched an inquiry into the sexual exploitation in the aid sector following the Oxfam allegations, has reportedly also been handed a copy of the UN report, which one member said was “very important to our inquiry because it shows the aid sector has had problems for many years but has failed to sort itself out and now is the time for renewal and reform”.
-
Microsoft pursues digital intelligence ‘aligned to human values’ in shift from OpenAIUNDER THE RADAR The iconic tech giant is jumping into the AI game with a bold new initiative designed to place people first in the search for digital intelligence
-
Sudoku medium: November 7, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Crossword: November 7, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
Gaza genocide: will UN ruling change anything?Today's Big Question Commission of inquiry’s findings ‘give unprecedented weight’ to genocide claims
-
Why ‘anti-Islam’ bikers are guarding Gaza aid sitesIn The Spotlight Members of Infidels MC, who regard themselves as modern Crusaders, among private security guards at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites
-
UN votes to end Lebanon peacekeeping missionSpeed Read The Trump administration considers the UN's Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to be a 'waste of money'
