Pretoria—The World Health Organization (WHO) in the African region, together with Member States and partners, has endorsed a regional roadmap to protect communities during public health emergencies. This initiative marks the first time the region has formally established systems holding both governments and WHO jointly accountable for preventing and addressing sexual misconduct in their operations. The roadmap signifies a transformative shift in operational safeguarding, ensuring that health responses uphold dignity, safety, and trust within affected communities.
For the first time, an international agency and national governments are collaborating with shared accountability to mitigate the risk of sexual misconduct by their workforces, partners, and responders. The commitment was endorsed by 42 countries during the African Strategic Conference on Prevention and Response to Sexual Misconduct, held in Pretoria from 17–20 November. This milestone reflects recognition that, in Africa—where over 160 public health emergencies occur annually—health workers, key stakeholders, and WHO staff are deeply embedded within vulnerable communities and must adhere to the highest ethical standards.
Dr Abdourahmane Diallo, Director of Programme Management at WHO Africa, emphasized that protection from sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment is non-negotiable, highlighting that safeguarding is about maintaining dignity, safety, and trust in every community served. The Regional Safeguarding Roadmap builds on a Member States accountability framework endorsed at the previous World Health Assembly and rests on three pillars: establishing policy and standards of conduct for the workforce, raising awareness and training, and managing sexual incidents through a victim- and survivor-centered response.
The roadmap urges governments to enhance reporting and investigation systems, deploy safeguarding experts in all emergency operations, expand support for survivors, and ensure that misconduct cases are addressed promptly and confidentially. WHO is tasked with assisting Member States in strengthening their capacity and systems for safeguarding, while survivors’ voices will guide the development of future policies and accountability frameworks.
These commitments build on four years of progress by WHO Africa to prevent misconduct, enhance ethical oversight, and proactively manage risks. Since 2021, WHO has implemented global reforms to detect and address misconduct in health operations, integrating specialized protection expertise into emergency responses and enforcing mandatory training and a strict zero-tolerance policy for all staff and partners. Christian Saunders, UN Under Secretary General and Coordinator for Improving the UN’s Response to Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment, underscored that sexual misconduct remains a critical ethical challenge in humanitarian and development contexts, describing it as the ultimate betrayal of trust.
The endorsement of the roadmap coincides with the global observance of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, reinforcing the message that health services must remain safe spaces. By establishing shared accountability, African governments and WHO have set a global precedent, ensuring that every responder is responsible, survivors receive support, and communities can trust the health care and humanitarian services they rely on.
