Panel finds 80 alleged abuse cases tied to WHO's Congo work

A panel commissioned by the World Health Organization has identified more than 80 alleged cases of sex abuse during the U.N. health agency's response to an Ebola outbreak in Congo, including allegations implicating 20 WHO staff members.

The report exposes the most widescale sexual wrongdoing linked to a U.N. institution in years. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the document “harrowing” reading.

One of the panel members, said that there were nine allegations of rape. Last October, WHO chief Tedros appointed the panel's co-chairs to investigate the claims after media reports claimed unnamed humanitarian officials sexually abused women during the Ebola outbreak that began in Congo in 2018.