AHF Echoes Call for UNAIDS to Release Report on Sexual Harassment Before Dec 11th Geneva Meeting

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The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) will meet on December 11th to discuss a report it commissioned—and vowed to make public—on credible claims of sexual abuse among U.N. staff and the subsequent botched handling of the sexual harassment investigation of senior staff at the agency

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today called on the governing board of UNAIDS to publicly release the report it commissioned in response to credible claims of sexual abuse among its staff and the senior management cover-up that followed.

On December 11, the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board will meet in Geneva to review the report. In a desperate attempt to suppress the report’s findings, UNAIDS has refused to publicly release the report after it said it would make it public.

The so-called “independent expert panel” is supposed to present the report at the UNAIDS board meeting; however, the staff at UNAIDS is doing all it can to make sure it doesn’t see the light of day.

“Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and UNAIDS needs to be disinfected from a culture that encourages sex abuse and the promotion of predators. AHF calls on the representatives of UN member states represented on the UNAIDS board which have access to the report to immediately release it prior to its next board meeting,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “This cover-up has lasted long enough.”

The Code Blue Campaign, a group working to end impunity for sexual abuse by UN personnel, offered this on the background of the twin scandals of sexual abuse and the subsequent cover-up by UN officials:

“The sexual assault investigation and cover-up that provoked public outcry about UNAIDS leadership remain outstanding. In April, Secretary-General Guterres, who appointed the top managers of UNAIDS, announced that the UN would undertake a new investigation into Luiz Loures, who has since retired. Nothing further has been heard about that reopened investigation in the more than half-year since.”

For additional information, see this release from Code Blue Campaign: http://www.codebluecampaign.com/press-releases/2018/12/3

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1,000,000 individuals in 42 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare

MEDIA CONTACTS:
WASHINGTON
John Hassell, National Director of Advocacy, AHF
+1.202.774.4854 [cell] [email protected]

LOS ANGELES
Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications, AHF
+1.323.791.5526 [cell] +1.323.308.1833 [work] [email protected]

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