National Task Force on Protection against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Advisory Note on handling allegations of staff members and affiliated personnel participating in “child booking” in South Sudan

I. Introduction

1. This note is meant to be used by all UN and non-UN entities working in South Sudan to handle allegation of staff and affiliated personnel participating in “child booking”. By virtue of their employment, staff occupy positions of disproportionate economic and social power. UN staff and affiliated personnel must not abuse or use their power or position in a manner that is offensive, humiliating, embarrassing or intimidating to another person.

2. Given the seriousness of the allegations and the harm these traditional practices pose to girl child, the Task Force undertook this review of existing United Nations policies and procedures to identify possible response actions. Consideration is first given to determining whether the participation of United Nations staff members and affiliated personnel in the child booking custom is consistent with United Nations standards of conduct, which demand the highest standards of integrity and respect for human rights. In this context, the Task Force a. considers whether the custom is directly contrary to human rights instruments adopted by the United Nations system and, thus, inconsistent with the obligations imposed on staff members and affiliated personnel.

b. considers whether the custom violates child protection policies applicable to United Nations peace operations and humanitarian partners.

c. reviews existing policies for Protection Against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and assesses their potential applicability to the child booking custom.

Based on this review, the Task Force concludes that the knowing or intentional participation of staff members and affiliated personnel in the child booking custom violates United Nations Standards of Conduct and, depending on the specific circumstances presented, may also violate international protocols adopted by the General Assembly prohibiting human trafficking, child marriage, and sexual exploitation and abuse. Guidance on the establishment of a coherent system-wide approach to these potential disciplinary violations should be sought from the responsible officials at Headquarters to ensure consistency and fairness in application of disciplinary standards.

Contemporaneously, the Country Team should explore ways of preventing potential violations though targeted advocacy and awareness raising campaigns.

1. In addition, experts estimate that the overall human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic could be extraordinary. The economic and physical disruptions caused by the disease could have vast consequences for the rights and health of women and girls. The pandemic is also expected to cause significant delays in programmes to end child marriage. These delayed programmes, on top of growing economic hardships globally, could result in an estimated 13 million more child marriages over 10 years.