[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 349 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  2d Session

                            H. CON. RES. 349

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

   Calling for effective measures to end the sexual exploitation of 
                               refugees.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 349

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas the United Nations and organizations engaged in international 
        humanitarian relief periodically receive reports of sexual exploitation 
        of refugees, particularly women and children;
Whereas last year a report commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner 
        of Refugees and the British organization Save the Children accuses aid 
        workers in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea of refusing to give food 
        and medicine to young girls unless they perform sexual favors;
Whereas in response to this report the Secretary General of the United Nations 
        denounced sexual exploitation of refugees and called for a full 
        investigation of the humanitarian staff from the agencies involved;
Whereas the charges against aid workers in West Africa are still being 
        investigated and in recent years there have been reports implicating 
        employees of international nongovernmental organizations, government 
        agencies responsible for humanitarian response, and peacekeeping forces 
        in sexual exploitation of refugees;
Whereas many of these reports have involved children, some as young as 10 to 12 
        years of age;
Whereas the insufficiency of food rations in refugee camps has been cited as a 
        primary factor contributing to sexual exploitation;
Whereas refugees are often extremely poor and cut off from employment and other 
        ordinary means of income, so that they can be highly susceptible to 
        demands that they exchange sex for food to help their families survive: 
        and
Whereas the relationship between refugee workers and refugees is a custodial or 
        caregiving relationship in which the custodian or caregiver can exercise 
        substantial power over the life of the other party, and which carries a 
        corresponding risk of abuse: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) supports the Secretary General of the United Nations in 
        condemning the sexual exploitation of children by humanitarian 
        aid workers;
            (2) urges the United Nations to conduct a comprehensive 
        worldwide investigation into the extent, if any, of sexual 
        exploitation of refugees by agents or employees of United 
        Nations agencies, of other international nongovernmental 
        organizations, and of governments;
            (3) urges the President to--
                    (A) affirm the commitment of the United States to 
                protecting the well-being and human rights of women and 
                children, particularly those in refugee situations; and
                    (B) instruct the Administrator of the United States 
                Agency for International Development and the Secretary 
                of Agriculture to review the distribution of food 
                assistance to refugee communities throughout the world 
                to ensure that humanitarian assistance to refugees 
                provided by the United States is respectful of the 
                human rights of women and children and is distributed 
                in such a way as to minimize the risk of sexual 
                exploitation; and
            (4) urges the Secretary General, the President, and the 
        executive authorities of all governmental and nongovernmental 
        entities engaged in refugee work to adopt codes of conduct for 
        employees, contractors, and other agents of the United Nations, 
        of the United States Government, and of such governmental and 
        nongovernmental entities, respectively, who are engaged in 
        refugee work that strictly prohibit sexual relationships 
        between international refugee workers and those entrusted to 
        their care, and to enforce these prohibitions vigorously.

            Passed the House of Representatives October 16, 2002.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.