[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 349 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.Con.Res.349
                                     Agreed to November 20, 2002        

                      One Hundred Seventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
          the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two


                          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.
  Attest:

                                 Clerk of the House of Representatives.

  Attest:

                                               Secretary of the Senate.