116 STAT. 3164 CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS—NOV. 20, 2002 Nov. 20, 2002 SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN BY [H.Con.Res. 349] HUMANITARIAN AID WORKERS—CONDEMNATION Whereas the United Nations and organizations engaged in international humanitarian rehef 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 employ- ment 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
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