Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ADDISABABA2117
2007-07-05 15:01:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Addis Ababa
Cable title:  

ETHIOPIA: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF UN EFFORTS TO

Tags:  KPKO PHUM KCRM KWMN ET ER 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3834
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHDS #2117 1861501
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 051501Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6888
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 002117 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR IO/PSC: X.GUTIERREZ AND AF/E

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/05/2017
TAGS: KPKO PHUM KCRM KWMN ET ER
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF UN EFFORTS TO
COMBAT SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE IN UN PEACEKEEPING
MISSIONS

REF: A. STATE 089356 (NOTAL)

B. 06 ADDIS ABABA 1951 (NOTAL)

Classified By: ACTING DCM ERIC WONG. REASON: 1.4 (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 002117

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR IO/PSC: X.GUTIERREZ AND AF/E

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/05/2017
TAGS: KPKO PHUM KCRM KWMN ET ER
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF UN EFFORTS TO
COMBAT SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE IN UN PEACEKEEPING
MISSIONS

REF: A. STATE 089356 (NOTAL)

B. 06 ADDIS ABABA 1951 (NOTAL)

Classified By: ACTING DCM ERIC WONG. REASON: 1.4 (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY. As in the previous year, neither host
government officials nor Ethiopian media have reported
significant sexual misconduct or trafficking in persons (TIP)
attributable to UN peacekeeping personnel in Ethiopia.
However, both NGOs and staff of the United Nations Mission in
Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) have received anecdotal field
reports of sexual exploitation in the form of soliciting
underage prostitutes. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Per ref A, Post contacted the Ethiopian MFA, officials
at UNMEE's Addis Ababa headquarters, and NGOs working in the
Tigray Region regarding UN efforts to prevent TIP and sexual
exploitation and abuse (SEA) activity among UN peacekeeping
forces in Ethiopia. UN forces in Ethiopia are primarily
stationed on the Ethiopian and Eritrean border (Tigray Region
of Ethiopia),serving in UNMEE.


3. (SBU) As in the previous year (ref B),the Ethiopian MFA
reported not having received any information to suggest that
either UNMEE civilian staff or peacekeeping forces have been
involved in TIP or SEA activities. Locally engaged staff
(LES) at post report that there is no popular perception of
such activity in the nation's capital. In previous years,
there have been rumors that several UNMEE military officers
fathered children by local women, and that a few UNMEE
personnel trafficked several Eritreans into Ethiopia, mostly
young draft dodgers. Except for political refugees, Eritrea
is largely not a destination of choice for Ethiopians.


4. (U) The Addis Ababa-based office of the International
Organization for Migration's (IOM) Counter Trafficking Unit
had no information to report, relating to alleged sexual
misconduct or TIP activities attributable to UN peacekeeping
personnel in Ethiopia.

-------------- -
ALLEGATIONS OF PROSTITUTION, BUT SCOPE UNKNOWN
-------------- -


5. (C) Post received information of alleged SEA from NGOs
operating in the northern Tigray Region adjacent to the
border with Eritrea, where most UNMEE peacekeepers are
stationed. Field representatives of Project Concern
International (PCI) allege that some UNMEE personnel are
paying female prostitutes (generally between the ages of
14-20) in Adigrat, Adwa, and other Tigrayan towns, for sexual
favors. These relationships are allegedly consensual, but
elders in the Tigray Region are reportedly increasingly
concerned by reports of such activity and have begun to
organize 'buddy' systems so that girls and young women do not
have to travel unaccompanied to village markets and hand-dug
wells. Post does not have statistics on the number of UNMEE
peacekeepers involved in these solicitations, although PCI
considers the number significant and believes that many more
go unreported.


6. (C) Post discussed allegations of SEA and TIP with UNMEE
headquarters staff in Addis Ababa. UNMEE officials reported
receiving some complaints in the past of peacekeepers
soliciting sex for payment from young women and girls, but
highlighted UNMEE's "zero-tolerance" policy on SEA, as well
as UNMEE's establishment of a Conduct and Discipline Unit
(CDU) that is designing prevention and enforcement
strategies. In addition to induction training for all new
staff, CDU is organizing a series of interactive workshops
specific to SEA- and TIP-related concerns. Information on
SEA is to be posted on the UNMEE intranet. Aside from the
allegations of solicitation, UN mission staff in Addis Ababa
have not received any complaints regarding TIP or SEA
activity in Ethiopia, nor have significant media reports
regarding these issues emerged over the course of the last
year.
YAMAMOTO