Recommendation 19

HM Government Acknowledged

The FCDO undertakes due diligence assessments on all our partners and will not provide funding to any multilateral organisation whose safeguarding procedures we consider to be inadequate. All organisations have room for improvement. Multilaterals have thousands of employees and even those with the strongest procedures are likely to see some cases of SEAH each year and will need to respond robustly but sensitively. Funding agreements set out our expectations and allow us to suspend, reduce or terminate funding in the event of major failings on safeguarding or any other issue. We consistently engage with all multilaterals on their safeguarding policies and practice and will increase that engagement if concerns emerge. For example, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has a suite of ethical policies, which mirror UN policies. The UK consistently engages with WHO’s Compliance, Risk and Ethics Team to ensure these policies are enforced and developed. Following the allegations of SEAH by WHO workers during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UK has used our governance position to push for a step-change in how WHO handles SEAH allegations more broadly. The UK co-led work on a Resolution supported by around 30 other countries, which was agreed at the 20 January WHO Executive Board. The Resolution ensures WHO is legally required to provide detailed, quarterly briefings on its work on the prevention of SEAH. Seventh Special Report of Session 2019–21 9 We have been, and will continue to be, vocal in advocating for greater resourcing for SEAH within WHO and that WHO take a more robust approach in SEAH advocacy with partner governments. While WHO cannot enforce policies or action by sovereign states, as the lead agency for global health it can play an important influencing role. Progress on safeguarding will be a focus of the UK’s new core voluntary contribution to the WHO and will be monitored through avenues including Annual Reviews and the annual UK-WHO Strategic Dialogue. In summary, we exert leverage and accountability in multilateral organisations by virtue of our governance position, including as part of Executive Boards, our financial contributions, our clear expectations in funding agreements, our robust oversight and joint working with other shareholders. The UK, alongside other donors, also secured agreement that MOPAN (the Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network) will include SEAH indicators in its assessments of organisations’ performance, starting in 2021.