Internal emails reveal WHO knew of sex abuse claims in Congo

Reby sits in her home in Beni, eastern Congo, on Saturday, May 1, 2021. In 2019, she met World Health Organization Dr. Boubacar Diallo, of Canada, when he came into a mobile phone shop where she was working. He asked her to talk about “important things” with him in a hotel and gave her $100 for “transport costs,” she told the AP. “My God, a beautiful girl like you who gets $60 a month is not enough,” he said, according to Reby. “You are a big girl and if you sleep with me, you are going to be a high-ranking member of the Ebola response in Beni and you are going to receive around $800 a month.” She said she refused Diallo’s offer, but continued to see him when he came into her shop. “From that day on, he always called me the difficult girl,” she said. (AP Photo/Kudra Maliro)

Shekinah stands near her home in Beni, eastern Congo on Thursday, March 18, 2021. When she was working as a nurse’s aide in northeastern Congo in January 2019, she said World Health Organization Dr. Boubacar Diallo, of Canada, offered her a job investigating Ebola cases at double her previous salary _ with a catch. "When he asked me to sleep with him, given the financial difficulties of my family….I accepted.” (AP Photo/Kudra Maliro)

FILE - In this Saturday, June 15, 2019 file photo, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrives by helicopter at Ruhenda airport in Butembo, eastern Congo, to visit operations aimed at preventing the spread of Ebola and treating its victims. As WHO faces allegations that unnamed staffers were involved in the systemic sexual abuse of women, Tedros has declared he was “outraged,” and emergencies director Dr. Michael Ryan said, “We have no more information than you have.” But an AP investigation has found that senior WHO management was not only informed of specific cases of alleged sexual misconduct in 2019, but was asked how to handle them. (AP Photo/Kudra Maliro)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 file photo, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies program, speaks during a news conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. At right is WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. As WHO faces allegations that unnamed staffers were involved in the systemic sexual abuse of women, Tedros has declared he was “outraged,” and Ryan said, “We have no more information than you have.” But an AP investigation has found that senior WHO management was not only informed of specific cases of alleged sexual misconduct in 2019, but was asked how to handle them. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

This image provided by Dr. Jean-Paul Ngandu shows an April 29, 2019 contract between him and a Congolese woman he allegedly impregnated. The notarized document contains the signatures of two World Health Organization staff members, including a manager, as witnesses to the agreement. Ngandu promised to pay her a monthly stipend, cover the woman's pregnancy-related health costs and to buy her a plot of land. The deal was made “to protect the integrity and reputation of the organization," said Ngandu, who headed the WHO infection control team in Beni. The names of the woman and two other witnesses have been redacted to protect their privacy. (Courtesy Dr. Jean-Paul Ngandu via AP)

Reby hangs laundry outside her home in Beni, eastern Congo, on Saturday, May 1, 2021. In 2019, she met World Health Organization Dr. Boubacar Diallo, of Canada, when he came into a mobile phone shop where she was working. He asked her to talk about “important things” with him in a hotel and gave her $100 for “transport costs,” she told the AP. “My God, a beautiful girl like you who gets $60 a month is not enough,” he said, according to Reby. “You are a big girl and if you sleep with me, you are going to be a high-ranking member of the Ebola response in Beni and you are going to receive around $800 a month.” She said she refused Diallo’s offer, but continued to see him when he came into her shop. “From that day on, he always called me the difficult girl,” she said. (AP Photo/Kudra Maliro)

Anifa stands in her home in the eastern Congo town of Goma on Friday, March 5, 2021. In 2019, World Health Organization Dr. Boubacar Diallo, of Canada, met her when she was working in an Ebola treatment center in Beni, eastern Congo. She said Diallo told her: “How can a beautiful girl like you work here, testing people’s temperatures and washing their hands? That’s terrible.” She said he offered her another job at five times more than her current salary where “the conditions were very simple,” according to him. She rejected Diallo’s offer, saying that “if he hires me after sleeping with him...I would be a sex slave, not a WHO employee.” Diallo rejected those claims outright. (AP Photo/Kudra Maliro)

Anifa holds her phone displaying a photo of former World Health Organization doctor Boubacar Diallo, of Canada, during an interview in the eastern Congo town of Goma on Friday, March 5, 2021. In 2019, Diallo met her when she was working in an Ebola treatment center in Beni, eastern Congo. She said Diallo told her: “How can a beautiful girl like you work here, testing people’s temperatures and washing their hands? That’s terrible.” She said he offered her another job at five times more than her current salary where “the conditions were very simple,” according to him. She rejected Diallo’s offer, saying that “if he hires me after sleeping with him...I would be a sex slave, not a WHO employee.” Diallo rejected those claims outright. (AP Photo/Kudra Maliro)