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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAP exclusive: Doctors Without Borders report found cases of abuse and exploitation by staff in Chad
AP exclusive: Doctors Without Borders report found cases of abuse and exploitation by staff in ChadThe Doctors Without Borders report completed in July and first reported Saturday by The Associated Press found 59 allegations of abuse and said 18 staff members were dismissed and barred from future employment. In some cases, the group told AP, the allegations couldnt be verified or the perpetrators identified. The report also said some of the repeated exploitation suggested potentially organized sexual trafficking.
The organization said it launched the months long investigation in response to AP reporting that women had accused staff of sexually exploiting them in displacement sites in Chad, where hundreds of thousands fled from Sudans devastating civil war, now in its fourth year. The report credited AP as playing a fundamental role as an external whistleblower.
The findings by Doctors Without Borders one of the largest employers and biggest aid organizations in the refugee camps in eastern Chad indicate the abuse was more widespread than previously reported.
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Sympthsical
(11,257 posts)Was not on my bingo card this year.
What even is this world.
If I see an article that Chef Andres uses puppies in his World Kitchen, I'm tapping out.
yardwork
(69,858 posts)I stopped donating to this group years ago because of concerning issues.
While all the public relations focus is on Gaza, the scale of human suffering in sub-Saharan Africa is overlooked. Trump and Musk destroying USAID left hundreds of millions of people starving, without medical care, left to the mercy of Russia, China, and local evil-doers empowered by the chaos.
NGOs can't stop this sheer volume of evil. And they have their own problems.
Sympthsical
(11,257 posts)Really nice guy actually. Super Christ-y, but not in that hates minorities sort of way (look, I know it's a low bar).
Anyway, he went to Africa to help build homes and work on water distribution. Tapped out after a few months, because while there were a lot of people who were there to genuinely help, he didn't like how exploiters were allowed to creep in. People who behaved like assholes because they had power over the underprivileged around them. Savior complex, and since I'm a good person, I can do whatever I want. Always justifying shitty behavior.
My cousin's been through some shit. Stepfather murdered his mother shortly after his father died young, lost his only sibling to a heroin overdose, etc. etc. He does not countenance treating people poorly.
He couldn't stand to be around the people he was with anymore. He said they wanted to look like good people without actually being good people.
It's a shame, because there are a lot of people who really do want to help and do amazing work. But many of these organizations just don't police themselves enough to prevent predatory types from latching on while hiding under their moral authority. And then the institutional rot sets in and the cover ups begin. We see it again and again.
yardwork
(69,858 posts)I have some limited experience traveling and working in sub-Saharan Africa. The scale of the problem is huge. I know people have written many, many books about the causes. What I saw, personally and in my very limited experience, is a cautionary tale for us all.
In the absence of a strong democratic government, predators move in. SSA has a lot of natural resources and greedy people want it all.
I am certain that destroying USAID was a deliberate tactic to allow Musk and his evil buddies a clear field. Russia has pretty much taken over the countries in the belt below the gulf. China is buying up everything in sight.
Sympthsical
(11,257 posts)You're right, he did go for USAID right out of the gate, but my brain didn't really connect those two ideas.
Hrm. Well now I want to go do some reading about this. Thanks!
yardwork
(69,858 posts)Before joining Trump, RFK, Jr. spent decades undermining trust for NGOs in the region. Somehow I doubt he spent his own money on the effort.
RockCreek
(1,603 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(106,763 posts)RockCreek
(1,603 posts)Sympthsical
(11,257 posts)From the article:
Agree with the poster. I doubt they had zero idea until a reporter asked them about it. Sounds more like the rug sweeping wasn't going to work anymore.
muriel_volestrangler
(106,763 posts)yardwork
(69,858 posts)Step back and there's a much larger scale of evil going on. Not excusing Israel's actions at all, but there are horrific things going on all over the world that are mostly ignored.
It's very convenient for the evil-doers that every progressive has been laser-focused on Israel.
It was very convenient for the evil-doers to get Trump and his buddies back in the White House. Very convenient.
Munu
(297 posts)... it would be called a "world war".
yardwork
(69,858 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(106,763 posts)About 95,000 to 75,000 See figure 2, p. 11: https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/3596c585-bd85-466c-9f9f-bfaf6fac7b27/Conflict%20trends%20A%20global%20overview%201946-2025%20-%20PRIO%20Paper%202026.pdf?inline=true
harumph
(3,491 posts)TheProle
(4,186 posts)harumph
(3,491 posts)I don't know of any organization operating in the conditions they typically do, and with such a vulnerable demographic, is not going to be an attractive target for these types of criminals. If it were the Trump admin, they'd just ignore it and make efforts to recruit more sex abusers. Although the story is appalling, I'm confident that DWB is highly motivated to clean up its act. Things fall apart and good people have to put them back together.
electric_blue68
(27,773 posts)harumph
(3,491 posts)DWB has definitely done good work all over the world. Despite the appalling nature of this particular
unit, it isn't typical. I'm constantly amazed how when upon hearing of a scandal of a NPO or long standing humanitarian
organization, people are like "Well, fuck them - they're dead to me." You don't toss a largely effective organization in the garbage when it encounters scandal and you don't burn a house down in the case of termites. In either case you fix it, unless one is a virtue signalling naif that believes that such organizations with a mature network and willing volunteers can just be "sprouted" from the soil when needed.