76 Secretary-General, while criminal and disciplinary responsibility in respect of members of national contingents would depend on the national law of the Member State concerned. It reiterated that troopcontributing countries bore the primary responsibility for maintaining discipline among their contingents deployed in peacekeeping missions. The Special Committee took note of the SecretaryGeneral’s 2007 report on strengthening investigations [YUN 2007, p. 1473] and looked forward to the outcome of the General Assembly’s deliberations on it. In June, the Assembly, by resolution 63/287 (see p. 84), endorsed the principle of restructuring the Investigation Division of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (oios). It requested that oios undertake a three-year pilot project involving investigation centres based in New York, Nairobi, and Vienna. Sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping operations Report of Secretary-General. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 57/306 [YUN 2003, p. 1237], the Secretary-General, in February, submitted a report [A/63/720] on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, presenting data on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse in the UN system during 2008. There were 83 allegations of abuse involving personnel of dpko and dfs, marking a decrease from 2006 (357) and 2007 (127). Of that number, 34 were considered “egregious” forms of sexual exploitation and abuse, namely sexual exploitation and abuse of minors, including rape. Eighty out of 83 cases had been investigated. Of those involving military personnel, 58 cases had been substantiated; among civilian personnel, 4 cases; and among police and corrections personnel, 8 cases. Dpko and dfs had communicated the results of those investigations to the relevant troop- or police-contributing countries and the individuals were repatriated and barred from future peacekeeping operations. The decrease in the number of allegations could be attributed to increased training and awareness-raising, but a change in how data was being collected in the past few years might also have contributed to the lower number. Nevertheless, there had been an increase in the number of allegations that had been substantiated, particularly allegations involving minors. That situation would be monitored closely. The report also described progress made in enforcing UN standards of conduct related to sexual exploitation and abuse. On 30 June, the General Assembly deferred consideration of the Secretary-General’s report until its sixty-fourth session (decision 63/550 C). Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations consideration. The Special Committee [A/63/19] un-
Part One: Political and security questions derlined the gravity of all acts of sexual and genderbased violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse, and stressed the importance of addressing the needs of victims. The Special Committee recognized the work undertaken by gender advisers in the field and by the dpko gender trainer. Underlining the need to finalize and implement the gender training strategy, the Special Committee looked forward to working with the Secretary-General in developing and implementing training programmes for all peacekeeping personnel to help them better prevent, recognize and respond to sexual violence and other forms of violence against women and girls. The Special Committee underlined the importance of implementing the policy of zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping operations, and welcomed progress made towards the elimination and prevention of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse. However, while noting the continuing decline in the number of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, the Special Committee regretted that the number of the most egregious allegations had not gone down. It reiterated its suggestion for disaggregating such data according to the type of serious misconduct alleged, to permit a deeper analysis. The Special Committee also welcomed the adoption of General Assembly resolution 62/214 [YUN 2007, p. 1519] containing the United Nations Comprehensive Strategy on Assistance and Support to Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by United Nations Staff and Related Personnel. Report of Secretary-General. Pursuant to resolution 62/214, the Secretary-General in July reported [A/64/176] on action taken to implement the Comprehensive Strategy, which sought to ensure that victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN staff and related personnel received appropriate and timely assistance and support in the form of medical care, legal services, support for psychological and social care and immediate material care, including food, clothing and shelter. He reviewed the approach adopted to implement the Strategy, discussed ongoing activities at country and agency levels, identified challenges and lessons learned and provided recommendations on the way forward. Cooperation with troop-contributing countries The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations [A/63/19] stressed the need to enhance the relationship between those who planned, mandated and managed UN peacekeeping operations and those who implemented the operations’ mandates, with troopcontributing countries involved early and fully in all aspects and stages of those operations. To enhance transparency and effectiveness, the Special Committee urged the Secretariat to circulate in a timely man-