In a statement delivered February 20 to the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, the Secretary of State for Development in the UK, addressed the deepening mistrust between the UK government and the United Nations:
We have also been speaking to colleagues across government and beyond about what more we can do to stop exploitation and abuse in the UN and broader multilateral system. The message from us is clear to all parts of the UN: you can either get your house in order or you can prepare to carry on your good work without our money.
Miranda Brown, a former senior official at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, has written a letter to the Secretary to discuss the implications of this statement. Brown, a whistleblower who disclosed sexual abuse of children by international peacekeepers in the Central African Republic and ultimately lost her job, has written to Mordaunt. She is seeking an opportunity to discuss the steps needed to ensure that victims of crimes and the whistleblowers who support them can come forward at the United Nations without fear of reprisal.
To read Miranda Brown’s letter, click here.