All personnel affiliated with the United Nations are required to uphold the highest standards of conduct as per the Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service. The United Nations takes all reports of wrongdoing by its staff or affiliated personnel seriously, as sexual harassment violates universally recognized international standards and has long-term consequences on the physical and mental well-being of victims/survivors.
Acts of sexual harassment are prohibited, and all staff members and affiliated personnel are strongly encouraged to report in good faith any instances of sexual harassment of which they become aware. Reports may be submitted anonymously, and information provided will be treated confidentially and will only be disclosed to those who have a legitimate need to know. If you believe that you have experienced retaliation for reporting a concern about sexual harassment, this should also be reported.
To facilitate reporting, reporting mechanisms for some United Nations entities can be found below. Please note that not all UN entities' reporting mechanisms are listed below. If your entity is not listed below, please refer to your entity-specific Intranet or the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services.
If you are not sure which entity the alleged perpetrator belongs to, please report the incident through the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
The pages below can be accessed by the public, through the FAO public (www.fao.org) domain:
The following link on IAEA's website provides the relevant contact details to report fraud, corruption or misconduct: Whistle-blower policy | IAEA.
Please use the following link to report an incident of sexual harassment: https://reportwrongdoing.unov.org/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1.
Staff can also report misconduct using the following avenues:
- Call the Hotline at: + 1 212 963 1111 (24 hours a day);
- Regular Mail to: Director, Investigations Division, Office of Internal Oversight Services 1, United Nations, Plaza, 9th Floor New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.
- Email a complaint to: oioshotline@un.org.
Please use the following link to report an incident of sexual harassment: https://weareallin.iom.int/.
A formal complaint can be filed with the ITU Ethics Office, with the ITU Secretary-General or the direct supervisor. More information can be found here: https://www.itu.int/en/ethics/Pages/helpline.aspx
ITU Ethics Office
- Email: EthicsOffice@itu.int or HelplineITU@protonmail.com (complaints may be filed anonymously);
- Telephone: +41 22 730 6037 or 6324 (Switzerland);
- Post: Ethics Office, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Place des Nations, 1211 Geneva 20 Switzerland.
Please use the following link to report an incident of sexual harassment: https://unitednations.sharepoint.com/sites/iReportSEATracker/SitePages/Welcome-to-iReport-SEA-Tracker.aspx.
The Integrity Hotline provides a safe and independent mechanism to report any concerns about issues involving WHO and UNAIDS: https://secure.ethicspoint.eu/domain/media/en/gui/108001/index.html.
WHO’s Office of Internal Oversight Services can be contacted through the following email address: investigation@who.int.
All matters relating to misconduct by UN Secretariat personnel, including sexual harassment, can be reported through OIOS’ online reporting form, or by calling the OIOS hotline. Details for both avenues of reporting can be found at https://oios.un.org/report-wrongdoing.
Please refer to the UN Intranet iSeek for more information: https://iseek.un.org/nyc/sexualharassment.
Individuals may report cases of sexual harassment by either:
- e-mailing their Head of Office;
- submitting a report to the Office of Internal Audit and Investigations (OIAI) via email (integrity1@unicef.org); or
- submitting a report to OIAI using the OIAI web-based form: https://unicefcms.i-sight.com/external/case/new.
Please use the following link to report an incident of sexual harassment: https://secure.ethicspoint.eu/domain/media/en/gui/104807/lang.html.
For those wishing to address an ethical concern or dilemma, the Informal Reporting Form can be accessed at the following link: https://survey.unesco.org/e/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=299349&lang=en.
Please refer to the following links for information on reporting sexual harassment: UNEP Integrity and Fraud and Corruption | UNEP - UN Environment Programme and Prevention and Response to Sexual Misconduct (unep.org).
The UNHCR Senior Victim Care Officer is the first port of call for concerns regarding sexual harassment. She can provide confidential guidance on processes and services, psychosocial support, supports decision making, and accompanies personnel throughout the process, coordinates action on their behalf, as well as assesses risks and individual needs. The Senior Victim Care Officer can facilitate coordinated action with other entities on a victim’s behalf including consultations on protection against retaliation concerns with the Ethics office, informal resolution through the Ombudsman’s office and formal reporting through the Inspector General’s office.
The Senior Victim Care Officer, Ms. Zuhura Mahamed can be contacted at:
Mobile or WhatsApp: +41 79 337 79 40 or PAMA: +41 22 739 7203 or Email: mahamed@unhcr.org.
If UNHCR personnel would like to lodge a formal complaint with a view to initiate an investigation possibly leading to disciplinary action against the perpetrator, they can contact the Inspector General’s Office. They can report online or reach out by email or by phone (confidential email: inspector@unhcr.org / tel. +41 22 739 88 44). If UNHCR personnel are thinking of reporting formally but are not quite sure, the Senior Victim Care Officer can arrange an informal consultation with the Inspector General’s Office (IGO), for personnel to get more information about the formal investigation process.
Personnel can also report to the SpeakUp Helpline service available 24/7, 365 days of the year, to report concerns in total confidence and even anonymously if preferred.
Please use the following link to report an incident of sexual harassment: https://web2.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm.
UNIDO’s formal reporting channel can be found here:
How to Report Wrongdoing or adverse Environmental and Social Impacts | UNIDO
Please use the following link to report an incident of sexual harassment: https://secure.ethicspoint.eu/domain/media/en/gui/105317/index.html
Please use the following link to report an incident of sexual harassment: https://www.unrwa.org/how-report.
The resources available to individuals affected by sexual harassment can be found here.
UN Women’s formal mechanism to report an incident of sexual harassment can be accessed via this link: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/accountability/investigations.
UN Women’s informal mechanism to report an incident of sexual harassment can be accessed via this link: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Accountability/UN-Women-Harassment-sexual-harassment-discrimination-and-abuse-of-authority-policy-en.pdf#page=9.
Staff or visitors may report misconduct using the following avenues:
- Email a complaint to the Directorate of Human Resources at DRHOffice@upu.int, or to the Ethics Office at CH_UPU_EthicsOffice@pwc.ch, tel. +41 58 792 11 77;
- Confidential written complaint to the Director of Human Resources or the Director General, Universal Postal Union, Weltposstrasse 4, 3015 Bern, Switzerland;
- Personal and confidential letter to the UPU Ethics Office, Pricewaterhouse Coopers AG, Birchstrasse 160, Postfach, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland
Please use the following link to report an incident of sexual harassment, as well as any other type of misconduct: https://secure.ethicspoint.eu/domain/media/en/gui/106255/index.html.
The Integrity Hotline provides a safe and independent mechanism to report any concerns about issues involving WHO and UNAIDS: https://secure.ethicspoint.eu/domain/media/en/gui/108001/index.html.
WHO’s Office of Internal Oversight Services can be contacted through the following email address: investigation@who.int.
WIPO Investigation Hotline: https://wipo.speakup.report/en-GB/home/home.
Cases of sexual harassment in WMO are reported to the Internal Oversight Office. There is no specific link, nor a specific format to submit such allegations, therefore, staff members are free to report cases in any form they wish.