Situational Alert: Risk of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in the U.S. Response to the Ebola Outbreak in Africa

0 June 25, 2026 12:21

alduffy

Thu, 06/25/2026 – 11:21

Special Report

Jun 24, 2026

The USAID Office of Inspector General (OIG) has consistently led efforts in preventing sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) within U.S. foreign assistance programs. SEA has been a longstanding challenge within U.S.-funded foreign assistance given the inherent power disparity between aid workers and those they interact with in-country. Global health emergencies, including the current Ebola outbreak, involve conditions that further heighten the risk of SEA—including the need for rapid mobilization, weakened oversight mechanisms, and heightened vulnerabilities among affected populations. Critical to the deterrence of SEA is preventing the recirculation of perpetrators throughout the aid sector, which requires the cooperation of nongovernmental organizations, United Nations (UN) agencies, and contractors to swiftly respond and report allegations to OIG.Given the reported prevalence of SEA allegations in previous Ebola outbreaks, and USAID OIG’s continued concerns about the capacity of implementers to safeguard and address allegations of SEA, we provide the following information to inform the U.S. government’s current response.

Situational Alert_SEA in Ebola Programming June 2026.pdf90.84 KB

Tags: Office of Inspector General USAID, U.S. Agency for International Development OIG, USAID Office of Inspector General, USAID OIG