The U.N. health agency had come under pressure from the
United States and other countries to do more in the fight against sexual
misconduct in the wake of the claims against the doctor, Fijian national Temo
Waqanivalu.
“Dr. Temo Waqanivalu has been dismissed from WHO following
findings of sexual misconduct against him and corresponding disciplinary
process,” said WHO spokeswoman Marcia Poole in a email to the AP early Tuesday.
“Sexual misconduct of any kind by anyone working for WHO —
be it as staff, consultant, partner — is unacceptable,” she added.
In January, the AP reported that Waqanivalu had been accused
of sexually assaulting a woman at a Berlin conference in October and was
flagged to senior WHO directors years ago for allegedly harassing another staffer.
The earlier allegation didn’t result in any significant
consequences for Waqanivalu, who headed a small team in WHO’s noncommunicable
diseases department and had been preparing to run for regional director of the
Western Pacific.
According to confidential documents obtained by the AP,
senior WHO directors were informed of a sexual harassment allegation made
against Waqanivalu in 2018. The accuser was later informed that pursuing a
formal investigation might not be the best option for her.
Waqanivalu was later given an informal warning that didn’t
cite the woman who made the claim or his specific behavior.
In interviews with WHO investigators, Waqanivalu
“categorically” denied he had ever sexually assaulted anyone. He declined to
comment to the AP.
In recent years, WHO has been plagued by numerous reports of
misconduct. In May 2021, the AP reported that senior managers were informed of
sex abuse allegations during an Ebola outbreak in Congo but did little to stop
it. A WHO-appointed panel later found that some 21 staff members had been
accused of sexually abusing people during that outbreak, among a total of 83
alleged perpetrators connected to the 2018-2020 mission.
The Western Pacific regional director that Waqanivalu was
seeking to replace at WHO was put on leave in August, months after the AP
reported that numerous staffers had accused him of racist and abusive behavior
that compromised the U.N. agency’s response to COVID-19.
Last month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
said in an email to employees that the appointment of the regional director,
Dr. Takeshi Kasai, had been terminated after an internal investigation resulted
in “findings of misconduct.” -AP