Ravi Karkara, a senior official with UN Women who was under investigation for sexual misconduct, has been found guilty. The United Nations agency for gender equality and women’s empowerment announced that he was dismissed on Monday, 17 September.
UN Women, however, chose to not name Karkara in its statement. It said last month that the Office of Audit and Investigation of UNDP had completed its investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations “involving the UN Women staff member”.
Karkara had served as Senior Advisor on Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy to the Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director at UN Women.
Confirming that investigations revealed “sexual misconduct occurred", Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said in the statement:
“I have dismissed the staff member. This is the strongest disciplinary measure available within the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations. Consequently, the staff member is prohibited from employment within the UN system.”
Karkara Allegedly Misbehaved With 8 Men
Karkara was under investigation for sexual misconduct after at least eight men had accused him of using his prestige and position to sexually harass them, five sources with knowledge of the investigation had told Newsweek.
According to English daily The Guardian, the allegations against Karkara ranged from making obscene gestures in the workplace to sending links to pornography. The report further stated that he is accused of sending messages inviting young men to masturbate, or asking them questions of a sexual nature.
Mlambo-Ngcuka further confirmed "emphatically" that the former staff member "cannot be protected by diplomatic immunity."
UN Women, however, does not have the authority to prosecute.
Zero Tolerance to Sexual Exploitation: UN Women
Mlambo-Ngcuka further said UN Women continues to advocate for a world free of violence and abuse. "We hold ourselves accountable to ensure a victim-centred approach in fulfilment of our mandate to advance and protect gender equality as a fundamental human right,” she added.
The Executive Director had earlier this year Purna Sen as Executive Coordinator on Sexual Harassment to engage with survivors.
Who Is Ravi Karkara?
Karkara has worked with UN Women, UNICEF, Save the Children, among other agencies. He serves as Global Advisor on Youth with UN-HABITAT – and had represented UN-HABITAT as the co-chair of the UN Interagency Network on Youth Development. He also co-chaired the Policy Strategy Group for World We Want 2015 largest UN and civil society post-2015 data-curation-visualisation Big Data platform. His profile said he has written more than 80 publications and has given keynote and panel addresses.
Reports of the allegations against Karkara surfaced early last month. UN Women had said back in December 2017 that it received allegations of sexual misconduct involving one of its staff members – again without naming Karkara.
According to Newsweek, Steve Lee, a 25-year-old policy activist, who has addressed the UN and was a member of the Major Group for Children and Youth, is among the men accusing Karkara of misconduct. Karkara often made gestures of oral sex and masturbation, asking him inappropriate questions, he told Newsweek.
Another individual, 26-year-old Muhammad Junaid Mandoori, had alleged that they had been stalked online, sent indecent images and asked for sexual favours in return for opportunities within the UN.
Why Not Name Karkara?
A legal adviser for campaign group Code Blue, Sharanya Kanikkannan, said in The Guardian report that questions remained unanswered regarding the Karkara case, including why UN Women had declined to name him.
"Many of the actions taken by UN Women surpass the actions taken in recent months by other UN entities. The same UN organisation which promises to refer this case to the authorities is responsible for sitting on dozens of cases of civilian peacekeepers, from as far back as 2015, among which not a single one has ever been referred to justice,” the report quoted Kanikkannan as saying.
(With PTI inputs)
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