Misconduct Against Persons
This dashboard was last updated on 16 October 2026.
The dashboard
This dashboard is about honoring the Director-General's commitment to transparency and accountability. The Office of Internal Oversight Services (IOS) has a dedicated unit of specially trained investigators who investigate allegations of sexual misconduct with a victim/survivor-led approach. As new complaints are received, the sexual misconduct cases are worked on in real time. Similarly, there is an investigative team for abusive conduct.
Sexual misconduct is serious and the impact on victims and survivors is tremendous. Timeliness, responsiveness, and fairness given to allegations of misconduct are integral to building and maintaining trust in the Organization.
Please use this link to see the disciplinary measures taken so far on substantiated allegations from this initiative.
Glossary
What are Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA), Sexual Harassment (SH), and Abusive Conduct (AC)?
Sexual exploitation
Sexual exploitation is the actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another.
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse is the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offense or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or operational environment.
Abusive conduct
Abusive conduct is the generic term used in this policy to collectively refer to discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment. Abusive conduct may be comprised of a one-time incident or a series of incidents and may occur either in the workplace or in connection with work.
Sources: WHO Policy on Preventing and Addressing Sexual Misconduct, WHO Policy on Preventing and Addressing Abusive Conduct
This dashboard is updated on or around the 8th of each month. The numbers are indicated based on the initial allegation received, which may be reclassified in the course of an investigation. The below figures also include 18 cases in monitoring status. These cases are defined as cases involving third party conducted investigations outside of the jurisdiction of the IOS but for which WHO has a contractual interest to ensure third parties adhere to its zero-tolerance policy on misconduct.
Number of Sexual Misconduct and Abusive Conduct cases opened for each WHO region for the past 12 months
Total number of recorded Sexual Misconduct and Abusive Conduct cases over the past 12 months per WHO region. The region “Other” represents cases handled by IOS in relation to entities administered by WHO (e.g. UNAIDS, UNITAID, UNICC, etc.)
Note of 7 October 2026: data on the graphs
"Cumulative number of Sexual Misconduct cases opened per WHO region for
the past 12 months" and "Cumulative number of Abusive Conduct cases
opened per WHO region for the past 12 months" are being verified.
Following verification, the graphs will be updated as appropriate.
Cumulative number of Sexual Misconduct cases opened per WHO region for the past 12 months
The data depicts by location, the cumulative number of reported allegations of Sexual Misconduct up to a given month, over a 12-month period.
A case may be opened for more than one allegation and for different types of allegations. The allegation(s) is/are preliminarily assessed with a view to finding if an investigation is warranted. If found not to be warranted, the case is closed and investigation participants are notified, on a need-to-know basis.
"Other" corresponds to cases related to WHO hosted entities.
Cumulative number of Abusive Conduct cases opened per WHO region for the past 12 months
Cumulative number of recorded Abusive Conduct cases for each of the past 12 months per WHO region. The number for each month represents the total number of cases received since M-12 The region “Other” represents cases handled by IOS in relation to entities administered by WHO (e.g. UNAIDS, UNITAID, UNICC, etc.)
Number of Sexual Misconduct and Abusive Conduct cases closed each year
The data depicts the cumulative number of cases of Sexual Misconduct (SEAH) and Abusive Conduct, opened in 2026 or prior, and following Intake or Investigations, have been finalized/closed in 2026.
Breakdown of Sexual Misconduct and Abusive Conduct cases
2025
2026
The data depicts the cumulative number of cases into allegations of SEA and SH and Abusive Conduct opened in 2026, and the status of which may be closed or open.
Location of current Sexual Misconduct and Abusive Conduct cases
The data depicts by location the cumulative number of cases into allegations of Sexual Misconduct (SEAH) and Abusive Conduct opened in 2026 or prior.
Number of outreach and education activities conducted by IOS in the field of Sexual Misconduct and Abusive Conduct since January 2022
237
Number of training conducted
14 474
Number of participants
The format of the dashboard was amended for the June 2023 dashboard onwards. The May 2023 dashboard is archived here.