Public outreach and awareness raising

Public outreach initiatives are an important way of preventing and addressing misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse. The Conduct and Discipline Teams (CDTs), often in cooperation with other mission entities, seek to raise awareness among host populations of what is acceptable behavior by United Nations personnel and how to report wrongdoing.

CDTs reach out to host communities, including local government officials, civil society organizations, community groups, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, schools and religious communities. Missions have established community-based complaint reception mechanisms that can include identifying community liaisons as trusted channels through which members of the host population feel comfortable to report misconduct by UN personnel.

The wide range of awareness raising measures undertaken in field missions include poster campaigns, brochures, websites, theatre and radio broadcasts, often in local languages