Danish scientist Peter Ben Embarek
According to WHO, Danish scientist Peter Ben Embarek was fired last year. "Peter Ben Embarek was fired last year following the discovery of sexual misconduct by him. Such misconduct was substantiated through the corresponding investigations and disciplinary processes," Reuters quoted WHO spokesperson Marcia Poole as saying.
Ms Poole said the incidents that led to Mr Ben Embarek’s dismissal occurred in 2015 and 2017. WHO first learned of them in 2018. The agency did not provide further details about the allegations.
Ben Embarek told Reuters he denied the sexual harassment allegations and was appealing his dismissal. He said a single incident in 2017 was “resolved immediately and amicably.” He said he could not comment further because both he and the WHO were bound by confidentiality agreements until a resolution was reached.
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"I am not aware of any other complaints and no other complaints have ever been brought to my attention," Ben Embarek told Reuters, saying he was confident about defending his rights.
Ben Embarek is the most senior WHO official to be fired since the agency introduced a series of reforms aimed at improving its response to sexual misconduct. He previously led the WHO's "One Health" initiative focused on zoonotic diseases, and was frequently cited in the media about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He was the WHO representative on a 2021 trip to China to investigate where Covid-19 originated. His team made global headlines by concluding that bats were the most likely original host. They also determined that a leak from a laboratory in China was “highly unlikely,” despite calls from many scientists to investigate that possibility.
Mr Ben Embarek later revealed that his team had faced some political pressure, including from outside China, but that as a result nothing in the investigation report had been changed. He did not specify where that pressure came from.
The WHO has reviewed its handling of sexual abuse and misconduct cases after a 2021 investigation found that dozens of aid workers, including some from WHO, were involved in sexual abuse during the Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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