Jean-Marie Guehenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations

    BEIJING, June 1 -- The United Nations Security Council has condemned acts of sexual abuses by U.N. peacekeeping troops and expressed its support for the U.N. report on strategies to eliminate sexual exploitation in peacekeeping operations.

    "The Security Council is deeply concerned with the allegations of sexual misconduct by U.N. peacekeeping personnel," the council's statement read, adding that the secretary-general and all member states hold a "shared responsibility" to ensure that these reported acts are "properly investigated and appropriately punished."

    These "unacceptable" acts committed by a few have compromised the professional work of the entire U.N. peacekeeping personnel, the coucil said.

    Jean-Marie Guehenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, warned the Security Council on Tuesday that "the number of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse will probably increase, not decrease" as the U.N. started to take greater action on the problem.

    A March report based on analysis by Jordan's U.N. ambassador, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, spelled out for the first time ways to combat the problem of sexual abuse in peacekeeping missions.

    (Agencies)