# data[].attributes.body
Who was aware of this? did staff know? how was it handled?

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Questions:
1) How many staff members were involved?
2) What are the staff members' agencies?
3) What are the ages and nationality of the staff involved?
4) What will happen to the staff during an investigation? Will they be put on leave? Will they be fired.
5) This is not the first time SEA has been in issue for the UN in the field. Doesn't this indicate a broader failure of procedures and efforts to stamp it out, and even a toxic institutional culture?
6) What will be done to provide support and redress for the victims?
7) Why did it take a whistleblower to expose this?
8) What will happen to the whistleblower?

Social media:
1) No staff should comment proactively on the issue from individual accounts, nor engage with users that post comments.
2) Only the core UN-in-country account should comment on the issue, by posting official statements.
3) Social listening and analytical data should be fed directly to the UNCG crisis cell by all UN entities social media teams, to enable messages to be adapted accordingly.

# data[].attributes.body
Difficult questions:
1) Who was implicated in this issue?
2) Were the victims underage?
3) Who reported this incident?
4)Did the UN have knowledge of this case before it was picked up by the media?
5) What will you do to remedy this issue internally and to the accused persons?
6) What will you do to support the victims?

On Social media:
1) Only the official account will comment on this issue.
2) Staff members should not engage with social media conversations on this issue or post about it.
3) Communication officers should monitor social media on this issue

# data[].attributes.body
Questions
- What actions have you taken to investigate the event and punish the aggressors?
- How do you ensure that it will not happen again?
- How does UNO plan to regain credibility and trust in the fight against violence against women when they have become aggressors?

Social media
- Staff should not respond or explain the issue on their personal social media.
- They should not debate or attack anyone.

# data[].attributes.body
1- How is the world going to trust the UN to protect the lives of vulnerable groups, especially women and girls if this is what their staff do?

2- Are the donors aware of this?

3- what will happen to the staff involved?

Social Media response:

Prepare scenario/prompts sheet with all possible questions/comments the people and journalists can ask — and the comments they are able to respond to as the general rule is to ignore.

# data[].attributes.body
- most difficult questions are out off-topic questions, related to current urgent matters of which the spokesperson has no information about but that will shed negative light on the overall office, orgranisation

# data[].attributes.body
-Is there a precedent of these actions?
-What is the opinion of female staff at the UN?
-Was the UN leadership at the local level aware of this?
-How can you expect people to trust the Organization with these allegations?
-How would you react to NGOs calling to severe relations with the UN?

# data[].attributes.body
Do you confirm the incident, did it really happen?

How do you guarantee it will not happen again?
Weren't there any previous procedures to prevent this from happing in the first place?

What will happen if one of the victims got pregnant?

# data[].attributes.body
1. Questions not related to any organization-related issue but to global (geopolitical) issues that inevitably affect the organization. Many outlets are sometimes weaving in extra information to a previously existing outlet narrative.

2. It really depends on the conflict/issue. But a pre-existing clear stance on how to handle crisis comms should direct them and then the issues should be dealt with on a case by case basis: sometimes it's necessary to answer, sometimes it's best to wait.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Who was the person?
What will happen to this person?
What drugs did they use?
How do you know this will not happen in other countries?
Was the person national or international staff?
Why did this happen, and they didn't say it sooner?

2. Explain to staff that only the spokesperson is the one who can respond to media and that they should follow the social media guidelines and avoid spreading the story because if they post comments on their social media, these can be used as  official messages from the United Nations.

# data[].attributes.body
Question: The United Nations are supposed to act to protect and respect the rights of citizens around the world and work to help the must vulnerable ones. How can people trust an organization if there are matters of sexual abuse and harassement inside the organization that is supposed to be making the world a better place?

Social Media response: I'll draft a Q&A anticipating all possible sensitve questions the people and journalists can ask.

# data[].attributes.headline
Manuel Mabuiangue; IOM Mozambique; Maputo

# data[].attributes.subject
Manuel Mabuiangue; IOM Mozambique; Maputo

# data[].attributes.body
Question 1

·        Who are the staff?

·        Are they national or international staff?

·        Were there underaged women?

·        Where drugs used?

·        What are you doing to assess the situation?

·        Have you expelled the staff?

·        Why are they still employees?

·        Does the government know the identity of these people?

Question 2

·        Not to engage in social media by not giving opinions or responding to questions

# data[].attributes.body
1) Questions on the credibility of the organization, whether it really walks the talk on the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse.
2) Questions on accountability, how past perpetrators have been dealt with, and accountability to survivors.
3)There will be a need to share with all staff the UN guidelines for the personal use of social media.

# data[].attributes.body
1. How long have the accused staff members worked for the UN?
2. Have you conducted an investigation into these allegations? What are the findings?
3. Many have claimed that this is not an isolated incident of sexual abuse by UN staffers . Can you tell us how many similar cases have been reported and investigated by UN in Touba Louba over the last 5 years?
4.  What kind of support are you offering to the victims?

I would advise staff not to engage in any conversations on social media or with stakeholders, partners and the media on this issue, but should rather refer all inquiries to the official statement published by the UN, or to the communications focal point.

# data[].attributes.body
What are the institutional measures to prevent such an incident? Why those measures didn't prevent such incidents like the one under investigation? How come HQ personnel were aware of such incidents while country offices were totally unaware of?

# data[].attributes.body
Example of difficult question: How is it possible that none of the in-country officials are aware of the allegations, despite the (whistleblower) information from HQ that an investigation is about to be launched? Is the UN Zero Tolerance Policy holding in times when such allegations increase around the world - obviously something is not working?

On staff engagement on social media, ideally there would have been some general information on dealing with social media by staff before the crisis happens. In this case, I would ask staff to refrain from any engagements on the topic in public, including on social media. Instead, I would explain the designated role of the spokespeople and the importance of aligned messaging, as well as the need to refer any requests for information to the spokespeople/spokespeople front office (instead of staff saying "No comment"). Once official statements have been published, such as the press release, this could be a source staff could also refer to, respectively amplify.

# data[].attributes.body
What are the concrete actions against the UN personnel if found guilty?
Will diplomatic immunity provide them a way out of facing this isse?

# data[].attributes.body
Difficult question might be - Did you know that some of your staff were sexual predators, and what did you do about it?

Staff dealing with social media chatter - Avoid engaging and responding to accusations and allegations made on social media platforms because this might create the impression that you are being defensive, ultimately making things worse.

# data[].attributes.headline
Sanjeewa Warusawitharana, UNICEF Sri Lanka

# data[].attributes.subject
Sanjeewa Warusawitharana, UNICEF Sri Lanka

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1. Questioning the trustworthiness of the organization which will affect the credibility of future activities

# data[].attributes.body
Example of tough questions:

1. How long will the investigation take to uncover the truth?

2. There were similar cases of abuse in the UN system in the past. How can you guarantee that the measures will be taken against the implicated staff and that this will not happen agin in the future?

3. Has this abuse been covered up by the organization?

4. How can you continue carrying out your mandate after allegations like these?

5. Has the organization lost trust?

With regards to social media, there should be rigorous "social listening" to be fully informed of the questions raised and trend of the attacks. But I would suggest to not respond to individual accusations / question on social, and only release regular official statements on the official account.

# data[].attributes.body
- Once the spokesperson has shared the values and the processes in place to avoid harassment and sexual abuse, someone will ask "so how come you still seem unable to manage the behavior of your staff?"
- can you share the stats regarding cases of sexual harassment/assault perpetrated by UN staff?

# data[].attributes.body
Example of difficult question will be:
what is the current position of organization regarding the incident?
Why such incident can not be stop.

# data[].attributes.body
Examples of difficult questions related to the topic:
- What is the organization doing to investigate the incident, what happens your staff members were found guilty? What are the penalties they will be facing?
- Are there any policies within the organization to prevent misconduct?
- What are you doing to make sure this doesn't happen again?
-

# data[].attributes.body
Difficult questions:
- Was the organization aware of this, and how long?
- How is it being investigated and how long will the investigation take?
- What is being done with personnel?
- How are the victims getting support?

In terms of staff and social media, they should be advised that only the spokesperson will be speaking on the matter but reassure them that the incidents are being investigated.

# data[].attributes.body
The most difficult questions which we can expect at the press conference are:

- How long has the UN known for this?

- Has the UN already taken any actions against these staff?

- How does the UN make sure to prevent similar sexual exploitation and abuse in the future?

To respond the social media chatter about this issue, all UN staff in the country should be provided specific information about this issue through respective agencies communication focal. Explain about the risks if staff fails to interact and encourage staff to share the UN official statement on the issue widely rather than their own opinions on the issues.

# data[].attributes.body
The most difficult questions will be in relation to the integrity of UN and its staff, especially if the allegations are true.

As it relates to social media, staff should be briefed about the situation internally and asked to to further engage chatter about the crisis so as not to further exacerbate the situation

# data[].attributes.body
Hard questions:
what if the investigation confirms the allegations
how will the organisation compensate
whats happens to the staff accused of allegations
what are actions to prevent such cases in the future.

# data[].attributes.body
Tough questions from the media:
- Did you know about the abuse?  When did you first learn about the abuse and what did you do about it?  Who knew in the organization and when?
- Are you investigating?  How long will investigations take? Will the perpetrators be criminally prosecuted? Are they fired?  How did you sanction them?
- Are you providing any support and restitution to survivors of abuse?
- What are you doing to prevent abuse and exploitation in the future?

As for the chatter on the social media, remind staff of the UN code of conduct and that everything they do on socials will impact the image of the organization, even if they engage in their personal capacity. Staff also need to have facts and be informed of what the organization is doing to address the situation, so that if and when they engage in the debate, they have the accurate information.

# data[].attributes.body
The most difficult question would probably be
Are allegations true?
What is UN doing about it?
How will the UN help the victims?

# data[].attributes.body
I believe the media will likely focus on the inappropriate behaviour of UN staff, their ethics during working hours and after which contradict with the zero tolerance being claimed.

The staff should avoid and refrain from commenting or posting on any social media channel and the communications team should provide a brief on this matter.

# data[].attributes.body
Difficult questions could be:
- This is not the first time the UN staff is involved in scandals related to sexual abuse. How do you explain that?
- The official position of the UN is zero tolerance to any kind of abuse, specifically sexual ones. Yet the UN staff involved in sexual crimes seem to be protected by your system. What are the measures taken to stop this impunity?
-Will you compensate the victims?How much?

To the staff in charge of social media:
-Share a social media crisis guidelines
-Apply a strict monitoring using appropriate tools
-Stick to the official message/statements
-Not answering to threats, hatred messages and report to management
-Never engage in a debate related to the situation, even in their personal social media pages

# data[].attributes.body
Some tough questions include;
1. Is is true your staff are abusing beneficiaries?
2. How long has this been going on?
3. Is the organization going to own up this time round or will you hide under the sand as was the case in XYZ?
4. What will happen to the staff concerned?
5. What form of compensation are you planning for the victims?

All the above already assume that the issue is true and that the UN is guilty and it will now be up to us to bridge this and share the correct position using available facts as known to us.

Reference to previous incidents in other areas calls us to be aware of ongoing initiatives to address similar offences to avoid being caught off-guard.

On social media - remind staff of their responsibility as UN staff and that whatever they may write or respond will likely impact on the image of the organization, hence call for discreet and request that they avoid posting on the matter as it is being investigated.

# data[].attributes.body
Most difficult questions:
1. Was UN aware of the situation before it leaked to the media?
2. Media will try to investigate any past occurrences and link it to the current one - claiming that UN is not doing enough to stop these harmful practices.
3. UN activities to address those issues  - how many were there in the past, how was it dealt...

Social media:
- staff not to get involved in any comments from their private accounts - if to share anything, share official news from UN web and social media channels

# data[].attributes.body
Some of the most difficult questions could be:
1. Who are the staff implicated in the matter.
2. What will the UN do to ensure that no victim gets to experience this again?

On social media, staff will be :
1. UNCT will post a public apology and respond to questions.
2. Do a live stream session when hosting the media briefing.

# data[].attributes.body
Most difficult question will be:
What are the measures you will take to save your organization reputation?

I'll advise the staff not to get engaged, no personal comments and use official articles and reports highlighting our role in advocating for human rights without going deeper.

# data[].attributes.body
- Digging into past occurrences and questioning the repetition of this occurrence.
- Questioning the trustworthiness of the organization which will affect the credibility of future activities

# data[].attributes.body
1. Who are the culprits? what legal actions are you taking?
2. Are you handing them over to Police or just settle the matter without punishing them?
3. Who are the victims? what have they to say? Are you reaching any agreement with them?
4. How long is this going on? Was you aware of it?
5. Are you embarrassed?

-- I will give instructions to all employees not to comment or engage on the issue
-- Those who are running organizational social media, I will ask them to publish official version of social media/website and refer everyone there without any further comment.

# data[].attributes.body
Tough questions may include: what plans does the UN have in place to stop such assaults occurring in the future? Why does the UN not have systems in place to prevent this from occurring in the first place? What will happen to the assaulters if they are prosecuted?

Staff should immediately be instructed not to engage or respond to speculation surrounding the case. If miscommunication continues to spread at a larger, more critical scale, a crisis communications guideline should be issued so that all staff are informed of the key messages being issued by UNCG.

# data[].attributes.body
Some of the toughest question include whether the UN has been aware of such crimes committed by its staff and not take action. Another tough question is when being asked to share details of the accused staff member.
It is important that all staff are informed on the new developments and the need to follow agreed organisational protocol around engaging the media in such situations.

# data[].attributes.body
Difficult questions:
- Was the UN aware of this situation and didn't do nothing?
- Where is the staff that commited the crimes? What will happen to them?
- Questions regarding confidential information of victims
- Questions about the UN and the relevance of its work

Staff:
All staff should be noticed ASAP about the issue with guidelines on how to deal with media. It has to be reminded that they are not allowed to give declarations to the media and that all inquiries must be given to authorized public information officials. But they also have the right to know what is happening -with no ocnfidential information being shared with them. This is a way to stop rumours within the organization nd prevents them to speak, as this could be a way for hem to express their discomfort on how the issue is being handled.

# data[].attributes.body
Difficult questions could include:
+ when did you first learn about it?
+ What sanctions will those found guilty face?
+ How confident are you that the UN will take actions against those who will be found guilty?

Regarding social media: remind staff of current guidelines; encourage to use their common sense during this period.

# data[].attributes.body
The toughest question would be "what UN could do to prevent these cases to happen and why they didn't?". Regarding social media, the staff should be receiving social media guidance and instructions on avoiding any share, comment on this case on their private accounts.

# data[].attributes.body
Staff should be given clear guidance on how to behave in person and on social media regarding this situation and to adhere to global social media guidelines.
- Have you been aware of the allegations and stayed silent?
-How many cases have been recorded previously and what measures were taken?

-Why is it that UN personnel are always associated with such allegations despite the zero tolerance policy? How will the UN better enforce its policy in that regard to prevent such happenings?
-What compensation will you offer the victims?

# data[].attributes.headline
Florencia S. Murphy (UNIC BA - Argentina)

# data[].attributes.subject
Florencia S. Murphy (UNIC BA - Argentina)

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What will be the most difficult questions the media are likely to pose at the press conference?

·       What is doing the UN to address these allegations?

·       How long has the UN been aware of these facts?

·       Why is that the UN staff is repeatedly involved in this kind of allegations?

·       How many similar cases have occurred?

·       Will the UN offer reparation to the victims?

·       How will the UN prevent this from happening again?

·       Questions about the utility of the UN’s work in the country

How do you tell staff to deal with social media chatter about the crisis?

Staff should not address the issue on their personal social media accounts, and if they wish to take a stand on the matter, they should limit merely to reposting the statements published on the official UN accounts in the country.

# data[].attributes.body
In general, most journalists are constantly seeking more information about a report and would have done their homework. The UNCG should expect such questions as.

1. If the UN confirms the allegations and how long they knew about them?

2. Are the staff still employed or have they been relieved of their duties and prosecuted according to the law?

3. How is the UN planning to compensate the alleged victims?

4. What steps the UN is taking to ensure such acts are never repeated?

Staff should be further briefed on what steps the organisation will be taking in handling the situation. How to react on social media and or synchronised communication campaigns with aligned messaging which they can post provided by UNCG.

Staff in the affected organisations should be taken through sensitisation trainings on social media and UN zero tolerance for sexual assault and sexual abuse training.

# data[].attributes.body
Difficult questions could be:
- How could the UN not know about the issue and take action sooner? Who was managing the event then? Should this person resign?
- Being an inter-national organization working for the wellbeing of humanity, how could UN recruit such many staff? What would UN do in such case?

Again, staff should not be involved in the chatter and keep closed to the holding lines both in speaking and in normal behavior. We stay true to the holding lines and would wait until the investigation is done.

# data[].attributes.body
Difficult questions:
- Who are the alleged assaulters, and who are the alleged victims?
- Was the UN aware of this before it came out in the press? What is the UN doing about these charges?
- Will there be an investigation? What will happen to the alleged assaulters in the meantime?
- How will the UN help the alleged victims?
- What will the UN do to prevent this from happening again?
- Should't the UN already have systems in place to prevent this from happening?
- Should leadership resign?
- What happens if the alleged victims decide to sue the UN?

How to deal with social media chatter:
- Instruct staff to not engage in speculation and attacks using their social media profiles;
- Official UN profiles should share official statements and monitor comments to provide sober responses to a few additional questions that might come. Posts should be precise and contain information regarding empathy for the alleged victims and the investigation of the matter.

# data[].attributes.body
Difficult questions from the press would include;
- questioning of integrity of all UN staff, with examples of similar incidents reported in other countries
- no. of investigations that have taken place and what repercussions on staff. Any compensation for the victim
- value of the overall work of the UN over the years in that country would also be questioned

Staff should be kept abreast of updated timelines with regards to the investigation, so as to ensure that necessary steps are being taken. However, they should be reminded of social media guidelines for all staff and briefed on what can/ cannot be shared. Encourage staff to take a neutral position whilst the investigation is ongoing even in their personal capacities online, to prevent further negative narratives/ Twitter wars erupting during the high scrutiny period

# data[].attributes.body
The press will likely ask questions that contrast the UN's mandate and mission on protecting the most vulnerable when it is alleged that abuse is being undertaken by its own staff. Journalists will probably ask about the consequences, measures that the UN intends to adopt to punish the staff if convicted guilty.

# data[].attributes.body
The most challenging questions would be the ones that question the United Nations' staff integrity. Such allegations can cast a shadow on every single UN staff member, and tarnish all the good efforts done by the organization.

As for the staff recommendations, it is important to brief them about the situation, be transparent and frank with them about the situation. At the same time, it is important to tell them not to get engaged in social media chatter, as it might escalate the crisis and intensify it. It is important that the staff that are not in charge of external communications, will abstain from 'holy wars' on social media, not partaking in the conflict, as their comments might be misinterpreted, taken out of context, or misquoted in the press.

# data[].attributes.body
The most difficult question the media can ask is:
How can the United Nations recruit staff who are able to do this
What sanctions will be given to them
What arrangements are being made for the care of victims at this stage of the investigation

Staff will receive a guide to deal with social media

# data[].attributes.body
The more difficult question would be: are the allegations true? How will it be investigated and the veracity of the conclusion guaranteed?

# data[].attributes.body
One of the most difficult question will be who are the UN Staff who allegedly assaulted women? Are they under investigation? What is the internal procedure for this type of cases?

Staff should avoid speaking about the case in global social medias conversation in a personnal way. "No views are mine", no personnal point of view. They can share common approved messages and retweet, share UN official posts/Tweet.

# data[].attributes.headline
Judith Owoicho, Communication Analyst, Nigeria. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Judith Owoicho, Communication Analyst, Nigeria. 

# data[].attributes.body
The most difficult questions could be:
-The media leaving the current issue and instead make references to other times that such has occurred to question the UN's credibility.

Staff are advised to stay quiet or else make effort to circulate the press statement issued by the UN for more people to see. This will ensure consistency in messaging.

# data[].attributes.headline
Sandra Black, Communications Consultant, Maputo, Mozambique

# data[].attributes.subject
Sandra Black, Communications Consultant, Maputo, Mozambique

# data[].attributes.body
The most difficult questions that could be posed include:
- Inquiry on how the UN in this country/region has dealt with past PSEA cases- information would need to be prepared. Especially tricky to answer and have the UN appear proactive if any past cases are still under investigation.
Social media chatter - staff should be asked to refer all media queries to the RC's communication officer, and staff are asked not to comment (in social media or other) on the situation.
- For details on the case- which UN does not yet have information to answer

# data[].attributes.body
Press will research the Organization, the history, potential flaws or conflicts in the past and why it is relevant for the public.

Social media should be cautious on what content to post, if convenient or not.

# data[].attributes.body
The most difficult ones will be those which go to the heart of the UN's credibility; which go to the hypocrisy of the UN's zero-tolerance messaging and the ongoing instances of SEA.

Staff should not respond to provocations on social media

# data[].attributes.body
The most difficult questions the media are likely to pose at the press conference?
1. Who are the perpetrators and the victims' names.
2. What have you done so far?
3. Isn't this going to affect your funding from donors ?
4. When are we going to get the results of the investigations.
5. Whoever is involved is he or she going to resign
6. What mechanisms are you going to put in place to avoid this from happening again?
How do you tell staff to deal with social media chatter about the crisis?
1. We will send out a social media protocol with the standard operation procedure
2. Use monitoring tools such as brand watch.

# data[].attributes.body
The most difficult questions will be the following,

1) victims names
2) Resignation of senior staff or the staff members accused
3) Compensation for the victim
4) How did the UN allow this act to happen on vulnerable groups they are meant to protect.
5) How did this happen under their watch.  6) why is the UN working on human rights when vulnerable groups are being abused by their staff.
7) Is the UN protecting the accused?
8) How will they ensure this does not happen again?

All UN staff that are not authorised should never engage in any social media post, and their social media accounts should indicate their opinions are their own and not the UN.

# data[].attributes.body
The media is certain to ask difficult questions. The expected ones would be related to this scenario as well as past instances, actions, results taken by the UN. Was the organization aware this was happening? What is it doing to protect the survivors? What is it doing to make sure it doesn't happen again? Has it happened before and what has been the outcome?

The staff should be informed that there is an active, on-going investigation and they should refrain from commenting on this matter - or if they have to, then share the agreed response.

# data[].attributes.body
1. On the possible difficult questions: These cases of SEA among UN personnel show that the UN is not practicing what it is preaching, as these allegations obviously go against the UN values and principles. How would you explain that?
This is not the first time that allegations against UN personnel for SEA are made. Would this imply an issue within the UN system itself? And what are the guarantees that these will not happen again? Any disciplinary actions to be immediately taken against the perpetrators?

2. On dealing with Social media: Remind staff members to adhere to the UN guidelines on the personal and professional use of social media. With regards to this particular case, ask them to refrain from commenting or communicating on social media on this matter, except for amplifying the RC’s messages on this matter (RC being the main spokesperson on this issue in the country at stake).

# data[].attributes.body
The most difficult questions would be ones that challenge UN's credibility and integrity, and the inaction of the UN to address multiple cases like this.

For social media chatter, to advise all staff to not engage or say anything on this matter and only designate spokespersons to public post cleared messages.

# data[].attributes.body
Journalists will want to know the details of the incidents, when the incident was reported/known by UN, what specifically has/will be done to assist victims and deal with accused staff, who will carry out the investigation/next steps.

On social media, staff should be reminded of guidance on use of social media for UN staff and not speculate or engage in the swirl of discussions. They could consider sharing official statements that come out.

# data[].attributes.body
- What immediate actions and repercussions will the UN be taking? (This would be difficult to answer due to the lack of clarity on the issue, and the need for further investigation as a whole, which although will lead to a fair trial, may not satisfy the public and journalists)
- How could the UN allow this action to go under the radar, what are the policies in place that would have prevented this and why have they not been enforced?
- Requests to name and give further details about both the assailants and the victims
- Questioning of the validity of UN projects (especially those related to Sexual Health as mentioned)

# data[].attributes.body
Difficult questions :
How do you explain that the victims were not yet being interviewed by the UN when they have been by the press ?
This is not the first SEA case, apparently your zero tolerance policy is not efficient. How do you explain this ?
Why are the staffers involved still holding their position ?
How can you be so slow in investigating when women are waiting for justice ?

# data[].attributes.body
1. UNs wastes a lot of money and a place of impunity?
2. Staff member should follow the procedure of UNs responding to the questions.

# data[].attributes.body
The most difficult questions could include calls for resignation for the heads of agencies of those organizations and the concerned staff, questions regarding how the UN will ensure that the victims are compensated, questions around how the UN will ensure these acts do not occur again in future, questions around how the UN is upholding rights of the citizens etc.

To deal with Social media, a communications media pack needs to be developed with standard messaging around how the UN deal with such matters, providing avenues where aggrieved persons can report such matters, including the role of by standers, designating a staff to monitor interactions online for the UNCT and UNCT to prepare detailed responses and ensuring that all staff are aware of the UN Code of Conduct on usage of social media.

# data[].attributes.headline
Lenka Ctvrteckova, UNICEF Czech Republic

# data[].attributes.subject
Lenka Ctvrteckova, UNICEF Czech Republic

# data[].attributes.body
At the press conference, a substantial number of questions is probably going to contrast the UN mandate and mission concerning human rights and the incident with the staff being involved with sexual abuse. They are going to try to undermine the UN processes and credibility based on the scandal.

As far as social media is concerned, I would advise the staff not to engage in the related discussions for the moment and if directly asked, they should point out to the official statements.

# data[].attributes.body
Difficult questions could include:

-What exactly is the UN doing about this?

-How will the perpetrators be held accountable?

-Aren’t these alleged actions hypocritical given the UN’s mission on GBV/to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse? Why should the public trust the UN?

For social media, social media colleagues should be briefed on the key messages and to stick to these and not engage in responding to comments or questions online. They should direct the public to any published statements on the issue. Staff should be advised to not comment on the issue on their personal social media accounts.

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Some of the most difficult questions are the ones for which you do not have enough information to produce a satisfying response. In this case, they would be related to details of the case that may not be able to be released at the time of the conference.

Relating to social media chatter, in order to not appear tone deaf or disseminate opinions as facts, staff would be advised to not use the channels in first instance, until an official statement can be provided. In general, social media channels are a difficult territory, as the line between individual and the position they hold is sometimes not evident.

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The media may pose questions that go beyond the known allegations, thereby catching the speaker offguard. They may also make accusative rhetorical questions aimed at provoking the speaker.

The easiest guideline with regards to social media chatter would be asking colleagues to either not participate in social media discussions on this (becasue they may be quoted as officials) or to share the agreed messages, once they're out.

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What is UN doing to avoid similar incidents?
What kind of actions are UN agencies taking for investigating the claims and alleged staff involved? Are they still able to contact beneficiaries?

Staff sould be reminded again about the personal usage of social media and reactional statements should be avoided.

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Difficult questions:
- UN was supposed to prevent sexual exploitation and not promote it. How people of Tuba Louba can trust the UN after this episode?
- Will UN staff be punished? How?
- How the UN will repair the victims?
- Will UN be responsible for "UN unwanted babies"?

Social Media: Staff should not answer to the topic on their social media, only offical UN accounts should post about the topic, using quotes from the press release. I would advise one post only.

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Some of the most difficult questions I had learned from/worked on, are:

-       Calls for resignation of the head of agency

-       Issues of reparation to victims/survivors

-       Questions on/related with previous or other recent incidents that could be exacerbated by the issue at hand

-       Implications of the issue with an already sensitive relationship between the UN and the country’s host government

-       Implications to donor funding

On social media, staff must be mindful of the following:

-       Not say more than what the agency allows at each stage of the situation.

-       Not overtly deflect blame/accountability nor overly discuss the issue, nor point fingers to anyone; rather, acknowledge the question and provide a link to what had been released by the agency.

-       Not fully engage with recurring questions, especially those that had already been addressed previously.

-       Instead, and in all these instances, staff must always point to the official holding lines or any publicly accessible statement; or refer to the designated spokespersons.
-       Always, always stick to the facts.
-       Avoid tagging other agencies or personalities in any response to questions from the general public; unless there is a publicly accessible statement that can be attributed to such person/organisation.

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Atem John, WHO-South Sudan   Most difficult questions the media are likely to pose at the press conference

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Atem John, WHO-South Sudan   Most difficult questions the media are likely to pose at the press conference

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1.     How has incident impacted on the UN and how is this being address, and what are the legal implications of this case?

2.       What is UN doing to avoid recurrence of this scenario?

3.       What kind of support has been offered to the alleged victims?

4.       Will the victims sue or be compensated by the UN?

5.       Is the UN “zero tolerance” to GBV approach still effective and what is being done to strengthen it?

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Difficult questions that may be posed-

- This is not the first time the UN finds itself in this position, do you think UN staff abuse their international civil servant status to get away with exploiting people?
- How are beneficiaries and local governments to trust the UN when they abuse those they're meant to protect?
- What are the implications for the perpetrators if found guilty and was the organisation aware of the incident?
- How will the UN set an example to highlight that these incidents do not occur again?

Social media- Staff should be instructed to not post anything on their social media at all. Official spokespersons to only quote/ reference/ post standard key messages and holding lines as agreed upon by all 3 agencies. Also conduct an all internal staff training on social media best practices during crises as such to ensure that the team is aware of how to conduct their personal social media accounts

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Questions to anticipate:
Was the organization aware of this?
The facts seem to show that this is a repeated situation, on a large scale: if safeguards exist, why didn't they work?
The alleged perpetrators were necessarily covered by their hierarchy. Can you confirm this?
Concerning social media, it is important that the staff has internalized the principle of neutrality while using their account. But issuing directives at the time of the crisis could be risky as it could leak in the press and such a memo could be interpreted as an attempt to muzzle whistleblowers and would show a stressed organization.

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Example of complex question : How can people trust the UN anymore  when those people who are supposed to protect and serve are just abusing ?

A good practice is to sensitize staff to not respond of make comments on social media posts or even make social media posts related to the situation . Anytime they are approached by a media , in case they don't know how to believe , they should reach the communications focal point .

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First, I am not sure that calling a press conference is the best option to deal with this communication crisis. After the publication of the news, an internal investigation should be opened to know the veracity of the facts and take the pertinent measures following the organization's protocols. Perhaps I would recommend sending a press statement with the key messages mentioned in the exercise because:

-Not all the information is known and an internal investigation needs to be opened.
-It is necessary to give a response to the media to face the crisis in the first 24 hours but, not having all the information, it is very risky for a spokesperson to face the media. Probably, he/she will not have an answer to most of the questions and that would leave journalists with more doubts.

After issuing a press statement, other more elaborate communication strategies can be generated to deal with the crisis.

One of the most difficult questions could be, for example, for a journalist to present an email as evidence saying that the CR was aware of the situation and did nothing: Does the UN allow this type of case to occur within your organization?

There is a manual for staff on how to use their social networks. I would send it to them and, in addition, I would have a call to explain what they should and should not do. The first thing is not to make any mention of the case in any social network, either directly or indirectly because it would increase the size of the crisis.

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Expected question: Do you think that this scandal is an additional blow deconstructing the UN zero tolerance narrative?

Advise for Staff social media chatter:
Focus on the message that thought the UN cannot be expected to be Aristotle's ideal city but it is a truly and deeply principled organization with an effective zero tolerance for abuses and that the issues will be duly investigated and managed according to the organization's principles.

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The most difficult questions that the media will pose include;

1. What discplinary measures have been taken by the UN in light of the allegations ?
2. What kind of support has been offered to the allegedd victims ?
3. What are the legal implications of this case ? Will the victims sue or be compensated by the UN ?
4. What internal mechanisms havebeen instituted to ensure that this doesnt happen again ?
5. Why have previous GBV cases not been effectively handled in countries X, Y and Z ?

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Ekaterina Polishchuk, UN Volunteers Europe CIS 

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Ekaterina Polishchuk, UN Volunteers Europe CIS 

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Questions: - Who knew about that? Why was not it discovered earlier? How many more cases are hidden like that? What will UN do for victims and for those who are guilty? Other examples like that can be brought and media will try to discuss them? Process of investigation etc.

SM: - Refer staff/followers to spokeperson and official statement. Try not to enlarge the buzz around the topic on SM but keep comments open and remain responsive. Share reminder of do-s and dont-s with the staff.

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The most difficult questions will be trying to make a point that the UN has known about this and tried to hide it. The journalists are likely to ask if the perpetrators still work for the UN, how are they going to be punished, why nothing had been done to prevent the situation.

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Journalists will most likely ask questions about how UN staff, that are supposed to be role models, have this conduct and how the organization is allowing this to happen internally. Also they will probably ask what are the consequences for these kind of behaviors.
With regards to social media, there should be a clear set of ground rules for employees, and they should only refer to official sources. UN employees should understand that if they identify themselves as UN employees on their social media, there is the risk that their opinions are taken as the official views of the organization. If they share their opinion it is recommended that they ad a disclaimer in their bio stating that they are sharing their personal opinions and not those of the organization they work for.

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Press will likely focus on the contradictory stance of the Organization - e.g. on how can they be setting up a whole campaign on sexual exploitation when UN personnel itself is the one misbehaving.

Regarding social media in times of crisis, staff should count with guidelines on the personal use of social media with best practices (be consistent with the Organization's message, don't disclose confidential information, don't engage in aggressive chats)

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Most likely the media will insinuate that UN officials knew about it for a long time but they tried to cover it up. It is also likely that the media will dig into previous cases and try to picture it as a pattern in the UN system. As for social media, the rule of thumb is not to react and to delete offensive comments or blasphemy.

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Most difficult questions:
1. The UN is once again abusing the very people it is meant to protect. Why should you continue to receive funding and trust to do this work?

2. This is not the first time UN agencies have been involved in sexual exploitation. Why haven't lessons learned about preventing this kind of abuse been applied in Touba Louba?

3. The UN has a track record of failing to hold all perpetrators of sexual abuse accountable and avoiding paying restitution to victims. How will the response to this latest scandal be any different?

Staff social media instructions:
- Reassure that the matter is being investigated and that management will be transparent with the team about the findings as soon as the outcomes are known.

- In the meantime urge staff not to engage in commenting publicly on stories or online threads about the  allegations.

- Also urge staff not to give comments to journalists, including ones who reach out on social media.

- Authorized spokespeople should have talking points reiterating the organization's key messages and the status of the investigation.

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Most difficult questions:
- when did the UN agencies first know about the alleged abuse, what was the immediate response and what measures were being taken?
- if this was not the first time, why was this happening again and were the PSEAH measures not working or unfit for purpose?
- as they say, in some cases the cover-up can be worse than the 'crime', so were there any attempts to ignore the abuse or cover-up UN complicity?

By now all UN agencies should have clear social media guidelines for staff (the UN certainly does) and staff have to know that whatever they share in their personal social media platforms can be bring the UN into disrepute.

A simple rule of thumb, if you are not going to shout it out on a busy street corner, don't write it in social media...

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One of the questions might be, this is not the first case and we heard lots of cases but no action by the UN! Why the UN protects thier Staff and not ordinary people.

Regarding how staff deal with social media chatter about the crisis, I would advise to avoid engaging and refer people to the published statement and the spokesperson.

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The media will most likely embarrass the UN Officials with the kind of questions concerning : If the UN does tolerate those behaviours ? (even if the answer is obviously no), If it has been proved that those acts have been "covered on"? and Did the RC and the Country Team have been aware of that, and how the information was available at the UNHQ in New York and not on site?

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One of the most difficult questions media can ask is - are there other cases that the UN is trying to cover up? Trying to dig up "dirt".

For social media, I would hawkishly monitor any chatter on this issue, however, would strictly advise colleagues NOT to communicate or engage on this issue - either personally or professionally.

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In my experience, the harder ones are the ones that don't have an easy explanation, but they ask the questions as it is. Like how to control immigration... is a very complex answer and problem that you already know is impossible to do or publish in a dissertation. Having a previous focal points help with this kind of situations

Regarding social media, I would tell the staff not to post anything about the incident and remember the values and tone of the agency.

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I'm sure, that media is very interested on what are the consequences for suspects?

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The press will likely ask questions that contrast the UN's stance on protecting the most vulnerable when it is alleged that abuse is being undertaken by its own personnel.

For staff, their social media is an extension of their speech and, unless a spokesperson, should not be used to opine on any issues relative to the organization. They can observe, but not partake in the discussion.

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I think the most difficult question in the press conference could be:-
1- How come UN can claim for protecting vulnerable women and children who are in difficult situation, when it can't protect is own staff from its own colleagues? Who were these people, how possible that the management doesn't know about these abusive practices? Are people from management also involved? Will there be transparent investigation or an effort to cover and hush up the story?

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Agnes Kante, UNAIDS Liaison Office, Addis Ababa 

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Agnes Kante, UNAIDS Liaison Office, Addis Ababa 

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Questions likely to be posed at the press conference could be: how can the UN be credible in achieving its mission/uphold human rights when staff are directly involved in sexual abuse ? Or one scandal calling another: media could pick up some other parallel cases to amplify the issue.

How do you tell staff to deal with social media chatter about the crisis?
Important that a social media and crisis-communitation packs are developed, available in multiple languages to share with staff providing them with standard responses, facts and figures, quotes from the highest authority within their agency, and Q&A. An internal coordination and briefing call should be organized with all-staff to let them know about the steps of the crisis-communication plan being rolled-out to galvanize support.

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The most difficult questions can be: who knew about this alleged abuse before it was published; why was nothing done about it if staff or management knew about it; and how can the UN promise to act promptly and prevent similar developments in the future, given that such abuses have happened so many time before, in so many countries. There is likely to be incredulity in UN's promises. Staff should not engage on this topic on their social media, or, at most, they should retweet/share the official UN tweets/posts on this topic, and leave it at that.

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The media will likely have difficult questions related to the inappropriate behaviour of UN staff outside of working hours, the consumption of alcohol at a work event, and probe to see if the UN is protecting it's staff.

Staff responsible for social media channels should refrain from posting, responding or commenting on any platforms until UNCG has a clear and approved strategy.

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1. What will be the consequences for the accuses officials?
2. It is not the UN that provides protection?

In terms of social media, do not write anything on your networks and the official networks, only the press release, and do not respond to aggressive or hateful language.

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The questions will probably dig deeper into the allegations against the staff members and the ongoing investigations. Journalists might ask why UN staff members were in a hotel with the defendants and why were the latter given alcohol.

Staff dealing with the media chatter should refrain from answering questions too promptly and before agreeing on a common message with the rest of the UNCG members.