An independent investigation has found that dozens of women were sexually exploited and abused by aid workers from the World Health Organization (WHO) during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2018 and 2020. The investigation was launched in October last year through an independent commission co-chaired by Aïchatou Mindaoudou, the former minister of foreign affairs and social development of Niger, and Madame Julienne Lusenge, a human rights activist and advocate for survivors of sexual violence in conflict, from the DRC. The inquiry looked at allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse during the response to the tenth Ebola virus outbreak in two provinces in the east of the DRC, North Kivu and Ituri. Serious abuse claims, including nine rape allegations, were made by 83 women and girls aged 13 to 43, with the average age being 20. On Tuesday, the WHO-commissioned panel said it had found that 21 of those allegations were specifically made against WHO employees connected …