An international watchdog must be set up urgently to investigate widespread cases of child sex abuse by aid workers and peacekeepers, a British charity said today.

Save the Children demanded action after its research found that starving and desperate youngsters as young as six were being coerced to sell sex for food, money, soap and even mobile phones in war zones and disaster areas.

Hundreds of young people from Ivory Coast, Southern Sudan and Haiti were involved in the research behind the conclusions.

One of them was 'Elizabeth', who was 12-years-old when she was snatched from the roadside early one morning last June and dragged into the bush by 10 UN peacekeepers who raped her one by one.

Village elders who tried to report the attack to senior officers in the Ivory Coast claimed their allegations were ignored. Since the attack 'Elizabeth' says she has dropped out of school and lost interest in life.

Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children UK, said: “This research exposes the despicable actions of a small number of perpetrators who are sexually abusing some of the most vulnerable children in the world, the very children they are meant to protect.

“It is hard to imagine a more grotesque abuse of authority or flagrant violation of children’s rights."

The report said that all organisations, including Save the Children, had their share of abusers involved in “some of the most despicable abuse against some of the world’s most vulnerable children”.

Charities and peacekeeping bodies should face up to the fact that the scale of abuse was “significant” and that victims were being let down by “endemic failures” in responding to reported incidents, it concluded.

Better reporting mechanisms should be introduced, it said, and efforts made to strengthen child protection systems across the globe.

“In recent years, some important commitments have been made by the United Nations, the wider international community and by humanitarian and aid agencies to act on this problem," said Ms Whitbread.

“But welcome as these are, in most cases statements of principle and good intent have yet to be converted into really decisive and concerted international action.

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Afghanistan News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• Plan for 9/11 trial in New York divides the city
• Beijing gets the jitters as Obama flies in
• Potshot Palin settles scores