UNAIDS deputy chief to step down

GENEVA: The deputy head of UNAIDS, accused of sexually assaulting a female colleague but cleared of wrongdoing by an internal United Nations probe, announced his decision to step down on Friday.

Luiz Loures "has communicated his wish to the UNAIDS executive director not to seek the renewal of his position," the agency said in a statement. Loures, a Brazilian national, "will end his term as deputy executive director at the end of March 2018," it added.

UNAIDS spokesman Mahesh Mahalingam told reporters in Geneva that Loures’s decision had no connection to the allegations against him, noting the findings of the internal UN probe. "Dr Loures has had a long and distinguished service of 22 years at UNAIDS," Mahalingam said. "He clearly feels that this is the time for him to move on."

A junior female colleague filed a formal complaint alleging that Loures sexually harassed her beginning in 2011 and sexually assaulted her in a lift at a Bangkok hotel in 2015. The internal probe conducted by the World Health Organisation’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (IOS) said there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations. But activists and a legal expert have questioned the credibility of the investigation, insisting that important circumstantial evidence was not taken into account.