Sexual violence in war is as destructive as any bomb or bullet", the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said a couple of years ago. As he was uttering these words, the UN's own peacekeepers were themselves carrying out the most appalling abuse. In 2014, when Mr Ban was speaking out on behalf of the victims, three girls in the Central African Republic have alleged they were tied up and forced to have sex with a dog by a French military commander. There were no fewer than 99 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by the "blue helmets" - as UN military personnel are nicknamed - last year, and there have been 25 new claims this year. This isn't the first time such claims have surfaced about the conduct of UN peacekeepers. There was an alleged paedophile ring in the Democratic Republic of Congo, UN police officers in Bosnia were paying for prostitutes and trafficking young women from Eastern Europe, and Pakistani peacekeepers were found guilty of sexual abuse in Haiti. There's a track record going back decades. In January, an independent review into the abuses accused the UN of failing to respond to allegations of child abuse against the peacekeepers. The UN's response? Last month, the Security Council passed its first ever resolution to tackle sexual abuse by its peacekeepers. Military or police units would be repatriated "where there is credible evidence of widespread or systemic sexual exploitation and abuse". Is that really the best the UN can do?