The United Nations assistant high commissioner for refugees toured refugee camps March 7, but his mission wasn�t a simple inspection. He was called to the West African sites�some 400 miles east of Guinea�s capital�following reports of women and children forced by aid workers, UN peacekeepers and staff to trade sex for food or donated aid in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Initially whispered about last year, an interim report was issued in late February. Its authors noted that the report was not an investigation but added that abuse was so widespread, they felt compelled to share findings from interviews with 1,500 children and adults in all three countries. The interviews were conducted between Oct. 22-Nov. 30, 2001.

In the war-torn nations, which have hundreds of thousands of refugees, the most likely victims were girls, ages 13-18. If the children were orphans, in foster care, in a single-headed household or raised by extended family, the chances they would be victimized was higher. For biscuits, or as little as 10 cents, a Liberia girl could be had, the report said.

Instead of acting as protectors and defenders of the weak, some staff of local and international non-governmental organizations, UN peacekeepers and staff, soldier and people of influence have preyed upon their charges.

Some UN peacekeepers went so far as to pool money and buy girls they all could have sex with.

But they weren�t alone, teachers, diamond miners, loggers, businessmen and even refugee leaders participated.

Fear of losing aid, money, food and a conspiracy of silence�often supported by desperate parents�has enabled the exploitation to run amuck.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, aid agencies and governmment officials in the affected countries have denounced the practices. Further investigation and operational changes are already underway.

This latest tragedy is connected to the deeper wounds of civil war and economic exploitation that Africa has suffered for centuries. The Cold War and colonial legacy is a horrible one, with a history of corruption and proxy warfare between the West and old-Soviet bloc that propped up dictators.

Corporations have raped the Motherland, paying strongmen for access to diamonds, rubber, timber, cocoa, precious minerals and other resources. Arms merchants dump their deadly wares in strife-torn regions and war making often serves as an industry, not a means to a political end.

Africa is in a vulnerable position and, like vultures, her exploiters hover to pick her bones of every resource and even her dignity.

When will it stop? When the children of Africa in America decide that enough is enough, and demand, organize and sacrifice to make the abuses end.

But it won�t happen without a fight against internal enemies of division and outside enemies bent on keeping Africa in their grasp. Unity in Black America can force better corporate and government policy and help lay the foundation for peace and security.

For all the kente cloth, African names, and artwork that we have, we still do precious little. We have the money and potential political power to ease Africa�s pain; the question is do we have the resolve and determination to put those tools to work?