BBC’s aid charity sacks six for sexual misconduct

A charity linked to the BBC last night revealed it had sacked six staff for sexual misconduct.

BBC Media Action, the corporation’s international development charity, dismissed the workers ‘for sexual harassment or for watching pornography on work computers’.

The charity received £70million from the Department for International Development between 2012 and 2017 – but did not disclose any of the incidents to ministers.

It is the latest charity to be engulfed in the scandal that erupted earlier this month when it emerged that Oxfam workers used prostitutes while working in Haiti.

BBC Media Action is one of DfID’s 192 partner charities which were given until the start of this week to reveal to officials breaches of child protection.

Formerly known as the BBC World Service Trust, it trains journalists and produces programmes that are broadcast in some of the world’s poorest regions.

It is run separately from the BBC and is not funded by licence fee payers but is chaired by Fran Unsworth, the BBC’s director of news. In a statement, BBC Media Action said: ‘We have reviewed all cases in the last ten years involving or potentially involving sexual misconduct. A total of six people were dismissed.’ It said staff had been reminded of safeguarding, child protection and whistle-blowing policies.

Pauline Latham, a Tory member of the Commons international development committee, said: ‘This is as shocking as anything else I have heard.

‘You would have thought that after what the BBC has been through with Jimmy Savile they would have cleaned up their act, and been much more wary of what is happening in anything with their name on it.’

A DfID spokesman said last night: ‘DfID does not have a record of any sexual misconduct allegations relating to BBCMedia Action on our Counter Fraud and Whistleblowing system.’