The head of Oxfam has admitted she ‘cannot guarantee’ there are no sex offenders working for the organisation but vowed to ‘build a new culture that doesn’t tolerate that behaviour’.
Executive director Winnie Byanyima has promised to root out any wrongdoing at the charity and provide justice for anyone abused by its staff.
Ms Byanyima apologised for the scandal which has seen the charity accused of concealing findings of an inquiry into claims staff used prostitutes while delivering aid in Haiti in 2011.
Executive director Winnie Byanyima promised to root out any wrongdoing at the charity and provide justice for anyone abused by its staff
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt met with Lynne Owens, director general of the National Crime Agency, and Home Office officials to discuss how vulnerable people receiving charity aid can be protected from sex abuse
Ms Byanyima admitted that the charity had ‘a problem’, but added that the majority of its 10,000 staff worldwide were ‘people of values’.
She has now issued an impassioned apology and announced a ‘comprehensive action plan to stamp out abuse’.
She said: ‘What happened in Haiti and afterwards is a stain on Oxfam that will shame us for years, and rightly so.
‘From the bottom of my heart I am asking for forgiveness.’
In an interview with the BBC, Ms Byanyima added: ‘I’m appointing a high-level commission, independent commission that will look into our culture and our practices and make recommendations to make us stronger at protecting our people.
‘We are going to create a vetting system. I’m really inviting anyone who has been a victim of abuse by anyone in our organisation to come forward.
‘I’m here for all the women who have been abused, I want them to come forward and for justice to be done for them.’
The plan, agreed with Oxfam GB chief executive Mark Goldring and directors across the international confederation, will include asking women’s rights experts to lead an urgent independent review of the charity’s culture and practices.
According to the BBC, the reforms at Oxfam will include doubling the budget for the charity’s safeguarding team, setting up a global database of accredited referees to ensure sex offenders cannot re-offend at other charities, and improving the organisation’s ‘whistleblowing mechanism’.
Roland van Hauwermeiren who worked for Oxfam – he has said he was ‘not perfect’ but insisted he never slept with prostitutes in Haiti
An independent commission will investigate claims of sexual exploitation at Oxfam
Her announcement comes after the International Development Secretary met with top law enforcement officials on Thursday to discuss how vulnerable people receiving charity aid can be protected from sex abuse.
Penny Mordaunt met with Lynne Owens, director general of the National Crime Agency, and Home Office officials.
They discussed how to ‘protect vulnerable people’ and how to guarantee ‘appropriate safeguarding provisions’ are in place for charities involved in overseas aid, according to the National Crime Agency.
The Charity Commission also set out the scope of its statutory inquiry, which will probe the charity’s case records, its handling of the Haiti allegations and the extent of knowledge of similar allegations against staff in areas such as Chad and Liberia predating Haiti.
Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Rodrigue spoke during a news conference about the Oxfam scandal at the offices of Planning and Foreign Cooperation Ministry in Port-au-Prince
The inquiry will also look at the charity’s communications with police and other agencies.
Michelle Russell, director of investigations, monitoring and enforcement at the Charity Commission, said: ‘Acting in the public interest as regulator, this inquiry must and will establish the facts about what the charity knew about events in Haiti in 2011, and how it responded at the time and since.’
Ms Mordaunt previously threatened to remove Oxfam’s funding, accusing the charity of failing to show moral leadership by not properly informing donors about the actions of its workers.