Oxfam, an aid organization based in the U.K., faces international scandal after 26 claims of sexual misconduct among its employees, according to BBC. Already there have been three confirmed resignations of accused individuals and the dismissal of a fourth, including Roland Van Hauwermeiren, director of operations in Haiti. The greatest focus is on the recent issues during aid work in Haiti. Several aid workers have been accused of hiring destitute locals as prostitutes. There have been further suspicions that some of those hired were underage.
In a statement on their website addressing the issue, Oxfam claimed that the workers involved in the scandal “abused the trust of our supporters and the thousands of dedicated Oxfam staff working around the world to end poverty and injustice. This is an appalling mark against the high values we set for ourselves at Oxfam and the high standards we expect from our staff.”
The Charity Commission, a sector of the U.K. government, is set to serve as watchdog for the organization’s handling of the situation. Critics are so far underwhelmed with their response. The organization was made aware of the situation back in 2011, but offered only a lukewarm call to action, offering only a vague admission of misconduct.
Penny Lawrence, previous deputy chief executive, admitted that “Concerns were raised about the behavior of staff in Chad as well as Haiti that we failed to adequately act upon.” Lawrence resigned from her position following the rise of the Haiti scandal.
It has more recently caused new issues as Oxfam faces scrutiny from supporters and the U.K. government. In response to allegations of covering up the scandal, Oxfam released a statement, saying “While we strongly refute allegations of a cover up it is clear that mistakes were made in the handling of these cases. If the improved policies and practices that we have in place now were in place then, the situation would no doubt have been handled very differently.”
Another unpopular move from Oxfam was the claim from its chief executive officer, Mark Goldring, that the attacks against the organization were out of proportion for the crime. In his argument, he noted that at the time of the misconduct the hiring of prostitutes was not specifically against the Oxfam code of conduct. He has since apologized for his remarks.
Currently, Oxfam is working to clean their reputation. In October of last year, the Oxfam Executive Board revised their standards to the type of behavior exercised in the Haiti scandal. Additionally, they put in place a “Global Safeguarding Taskforce to guide on prevention of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse across Oxfam,” according to their recent statement.
Other updates include “the immediate creation of a new global database of accredited referees”, “an immediate injection of money and resources into Oxfam’s safeguarding processes”, and “a commitment to improve the culture within Oxfam to ensure that no one faces sexism, discrimination or abuse.”
As Oxfam works to improve their reputation and internal affairs, they made the decision to stop bidding for government funding, which accounted for 8% of their income in 2016.
The rising concern resulting from the scandal is its potential impact on aid contributions, not only for Oxfam specifically but for international organizations in general.
In an effort to maintain donors’ confidence, the United Nations and other collaborating groups are pushing for greater transparency in all aid organizations. Other suggestions for further action included a plan to require “passports” for international aid workers, meaning any misconduct in one organization would also prevent workers corrupting the work of a second.
Jordan is a senior majoring in English.