Oxfam boss ‘heartbroken’

– The executive director of Oxfam International said on Sunday she was heartbroken by a sexual misconduct scandal in Haiti involving aid workers that prompted Britain’s government to threaten to cut off aid funding to charities.

Oxfam, one of Britain’s biggest charities, has condemned the behaviour of some former staff in Haiti after a newspaper report said aid workers paid for sex while on a mission to help those affected by the 2010 earthquake.

Britain’s aid minister said the government would cut aid funding from any charity that did not comply with a new review into their work overseas, calling reports of sexual exploitation in the sector “utterly despicable”.

Winnie Byanyima, who became executive director of Oxfam International in 2013, said she was saddened by what took place in 2010 and that it could not happen under systems and rules put in place since.

“What happened in Haiti was a few privileged men abusing the very people they were supposed to protect. It breaks my heart,” Byanyima said in an interview with Reuters TV in New York.

“We want to restore trust. We are committing to be honest, to be transparent and to be accountable in addressing sexual misconduct,” she said. –