Save The Children never told us our new chief pestered women
We want to know what really went on with female staff, say Unicef
THE United Nations children’s agency was not informed that the former head of Save the Children UK had behaved inappropriately towards women before it hired him as a senior executive.
Unicef last night said it was trying to get a ‘better understanding’ of Justin Forsyth’s behaviour when he led the British charity.
Mr Forsyth admitted on Tuesday that he engaged in ‘unsuitable and thoughtless conversations’ with three young female members of staff while he was chief executive of Save the Children UK from 2010 to 2016.
He ‘apologised unreservedly’ to them for sending text messages commenting on how they looked and what they were wearing, which he accepted had ‘caused offence and hurt’.
Unicef appointed Mr Forsyth its deputy executive director in 2016. A spokesman said yesterday: ‘Unicef was not aware of the complaints against Mr Forsyth at the time of his recruitment.
‘We understand that informal mediation is confidential. We continue to work with him and Save the Children to get a better understanding of the facts.’
The agency added that there have been ‘no such [similar] complaints’ about Mr Forsyth since he joined Unicef, and called him a ‘passionate and effective advocate for children’.
Whistleblowers from Save the Children told the BBC that Mr Forsyth had made comments on their appearance, their clothes and how he felt about them.
It was claimed that if the women didn’t reply to the texts, he would send them a follow-up email and even call them in for a chat if they still didn’t respond.
One woman who complained about his behaviour said: ‘The complaints of harassment were not treated with the appropriate degree of seriousness.
‘It seemed like there was more interest in the organisation in preventing exposure of the misconduct than in protecting its female employees from predatory behaviour.’
In a statement Save the Children UK said its then-chairman Sir Alan Parker, who also worked as a PR executive, oversaw the complaints procedure. It was carried out by the charity’s human resources department and two trustees.
It resulted in Mr Forsyth apologising to the women, at which point ‘the matters were closed’.
He announced his resignation from Save the Children just months after concerns about his conduct were raised for a sec- ond time in 2015. A Save the Children spokesman said: ‘We can confirm we are currently in discussion with Unicef about Mr Forsyth. For legal reasons, we cannot comment further on aspects of this case.’
The charity said sorry on Tuesday for historic inappropriate behaviour by its former chief executive and said procedures had not been properly followed in reviewing three complaints against him.
The apology came as charities in the aid sector pledged to overhaul their approach to dealing with allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment.
Save the Children UK said concerns were raised in 2011 and 2015 about inappropriate comments and behaviour by Mr Forsyth and reviews in both cases resulted in ‘unreserved apologies’ to the women involved.
But the charity said human resources processes had not been followed in every aspect.
It said its current chief executive Kevin Watkins will launch a ‘ root and branch review of organisational culture’, following broader concerns about sexual abuse and harassment in the aid sector.
Mr Forsyth is a former aide to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He married his wife Lisa in 2012 and now lives in New York.
The revelations come days after Brendan Cox, the widower of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, a friend of Mr Forsyth and former chief strategist at the charity,
‘Unreserved apologies’
quit sexual together Mr following Forsyth misconduct. at Save was separate the previously The Children. allegations pair married worked of Catherine hendon, north McCarthy. London, They in 1991 wed when in he had a senior role at Oxfam.
Miss McCarthy, who now also lives in the US, last night said the behaviour admitted to by her former husband was ‘completely out of character’. She added: ‘In all the years I have known Justin I have never seen any of this kind of behaviour.’ Mr Forsyth held senior roles at Oxfam from 1995 to 2004. he took up his special advisor role to Tony Blair until 2007 before becoming Gordon Brown’s special advisor until 2010. Save the Children’s new chief executive Mr Watkins has admitted to MPs that the charity had investigated more than 200 complaints of misconduct in 2016 alone.