Oxfam chief apologises for ‘babies in cots’ comment
OXFAM’S chief executive apologised on Tuesday for saying a wave of condemnation over sex abuse by the charity’s staff was disproportionate as it had not “murdered babies in their cots” in a scandal that has prompted new reports of abuse.
Mark Goldring said Oxfam was investigating 26 cases of misconduct reported since the scandal broke earlier this month over the alleged use of prostitutes in Haiti in the aftermath of the island’s earthquake in 2010.
Oxfam has battled to contain the fall-out from the scandal, and senior officials from the charity apologised over and again for the scandal and how it was handled during a hearing with lawmakers that lasted nearly two hours.
Mr Goldring has faced personal criticism after he was quoted in last Saturday’s Guardian newspaper as saying: “The intensity and ferocity of the attacks makes you wonder, what did we do? We murdered babies in their cots? . . . [it] feels out of proportion to the level of culpability.”
Opposition Labour politician and International Development committee chair Stephen Twigg said Mr Goldring’s comments in a newspaper interview were regarded by many as “grossly inappropriate”, and on Tuesday Mr Goldring apologised.
“I should not have said those things. It is not for Oxfam to judge issues of proportionality or motivation,” Mr Goldring, who became CEO of Oxfam GB in 2013, told the committee. “I wholeheartedly apologise for those comments.”
Allegations of sexual misconduct have shaken the aid sector, with Haiti’s president calling for investigations of other groups.
Mr Twigg said the Committee, a parliamentary body that monitors the government’s aid ministry, would conduct a full inquiry into the issue of sexual exploitation in the aid sector.
The funding of Oxfam, one of the world’s biggest disaster relief charities, has been thrown into question by the scandal.
Britain and the European Union are both reviewing the money they give, while Mr Goldring said that 7,000 individuals had cancelled regular donations to Oxfam over the last 10 days.
On Monday, the charity released the findings of an internal investigation that found the country director in Haiti, Roland Van Hauwermeiren, had admitted using prostitutes at his residence during a relief mission before resigning in 2011.
Save The Children UK also apologised on Wednesday for historic inappropriate behaviour by Justin Forsyth, its then chief executive, and said procedures had not been properly followed in reviewing three complaints against him during his time at the charity.
The charity 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 that human resources processes had not been followed in every aspect.
Mr Forsyth, currently deputy director of the United Nations children’s agency Unicef, resigned on Thursday, saying he did not want coverage of past mistakes he had made to damage the organisation or other aid bodies.
He said his decision to step down from Unicef was not because of “the mistakes I made at Save the Children”.
“They were dealt with through a proper process many years ago,” his statement said.