Deputy Oxfam head quits over Haiti sex scandal
As program director at the time, I am ashamed that this happened on my watch and I take full responsibility.”
LONDON — The deputy head of Oxfam resigned on Monday over what she said was the British charity’s failure to adequately respond to past allegations of sexual misconduct by some of its staff in Haiti and Chad.
One of the best-known international NGOs, with aid programs running across the globe, Oxfam was under threat of losing its British government funding over sexual misconduct allegations first reported by the Times newspaper last week.
The scandal was fast escalating into a broader crisis for Britain’s aid sector by bolstering critics in the ruling Conservative Party who have argued that the government should reduce spending on aid in favor of domestic priorities.
Aid minister Penny Mordaunt, who threatened on Sunday to withdraw government funding from Oxfam unless it gave the full facts about events in Haiti, summoned Penny Lawrence, senior managers from the charity to a meeting on Monday.
“I told Oxfam they must now demonstrate the moral leadership necessary to address this scandal, rebuild the trust of the British public, their staff and the people they aim to help, and deliver progress on these assurances,” Mordaunt said after meeting Oxfam’s chief executive, Mark Goldring.
The Charity Commission said it had launched a statutory inquiry, adding it had concerns Oxfam “may not have fully and frankly disclosed material details about the allegations at the time in 2011, its handling of the incidents since, and the impact that these have both had on public trust and confidence”.
The Times reported on Friday that some staff who were in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake there had paid for sex with prostitutes, some of whom may have been minors.
Announcing her resignation on Monday, Deputy Chief Executive Penny Lawrence said Oxfam had become aware over the past few days that concerns were raised about the behavior of staff in Chad as well as Haiti that the organization failed to adequately act upon.
“It is now clear that these allegations — involving the use of prostitutes and which related to behavior of both the country director and members of his team in Chad — were raised before he moved to Haiti,” she said.
“As program director at the time, I am ashamed that this happened on my watch and I take full responsibility.”
In its last financial year Oxfam received 32 million pounds ($44 million) from Britain’s aid ministry, about 8 percent of its overall income. Whether or not it loses that funding, private donations could be hit by the bad publicity.
Founded in 1942, Oxfam is one of Britain’s best-known charities. Its 650 shops selling second hand clothes and books to raise funds are a familiar sight on the high street.