May berates Oxfam over Haiti scandal
‘Behaviour far below the standards we expect’
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday described the behaviour of some Oxfam staff in Haiti as horrific after the charity released an internal report revealing that a former top official admitted paying for sex and three staff threatened a witness.
“The behaviour that we’ve now discovered was horrific,” May said during a visit to a London school.
“It was far below the standards we expect for the charities and the NGOs we’re working with.”
“We will not work with anybody who does not meet the high standards that we set and we believe are important.”
She was speaking after the charity was suspended from bidding for new government funding.
The 2011 report into aid workers deployed to Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake revealed that seven staff were accused of using prostitutes at an Oxfam-funded residence.
Country director Roland van Hauwermeiren admitted paying for sex and was offered a phased and dignified exit of resignation if he cooperated with the inquiry.
The report also said three Oxfam employees were involved in physically threatening and intimidating a witness who spoke to the investigators.
Four staff were fired for gross misconduct and three others, including Van Hauwermeiren, were allowed to quit.
Details of the Haiti scandal have engulfed Oxfam, drawing widespread condemnation and putting its funding at risk.
A senior executive has resigned over the scandal.
Oxfam has denied trying to cover up the allegations but admitted it could have been more open at the time, saying it was publishing the report in recognition of the breach of trust that had been caused.
It said it would give a copy to the Haitian government, which has expressed outrage and launched its own inquiry, at a meeting later yesterday.
All names in the report have been redacted apart from that of Van Hauwermeiren, a 68-year-old Belgian who last week released a letter defending himself.
In it, he claimed he had not visited any brothels, nightclubs or bars in Haiti, despite offers from men and women “who tried to get into my house with all sorts of excuses to demand money, work, or to offer sexual services”.
He said he told Oxfam he had intimate relations three times at his house with “an honourable, mature woman, who was not an earthquake victim, nor a prostitute. And I did not give her any money”.
In an interview with The Times, however, a young Haitian mother claimed she had a relationship with Van Hauwermeiren when she was 16 – underage in Haiti.
Now 23, Mikelange Gabou said he initially helped her with things for her baby, and they later had a loving relationship and he would sometimes give her money.
Last week Oxfam unveiled an action plan to tackle sexual harassment and abuse, including creating a new vetting system for staff, but the entire aid sector is facing renewed scrutiny.
Oxfam chief executive Mark Goldring has been called to explain the scandal to British MPs in London today alongside senior managers from fellow charity Save the Children. –