Oxfam chief faces call to quit
THE head of Oxfam will today face calls from MPS to resign over his handling of the Haiti sex scandal amid mounting criticism of his leadership.
Mark Goldring, the chief executive of Oxfam, will be accused of making “grave errors” in his response to the scandal when he appears before the international development select committee.
Theresa May yesterday described the behaviour of Oxfam staff as “horrific” and warned that charities would be denied government funding if they failed to protect the people they were supposed to be helping.
Oxfam has been accused of covering up a 2011 report that found staff had used prostitutes in Haiti and sexually exploited employees. The report said that suspicions under-age sex workers had been exploited “cannot be ruled out”.
Mr Goldring, who was appointed in 2013, faced criticism for claiming last week that the scrutiny facing Oxfam
“makes you wonder” whether the members of the charity had “murdered babies in their cots”.
Nigel Evans, a senior Tory member of the committee, said: “He [Mr Goldring] will be asked ‘does he not believe that Oxfam will be in better shape with new direction at the top.
“If it transpires that he should have acted more quickly to rectify the problems that have come to light then he should consider his position.
“The real problem is he has made a grave error in that interview he gave to
The Guardian where he is almost saying ‘what’s the big deal?’
“Well the big deal is that subscriptions have been cancelled, ambassadors have quit their jobs and there has been a general outcry. That is what the fuss is about and he doesn’t quite seem to get that.”
The Prime Minister said yesterday that Oxfam had fallen “far below the standards we expect”. She also highlighted alleged physical intimidation of whistle-blowers during Oxfam’s internal investigation.
She said: “This is absolutely horrific. “We will not work with anybody who does not meet the high standards that we set and we believe are important.”
Oxfam declined to comment.