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| A woman walks carrying a suitcase on her head next to an Oxfam sign in Corail, a camp for displaced people of the 2010 earthquake, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
British aid organisation Oxfam said on Friday that it would create an independent commission to review the charityโs practices and culture after accusations of sexual misconduct in Haiti.
Britainโs The Times newspaper reported last week that some Oxfam staff had paid for sex with prostitutes in Haiti after the countryโs 2010 earthquake.
Oxfam, one of the worldโs biggest disaster relief charities, has neither confirmed nor denied that specific account but has said an internal investigation in 2011 confirmed sexual misconduct occurred, and it has apologised.
Oxfam said in a statement that its High-Level Commission on Sexual Misconduct, Accountability and Culture Change would be comprised of womenโs rights experts who would have access to Oxfam records and staff, partners and communities it supports.
It said it would create โa global database of accredited referees to end the use of forged, dishonest or unreliable references by past or current Oxfam staffโ and that it would invest in resources in its safeguarding processes.
Oxfam said it was committed to publishing a 2011 internal investigation โinto staff involved in sexual and other misconduct in Haiti as soon as possible, after taking steps necessary to protect the identity of innocent witnesses,โ adding that the โnames of the men involved have already been shared with the authorities in Haiti.โ
Britainโs development minister, Penny Mordaunt, said on Wednesday that Britain would stop funding overseas aid agencies if they failed to learn from Oxfamโs sex abuse scandal.
Oxfamโs International Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said in the statement, โWhat happened in Haiti and afterwards is a stain on Oxfam that will shame us for years, and rightly so. In my language โOkuruga ahamutima gwangye, mutusaasire.โ It means โFrom the bottom of my heart I am asking for forgiveness.’โ
