OXFAM CHIEF APOLOGIZES FOR 'BABIES IN COTS' COMMENT AS MORE ABUSE REPORTED
 |
| Oxfam |
Oxfam’s chief executive apologized
on Tuesday for saying a wave of condemnation over sex abuse by its staff was
disproportionate as it had not “murdered babies in their cots” after 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 Goldring faced personal criticism
after he was quoted in 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
Goldring’s comments in a newspaper interview were regarded by many as “grossly
inappropriate”, and on Tuesday Goldring apologized.
“I should not have
said those things. It is not for Oxfam to judge issues of proportionality or
motivation,” Goldring, who became CEO of Oxfam GB in 2013, told the committee.
“I wholeheartedly apologize for those comments.”
Allegations of
sexual misconduct have shaken the aid sector, with Haiti’s president calling
for investigations of other groups.
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 Goldring said that
7,000 individuals had canceled 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.
Senior Oxfam
officials told the committee that the internal investigation into what happened
in Haiti was mishandled at the time.
Oxfam International
Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said “hideous men” had abused the trust of
the public and were not aligned with the charity’s principles.
“The use of
prostitutes in conditions of poverty and helplessness and conflict, is
exploitation, it is abuse, and it’s intolerable in our organization,” she told
the committee.
No comments