UK-based charity Oxfam’s second-in-command has quit over allegations aid workers paid for sex while on assignments in Haiti and Chad.
Penny Lawrence, Oxfam’s deputy chief executive, said in a statement on Monday she was “ashamed” of staff members’ use of prostitutes in both countries.
“Over the last few days we have become aware that concerns were raised about the behaviour of staff in Chad as well as Haiti that we failed to adequately act upon,” Lawrence said.
“I am desperately sorry for the harm and distress that this has caused to Oxfam’s supporters, the wider development sector and, most of all, the vulnerable people who trusted us.”
Staff reportedly used prostitutes in Chad at the charity’s staff house. Those allegations followed news reports last week that Oxfam staff paid sex workers while on an aid mission following Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake.
Oxfam fired four staff members for gross misconduct and allowed three others to resign following a 2011 internal inquiry into the sex scandal, the downloading of pornography, and bullying and intimidation during the assignment.
A Times article published on Friday – based on a copy of the internal Oxfam report it obtained – said the country director in Haiti, Roland van Hauwermeiren, was among those allowed to resign after it was revealed he paid for sex at a property rented by the charity.
“It is now clear that these allegations – involving the use of prostitutes and which related to behaviour of both the country director and members of his team in Chad – were raised before he moved to Haiti,” she said.
Funding fallout
The UK government has threatened to withdraw funding for the charity over the scandal. Penny Mordaunt, the UK secretary for international development, met Oxfam officials on Monday and a statement was expected following the discussions.
Mordaunt told the BBC on Sunday the government will not partner with any organisation that lacks “moral leadership”.
“I don’t know what their motivation was for behaving the way they did … but they did absolutely the wrong thing,” she said.
Oxfam, which operates in some 35 countries worldwide, received $243m (£176m) of funding from the UK government and other public authorities during the 2016-17 financial year, 43 percent of the charity’s $564m (£408.6m) total income.
The Department for International Development granted the charity $43m (£31.7m) during the same period, according to Oxfam.
