Chairman of Oxfam International held in corruption case
Just hours after Charity Commission launched an inquiry into Oxfam amid rising sexual abuse allegations, the chairman of the international arm of Oxfam has been held in Guatemala in a corruption probe.
Scandal hit Britain’s best-known charity after media reported how Oxfam had covered up the use of prostitutes by senior staff after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Fresh claims of sexual assault and cover-up have also emerged in South Sudan.
Whistleblower Helen Evans — Oxfam’s former global head of safeguarding — had earlier told media how she had begged senior staff and the charities watchdog to act about sexual abuse allegations she had uncovered.
Evans also spoke about the “inappropriate conduct” towards teenage volunteers working in Oxfam’s UK charity shops.
Meanwhile, the International Development Secretary is to meet with the National Crime Agency following the Haiti sex workers scandal.
Talking about how charities receiving UK aid have been told to show “full transparency”,Penny Mordaunt said: “If our standards are not met, then the British taxpayer will not continue to fund them.”
“While investigations have to be completed and any potential criminal prosecuted accordingly, what is clear is that the culture that allowed this to happen needs to change and it needs to change now,” Mordaunt added.
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