UK to aid groups - no more cash if you don't come clean on abuse

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UK to aid groups - no more cash if you don't come clean on abuse

 

A sign is seen above a branch of Oxfam, in central London, Britain February 13, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government will tell aid agencies on Wednesday it will withdraw funding if they cannot show they are preventing abuse by staff following allegations of sexual misconduct involving British aid organisation Oxfam.

 

The Times newspaper reported on Friday that some Oxfam staff in Haiti after the country's 2010 earthquake had paid for sex with prostitutes. Oxfam has neither confirmed nor denied that specific account but has said an internal investigation in 2011 had confirmed sexual misconduct had occurred and has apologised.

 

"Unless you safeguard everyone your organisation comes into contact with, including beneficiaries, staff and volunteers – we will not fund you," Britain's development secretary Penny Mordaunt will say, according to excerpts of a speech she is due to give at a gathering of development agencies in Stockholm.

 

"Unless you create a culture that prioritises the safety of vulnerable people and ensures victims and whistleblowers can come forward without fear – we will not work with you," Mordaunt will say.

 

"And unless you report every serious incident or allegation, no matter how damaging to your reputation – we cannot be partners."

 

On Monday the deputy head of Oxfam resigned over what she said was the charity's failure to respond adequately to the allegations of sexual misconduct by some of its staff in Chad as well as in Haiti.

 

Oxfam faced fresh pressure on Tuesday after a former senior member of staff said her concerns about "a culture of sexual abuse" were not taken seriously by the charity's bosses.

 

Mordaunt has previously threatened to withdraw government funding from Oxfam unless it gave the full facts about events in Haiti. Oxfam receives around 32 million pounds of British government funding a year.

 

She has also called on all British charities active outside the country to provide moral leadership and transparency about their operations.

Only five out of 10 global aid agencies were willing to disclose the extent of sex abuse by their staff in a survey conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

 

The scandal has bolstered critics of the British government's commitment to spend the equivalent of 0.7 percent of economic output on foreign aid, making it one of the world's most generous donors.

 

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-14

[KBsinter]

Where are the Brit bashers, non to be seen..........

[dunroaming]

Well the UK government will not withdraw funding for the Aid  Groups and it is just an empty threat.  To withdraw aid would result in massive suffering and deaths in the areas where the agencies work.  Of course there is abuse on many levels but that needs to be tackled at source.

[katana]

Seems UN peacekeepers have been at it too:

"... An Associated Press investigation revealed in 2017 that more than 100 UN peacekeepers ran a child sex ring in Haiti over a 10 year period and none were ever jailed. .."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse_by_UN_peacekeepers

[pagallim]

[thaibeachlovers]

20 hours ago, KBsinter said:

Where are the Brit bashers, non to be seen..........

Give us a chance. We have to sleep sometimes.

 

With all the other "stuff" going on in Britain I'd have thought they had more to worry about than if some blokes paid for a bit while doing a hard job in a foreign country.

Start actually penalising them and the organisations will be able to see how much they can get done with a few women workers.

 

Still, The Brits like nothing more than a bit of curtain twitching to gossip about in the chattering classes.

Never mind that the military is collapsing, Brexit is a farce, customs isn't capable of being ready for it, and May is on her way out, as long as they can fixate on a bit of naughtiness overseas all is well in Britain. 

[thaibeachlovers]

17 hours ago, katana said:

Seems UN peacekeepers have been at it too:

"... An Associated Press investigation revealed in 2017 that more than 100 UN peacekeepers ran a child sex ring in Haiti over a 10 year period and none were ever jailed. .."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse_by_UN_peacekeepers

The UN are great at sex rings. They were at it in Bosnia too.

[RuamRudy]

Colour me sceptical, but this seems a bit too close on the heels of Rees Mogg demanding that the UK cut back foreign aid (except to his Panama bank account).