Outrage in Europe this week when it was revealed that Oxfam, the international NGO aimed at helping refugees and people in need, had seriously misbehaved during the 2011 Haiti earthquake aftermath.
Every European country that gives money to Oxfam via public trusts are now reviewing those funds after the scandal reached the press this week.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Oxfam covered up the use of prostitutes by senior aid workers in earthquake-hit Haiti <a href="https://t.co/cLITJcP8mo">https://t.co/cLITJcP8mo</a></p>— The Times of London (@thetimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/thetimes/status/961865751903715328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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It even got worse when the head of Oxfam’s UK department said that they had known about the ‘serious misconduct’ already in 2011, but did not do anything further to it.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING Haiti's ambassador to the UK accuses Oxfam of a "cover-up" over the use of prostitutes by its former Haiti director. His Excellency Bocchit Edmond: "Dame Barbara Stocking let this guy leave the country without any punishment and now he is working for other NGOs." <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oxfam?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oxfam</a></p>— Hannah Bayman (@hannahbayman) <a href="https://twitter.com/hannahbayman/status/962348846910144512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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It is only after an investigative reporter this week looked into the misconducts of NGO employees, most of whom are still funded with tax money, that Oxfam came under fire when the story was revealed of how 6 senior Oxfam employees had given lavish parties in Haiti inviting dozens of prostitutes whilst they were there to help the survivors of the devastating earthquake deal with the aftermath.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="fr" dir="ltr">Le comportement dévoilé par le Times en Haiti 2011 est inacceptable, et contraire à nos valeurs et aux normes élevées que nous attendons de notre personnel. Notre déclaration complète:<a href="https://t.co/HMWr3KSnvR">https://t.co/HMWr3KSnvR</a></p>— Oxfam Haiti (@OxfamInHaiti) <a href="https://twitter.com/OxfamInHaiti/status/962037805814697984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Their CEO, Mr. Mark Goldring now says the UK-based charity is ashamed of what it had got wrong but had taken action and been proactive about going public on the matter: "We were very open with the public that we were ashamed of the behavior of our staff. We still are."
"With hindsight, I would much prefer that we had talked about sexual misconduct.
"But I don't think it was in anyone's best interest to be describing the details of the behavior in a way that was actually going to draw extreme attention to it when what we wanted to do was get on and deliver an aid programme."
He added: "I am absolutely committed… to wipe out that kind of behavior from Oxfam and rebuild that relationship of trust with the public."
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