February 12, 2018

Oxfam faces loss of funding after abuse claims

located:	Haiti, United Kingdom
editor:	Gurmeet Singh

Oxfam was left in a very difficult position after claims emerged of members of its aid staff paying prostitutes in Haiti for sex in 2011. Furthermore, the claims stated that some of the sex workers could have been underaged.

Oxfam, funded with British government money, as well as donations from other sources, may lose more of its state budget if the claims are proved to be true. The government is meeting today, February 12, to decide the fate of the charity's funding future.

Amid this anger, Caroline Thomson, the chair of its trustees pledged to widen a review of its practices to include the Haiti allegations and admitted “anger and shame that behaviour like that ... happened in our organisation.”

Thomason laid out a plan that the charity would take to avoid similar scandals in the future. The international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt said that the charity would receive no more money unless it demonstrated more concerted moral leadership.

At a time when charity, aid and development projects are already under fire due to increased xenophobic tendencies, as well as a more nationalist approach to budgeting, this is a disaster for the charity.

Of course, aid, charity and development funds are not sole goods – they are exceptionally problematic, and a part of the fraught relations between dominant and developing nations. However, that doesn't mean that they do not do good – and this scandal should be investigated, reviewed and the entire system cleaned out. However, the charity, in my opinion should not lose its funding.

Image: Oxfam Director Roland van Hauwermeiren admitted using prostitutes in the wake of the Haitoan earthquake