Times: New sex scandals rock Oxfam

Oxfam is facing new allegations of sexual exploitation, bullying and mismanagement, just weeks after it said it was requesting government aid again in the wake of the Haiti scandal.

The British newspaper (The Times) said in a

that this charity had previously directed an independent investigation into accusations against senior managers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for allegedly engaging in intimidation, death threats, fraud and nepotism.

She explained that the allegations about employees in this country are detailed in a 10-page letter sent to the leaders of the charity in London last February.

It included allegations, against 11 people, signed by more than 20 employees of the organization.

frustration

The whistleblowers behind the letter are frustrated by the length of time taken to complete the investigation and the lack of action on allegations of misconduct dating back to 2015.

The investigation began last November, and two aid workers were arrested this week after the newspaper began covering the investigation. The Times did not identify them, after Oxfam said that disclosing them could endanger the safety and security of witnesses and survivors.

The newspaper pointed out that Britain has played a pioneering role in improving protection in the aid sector since The Times revealed in 2018 that Oxfam covered up sexual exploitation by workers after the disaster in the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Questioned

The Times added that, however, the charity's recent crisis raises questions about British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab's decision last month to allow it to apply for funds from Britain's aid budget for the first time since it was banned due to the scandal.

In 2017-2018, before the Haiti scandal was discovered, Oxfam received £ 31.7 million from the aid budget.

Sarah Champion, chair of the House of Commons’s International Development Committee, said the recent allegations bolstered the case for completely independent regulation of the aid sector.

Oxfam has been working in the Congo since 1961, with 273 employees, focusing on water and sanitation projects among vulnerable communities, and has assisted in emergency efforts during a series of Ebola epidemics over the past decade.