Oxfam apologises with multimillion-pound Government funding under threat

Oxfam has issued an "unreserved apology" to the Government, donors, supporters and the people of Haiti in the wake of the aid worker sex scandal which resulted in the resignation of the charity's deputy chief executive.

Penny Lawrence said she took full responsibility for what had happened on her watch and was sorry for the "harm and distress" it had caused supporters, as the charity faced a battle to "rebuild the public trust" following crisis talks with the Government over future funding.

Oxfam has faced intense criticism over its handling of sex allegations, including the use of prostitutes by workers in Haiti in 2011.

It came as whistleblower Helen Evans, Oxfam's former global head of safeguarding, told Channel 4 News she begged senior staff, ministers and the regulator to act about the sexual abuse allegations.

The whistleblower also detailed three new allegations made against Oxfam staff overseas in a single day.

She said: "There was one of a woman being coerced to have sex in a humanitarian response by another aid worker, another case where a woman had been coerced in exchange for aid and another one where it had come to our attention where a member of staff had been struck off for sexual abuse and hadn't disclosed that, and we were then concerned about what he might be doing, and that was three allegations in one day."

Oxfam chief executive Mark Goldring apologised to Ms Evans over the way her concerns were handled.

He told Channel 4 News: "I certainly apologise for not acting fast enough, I think we did take them seriously and we responded on many different fronts - the records checking was one of them, training was another, the promotion of the helpline was another - she did some great work.

"What I recognise now, with the severity of issues as they have emerged, is that we should have resourced that team up faster as we now have, indeed, done."

He said he would not resign as he was not in the post in 2011, but added: "But if our board turn round and say 'actually you are not the right person to lead forward' then I of course would resign immediately."

Following a meeting between Oxfam bosses and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt, the minister said the charity "must now demonstrate the moral leadership necessary to address this scandal".

The charity's chair of trustees Caroline Thomson said Oxfam "unreservedly apologised to her (Ms Mordaunt) as well as to our supporters, donors and the people of Haiti for the things that happened in our name".

"Oxfam is in total agreement with the Secretary of State's further proposals. We recognise that we have some way to go to persuade her that we have the right moral leadership to be fully entrusted with public money. But we are committed to working with her, DFID and the Charity Commission to prove we can meet her expectations."

Announcing her resignation, Ms Lawrence said: "As programme director at the time, I am ashamed that this happened on my watch and I take full responsibility.

"I am desperately sorry for the harm and distress that this has caused to Oxfam's supporters, the wider development sector and most of all the vulnerable people who trusted us."

The resignation comes after claims on Monday that the charity was aware of concerns about the conduct of two of the men at the centre of the allegations in Haiti when they worked previously in Chad.

The charity received £31.7 million in Government funding in 2016/17, but the support has been put at risk by the scandal.

Charity Commission director of investigations Michelle Russell said the watchdog was not told the full story at the time Oxfam first investigated allegations of misconduct in 2011.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We've made very clear that had the details of what has come out over the last few days been told to us, we would have dealt with this very differently.

"We were categorically told there was no abuse of beneficiaries involved in the allegations. Nor were we told that there were issues or possible issues around possible crimes, including those involving minors."

Four members of Oxfam staff were dismissed and three, including the country director - Roland van Hauwermeiren, resigned before the end of the 2011 investigation.

According to The Times, Oxfam knew about concerns over the conduct of Mr van Hauwermeiren and another man when they worked in Chad before they were given senior roles in Haiti.

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