Winnie Byanyima admits charity has a problem but says majority of staff are ‘people of values’

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The head of Oxfam International has said she will appoint an independent commission to investigate claims of sexual exploitation.

Winnie Byanyima, the charity’s executive director, promised to root out any wrongdoing and provide justice for anyone abused by its staff.

In an interview with the BBC, Byanyima apologised for the scandal, in which the charity has been accused of concealing the findings of an inquiry into claims that staff used sex workers while delivering aid in Haiti in 2011.

“I’m appointing a high-level, independent commission that will look into our culture and our practices and make recommendations to make us stronger at protecting our people,” she said.

“We are going to create a vetting system. I’m really inviting anyone who has been a victim of abuse by anyone in our organisation to come forward. I’m here for all the women who have been abused, I want them to come forward and for justice to be done for them.”

Byanyima admitted the charity had “a problem”, but said the majority of its 10,000 staff worldwide were “people of values”.

According to the BBC, changes at Oxfam will include doubling the budget of its safeguarding team, setting up a global database of accredited referees to ensure sex offenders cannot reoffend at other charities, and improving the organisation’s “whistleblowing mechanism”.

On Thursday, the international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, met law enforcement officials to discuss how vulnerable people receiving charity aid could be protected from sexual abuse.

Mordaunt met Lynne Owens, the director general of the National Crime Agency, and Home Office officials. They discussed how to guarantee that appropriate safeguarding provisions are in place at charities involved in overseas aid, the NCA said.

Later on Thursday, the Charity Commission set out the scope of its statutory inquiry, which will examine the charity’s case records, its handling of the Haiti allegations and the extent of its knowledge of similar claims against staff in countries such as Chad and Liberia, predating Haiti.

The inquiry will also look at Oxfam’s communications with police and other agencies.

Michelle Russell, the director of investigations at the Charity Commission, said: “Acting in the public interest as regulator, this inquiry must and will establish the facts about what the charity knew about events in Haiti in 2011, and how it responded at the time and since.”

Mordaunt previously threatened to remove Oxfam’s funding, accusing the charity of failing to show moral leadership by not properly informing donors about the actions of its workers.