Oxfam: Haiti's president condemns UK charity over scandal Published duration 13 February 2018 Related Topics 2010 Haiti earthquake

image copyright Reuters image caption President Jovenel Moise condemned "sexual predator" staff exploiting "needy people in their moment of greatest vulnerability"

The president of Haiti has strongly condemned UK charity Oxfam, after it emerged its staff hired prostitutes while delivering aid in 2011.

The charity was accused by a UK newspaper of concealing the actions.

In a Twitter post, Jovenel Moise condemned the actions as an "extremely serious violation of human dignity".

A senior government source in Haiti confirmed to the BBC that an investigation will now be launched into foreign aid agencies operating there.

What is the charity accused of?

One of the UK's biggest charities, Oxfam, was the subject of a report in the Times newspaper last week.

The article accused the charity of concealing the findings of a 2011 inquiry into claims senior aid workers, including Haiti's national director, paid local prostitutes for sex.

media caption Former Oxfam employee Widza Bryant: "I was told my many locals there were... sexual relations"

Oxfam were in the country offering relief following a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people in 2010.

It has been accused by a UK charity watchdog, which has launched an inquiry, of failing to disclose the full details.

How has Haiti reacted?

"There is nothing more outrageous and dishonest than a sexual predator who uses his position as part of the humanitarian response to a natural disaster to exploit needy people in their moment of greatest vulnerability," he said.

media caption BBC world affairs correspondent Will Grant says locals believe aid agencies have enjoyed "impunity"

"What happened with Oxfam in Haiti is an extremely serious violation of human dignity," he said in another tweet.

Several former members of Oxfam's local staff have said they tried to raise concerns but felt their complaints were ignored.

Several Haitian NGOs have said that the problems with Oxfam in Haiti were institutional.

Pierre Esperance, the head of Haiti's National Human Rights Defence Network, told the BBC: "Oxfam, after the earthquake, became like a factory."

"A big organisation with a lot of people with bad management. People who don't have any skill regarding development, with a lot of money, and this is the result."

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