ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Oxfam staff committed "terrible abuses of power" when they were sent to help victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, an inquiry has found.

Serious allegations of wrongdoing, including the sexual abuse of children, were not fully disclosed, according to findings by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

This has prompted the regulator to issue Oxfam GB with an official warning under the Charities Act.

The lengthy report, published on Tuesday after an 18-month investigation, found that the charity had failed to heed warnings – including from its own staff – that its workers were not adequately keeping people safe.

The inquiry also found that Oxfam’s subsequent commitments to improve safeguarding were not backed up by actions, and said some of the organisation's failings amounted to mismanagement.

Oxfam GB's chair of trustees Caroline Thomson said in a statement: "What happened in Haiti was shameful and we are deeply sorry.

"It was a terrible abuse of power, and an affront to the values that Oxfam holds dear.

"The Commission's findings are very uncomfortable for Oxfam GB but we accept them.

"We now know that the 2011 investigation and reporting of what happened in Haiti was flawed - more should have been done to establish whether minors were involved.”

The report revealed Oxfam had failed to adequately investigate allegations that children as young as 12 or 13 were victims of sexual misconduct against a charity "boss".

It also said the charity had not reported allegations of child abuse by charity staff in Haiti, and that senior staff accused of sexual misconduct were dealt with more leniently than junior figures.

Charity Commission chief executive Helen Stephenson said: "What went wrong in Haiti did not happen in isolation.

"Our inquiry demonstrates that, over a period of years, Oxfam's internal culture tolerated poor behaviour, and at times lost sight of the values it stands for."

Ms Stephenson suggested "significant further cultural and systemic change" was required at Oxfam to address the failings and weaknesses.

Oxfam was plunged into crisis in February 2018 when it emerged that some of its workers engaged in "sex parties" with prostitutes after the 2010 humanitarian disaster in the Caribbean country.

The Charity Commission launched its inquiry amid concerns Oxfam may not have fully and frankly disclosed material details about the allegations when they occurred in 2011.

It also sought to assess the charity's handling of the incidents since, and the impact these have had on public trust and confidence.

The 142-page report said the incidents in Haiti identified in 2011 were not "one-offs", with evidence of behavioural issues as early as June 2010.

Oxfam's internal investigation, following allegations by a whistleblower in 2011, identified four staff who either did or were suspected of using prostitutes, including on charity residential premises.

The charity, which has been under the leadership of new chief executive Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah since January, could not determine whether minors were involved in some of the incidents, something the regulator said should have been more closely scrutinised.

Separately, two allegations of physical abuse, made by email from a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old girl, were "suspected" not to be genuine by Oxfam at the time.

The Charity Commission said Oxfam should have tried harder to substantiate the claims, even if there was no evidence to back up the allegations at the time.

The report, which also examines Oxfam's conduct in the years after the Haiti allegations, accused the charity of failing to make sufficient "full and frank disclosures" about allegations against its staff in 2011, but said there was no evidence of a cover-up.

Ms Thomson accepted this, saying: "While the Commission makes clear that it found no record of a 'cover-up,' we accept that Oxfam GB should have been fuller and franker in its initial reporting of the allegations."

The inquiry, which involved 34 interviews and around 7,000 pieces of evidence, also found there were "systematic weaknesses" in the charity's attitude to safeguarding, and that there was no up-to-date safeguarding strategy in place as recently as 2018.

This included weaknesses in human resources practices, including on vetting, referencing, recruitment and induction.

There was also a failure to consistently hold people to account for poor behaviour and to ensure robust and consistent action was taken, resulting in a culture of tolerance of poor behaviour, the regulator's investigation concluded.

This was likely to have resulted in putting victims off speaking up.

The report found the risk to and impact on victims "appeared to take second place at times" and was not taken seriously enough, and that victims, whistleblowers and staff who tried to raise concerns were let down.

The Charity Commission said it had issued an official warning under the Charities Act on the grounds "there has been some areas of mismanagement in relation to Haiti and its safeguarding governance prior to 2018".

It also instructed Oxfam trustees to submit an action plan to the regulator on how it will address concerns about its previous conduct, in an effort to "repair public trust and confidence" in the charity.

The allegations were described by Prime Minister Theresa May in 2018 as "absolutely horrific" and resulted in celebrities including actor Minnie Driver and singer Tallia Storm quitting their involvement with the charity.

Oxfam's chief executive Mark Goldring also announced he would stand down at the end of the year to allow fresh leadership to navigate past recent criticism.

In a statement on behalf of former Oxfam GB trustees and senior executives, charity chief Alison Talbot said: “Safeguarding is and remains a huge issue for all charities, and the Commission has pointed out the need for greater resource, more rigorous investigatory procedures, and senior oversight and accountability.

"We recognise today that our efforts in 2011 and subsequently were insufficient, especially in the light of all of the information available to the Charity Commission in the course of this statutory inquiry.

“Safeguarding is fundamental to what Oxfam and other humanitarian agencies have to do. Those caught up in humanitarian disasters must trust the agencies which are there to help them, upon whom their lives may depend.

"They should be kept safe from all and any abuses.”