LONDON: International aid groups are failing to tackle “horror” sexual abuse and harassment in the charity sector, Britain’s aid watchdog said on Tuesday after the revelation of sexual misconduct by aid workers sparked global outrage this year.
The International Development Committee (IDC) said the response by the humanitarian sector toward widespread sexual abuse was “reactive, patchy and sluggish” and “one of complacency, verging on complicity.”
The aid world has come under intense scrutiny since it was revealed that Oxfam staff used prostitutes in Haiti during a relief mission after the country’s 2010 earthquake.
Reports have also surfaced of Syrian women being sexually exploited in return for aid, and the harassment of women in the head offices of global charities.
“Sexual exploitation and abuse is happening and it is happening across organizations, countries and institutions. It is endemic, and it has been for a long time,” according to a report by IDC, a parliamentary committee.
“The abject failure of the international aid sector to get to grips with this issue, leaving victims at the mercy of those who seek to use power to abuse others ... must be tackled,” said Stephen Twigg, chair of the IDC.
“No matter how insurmountable this looks, solutions must be found. This horror must be confronted,” he said in a statement.
A survey by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in February found more than 120 staff from about 20 leading global charities were fired or lost their jobs in 2017 over sexual misconduct.
The IDC, a parliamentary committee which monitors the performance of Britain’s development aid ministry DFID, said the aid industry had a “culture of denial” which penalized victims for speaking out while allowing abusers to move freely.
The report said there needed to be a global register of aid workers to ensure accountability, and better reporting mechanisms for whistleblowers.
“The increased public attention on safeguarding has resulted in more people coming forward to report allegations and incidents. This is a sign that the culture around safeguarding is shifting,” said Judith Brodie, the interim head of Bond, the British network for agencies working in overseas development.
Britain’s aid minister Penny Mordaunt told the Thomson Reuters Foundation the sector has improved since the scandal broke.
“A huge amount of work has gone on since the Oxfam scandal broke. There’s still a lot to do, but from where we were (in February), it’s completely transformed,” she said.
Mordaunt will host a global summit in London in October aimed at getting leading donors, humanitarian agencies and others to agree on measures to prevent sexual exploitation.
UK watchdog accuses aid groups of failing to tackle sexual misconduct
UK watchdog accuses aid groups of failing to tackle sexual misconduct
- The aid world has come under intense scrutiny since it was revealed that Oxfam staff used prostitutes in Haiti during a relief mission after the country’s 2010 earthquake
- The increased public attention on safeguarding has resulted in more people coming forward to report allegations and incidents
Bangladesh’s religio-political party open to unity govt
- Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years
DHAKA: A once-banned Bangladeshi religio-political party, poised for its strongest electoral showing in February’s parliamentary vote, is open to joining a unity government and has held talks with several parties, its chief said.
Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years as it marks a return to mainstream politics in the predominantly Muslim nation of 175 million.
Jamaat last held power between 2001 and 2006 as a junior coalition partner with the BNP and is open to working with it again.
“We want to see a stable nation for at least five years. If the parties come together, we’ll run the government together,” Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman said in an interview at his office in a residential area in Dhaka, days after the party created a buzz by securing a tie-up with a Gen-Z party.
Rahman said anti-corruption must be a shared agenda for any unity government.
The prime minister will come from the party winning the most seats in the Feb. 12 election, he added. If Jamaat wins the most seats, the party will decide whether he himself would be a candidate, Rahman said.
The party’s resurgence follows the ousting of long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a youth-led uprising in August 2024.
Rahman said Hasina’s continued stay in India after fleeing Dhaka was a concern, as ties between the two countries have hit their lowest point in decades since her downfall.
Asked about Jamaat’s historical closeness to Pakistan, Rahman said: “We maintain relations in a balanced way with all.”
He said any government that includes Jamaat would “not feel comfortable” with President Mohammed Shahabuddin, who was elected unopposed with the Awami League’s backing in 2023.
