Jersey Overseas Aid “appalled” by Oxfam sex scandal

Tuesday 13 February 2018

The group responsible for distributing millions of Jersey's foreign aid has reassured islanders that Oxfam will not receive any funding this year, after it emerged that executives have been accused of using charity funds to pay for sex in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake crisis.

It was revealed over the weekend that senior staff within the charity – including Oxfam’s then Country Director Roland Van Hauwermeiren – have been accused of paying for prostitutes while aid work was being undertaken in the midst of the devastation. Some of those sex workers were alleged to have been underage.

The charity, which has previously received funding worth millions from Jersey, became aware of this in 2011. No reports were made to Haitian police, nor were other charities warned about the aid workers’ behaviour. The charity have been accused of letting Mr Hauwermeiren and a colleague – both of whom were subject to complaints for their behaviour during an earlier mission in Chad – leave the charity without disciplinary action being taken.

The UK government, who have now threatened to cut funding to the organisation, entered crisis talks yesterday. Oxfam’s Deputy Chief Executive Penny Lawrence – International Programmes Director when the concerns were reported – resigned yesterday. 

PRESS RELEASE: Oxfam announces resignation of Deputy Chief Executive https://t.co/s7wNu70B60

— Oxfam News Team (@oxfamgbpress) February 12, 2018

In the midst of the revelations, Jersey Overseas Aid, which is chaired by Deputy Carolyn Labey, has since expressed concerns. They say that they were not involved with the charity during their time in Haiti, and were never informed of any alleged misconduct.

“Jersey Overseas Aid are aware of the allegations of sexual exploitation involving Oxfam staff during their response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. As with all organisations involved in the development and aid sector, we are appalled by the accusations and treat incidences like this very seriously,” a spokesperson said. 

2016 was the last time the organisation received funding from Jersey. Oxfam Niger received £230,000 for a project to provide clean water in malnutrition treatment centres, £99,512 to improve the quality of education in over 50 schools, and £30,000 to help “scale-up” its response to a crisis that had seen 20,000 killed and 2,000 women and girls abducted.

A project to train Ethiopian people in agricultural practices gained £98,000 in investment, while £30,000 was handed over to help combat the country’s worst food crisis in 30 years. The charity’s Zimbabwe operation was handed £30,000 to provide access to food and water in the wake of a drought, and the Sudan base gained a further £30,000 to continue assisting the 133,000 people forced to flee their homes following fierce attacks by the Sudanese Armed Forces. 

Pictured: Oxfam aid workers were reported to have paid for sex in Haiti during their earthquake relief campaign.

Yemen, where 14million people are reported to be suffering from hunger and malnutirion, received £30,000 for emergency food supplies, and Nigeria also received £30,000 to combat famine. 

A JOA spokesperson added:

“We would like to assure the Jersey public that no JOA money was sent to Oxfam during their Haiti campaign and at no point in time were we aware of any misconduct at Oxfam, or indeed any other charity we support. Oxfam will not benefit from any JOA funds in 2018 and are not currently on the list of JOA preferred agencies invited to apply for funding. JOA has not funded a new Oxfam project since 2016,” they said.

Guernsey’s Overseas Aid Commission echoed these observations. Deputy Emilie Yerby, the Commission’s President, commented: “I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the mistreatment and abuse of people receiving aid by those who should instead have been ensuring their safety and welfare. The Commission is taking these concerns extremely seriously and is meeting later this afternoon to discuss. We will issue a more substantive statement following our meeting.”