{"id":4262,"date":"2018-02-19T08:40:09","date_gmt":"2018-02-19T08:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/?p=4262"},"modified":"2018-02-19T08:40:09","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T08:40:09","slug":"oxfam-days-numbered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/oxfam-days-numbered\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxfam – Its Days Were Numbered And Rightly So"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"oxfam<\/a><\/p>\n

Oxfam is one of our most famous global brands. \u00a0Oxfam is in 90 countries. \u00a0Yet, Oxfam\u2019s power is concentrated in the hands of an all white male dominated<\/a> executive team.\u00a0 Oxfam empowered themselves and was accountable to no one.\u00a0Their supply of goods and services to aid recipients smacks of a benevolent dictatorship. \u00a0So, the allegations of sexual abuse of its staff<\/a> and aid recipients further confirm’s\u00a0that they are an anachronism. \u00a0Oxfam has done some good work but they are not too big to fail.\u00a0 Their assistance is replaceable by local charities.\u00a0 So, it is important that Oxfam\u2019s poor governance is not used by the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg<\/a> to stop government aid. \u00a0The public trusted charities but Oxfam has damaged that relationship. \u00a0Charities must change, but Oxfam’s survival is in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

Oxfam’s Empire<\/h2>\n

Oxfam<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0formed in 1942 as a famine relief organisation and has since grown to become Britain\u2019s fourth largest charity but the largest overseas. However, their\u00a0famous bright green emblem is severely tarnished by allegations of a \u2018full-on Caligula orgy<\/a>\u2019 and other allegations of sexual misconduct some of which include children.<\/p>\n

Mr Van Hauwermeiren<\/a>, Oxfam\u2019s country director, and six other men are alleged to have been \u2018using prostitutes, downloading \u201cpornographic and illegal material\u201d, bullying and intimidation\u2019. \u00a0Nonetheless, they received satisfactory references<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Oxfam sent Mr Van Hauwermeiren to Haiti although aware of sexual allegations against him while working for them in Chad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dame Barbara Stocking was Oxfam\u2019s chief executive during the sexual misconduct investigation. \u00a0She allowed Mr Van Hauwermeiren to resign with a month\u2019s notice and no disciplinary action. \u00a0Mr Van Hauwermeiren became a consultant for Oxfam in Ethiopia<\/a>. He was then able to go on to become head of mission for Action Against Hunger in Bangladesh in 2012-14.<\/p>\n

Dame Barbara, now president of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge gives her spluttering defence in the video below. She earns in the region of \u00a380,000 a year as president, lives rent-free in a large house in Cambridge provided by the college and pays no utility bills. Dame Barbara rented her home for \u00a31,750 a month in 2015.<\/p>\n

\"oxfam<\/a><\/p>\n

Aid Arrogance<\/h2>\n

Mark Goldring is Oxfam’s chief executive he feels \u2018Great shame in the behaviour of those few who did not uphold Oxfam\u2019s or society\u2019s values’. But neither has Goldring. \u00a0Goldring failed to act on allegations<\/a> that a woman was coerced into having sex in return for aid in a disaster zone.<\/p>\n

Goldring says<\/a> that criticism is ‘out of proportion to the level of culpability’. And no one ‘murdered babies in their cots’. \u00a0Goldring’s comments are arrogant and cold. \u00a0Surely there is nothing more dishonest than sexual predators in the guise of a humanitarian preying on the vulnerable. \u00a0Aid workers already take on god-like status.<\/p>\n

Women and children, in disaster areas, war-torn or underdeveloped countries are most vulnerable. So payment for sex cannot be justified. \u00a0As if selling one\u2019s body is the achievement of a lifelong goal or some fair and equal transaction. We each need to challenge that narrative when we read or hear it.<\/p>\n

Thus far, only Penny Lawrence, Oxfam\u2019s deputy chief executive has had the good grace to resigned.<\/p>\n

Aid Crisis<\/h2>\n

There is a crisis of confidence in the aid sector. So, Oxfam is not alone in having a culture of sexual abuse and exploitation<\/a>. All charities have to change. \u00a0But for Oxfam, the change may be too great.<\/p>\n

Oxfam’s preordained food and services prevent democracy in aid. \u00a0However, the\u00a0Grand Bargain initiative<\/a>\u00a0is the great equaliser because gives aid recipients money.\u00a0 The cash gives the vulnerable dignity and choice which Oxfam’s model denies.\u00a0A study shows that without extra cost 18% more people<\/a> could be helped if cash was an aid tool.\u00a0 So, Oxfam’s all-encompassing imperial organisation is in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

Charities should make their management diverse and introduce robust whistleblowing policies. \u2018Since 1999 the National Crime Authority, or its precursor, have been warning that predatory paedophiles,’ are accessing children<\/a> through charities. \u00a0All charities should\u00a0be part of \u2018The Humanitarian Passport Initiative<\/a>\u2019 which detail an aid workers\u2019 previous conduct.<\/p>\n

Oxfam should have been leading the way but they chose impunity and arrogance over reform and it has lost the confidence of its sponsors and ambassadors<\/a>. \u00a0It’s hard to win back trust once broken so all in all Oxfam’s days look numbered.<\/p>\n

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