The Haiti revelations have reminded Oxfam and the aid sector of the needto be vigilant around consistently improving processes to keep people safe,Oxfam Australia said today.
"It goes without saying that we at Oxfam Australia continue to be asappalled by these revelations as the rest of the world," Oxfam Australia’sChief Executive Helen Szoke said.
"Thisis a time to be reminded of the responsibilities of the aid community and theimmense trust put in us. If there are well-founded criticisms, then these have tobe confronted.
"We have totake on board all of this criticism because the responsibility we have for thecommunities for whom we work is profound, and we should never take that forgranted."
Dr Szoke said that since 2011, Oxfams had banded together to strengthen‘safeguards’ – ie. policies and procedures to keep people safe from harm –including a dedicated Safeguarding team, a confidential whistleblowing serviceand more comprehensive policies and practices for protecting people andempowering victims and witnesses of abuse to speak up.
At Oxfam Australia, strong child protection practices had been in placefor a long time, including recent work on deepening the agency’s practice inthis area. Prior to the Haitirevelations last week, Oxfam Australia had already put in place a nine-strongSafeguarding taskforce and a whistleblower service as part of a comprehensivepackage of protection and safeguarding mechanisms used at every stage – fromprevention of incidents to response and caring for people who raise issues.
"Over past years we’ve been consistently improving these processesin order to help ensure people who work at Oxfam or work with Oxfam are safe,but this past week has been a stark reminder that we need to redouble ourefforts and continue to hold ourselves to the highest possible standards," DrSzoke said.
"We are absolutely up for this challenge. Unfortunately,Oxfam, like the rest of our society, is not immune from incidences of sexualmisconduct.
"What’s critical is the process we as an organisation take whenthese instances occur."
She said globally Oxfam was keen to work with the rest of the sector to overcome the barriers that had so far prevented the sharing ofintelligence among NGOs and other organisations about people who have beenfound guilty of sexual misconduct.
"This is a time for bold approaches, not complacency," DrSzoke said.
"We must lookat this time as an opportunity to scrutinise our existing processes and strengthenthem even further because we have an incredible responsibility to thecommunities we serve.
"I can assureyou we don’t take that responsibility lightly." ---
