Oxfam's deputy chief exec quits over Haiti scandal as inquiry is launched

Flickr / Colin Crowley

A man in Haiti photographed in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.

• Oxfam's deputy chief executive has resigned over a sexual misconduct scandal at the charity.
• Former Oxfam staff members allegedly hired sex workers and downloaded pornography following the 2010 earthquake.
• The Charity Commission has now announced a statutory inquiry.

Oxfam's deputy chief executive Penny Lawrence has resigned, saying she takes "full responsibility" for failing to act immediately in the sexual misconduct scandal involving the charity's workers in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.

Lawrence, who was Oxfam program director at the time, said on Monday that she was "ashamed that this happened on my watch."

Still, it's unclear whether the resignation will quell the scandal, which first emerged when the Times of London reported last week that seven former Oxfam staff members who worked in Haiti faced misconduct allegations that included using prostitutes and downloading pornography.

Oxfam says it investigated the allegations in 2011 and then fired four people and let three others resign after uncovering sexual misconduct, bullying, intimidation and failure to protect staff.

Also on Monday, the UK Charity Commission announced a statutory enquiry into the charity over concerns that it "may not have fully and frankly disclosed material details about the allegations at the time in 2011, its handling of the incidents since, and the impact that these have both had on public trust and confidence."

There were concerns even before Haiti

Lawrence said the allegations of sexual misconduct were first raised about some Oxfam staff in an earlier mission in Chad.

"It is now clear that these allegations - involving the use of prostitutes and which related to behavior of both the country director and members of his team in Chad - were raised before he moved to Haiti," she said in a statement.

Oxfam has apologized unreservedly for the incidents in Haiti but has denied that it attempted to cover up the scandal.

Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt is demanding that Oxfam show moral accountability and provide full disclosure about the case. On Sunday she threatened to pull public funding from Oxfam unless the charity reveals everything it knows about the Haiti allegations.

On Monday, the European Commission demanded that Oxfam offer maximum transparency in responding to the allegations.

"We are ready to review and, if needed, cease funding to any partner who is not living up to the required high ethical standards," European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told reporters.

In 2011, the European Union's relief agency, ECHO, gave Oxfam UK 1.7 million euros for Haitian operations.

In a statement, Charity Commission deputy chief executive David Holdsworth said: "The issues revealed in recent days are shocking and unacceptable. It is important that we take this urgent step to ensure that these matters can be dealt with fully and robustly."