Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Now international aid organisation MSF says it had to sack 19 people for harassment last year

A scandal over sexual abuse in the foreign aid industry that began with Oxfam is now spreading.

no arms sign on gate of MSF spain hospital in batangafo in central african... Sign on a gate of a MSF hospital in the Central African Republic DPA / PA Images DPA / PA Images / PA Images

A SCANDAL OVER sexual abuse in the foreign aid industry that began with Oxfam has spread, with French group Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) now revealing it sacked 19 staff last year for harassment or abuse.

The Paris-based group, known by its French acronym MSF, said it had received 146 complaints or alerts last year, of which 40 were found to be allegations of harassment or sexual assault.

It said in a statement that it had acted on 24 of these cases, firing 19 employees as a result.

With 40,000 staff around the world, MSF is one of the world’s largest aid groups, best known for its work offering medical aid in conflict zones.

“Even though reports of abuse have steadily increased, MSF is aware that abuse goes under-reported,” the charity said.

The revelations came as Oxfam grapples with allegations that it was not transparent about a scandal involving some of its staff for using prostitutes in Haiti following a devastating 2010 earthquake.

The scandal has led to the resignation of Oxfam’s deputy head and has thrown into question British government funding for the charity, which amounted to around £32 million (€36 million) last year.

Britain has now warned it will cut off ties with foreign aid charities that cover up sex scandals.

“Unless you report every serious incident or allegation, no matter how damaging to your reputation – we cannot be partners,” Britain’s International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt told a conference in Stockholm, according to extracts of her speech released by her ministry.

Mordaunt called the Haiti prostitution allegations “horrifying”.

An Oxfam spokeswoman yesterday said the aid agency had received 1,270 cancellations of donations by direct debit between Saturday and Monday – compared to a normal monthly average of 600.

‘Goes around the system’

The allegations revolve around Oxfam’s then head of mission in Haiti, Belgian national Roland van Hauwermeiren, whose behaviour had already led to complaints when he worked for the charity in Chad.

After resigning from Oxfam, he went on to work for French charity Action Against Hunger in Bangladesh.

Oxfam sex allegations Nick Ansell / PA Images Nick Ansell / PA Images / PA Images

There were reports yesterday that there had already been complaints about Van Hauwermeiren and his use of prostitutes when he was working for the British medical charity Merlin in Liberia before joining Oxfam.

Swedish former aid worker Amira Malik Miller told the humanitarian news agency IRIN that she had made a complaint about him in 2004 when she was working alongside him in Liberia.

When she saw an initial report about Van Hauwermeiren in The Times newspaper last week, she remembered thinking: “Oh my God, he’s been doing this for 14 years.”

“He just goes around the system… from Liberia to Chad, to Haiti, to Bangladesh. Someone should have checked properly,” Malik Miller was quoted as saying.

An aid worker familiar with the case told IRIN that Van Hauwermeiren and other staff members were “shameless”.

Actress ‘devastated’ by response

Oxfam’s internal investigation into the use of prostitutes in Haiti led to the dismissal of four employees and three others being allowed to resign, including Van Hauwermeiren.

“They let perpetrators go. They did not inform donors, their regulator or prosecuting authorities,” Mordaunt said.

Oxfam sex allegations UK international development secretary Penny Mordaunt Nick Ansell / PA Images Nick Ansell / PA Images / PA Images

“It was not just the processes and procedures of that organisation that were lacking but moral leadership.”

The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) meanwhile said it had fired an employee after learning he was involved in the Haiti scandal.

He was hired in 2014 and provided two references, including one sent from a private email account by someone who said they had been his manager at Oxfam.

“We requested and yesterday received a reference from Oxfam GB headquarters which confirmed the allegations against him,” CAFOD director Chris Bain said in a statement.

British actress Minnie Driver quit her role as an Oxfam ambassador on Tuesday, saying she was “devastated” by the charity’s response to the scandal.

Several sponsors and partners of Oxfam including Visa and the retail chain Marks and Spencer have also said they are examining the situation.

© – AFP, 2018

Read: Nikolas Cruz: 19-year-old suspected gunman was expelled from school

Read: Former student (19) arrested after 17 killed in Florida school shooting

Author
View 10 comments
Close
10 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Johnny Wilson
    Favourite Johnny Wilson
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 6:07 PM

    Won’t be long before the anti vax lot crawl out of their rabbit holes

    108
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Anthony Curran
    Favourite Anthony Curran
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 6:19 PM

    @Johnny Wilson: They’re too busy being anti immigrant these days

    110
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Seosamh Ohuaine
    Favourite Seosamh Ohuaine
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 6:53 PM

    @Johnny Wilson: Whats the big deal with measles. Sure we all got it in the 80s and were then immune for life.

    39
    See 8 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jason Poole
    Favourite Jason Poole
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 6:54 PM

    @Anthony Curran: Comment of the year

    13
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul O'Mahoney
    Favourite Paul O'Mahoney
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:13 PM

    @Anthony Curran: like most viruses the do tend to spread without a prevention.

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul O'Mahoney
    Favourite Paul O'Mahoney
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:16 PM

    @Seosamh Ohuaine: Wow, if we had a vaccine for your obvious lack of knowledge….can’t use the word I wanted

    34
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Trevor Donoghue
    Favourite Trevor Donoghue
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:16 PM

    @Seosamh Ohuaine: Yes, because it was much safer to get it as a child and gives you immunity, catching it as an adult is far more dangerous.

    24
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Éamonn O'Kane
    Favourite Éamonn O'Kane
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:44 PM

    @Seosamh Ohuaine: it also killls and can lead to long term disability.

    37
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul O'Mahoney
    Favourite Paul O'Mahoney
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:57 PM

    @Éamonn O’Kane: Correct,

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute offside again
    Favourite offside again
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 8:48 PM

    @Paul O’Mahoney: apropos de rien : all good things come to an end. The world will keep spinning around. So will the galaxy. The Universe will find conciousness somewhere.
    You know that we die in the end !
    (sorry to ruin the film).
    It’s eternal life we’re looking for and indeed such a thing is possible if you’re spiritually inclined.
    In anycase ; there’s such a wide range of possibilties that I don’t understand how anyone can be an athiest.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Pat Redmond
    Favourite Pat Redmond
    Report
    Apr 3rd 2025, 1:09 PM

    @Seosamh Ohuaine: and children born blind as a result. Special schools for the blind no longer exist thanks to the vaccination

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Frank Foley
    Favourite Frank Foley
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:01 PM

    The 5pm train to Sligo from Dublin is always very busy ,not enough carriages and it’s impossible to get a seat until you get to Mullingar.

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul O'Mahoney
    Favourite Paul O'Mahoney
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 8:03 PM

    And what about the train from Sligo to Dublin?

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute AphroBeat
    Favourite AphroBeat
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 6:39 PM

    Time to lockdown again, zero measles! Let’s flatten the curve

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Donna Fallon
    Favourite Donna Fallon
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 8:28 PM

    @AphroBeat: Everything on this forum is so negative. Let’s flatten the curve… X amounts of deaths today from (not with apparently). I for one know people who died as a result of the lockdowns and literally nothing to do with a virus.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute AphroBeat
    Favourite AphroBeat
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 9:16 PM

    @Donna Fallon: It was certainly a terrible time for many, Donna, my sincere condolences. Sadly, I knew people who took their own lives who struggled with loneliness. I, too, found it challenging being myself, but I found resilience from past traumatic experiences. Thankfully, many are vaccinated for MMR here, so it may not warrant a lockdown.

    11
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Donna Fallon
    Favourite Donna Fallon
    Report
    Apr 3rd 2025, 1:00 AM

    @AphroBeat: Thanks Man and sorry to hear you too had a tough time x I genuinely thought that you were being sarcastic in your initial comment… hope you are well now x

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Johnny King
    Favourite Johnny King
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:18 PM

    Anyone who was on the train was also possibly exposed to the flu,covid,chicken pox,vomiting bug,farts,burps,general body odour etc. etc. Welcome to life.Stay home for the rest of your life If it upsets you.
    This is not news.
    Either you’ve been vaccinated against it and you’re fine because unlike the covid injections the measles one is actually a proper vaccine that makes you immune.Or you haven’t been vaccinated so you don’t care in the first place.So again,this is not news.

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul O'Mahoney
    Favourite Paul O'Mahoney
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:59 PM

    @Johnny King: So are vaccines good or bad?

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Luas Vuitton - Penneys Drag Queen
    Favourite Luas Vuitton - Penneys Drag Queen
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 8:01 PM

    @Johnny King: Disability payment late again? Measles, like Covid-19, is a notifiable infectious disease under the Health Acts and MOH legislation. Both have effective clinical responses. Your comments on vaccines insults the memory of C19 bereavement. If it had been available, some who be still with us.

    22
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Johnny King
    Favourite Johnny King
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 9:14 PM

    @Paul O’Mahoney: almost all of them are amazing,life savers.The covid one technically doesn’t even qualify as a vaccine.Doesn’t make you immune,doesn’t stop you spreading it,At best they say it can very slightly help your recovery chances when you get covid.I would argue that this slight help they say it gives your immune system was offset ten fold by the false sense of security people thought they had after being told they wouldn’t get covid after getting the jabs,and so went about their business falsely believing that the covid jab was like a regular,effective vaccine that makes you immune

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Johnny King
    Favourite Johnny King
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 9:28 PM

    @Luas Vuitton – Penneys Drag Queen: I’ve had one m.m.r. vaccine and I have never had measles as a result.I have had 3 covid injections and I’ve had covid 4 times that I’m aware of.Probably have had it ten more times than I’m unaware of since more than 95% of people that get it don’t have any symptoms whatsoever.This was proven by the mass testing that was done in China.If we had done mass testing here we would have realised this.
    So the point is I got the MMR vaccine.That PREVENTS you from getting measles,mumps and Rubella.I have had THREE Covid so called vaccines and have had covid probably between 10 and 15 times.Can you understand the difference there? One works.The other doesn’t.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Richie Whelan
    Favourite Richie Whelan
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 9:25 PM

    We all got measels as kids ,how is it so dangerous all of a sudden

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Doe
    Favourite John Doe
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 11:39 PM

    @Richie Whelan: PARENTS NOT VACCINATING THEIR KIDS! How do ye not understand this yet?!

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Green Masquerader
    Favourite Green Masquerader
    Report
    Apr 3rd 2025, 2:01 PM

    @John Doe: but but..let them decide themselves!
    No damn parents anymore they are all wannabe social workers now.

    I wanna run in trafffic
    Ok honey I am empowering you to make a good choice.
    Death

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Grant
    Favourite Dave Grant
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 6:59 PM

    No one is safe until everyone is safe.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Seanfhear míshásta
    Favourite Seanfhear míshásta
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:52 PM

    an American?

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute bruce banner
    Favourite bruce banner
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 10:20 PM

    Hope the EU hurries up and suspends travel of americans into europe. Keeps us all more healthy physically and mentally.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Luas Vuitton - Penneys Drag Queen
    Favourite Luas Vuitton - Penneys Drag Queen
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:57 PM

    Great to see Iarnród Eireann improving the quality of catering on the Sligo train, finally.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ian Heaton
    Favourite Ian Heaton
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 6:44 PM

    Need to start doing some spot checks.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Green Masquerader
    Favourite Green Masquerader
    Report
    Apr 3rd 2025, 2:03 PM

    @Ian Heaton:its the mumps next
    Probably the foreigners kissing

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sickof thisshit
    Favourite Sickof thisshit
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 6:13 PM

    Ah here..
    That’s ridiculous…

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fergus O'Donnell
    Favourite Fergus O'Donnell
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 9:21 PM

    Punam Rane was completely right.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Green Masquerader
    Favourite Green Masquerader
    Report
    Apr 3rd 2025, 2:02 PM

    @Fergus O’Donnell: i though that was commen knowledge like!.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Padraig O'Brien
    Favourite Padraig O'Brien
    Report
    Apr 3rd 2025, 11:49 AM

    All together now
    “We had sailed seven years when the measles broke out and the ship lost its way in a fog……..

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rolf Kane
    Favourite Rolf Kane
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 6:57 PM

    One, could conclude that, there is a memorandum of Understanding, between all sides, Officially!

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rolf Kane
    Favourite Rolf Kane
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 6:30 PM

    One, is ready for such outcome, there should not be any issues

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rolf Kane
    Favourite Rolf Kane
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 8:36 PM

    Still watching, decent game, 1 up for Home team

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rolf Kane
    Favourite Rolf Kane
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 8:58 PM

    One, is watching live !

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rolf Kane
    Favourite Rolf Kane
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 8:01 PM

    Still watching, live score o

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rolf Kane
    Favourite Rolf Kane
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:07 PM

    One, is aware of kick off, original colours as agreed, ” You & me ” !

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rolf Kane
    Favourite Rolf Kane
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2025, 7:49 PM

    One, is live watching!

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds