Attacks out of proportion: Oxfam chief

Oxfam's Chief Executive, Mark Goldring, has said the scale and intensity of the criticism against the British charity in the wake of claims that its workers used prostitutes in Haiti, were out of proportion to its level of culpability.

In an interview with the Guardian, Goldring on Friday repeated his apology for Oxfam's failings and acknowledged that major reforms were needed.

But warning that the controversy has already affected vital donations, he accused critics of "gunning" for the charity and said some were motivated in part by an anti-aid agenda.

"The intensity and the ferocity of the attack makes you wonder, what did we do?" he said.

"We murdered babies in their cots? Certainly, the scale and the intensity of the attacks feels out of proportion to the level of culpability. I struggle to understand it. You think, 'My God, there's something going on there.'"

Goldring acknowledged that his comments could be used to inflict more damage on the embattled charity, saying: "Anything we say is being manipulated... even apologies only make matters worse."

The interview followed a promise by Oxfam to publish a 2011 internal investigation into staff involved in sexual and other misconduct in Haiti as soon as possible, the Guardian reported.

The organisation has said that the names of the men involved have already been shared with the Haitian authorities.

The head of Oxfam International, Winnie Byanyima, has announced a wide-ranging reform plan - including an independent commission to review Oxfam's culture and practices and warned that what happened in Haiti "is a stain on Oxfam that will shame us for years".

In a series of tweets on Friday, Oxfam laid out other planned reforms, including new funding for safeguarding measures and a crackdown on references issued to former staff.

Oxfam has faced criticism after media reports revealed earlier this month that during a humanitarian mission in Haiti in 2011, the charity's former country director Roland van Hauwermeiren had hired prostitutes at a villa paid for by the organisation, the BBC reported.

Van Hauwermeiren, who left Oxfam in 2011 amid a sexual misconduct inquiry, has denied hiring prostitutes but said he had "intimate relations" with a woman who was "not a prostitute".

Oxfam had staff working in Haiti following the earthquake in the country which killed about 200,000 people in 2010.

--IANS

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