Rebuilding trust top priority: Greenpeace India interim chiefs

Rebuilding trust is the top priority of Greenpeace India, said Vinuta Gopal and Sanjiv Gopal, the two new interim Executive Directors appointed by the green body after two of its senior most officials resigned over charges of mishandling of sexual harassment cases.
They have been appointed as interim co-Executive Directors until a permanent replacement for the post is found, said Vinuta in statement on the NGO's website today.
"Our top priority now is to rebuild trust, with our staff, our supporters, and with our friends throughout civil society. This will require honest and open dialogue among staff so we can learn from the past and grow stronger to face the challenges ahead of us," the statement said.

"Following on from an emergency meeting of Greenpeace India's board this week to discuss the cases of sexual harassment that have come to light, the Executive Director Samit Aich has offered his resignation which the board had accepted. Programme Director Divya Raghunandan has also resigned," it said.
"Every Greenpeace office, meeting, event or training must be a safe space for everyone involved in the vital campaign work we do. Issues of safety are not only in line with our values but an issue of human rights and dignity," it said.
The body said that Greenpeace India is still under threat from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). "Greenpeace India is still under threat from the MHA and we can only challenge its attempts to shut us down if we have regained the trust of the people we depend on," the statement said.

It said that the non-serious treatment of sexual harassment complaints is not acceptable. "It is not acceptable that Greenpeace India could be the kind of place where complaints of sexual harassment have not been taken with the seriousness they deserved," it said, adding it will work to make sure this (sexual harassment) will not happen again.