London, Feb 16 (IANS) Oxfam, the British charity rocked by corruption and sex abuse allegations, has said that it will set up a commission to investigate past and present claims of exploitation by staff.
Oxfam International’s executive director Winnie Byanyima said in a BBC interview that it would “do justice” and “atone for the past”.
She invited victims to come forward “for justice to be done” for them, saying she was “here for all the women who have been abused”.
Oxfam has faced criticism after media reports revealed earlier this month that during a humanitarian mission in Haiti in 2011, the charity’s country director Roland van Hauwermeiren hired prostitutes at a villa paid for by the organisation.
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.
Byanyima said the organisation was “hurt”, but added: “There is no way this organisation can die… the world needs it.”
“From the bottom of my heart forgive us, forgive Oxfam,” she said in the BBC interview.
Byanyima admitted she could not guarantee there were no sex offenders currently working at the organisation but vowed Oxfam would “build a new culture that doesn’t tolerate that behaviour”.
Following the revelation, the charity has also lost a number of celebrity ambassadors including Good Will Hunting actress Minnie Driver, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Oxfam has almost 10,000 staff working in more than 90 countries across the globe.