Dominic Raab has stopped Oxfam bidding for British aid cash again after The Times exposed a new safeguarding crisis facing the charity.
Two senior aid workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo were suspended last week as part of a wide-ranging investigation into allegations including sexual misconduct, bullying and mismanagement.
The disclosures came after whistleblowers raised concerns about the government’s decision last month to allow Oxfam to bid for funds from the overseas aid budget for the first time in three years.
The charity had been blocked from receiving new money from the aid budget after the revelations in 2018 that it covered up sexual exploitation by some of its aid workers in earthquake-stricken Haiti.
A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “All organisations bidding for UK aid must meet the high standards of safeguarding required to keep the people they work with safe.
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“Given the most recent reports which call into question Oxfam’s ability to meet those standards, we will not consider any new funding to Oxfam until the issues have been resolved.”
Oxfam commissioned an external investigation into the situation at its DRC office in November last year but staff have expressed concern that it has taken more than six months without reaching conclusions while they have been raising concerns since 2015.
Documents obtained by The Times this week showed that Oxfam had classified its mission in the DRC as a “particularly high risk” issue in 2018.
Whistleblowers said “numerous detailed reports” about the situation in DRC had been made to national and regional managers and directly to Oxfam’s leadership and safeguarding teams in Oxford.
In a letter to Oxfam’s leaders they outlined concerns about fraud, corruption, nepotism, intimidation and threats.
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“Many Oxfam staff have lost faith in Oxfam’s promises of accountability and in the principles Oxfam says it stands for,” the letter states.
“We hope that the DRC does not become another example of Oxfam’s failure to prevent power abuses following the Haiti media exposé in 2018 and Oxfam’s explicit commitment to do better.”
Whistleblowers claimed they had endured “threats to their lives and their families’ lives” while alleged perpetrators were allowed to remain in powerful jobs. Their letter referred to “threats of poisonings or attempted poisonings”.
The situation in DRC is a blow to Oxfam’s efforts to rebuild its reputation. The Charity Commission reported in February that the aid agency had made significant reforms and ended a three-year period of intensive regulation.
That cleared the way for the Foreign Office to lift the bar on Oxfam bidding for UK aid funding, a significant source of income for the charity. In 2017-18, before the Haiti scandal, Oxfam received £31.7 million from the UK aid budget.
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The UK does not contribute to Oxfam’s £5 million budget in the DRC.
Foreign Office sources said it was not reversing the decision to restore aid funds to Oxfam but inserting a pause pending the outcome of the investigation in the DRC.
The department said this week in a statement on the issue of sexual exploitation in the aid sector that “notable progress has been made” in tackling the problem.
It added: “Sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment perpetrated by aid workers still happens far too often. We believe that the extent of the problem has long been, and remains, under-reported. In the short to medium term, therefore, an increase in the number of concerns reported is likely to be a positive sign that reporting channels are working and that victims feel able to come forward.”
