I AGREE entirely with Dr Mary Tatner (Letters, February 20) when she writes: “The good that Oxfam does far, far outweighs the unforgivable behaviour of a few individuals”. I also recognise Russell Vallance’s description (Letters, February 19) of the "moral issues" encountered by aid agencies working in the field when they encounter graft, corruption and skimming off of aid supplies.
I was part of the Royal Air Force detachment in Addis Ababa during the great Ethiopian famine of 1984/5. I was sure that a significant portion of the supplies of grain we were flying into the famine areas was going straight off to feed the Ethiopian army, which at the time was fighting a civil war against the Tigrayans and Eritreans. Indeed, that may well be one of the reasons why the Marxist regime in Addis allowed the aid mission, Operation Bushel, to carry on as long as it did. But at least a lot of the aid was getting to where it was needed.
However, something I also saw in Ethiopia during the famine, and have seen elsewhere in the world, is smartly dressed young Western men (they do mostly seem to be men) being driven around in gleaming Toyota Landcruisers with the names of major aid agencies on the side. The impression I get is that they are "doing good" to have something on their CV to catch the attention of future recruiters when they return to a career at home.
So I don’t think Oxfam or the aid sector gets out of this affair entirely scot-free. They do need to address the legitimate concerns about the way they operate; and they do need to fess up to their errors and omissions from the past. The comment by Mark Goldring, Oxfam GB’s chief executive, that staff in Haiti “didn’t murder babies in their cots” was unbelievably crass. As Ruth Davidson has observed ("Davidson: Arrogant Oxfam boss does not understand sex scandal", The Herald, February 19), it shows “he doesn’t get it”, and he clearly needs to consider his position.
As an aside… my wife and I were recently on holiday in Ethiopia, my first time there since 1985; a fabulous country. But I was shocked to learn that Mengistu Haile Mariam, the brutal Marxist who led the Derg during the famine and civil war, is still alive – in Zimbabwe. That other charmer Robert Mugabe gave him sanctuary.
Finally, as others have said on these pages, I hope your readers won’t stop giving to charity because of this scandal. The poorest on our planet need and deserve our help and shouldn’t be made to suffer for the wickedness of a few individuals who work in the sector.
Doug Maughan,
52 Menteith View, Dunblane.
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