Pressure is building for an overhaul of the foreign aid sector’s approach to sexual abuse allegations.
Horrific stories have emerged of people purporting to be humanitarian workers abusing their position to exploit the most vulnerable in armed conflict and disaster zones.
The Department for International Development (DFID) held a safeguarding summit in March amid a series of controversies involving leading charities.
Plans are now afoot to ensure practical tools, processes and protocols are put in place to ensure the aid sector protects the people it serves.
DFID minister Penny Mordaunt claimed last week the sector is no longer a “safe space” for sexual predators to operate in.
But MPs on the International Development Committee rightly believe more must be done.
Their report into sexual exploitation and abuse in the aid sector, due out on Tuesday, will demand that an independent ombudsman is installed.
In a series of recommendations for reform, MPs will also urge DFID to withhold funding to aid agencies if changes are not made.
The report has been described as potentially transformative by one committee MP, who said evidence of a “sex for food” culture had emerged during their investigation.
This is completely unacceptable to every right-thinking individual, many of whom donate to charities caught up in the sexual exploitation scandal.
Reform of the sector is clearly long overdue so that those in most need of support by aid charities no longer fall victim to sexual exploitation.
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