Progress on our Ten-Point Plan

The sexual misconduct by Oxfam staff in Haiti and elsewhere was a shameful failure and in my language, I say: ‘Okuruga ahamutima gwangye, mutusaasire,’ which means ‘From the bottom of my heart I am asking for forgiveness.’

Of course, words are not enough. That’s why we put in place a 10-point action plan to strengthen Oxfam’s safeguarding policies and practices and transform our working culture in that light. We will do our best to stamp out exploitation, abuse and harassment from all parts of our confederation, protect those we work with, and ensure justice for survivors of abuse. This is the plan that matches our apologies and commitments with action.

We’re carrying out our plan along eight different streams of work, providing a frame for how we will: improve our transparency and accountability and our policies, practices and culture; increase investment into safeguarding and training; work with other NGOs; and reform our recruitment and vetting processes.

We are publishing this web-page to show the progress we’re making. We will update it every two months, including to coincide with the Independent Commission’s interim report this October and its final report in May 2019.

We are determined to demonstrate to the communities we serve, to our own staff colleagues, partners and donors, and to the public supporting us, that Oxfam is an organization to be trusted. We’ll never be perfect, and we’ll stumble along the way, but we’ve committed our future on getting it right. We will continue to cooperate, listen and learn.

Oxfam International Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima