Penny Mordaunt HAITI, Feb 11 (BBC): Charities doing overseas aid work will lose funding if they fail to cooperate over safeguarding issues, warned the international development secretary.
Penny Mordaunt said it was "despicable" that sexual exploitation and abuse still existed in the aid sector.
Her comments come after Oxfam workers were accused of using prostitutes in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.
Oxfam said it was "dismayed by what happened" and would fully cooperate with authorities.
The UK-based charity said it had already set up a whistleblowing hotline to prevent sexual abuse and misconduct. Ms Mordaunt said she was writing to all British charities that receive UK aid to insist they detail the steps they are taking to ensure safeguarding policies are fully in place.
"With regard to Oxfam and any other organisation that has safeguarding issues, we expect them to cooperate fully with such authorities, and we will cease to fund any organisation that does not," she said.
"I am very clear: we will not work with any organisation that does not live up to the high standards on safeguarding and protection that we require." She said her "absolute priority" was to keep the world's poorest and most vulnerable people safe from harm.
"In the 21st century, it is utterly despicable that sexual exploitation and abuse continues to exist in the aid sector," she sad.
"The horrific behaviour by some members of Oxfam staff in Haiti in 2011 is an example of a wider issue on which DfID (Department for International Development) is already taking action, both at home and with the international community via the UN." Meanwhile, Oxfam is facing further allegations, reported in the Observer, that its staff used prostitutes in Chad in 2006.
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