Oxfam Canada welcomes interim report of Independent Commission on safeguarding
Oxfam proactively set up the Independent Commission as part of the 10-Point Action Plan to strengthen Oxfam’s policies and practices on safeguarding and to transform our organizational culture.
Oxfam Canada welcomes the release of the interim report by the Independent Commission on Sexual Misconduct, Accountability and Culture Change. Oxfam proactively set up the Independent Commission as part of the 10-Point Action Plan to strengthen Oxfam’s policies and practices on safeguarding and to transform our organizational culture. This Independent Commission is led by women’s rights experts who have been tasked specifically with exploring “what’s wrong” in our working culture that had allowed sexual abuse to happen. We welcome the Independent Commission’s interim report. It has highlighted some “hard truths” for our organization and is helping us see where the cracks are in our system. It will help us take the action we need to ensure a culture of zero-tolerance to misconduct.
Oxfam is working hard to improve our policies, practices and culture to ensure that no one faces sexism, discrimination or abuse, and that everyone – especially women – feel safe to speak out. We are doing this by listening to people who have been affected, listening to the findings and recommendations of the Independent Commission, and by being open and transparent about our challenges, as well as the steps we are taking to change.
In addition to the internal, institutional work that we need to do to prevent and address sexual misconduct, we also need to address the unequal power dynamics that leave women vulnerable to exploitation and abuse in the first place. We’re deeply committed to this at Oxfam Canada, where we put women’s rights at the heart of everything we do. This is why we are building on the best of our work to support women’s leadership around the world, combat attitudes that tolerate violence against women and girls and ensure that women can escape the poverty and conflict that make them vulnerable.
Information on the Independent Commission is here.
Information on Oxfam’s 10-Point Action Plan is here.