This Oxfam Scandal

[fallen-archie]

Over the years Oxfam has been at the forefront of disaster response throughout the world, Now its very existence is under threat due to the inappropriate behaviour of a few individuals. I doubt that there is a company or charity anywheee in the world that doesn’t employ someone who does not fully understand the ethics of what they do, I am not in anyway condoning what has taken place but human nature comes into play here and the use of prostitutes is as they say the worlds oldest profession. Why has it taken five years for this to come to light and why should an entire charity be placed under such scrutiny because of the dalliances of a handful of reprobates, What we seem to be saying yet again is forget all the good they have done and concentrate on those individuals who have brought them into disrepute! At the end of the day charities are dependent upon donations and volunteers surely if one of the latter is a bad egg you get rid and move on, far better than putting a well respected charity under threat of closure and losing all the good that they have done, or am I being too simplistic?

[cee-dee]

Why indeed has it taken all this time for it to come out and why now?

I'm not very comfortable with charities because some of them seem to have people employed "higher up" who appear to view the job as a great way to have a regular jaunt off to foreign parts.

The people who actually do all the work seem to get a poorer deal.

I don't suppose this will go down too well but all the "aid" helps to promote and prolong the way of life in "poor" countries and in a way fuel their continuation of swings between war, famine and more refugees.

[astrologica]

It isn't just coming to light now.  Brendan Cox, husband of Jo Cox had to leave his job a few years ago because of 'inappropriate behaviour ', although it has never been disclosed what he was up to at the time. It was reported over the weekend that he behaved inappropriately with a government official with whom he was out having a meal, and she reported his behaviour. That was covered up too. These high profile charity jobs are paid huge sums of money. One such person is the wife of the Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, who is working for Save The Children. These jobs are like a merry go round..if you **ck up you just get moved to another horse on the same ride...with equally high remuneration so you don't lose out. David Miliband is another..funny how they are all Labour.

I stopped giving to these foreign aid charities years ago, the money does no good whatsoever, and these countries are in exactly the same state as they were fifty years ago, except their leaders are filthy rich. I prefer to donate to an appeal when there is a real disaster. And I prefer to donate to countries that help themselves..and not keep churning out babies who are born to die.

[023mjc]

Whilst it's human nature for people to use prostitutes ( for some), in a situation like this, It's deplorable that any one would take advantage of vulnerable women who are no doubt desperate to feed their children - and in some cases are children themselves.

But the most deplorable thing of all, is that even though it was reported, not only did Oxfam take no action, but they took steps to cover it up. They should hang their heads in shame.

Whilst the majority of aid workers are good,caring people, there are some who would have targeted the charity specifically for this purpose.  One of them is known to have been sacked from previous charities for the same thing - does no one do any checks?

I couldn't work in a charity shop till I'd had a CRB check.  My husband had one every year because he worked in the hospital.  But it seems the charities will allow you to go directly to the country that needs help, with no checks what so ever, and no punishment even when it's been brought to their attention. 

[vamo48]

Yes, it does sound sensible to get rid of the bad eggs and move on, making sure those behaving inappropriately don't get a similar job and do it all again elsewhere.  It would be a shame if the good work of thousands of other volunteers is tainted by this scandal.  I also saw headlines today that "abuse is rife in Oxfam charity shops."  I don't know the full story but I very much doubt that it is "rife". 

I worry more about the very high salaries paid to charity bosses, and about the help itself possibly being inappropriate.  It may sound a great idea to send goats to a certain area, but they could end up with crops being eaten by escaped goats!

Providing fresh water can never be bad, but in general, lasting  improvements to an area can only be brought about by those living there.

[al**bear]

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@cee-deewrote:

Why indeed has it taken all this time for it to come out and why now?

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Why Now

One of the reasons this Story, has sprouted legs and started running
is that Right Wing Tories (& media) see this as an opportune time to go after the UKs Aid budget

No surprise Priti Patel MP, has came out, attacking Foreign office Aid Civil Servants

Her Right wing fiscal views were an enathema to Civil Servants in the Foreign Office (International Development dept) - thats why She was sacked

She's just trying to get Her own back

and of Course - ANYTHING to get the disaster thats Brexit off the front pages

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On that subject :-

Today was meant to Be Boris's big Day in the media with His much lauded Pro-Brexit speech

But it fell so flat -

That the SUNs got an old anti-Corbyn story to distract the 'Hoi Polloi' on their Front Page

While Most of the rest of them have went with a Ready Meal health scare story

Remember Boris and Brexit are their darlings - so it shows how bad His ramblings were

[fallen-archie]

Sorry Al I do not buy into this conspiracy that everything is to do with Tory cuts, This story is about one or two bad eggs who have been exposed for what they are albeit at a time of someone else’s choosing. I certainly do not believe that it is the Governments sole intention to cut aid budgets for the sake of it.
What people always fail to mention when blaming one party or another is that someone has to pay and that person is you and me, we put politicians in place to watch and safeguard spending not to fritter it away. The only answer to austerity is to raise taxes and to make it more palatable to do it for the wealthy ( definition required) ultimately if things become too unattractive to them they will simply up sticks and go leaving the many to pick up the tab, meanwhile we will all want above inflation pay rises to give us greater spending power and suddenly inflation goes off the Richter scale and we all no what happens next. It seems to me that we are all guilty of making life difficult for ourselves be that through our abuse of free healthcare or our lack of productivity, Perhaps what we need now is a Labour Government to remind us of exactly how socialism works , who knows perhaps they can buck the trend and make it happen for everyone, somehow I doubt it!

[astrologica]

Archie..you wouldn't really want a Labour government. Wales is being run into the ground by a Labour run Welsh Assembly. Cardiff is the only place thriving in Wales. Cushy jobs for all the Labour cronies and everyone else can go to hell. I had to go to the Hospital in Newport on Monday and the state of Newport just brought me almost to tears. And I don't have to tell you why. 

[cee-dee]

I wondered if FA meant we needed a Labour Government to illuistrate once again how to bring a country to its knees?

[fallen-archie]

Yes that is exactly what I meant, and I say it because as hard as I try whenever one asks for an example of where socialism has actually worked no one is able to give one.