Media Reactive: On the claims of sexual misconduct committed by Oxfam staff during Typhoon Haiyan emergency response

Please read our response to an article claiming sexual misconduct committed by Oxfam staff during Typhoon Haiyan emergency response.

In the immediate aftermath of the typhoon in November 2013 Oxfam staff stayed in Cebu City in the Golden Peak Hotel, which was also the site of our office. Sometimes when rooms were not available some staff stayed at the close-by Harolds Hotel. These are reasonably priced hotels. By the end of 2013, we started moving staff into apartments in the city.

We have looked through our records and so far we have found no evidence of Oxfam staff staying at the Marco Polo Hotel. Staff who were working in Cebu at the time say they have no recollections of any Oxfam staff staying at the Marco Polo Hotel - although staff may have visited the hotel.

We are not aware of any Oxfam stickers being placed on tents provided by the Rotary Club of GB. We would never condone such action.

We received a call from Chris Jacobs on Tuesday and it was immediately referred to our Safeguarding team who spoke to him and is now investigating. While we can’t corroborate his allegations at this point, such behavior is shocking and completely unacceptable.

We can find no record of the allegations being raised at Oxfam headquarters previously - we can only apologize for not doing so.

We are also investigating how a call of such a serious nature was not recorded and not acted upon. Such allegations should have been investigated immediately.

Oxfam, 16 February 2018