The chief executive officer of British charity Oxfam said Tuesday the organization was investigating 26 new cases of sexual misconduct.
Mark Goldring told a parliamentary committee in London the new cases were related to the charity’s international operation.
“There are 26 cases that have come forward,” Goldring said, adding, “We really want people to come forward.”
Goldring’s comments were made as legislators questioned him about the alleged use of prostitutes in Haiti in 2011 in the aftermath of the Caribbean nation’s devastating earthquake the previous year. An Oxfam report released Monday into the behavior of aid workers sent to Haiti revealed seven of them were accused of using prostitutes at an Oxfam-funded home and three of them physically threatened a witness in the investigation.
Four staff members were fired for gross misconduct and the director in Haiti, Roland Van Hauwermeiren, along with two others, were allowed to resign.
Goldring apologized to the lawmakers on behalf of Oxfam and said the charity would launch its own investigation into abuses in the foreign aid sector. Last week, the charity formally apologized to Haiti and announced a plan to combat sexual abuse, including a new vetting system for potential employees.
Allegations of sexual misconduct have rattled the aid sector, prompting Britain and the European Union to review funding for Oxfam, one of the world’s largest disaster relief charities. Haitian President Jovenel Moise has called for investigations of other charitable organizations as well.