Thuppahi's Blog

Janaka Jayawickrama, courtesy of Al-Jazeera, 24 February 2018, where the title runs “Humanitarian aid system is a continuation of the colonial project …. Note that emphasis via highlighting has been added and minor editorial changes have been made by the Editor, Thuppahi

Haitians wait to get food coupons in downtown Port-au-Prince following the 2010 earthquake that wrecked much of Haiti’s capital and killed as many as 200,000 people [Eliana Aponte/Reuters]

The global humanitarian community is again in confusion. The Oxfam sexual misconduct scandal has made headlines. Policymakers and humanitarian leaders everywhere talk about the need for change. Over the last 30 years or so, there have been many scandals, and much demand for reform. However, business just continues as usual. According to Reuters, during the last year the Save the Children Fund claimed they fired 16 staff members over reports of sexual harassment and Oxfam reported it dismissed 22 of its staff. There are similar reports by various humanitarian agencies. What is terrifying is that the same person who quit his role with Oxfam 2011 after being accused of using sex workers while working in Haiti, was engaging in similar acts in 2006 during his time working for the charity in Chad. Oxfam knew about this but went ahead and sent this person to work in Haiti anyway.

Continue reading →