Oxfam’s Regional Director for Latin America Simon Ticehurst met with the Haitian Minister of Planning and External Cooperation Aviol Fleurant in Port-au-Prince, Monday, following the charity releasing a report of its investigation into a prostitution scandal involving Oxfam staff in Haiti.
In a statement Ticehurst said: “Oxfam is grateful to the Haitian Government for allowing us the chance now to offer our humblest apologies and to begin explaining ourselves and start the long road ahead of re-establishing trust and partnership, given our 40-year history with Haiti and its citizens.”
“We stand ready to engage with the Haitian people and have expressed our openness to co-operate as much as required with the Haitian government,” he added.
Following the meeting, Haiti’s Minister of Planning Aviol Fleurant stated “we are going to establish the link between humanitarian aid and prostitution, which has taken place and if this link is clearly established, we are going to take measures against Oxfam.”
It recently emerged that staff working for Oxfam had paid for prostitutes in Haiti at a time when the country was facing an enormous humanitarian crisis after the earthquake of 2011.